The ancient Egyptians used lots of exotic ingredients to make mummies. Now, we know that some were brought from faraway Asia.
Archaeologists opened 31 jars that once held these substances. It helped them understand the practice used for thousands of years to prepare Egypt's dead.
Different substances were used to preserve human flesh – long before any understanding of biology – before the body of the mummy was wrapped.
"Most of the substances came from outside Egypt," says archaeologist Philipp Stockhammer.
A real surprise were jars full of substances from forests in Asia, thousands of miles away. For instance, there was gum from the dammar tree, which grows only in Southeast Asia.
