Mummy wheat turns to dust
2002-01-25 14:44
Paris - An enduring myth among amateur gardeners - that wheat grains
found in the ancient tombs of Egyptian mummies can miraculously
flower after millennia underground - has been shot down by
science.
The legend of so-called mummy wheat spread across Europe in the
early 19th century, after Napoleon's army discovered relics of
ancient Egypt during its ill-fated expedition to the Nile.
Within a few decades, the European press was gripped by reports
that grains discovered in tombs up to 6 000 years old were found to
have fantastic powers of regeneration, thanks to the arid
conditions in which they had been stored - and, who knows, to some
mystical power of the Pharoahs.
The seeds were said to be so fertile that they could yield as
many as seven fat ears of wheat, a figure that chimed in nicely
with biblical numerology.
At the height of the craze, so-called mummy wheat was sold for
nearly $100 for 10 grains at today's prices.
The truth, though, is somewhat less exciting, the British weekly
New Scientist reported on Thursday.
Many cereals can be stored for centuries, provided they are of
good quality, are partially dried and kept in stable, chilled
conditions and in low humidity.
But repeated attempts to resuscitate mummy wheat in the
laboratory have failed, yielding only decay and mould.
Meanwhile, a killer blow to the tale has come from the Royal
Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, which used a sophisticated computer
model to calculate the potential longevity of mummy wheat.
The model, by John Dickie at the Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank,
is based on the assumption that mummy wheat would deteriorate at a
similar rate to modern grains.
His model for the storage conditions comes from the well-studied
tomb of Nefertari, the favourite wife of Ramses II, who lived in
the second millennium BC, New Scientist said.
The tomb's relative humidity is only 16 percent, which is
excellent for seed storage.
The bad news: even though the tomb is located deep within rock,
its temperature fluctuates from 16 to 28.5 Celsius.
Pharonic power or not, this wide variation is disastrous for
long-term grain fertility, says Dickie.
Even if the grain was of the highest quality, and the
temperature remained constant at 16 Celsius, perhaps one grain
in a thousand could still germinate after 236 years.
And with the temperature hitting the high 20s, the
grain would all be dead in just 89 years, he calculates. - Sapa/AFP
- SAPA