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Scientists Discover Dead Sea Tar in Ancient Egyptian Mummies

Medical radiology technicians prepare a CT scan to do a radiological examination of an Egyptian mummy in order to investigate its history at the Policlinico hospital in Milan, Italy, June 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Medical radiology technicians prepare a CT scan to do a radiological examination of an Egyptian mummy in order to investigate its history at the Policlinico hospital in Milan, Italy, June 21, 2021. (Reuters)
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Scientists Discover Dead Sea Tar in Ancient Egyptian Mummies

Medical radiology technicians prepare a CT scan to do a radiological examination of an Egyptian mummy in order to investigate its history at the Policlinico hospital in Milan, Italy, June 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Medical radiology technicians prepare a CT scan to do a radiological examination of an Egyptian mummy in order to investigate its history at the Policlinico hospital in Milan, Italy, June 21, 2021. (Reuters)

Former research on ancient Egyptian mummies studied the composition of the black coating used in embalming and defined the "vanadyl porphyrins" as a basic compound of it.

A recent French study conducted by Paris Sciences et Lettres University, Lille University, and the Louvre Museum managed to determine two types of this compound found in the Dead Sea tar, and also spotted in the black coating used in mummies.

During a recent study published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI), the researchers used Electron Nuclear Double Resonance (ENDOR) and Hyperfine Sublevel CORrelation spectroscopy (HYSCORE) to examine the black coating detected in Louvre-based human and animal mummies dating to different eras between the Late Period to the Greco-Roman period.

The researchers found that the black coating consists in a complex and heterogeneous mixtures of conifer resins, wax, fat and oil with variable amounts of bitumen. Natural bitumen always contains traces of vanadyl porphyrin complexes.

Four types of vanadyl porphyrin complexes were identified from the analysis. Three types (referred to as VO-P1, VO-P2 and VO-P3) are present in natural bitumen from the Dead Sea, among which VO-P1 and VO-P2 are also present in black coatings of mummies, they explained.

According to the researchers, the absence of VO-P3 in mummies, which is replaced by another complex VO-P4, may be due to its transformation during preparation of the black matter for embalming. Analysis shows that bitumen and other natural substances are intimately mixed in these black coatings, with aggregate sizes of bitumen increasing with the bitumen content, but not exceeding a few nanometers.

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US Tourist Arrested for Landing on Forbidden Indian Tribal Island

People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
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US Tourist Arrested for Landing on Forbidden Indian Tribal Island

People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)
People sit outside medical stores along a street in Varanasi, India, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)

Indian police said on Thursday they had arrested a US tourist who sneaked onto a highly restricted island carrying a coconut and a can of Diet Coke to a tribe untouched by the modern world.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel -- part of India's Andaman Islands -- in a bid to meet the Sentinelese people, who are believed to number only around 150.

All outsiders, Indians and foreigners alike, are banned from travelling within five kilometers (three miles) of the island to protect the Indigenous people from outside diseases and to preserve their way of life.

"The American citizen was presented before the local court after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation," Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief HGS Dhaliwal told AFP.

Satellite photographs show a coral reef-fringed island -- stretching to some 10 kilometers (six miles) at its widest point -- with thick forest and white sand beaches.

The Sentinelese last made international headlines in 2018 after they killed John Allen Chau, 27, an American missionary who landed illegally on their beach.

Chau's body was not recovered and there were no investigations over his death because of the Indian law prohibiting anyone from going to the island.

India sees the wider Andaman and Nicobar Islands as strategically sited on key global shipping lanes. They are closer to Myanmar than mainland India.

New Delhi plans to invest at least $9 billion to expand naval and air bases, troop accommodations, the port and the main city in the region.

Dhaliwal said Polyakov kept blowing a whistle off the shore of North Sentinel Island for about an hour to attract the tribe's attention before he went ashore.

"He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat," Dhaliwal said.

"A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island."

Police said Polyakov was arrested late on Monday, about two days after he went ashore, and had visited the region twice in recent months.

He first used an inflatable kayak in October 2024 but was stopped by hotel staff, police said on Thursday. Polyakov made another unsuccessful attempt during a visit in January 2025.

This time Polyakov used another inflatable boat with a motor to travel the roughly 35 kilometers (22 miles) of open sea from the main archipelago.

The Sentinelese, whose language and customs remain a mystery to outsiders, shun all contact and have a record of hostility to anyone who tries to get close.

A photograph issued by the Indian Coast Guard and Survival International two decades ago showed a Sentinelese man aiming a bow and arrow at a passing helicopter.

Indian authorities have prosecuted any locals who have aided attempts to enter the island and are trying to identify anyone who may have helped Polyakov.

The Andamans are also home to the 400-strong Jarawa tribe, who activists say are also threatened by contact from outsiders. Tourists have previously bribed local officials in a bid to spend time with the Jarawa.