Few visitors wandering through the mummy galleries at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo have the opportunity—or perhaps the inclination—to smell the aromas wafting off the gilded sarcophagi and elaborately wrapped bodies of ancient Egyptian elites on display in glass cases.

Researchers who sniffed mummified remains in the name of science were greeted more with a blessing than a curse

Learn how unpacking olfactory elements helps researchers understand mummy preservation techniques, and how you could one day smell a mummy yourself.