Also, some cups and bowls had scent profiles that corresponded to fruits and plants, which explains the fruity aroma inside their display cases in the museum, although their markers were not specific enough to determine which specific fruits they contained. In an amphora, it was also possible to identify elements of barley flour, which was commonly used in Ancient Egypt to make beer, another staple of their diet. And in other containers, elements typical of oils, vegetable fats and beeswax were detected, all of which were frequent at the time.

— Researchers take a look at what items in the tomb of Kha and Merit (Theban Tomb 8, in the Valley of the Kings), smelled like. Read more in Fish, fruit and beeswax: What an Ancient Egyptian tomb smells like at El País, or see Ancient smells reveal secrets of Egyptian tomb at Nature.