{"id":173663,"date":"2024-11-25T14:23:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T13:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=173663"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:36","slug":"how-a-cup-of-tea-led-to-a-scientific-publication-that-debunked-the-pyramid-peppermint-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/11\/25\/how-a-cup-of-tea-led-to-a-scientific-publication-that-debunked-the-pyramid-peppermint-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"How a cup of tea led to a scientific publication that debunked the pyramid peppermint myth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peppermint has been used medicinally since ancient times in Egypt, and dried peppermint leaves have even been found in thousands-of-years-old pyramids. At least, that’s what marketers of mint products often claim. This claim turned out to be a persistent myth, discovered employee Jesse Millek, information specialist by day and archaeologist by night.<\/p>\n

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Jesse Millek with a cup of fresh mint tea. These mint leaves are also not from Egypt.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFeba Sukmana<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

It\u2019s 18 degrees below zero on a February morning in 2021 when Jesse Millek, then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, makes himself a cup of tea. The university is closed due to the pandemic, so all that\u2019s left for him is to work from home. His eyes land on an interesting fact on the box of peppermint tea: \u201cPeppermint has been used medicinally for thousands of years \u2013 in fact, dried peppermint leaves were found in the pyramids of Egypt in 1000 BC.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Mint<\/em> is a collective name for plants within the mentha<\/em> genus. Peppermint (mentha piperita<\/em>) is a specific species: a hybrid of spearmint and watermint. Peppermint is known for its strong, sharp taste, which is especially used in sweets and health products.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

As an archaeologist with expertise in the ancient Near East, the claim piques his curiosity. A quick Google search reveals that the claim is widespread: peppermint is often associated with Egyptian pyramids. \u201cI thought, where did this come from?\u201d he says. \u201cThe pyramids are usually empty, except for bats and rubble. So this sounded pretty unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n

He begins to \u2018dig\u2019. He searches archives and Google Scholar with various search terms, digging further back in time. His six-month-old daughter becomes his \u2018research partner\u2019. \u201cShe was often awake in the middle of the night and could only fall back asleep on the couch. I spent many hours behind my laptop there with minimal movement so she wouldn\u2019t wake up\u201d, he laughs.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Writers mention the claim as if it\u2019s a fact, like \u2018the earth is round\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

German Archaeologist<\/h2>

Many scientific articles mention the claim, but without sourcing. \u201cIt feels like the writers consider the claim a fact, like \u2018the earth is round’\u201d, the American says.<\/p>\n

Yet, he discovers something: references to the discovery of \u2018mint leaves\u2019 in Egyptian tombs. A German botanist had identified these leaves as peppermint. \u201cBut that\u2019s not correct\u201d, Millek says. Peppermint originally comes from England and was only identified in 1696 by botanist John Ray. \u201cThe plants found in the tomb couldn\u2019t have been peppermint, because that species didn\u2019t exist there at the time. It was probably a native mint species\u201d, he explains.<\/p>\n

However, the German botanist\u2019s mistake was blindly adopted. A German fragrance and flavour manufacturer cited the discovery in a report, causing the error to take on a life of its own. \u201cOver the years, the story of \u2018tomb peppermint\u2019 morphed into \u2018pyramid peppermint\u2019 because the largest tombs in Egypt are obviously the pyramids\u201d, Millek explains.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t