unguent

Likewise, “sefet” is thought to refer to a sacred oil, but three vessels with that label contained animal fats combined with plant additives, suggesting it could be a scented unguent instead.

And he goes on to report a test where the unguent was applied by a sceptical clergyman, so that there could be no suspicion of either cheating or demonic involvement.

Other results have been ascribed by the disappointed parties to grooming products – unguents, pomades and so on.

“It would be irrational to assume that unguent cones did not have a scent or that their function wasn’t to perfume its wearer,” she said.

But the discovery also potentially undermines another leading hypothesis about the cones: that they were perfumed lumps of unguent that slowly melted in the sun to perfume and cleanse the body, both literally and spiritually.