A roughly 2,700-year-old mummy yielded the first molecular evidence linked to aloe

Researchers examined 24 university and museum objects and found compounds associated with Aloe-derived products in an eighth-century BCE mummified head and an eighteenth-century medicinal specimen. The ancient textual term is still not definitively identified, and the low hit rate means aloe cannot be called a universal embalming recipe. The result shows how modern molecular tools and historical texts can reconnect old collections with material trade, medicine and mummification.