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Marković M, Mezzatesta E, Porcier S, Vieillescazes C, Mathe C. Rethinking the Process of Animal Mummification in Ancient Egypt: Molecular Characterization of Embalming Material and the Use of Brassicaceae Seed Oil in the Mummification of Gazelle Mummies from Kom Mereh, Egypt. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27051532. [PMID: 35268632 PMCID: PMC8912108 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27051532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The study of animal mummification in ancient Egypt has recently received increasing attention from a number of modern scholars given the fact that this part of ancient Egyptian funerary and religious history is a practice yet to be fully understood. In this study, nine samples of embalming matter were extracted from six gazelle mummies from the archaeological site of Kom Mereh (modern village of Komir), dated to the Roman period of dominance in ancient Egypt. All samples were analyzed for the presence of inorganic and organic matter applying a multi-analytical approach based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Furthermore, in order to identify more specific compounds such as bitumen and beeswax in studied balms, each sample was subjected to a solid phase extraction (SPE) and saponification separation process, respectively. The results of this study revealed that the majority of the analyzed embalming substances sampled from six gazelle mummies from Kom Mereh were complex mixtures of plant oils, animal fats, conifer resin, and beeswax. In this regard, this study was able to report a practice until now unmentioned in the scientific literature, namely, the use of cruciferous oil, derived from seeds of Brassicaceae plants, in animal mummification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milan Marković
- IMBE UMR 7263, IRD237, Avignon University/CNRS/IRD/Aix-Marseille University, Restoration Engineering of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Sciences, Campus Jean-Henri Fabre, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza BP 21239, CEDEX 9, 84916 Avignon, France; (E.M.); (C.V.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (C.M.); Tel.: +33-490-144-454 (C.M.)
| | - Elodie Mezzatesta
- IMBE UMR 7263, IRD237, Avignon University/CNRS/IRD/Aix-Marseille University, Restoration Engineering of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Sciences, Campus Jean-Henri Fabre, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza BP 21239, CEDEX 9, 84916 Avignon, France; (E.M.); (C.V.)
| | - Stéphanie Porcier
- ASM, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes, UMR5140, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universités Paul Valéry, MCC (Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication), INRAP (Institut National de Recherches en Archéologie Préventive), CEDEX 5, F-34090 Montpellier, France;
| | - Cathy Vieillescazes
- IMBE UMR 7263, IRD237, Avignon University/CNRS/IRD/Aix-Marseille University, Restoration Engineering of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Sciences, Campus Jean-Henri Fabre, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza BP 21239, CEDEX 9, 84916 Avignon, France; (E.M.); (C.V.)
| | - Carole Mathe
- IMBE UMR 7263, IRD237, Avignon University/CNRS/IRD/Aix-Marseille University, Restoration Engineering of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Faculty of Sciences, Campus Jean-Henri Fabre, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza BP 21239, CEDEX 9, 84916 Avignon, France; (E.M.); (C.V.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (C.M.); Tel.: +33-490-144-454 (C.M.)
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Mansoldo FRP, Berrino E, Guglielmi P, Carradori S, Carta F, Secci D, Supuran CT, Vermelho AB. An innovative spectroscopic approach for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of Mb-CO from myoglobin carbonylation reaction through chemometrics methods. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2022; 267:120602. [PMID: 34801390 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2021.120602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In this work, an innovative approach using K-means and multivariate curve resolution-purity based algorithm (MCR-Purity) for the evaluation and quantification of carboxymyoglobin (Mb-CO) formation from Deoxy-Myoglobin (Deoxy-Mb) was presented. Through a multilevel multifactor experimental design, samples with different concentrations of Mb-CO were created. The UV-Vis spectra of these samples were submitted to K-means analysis, finding 3 clusters. The mean spectra of the clusters were extracted and it was possible to detect 2 totally differentiable groups through peaks 423 and 434 nm, which are wavelengths related to the Mb-CO and Deoxy-Mb components, respectively. The spectral data were subjected to MCR-Purity analysis. The MCR-Purity result successfully described the analyzed reaction, explaining more than 99.9% of the variance (R2) with a LOF of 1.43%. Then, a predictive model of MbCO was created through the linear relationship between MCR-Purity contributions and known concentrations of MbCO. The performance parameters of the created predictive model were R2CV = 0.98, RMSECV = 0.58 and RPDcv = 7.8 for the training set, and R2P = 0.98, RMSEP = 0.7 and RPDp = 6.8 for the test set. Thus, the predictive model presented an excellent performance considering that the Mb-CO variation is comprised between 0 and 21 µM. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the application of the proposed strategy to the analysis of spectral data presenting overlapping bands is feasible and robust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe R P Mansoldo
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, BIOINOVAR - Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Emanuela Berrino
- Università degli Studi di Firenze, NEUROFARBA Dept., Sezione di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Via Ugo Schiff 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy; Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Paolo Guglielmi
- Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Simone Carradori
- Department of Pharmacy, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Carta
- Università degli Studi di Firenze, NEUROFARBA Dept., Sezione di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Via Ugo Schiff 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
| | - Daniela Secci
- Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Claudiu T Supuran
- Università degli Studi di Firenze, NEUROFARBA Dept., Sezione di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Via Ugo Schiff 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
| | - Alane B Vermelho
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, BIOINOVAR - Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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