Copper Plate , an Ancient Egyptian Antibacterial Used to Protect the Pharaonic Mummies

In ancient Egypt, life after death was an enormous part of the Egyptian life. Thus the protecting bodies from decay and preserving them in a recognizable form was extremely important for the ancient Egyptians, who believed that people needed their bodies in the afterlife. From here started the mummification process, embalming and treating a dead body after death in ancient Egypt removed the internal organs from an incision on the left side of the mummy body, and covered with plate from copper or copper alloys. The results reveal that decorated bronze plate was used for protection and fights the decay of mummy body from microbial and fungal. Copper ions, either alone or in copper complexes, have been used for centuries to disinfect liquids, solids and human tissue. This manuscript explain the antibacterial mechanisms of bronze and the current usages of copper and copper alloys as antibacterial and antifungal by the ancient Egyptian to protect the body of mummies from decay. The study results suggest the selection of copper and tin alloy (bronze) plates can materially assist in reducing the transmission of infectious organisms and consider as excellent antibacterial action against several type of bacteria such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas and E. coli.  Restoration Department, High Institute of Tourism, Hotel Management and Restoration, Alexandria,egypt.  Restoration Department, High Institute of Tourism, Hotel Management and Restoration, Alexandria,egypt. يبرعلا نطولا راثآ يف تاسارد 13 273 1-Introduction The Egyptians believed that life after death was the greatest accomplishment of all. Therefore, the people of Egypt would spend most of their time preparing for the cross-over between life and death. Thus, protecting the bodies by mummification process from decay and preserving them in a recognizable form was extremely important, as they believed that people need their bodies in the afterlife. Mummification process started after an Egyptians death, they would be taken to a tent know the "tent of purification", here is where the mummification process was performed by embalmers. The first step to the process was to clean and wash the Egyptians life away with water from the Nile. From here the internal organs were removed from an incision on the left side of the body. The incision on the left side Fig. (1A) was then covered with either wax, or with a metal plate Fig. (1B). Copper plate was used for protection the body of mummy and decorated with magical symbols. Copper or copper alloys were an important metal for the ancient Egyptians, because it could be easily worked and shaped into weapons, tools and magical plates. The metal and its alloys have been used as natural antimicrobial materials from the ancient time 1 In ancient Egypt (2000 BC), copper was used to purify water and wounds. Copper sulphate for example was an especially important compound in early times. Ancient Egyptians used it as prescription for pulmonary diseases and a mordant in their dyeing process. Copper pipes and vessels were used to keep drinking water pure in ancient Egypt. The Roman people were used the copper cooking utensils to prevent the spread of disease. Also, the ancient Greeks in the time of Hippocrates (400 BC) prescribed copper for pulmonary diseases and for purifying drinking water. In India, several advices say that drinking water should be kept in copper vessels and 2) Dollwet HHA, Sorenson JRJ. , 2001. Historic uses of copper compounds in medicine. Trace Elements Med 2: 80-7. يبرعلا نطولا راثآ يف تاسارد 13 274 exposed to sunlight to purify the water. The Aztec people (groups of central Mexico), used copper oxide and copper carbonate for treating skin conditions. Hindu devotees drink a "Holy water", stored in copper utensils as it keeps the water sparkling clean. In addition, the American pioneers put copper coins in wooden water casks to provide safe drinking water for their long journey. While, Japanese soldiers put pieces of copper in their water bottles to prevent spread of disease such as dysentery. The fungicidal and biocidal properties of copper were demonstrated in controlled laboratory studies starting in the early 1950s 2 and since then copper and copper compounds have been shown to effectively kill a wide range of fungi such as Aspergillus carbonarius 3 . Scientists are also actively demonstrating the intrinsic efficacies of copper alloy "touch surfaces" to destroy a wide range of microorganisms that threaten public health. Copper exerts its toxicity to microorganisms through several parallel mechanisms, which eventually may lead to the microorganisms’ death even within minutes of their exposure to copper 4 . Copper is also used as the active ingredient in products that prevent roof moss formation, such as copper granules found in 3M Scotchgard Algae Resistant Roofin System 5 This paper interpretation the potent biocidal properties and the current usages of copper and copper compounds as antibacterial and antifungal agents in ancient Egypt. 3) Foye Wo, Van De Workeen IB Jr, Matthes JD. ,1958.Copper complexes of aromatic dithiocarbamates and their antifungal activity. J Am Pharm Assoc Am Pharm Assoc (Baltim) 47: 556-8. 4) Belli N, Marin S, Sanchis V, Ramos AJ. , 2006. Impact of fungicides on Aspergillus carbonarius growth and ochratoxin A production on synthetic grape-like medium and on grapes. Food Addit Contam 23: 1021-9. 5) Ohsumi Y, Kitamoto K, Anraku Y. ,1988.Changes induced in the permeability barrier of the yeast plasma membrane by cupric ion. J Bacteriol170: 2676-82. 6) Resistant Roofing System, 2004.http:// solutions.3m. com/ wps/portal/3M/en_US/IMPD/Roofing-Solutions/Products/Scotchgard-AlgaeResistant يبرعلا نطولا راثآ يف تاسارد 13 275 Fig.(1A)The mummified body with an incision in the left side and covered it with a metal plate. (B) Position of the incision, varied only slightly throughout ancient Egyptian history. 2-Materials and methods Samples of the metal plate were studied by scanning electron microscope SEM-EDX and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to find their mineral composition, alteration products and morphological features of metal plate. Optical microscopy at various magnification degrees, up to maximum 100X, was used to investigate the morphological forms and concentration of bacterial and fungal colonies. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) together with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDX), was used to determine the type of alloy, morphology and the elemental composition. SEM micrographs and EDS spectra of selected specimens were obtained by using a JEOL JSM-5300 instrument, equipped with a Link EDX operated at accelerating voltage 30 KV. XRD analysis was used to identify type of alloy and the corrosion products covering the surface and to understand the corrosive conditions that led to the corrosion of the metal plate. The powder diffraction patterns of the samples were obtained Cu-kα radiation and Ni filter. The scanning speed is 2θ-1 degree/min at constant voltage 40 KV and 30 Ma using a Phillips PW 1840 diffractometer. 3Result and Discussion 3-1 Preparation of microbial media In this study two differential cultural media were used to microorganisms cultivation as follows: 1-Nutrient agar typically contains, 3mg. peptone, 15mg.agar-agar, 5mg. NaCl, 3gm. meat extract and 1000 ml. distilled water. يبرعلا نطولا راثآ يف تاسارد 13 276 2-Dox's agar medium consists of sucrose 20gm. , 20mg.agar-agar, sodium nitrate 2gm. , dipotassium phosphate 1gm. , potassium chloride 0.5mg. , magnesium sulphate 0.5mg. and 1000 ml. water tap. Sterilized by autoclaving at 105 atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 121°C. Both nutrients were obtained from S.C. A (Supreme Council of Antiques) laboratories in CairoEgypt. Several samples were taken under sterile conditions with swabs and scalpels from hair, mouth, shoulder and skins of Egyptian mummies. These samples were inoculated on Petri dishes with nutrient agar and dox's agar medium at 30 °C. Numerous different bacterial and fungal colonies appeared on all Petri dishes. Pure cultures for identification were obtained from various morphological forms. The following species were identified and isolated: Asp. Niger, Asp. Fumigates, Asp. Flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium citrinum, Aspergillus japonicas, Asp. Wentii, Asp. Sulphureous and Pen. Citrinum Fig.(2).