Natron is a salty
chemical found near
Cairo,
Wadi-Natron, and south of
Thebes. It is actually a coumpound of
sodium carbonate and
sodium bicarbonate (to the likes of people like myself that translates to
salt and
baking soda).
What makes it special however, is that it was used as a
disinfectant and
desiccating agent in the
mummification process. The
ancient egyptians used to collect natron from dried up river beds, put it into linen bags and place them inside the
corpse for around 40 days in order to draw out the
moisture from the tissues.