Four archaeological samples, unearthed from Qana in Yemen were analysed by analytical technique, currently applied in the field of petroleum geochemistry, and by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (GC‐MS). Sample no 1286 comes from a burned warehouse and samples no 964, 963 and 962 from the central sanctuary. These specimens were probably exposed to a heating source. In each case olibanum resin was identified according to the presence of their chemical markers corresponding to α‐, β‐boswellic and lupeolic acids (3α‐hydroxy‐olean‐12‐en‐24‐oic, 3α‐hydroxy‐urs‐12‐en‐24‐oic and 3α‐hydroxy‐lup‐20(29)en‐24‐oic acids) and their respective O‐acetyled derivatives (3α‐ O‐acetyl ‐olean‐12‐en‐24‐oic, 3α‐O‐acetyl‐urs‐12‐en‐24‐oic and 3‐O‐acetyl‐lup‐20(29)‐en‐24‐oic acids). Concerning the thermal degradation state of samples, the GC‐MS results are in agreement with the geochemical ones. Sample no 1286 and 964 correspond to ageing incense which has not undergone any heating action and are consequently relatively well preserved. Lastly, samples no 963 and 962 are thermally degraded resins and their gross composition data permits to conclude that sample no 963 is only partially burnt while sample no 962 has been much more degraded.

A chromatographic method using fluorescing derivatization was developed for the analysis of triterpenoids in natural resins. The separation was performed using a Luna-C₁₈ column, an acetonitrile-water eluant mixture, a flow-rate of 1 mL · min⁻¹. The fluorescent compounds were detected at 530 nm (excitation at 347 nm). A derivatization reaction of hydroxyl groups of triterpenoids using dansyl chloride is described; this process appeared unusual and provided some novelty. The detection limits were obtained in the range of 0.15–0.45 ng/mL (S/N = 3) for dansylated standard compounds. The described procedure allowed the simultaneous determination of twelve triterpenoids present in frankincense species (Boswellia carteri and B. frereana) and was successfully applied to an archaeological sample coming from an Egyptian mummy. Two other resinous materials, dammar and mastic resins employed in Cultural Heritage, were also studied, in which nine and seven triterpenoids are respectively characterized.

The study of animal mummification in ancient Egypt has recently received increasing attention from a number of modern scholars given the fact that this part of ancient Egyptian funerary and religious history is a practice yet to be fully understood. In this study, nine samples of embalming matter were extracted from six gazelle mummies from the archaeological site of Kom Mereh (modern village of Komir), dated to the Roman period of dominance in ancient Egypt. All samples were analyzed for the presence of inorganic and organic matter applying a multi-analytical approach based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Furthermore, in order to identify more specific compounds such as bitumen and beeswax in studied balms, each sample was subjected to a solid phase extraction (SPE) and saponification separation process, respectively. The results of this study revealed that the majority of the analyzed embalming substances sampled from six gazelle mummies from Kom Mereh were complex mixtures of plant oils, animal fats, conifer resin, and beeswax. In this regard, this study was able to report a practice until now unmentioned in the scientific literature, namely, the use of cruciferous oil, derived from seeds of Brassicaceae plants, in animal mummification.