Embalming ingredients found at a 2,600-year-old embalming workshop near the pyramids of Saqqara were analyzed, leading to a number of interesting discoveries. For starters, a large trade network would have been necessary to obtain these substances (tars, fats, tree resins, and oils), which were probably sourced from the Mediterranean, other parts of Africa, and possibly even Asia. The most surprising substance found was dammar resin, which would have come all the way from India and Southeast Asia, but the researchers note that they’re uncertain about its presence. Regardless, they went as far as to say that embalming would have been a driving force for globalization at the time. And there’s more. Discussing the antifungal and antibacterial properties of some of the substances, Mahmoud Bahgat said, “This is really the fascinating part of it… If Egyptians went that far to get these particular natural products, from these particular countries and not other countries in between, it means they meant it, it was not just done as a trial and error… They knew about microbiology.” And lastly, the site’s 100+ vessels, many of which were labeled, corrected misconceptions about certain substances that were mentioned in Egyptian texts. Not a bad haul!