Ancient Egyptians Were Putting Some Strange Things into Their Paint

Ancient Egyptian artists created images meant to endure for eternity with decidedly earthly ingredients: boiled animal tissues, eggs, grains and the remnants of processed seeds.

Now scientists have identified an especially surprising addition to that ancient workshop palette by reading proteins preserved in microscopic samples of coffins and tomb paintings. They found glues derived from several kinds of animals alongside sesame and moringa, a plant with a striking connection to Ptah, the ancient Egyptian patron god of craftsmen.

Basically, archaeologists figured out the recipes behind Egyptian paints. But was it all practical, or did it have a religious meaning?

A molecular inventory of an ancient workshop

For centuries, the brilliant pigments of Egyptian art have received much of the scientific attention. But pigment is only part of a painting. Ancient artists also needed substances that made powdered colors stick to a surface, prepared the layer beneath them or glued parts of an object together. That part received far less interest.

Animal glue was already a leading suspect. Egyptians could make it by heating collagen-rich tissues such as hides, bones and connective tissue in water. But suspecting a method is one thing, proving it is another. And figuring out which animals were used is even more challenging.