Abstract

The composition of resins of seven ancient Egyptian mummies from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts was studied. n-Alkanes were found in the resins by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, which suggests the presence of natural bitumen in these resins. By comparing the hydrocarbon profiles of the studied mummies with the profiles of n-alkanes from mummy resins, reported in publications, the bitumen of the Dead Sea basin was identified. Concentrations of some trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry; vanadium, nickel, and molybdenum were found in the resins of five mummies. The identification of bitumen (its origin) by the relative concentrations of these elements was proposed.

中文翻译：

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古代木乃伊树脂中天然沥青来源的检测与评价

摘要

研究了普希金国家美术博物馆收藏的七具古埃及木乃伊的树脂成分。通过气相色谱-质谱法在树脂中发现了正烷烃，这表明这些树脂中存在天然沥青。通过将所研究木乃伊的碳氢化合物剖面与出版物中报道的木乃伊树脂中的正烷烃剖面进行比较，确定了死海盆地的沥青。部分微量元素浓度采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法测定；在五具木乃伊的树脂中发现了钒、镍和钼。建议通过这些元素的相对浓度来识别沥青（其来源）。