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Mummy tar in ancient Egypt For millennia, ancient Egyptians used oil tar to preserve bodies. New geologic research shows that the tar came from several sources, shedding light on how trade routes of old compare to those of today. New research suggests that ancient Egyptians used oil tar from Gebel Zeit in Egypt, shown here, and from the Dead Sea to preserve mummies. Image courtesy of James Harrell. All tar sands — crude oils, asphalts and bitumen — contain source-specific compounds, known as biomarkers, which have unique chemical signatures that are closely related to the biological precursors of the oil....

Nov. 8, 2004, 10:57PM Scientists wrap up old mysteryMummies' tar provides a link to ancient trade routes By ERIC BERGER Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Historians have long known that Egyptians used tar to seal mummies during the embalming process. What wasn't known until now is where the tar came from. Thanks to work by some Texas geochemists, however, scientists are now answering this millennia-old mystery. The Middle East is, of course, littered with natural oil seeps, in which tar and other black deposits bubble up from oil beneath the surface. Within each oil seep, however, the tar has a...