Perfumes in Ancient Egypt | Middle East And North Africa

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PERFUME IN ANCIENT EGYPT

baboon-shaped perfume vessel

"Perfume" — a Latin word meaning "through smoke" — comes to us from the Mesopotamians and Egyptians, who used the burnt resin from desert shrubs such as myrrh, cassia, spikenard and frankincense for their aromatic fragrance. Pharaohs burned incense as an offering to the gods and were embalmed with cumin, marjoram and cinnamon. Some women wore cones of unguent at parties that melted and covered their bodies with scent.

The ancient Egyptians believed that bad odors caused disease and good ones chased them away. Perfumes and fragrances were rubbed on the body for health reasons and to ward off curses. At parties men wore garlands of flower and perfume and spread powdered perfume on their beds so their bodies would absorb the scent during the night. Flower petals were scattered on the floor and perfumed water poured from orifices in statues.

The Egyptians developed ornate glass vessels to hold perfume and developed the process of effleurage (squeezing aromatics into fatty oils). Cedarwood was used to give house and mummies a fresh smell; incenses was used to protect papyrus from insects.

Lise Manniche of the University of Copenhagen wrote: “In ancient Egypt, scent was released in the form of incense, or it was prepared on a base of oils or fat. Although distillation appears to have been known in parts of the ancient world c. 2000 B.C., there is as yet no proof of its having been applied in Pharaonic Egypt... Perfume in Egypt was fat-based, and the ingredients most often mentioned in texts are frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, cassia, and cardamom. Scent had an important role in temple and funerary ritual. Furthermore, perfume was a luxury item and a commodity traded in the Mediterranean. [Source: Lise Manniche, University of Copenhagen, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

“The sources of our information are as follows: prescriptions included in medical papyri or on temple walls or quoted by classical authors (e.g., Theophrastus, Pliny, Galen, Dioscorides); representations of activities related to scent manufacture on tomb walls; scent containers and representations of such containers on the walls of tombs and temples, indicating contexts in which scent was used; surviving raw materials; surviving prepared substances and analyses thereof; and survivals in Islamic and modern practices. Scent was a luxury item. Costly ingredients were imported, prepared, and exported, and there are many examples of this traffic both entering and leaving Egypt from as early as 2000 B.C.. This trade was a major force in the Egyptianeconomy. Traditionally, frankincense and myrrh came from the land of Punt (in the area of Eritrea and Somalia), but Syria- Palestine is known to be a source of pistacia resin.”

Types of Perfume in Ancient Egypt

Greco-Egyptian hedgehog-shaped perfume container

The earliest perfumes were not used for cosmetic purposed but rather as offerings to gods. Incense was burned by the ton during ceremonies. In some cases it was used as a kind of deodorizer for sacrificed animals. By 3000 B.C., Egyptians and Mesopotamian were using perfumes as body scents and bathing oils rather than incense.

Ancient Egyptians used many kinds of perfume, above all one well known to the Greeks, consisted of myrrh, broom, frankincense, buckshorn, and several other ingredients, some of which were obtained from foreign plants. These substances were pounded and then mixed together, and a certain quantity was put on the fire, and then “the smell in the house and of the clothes was pleasant. " Honey also was added and pills concocted, which when chewed “by women made the breath of their mouths sweet. " Egyptian women used different perfumes for different parts of their bodies. See Cleopatra Below [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

Cheryl Dawley of Minnesota State University, Mankato, wrote: “The Egyptians were quite fond of strong scents. A great variety of oils and fats were available for perfumes. The most popular was the basic oil called balanos, among the lower class it was castor oil. In terms of perfumes, a distillation process using steam was probably not used for extracting scents from flowers, seeds or fruits. There were three known techniques for extracting scents. The first was enfleurage, accomplished by soaking flowers in layers of fat. Creams and pomades were created in this manner. A popular form of pomade was shaped like a cone and worn on the top of the head. As the evening progressed the cone would melt and the scented oil would run down the face and neck. The cones would be renewed throughout the evening. The second process was called maceration. Flowers, herbs or fruits were dipped into fats or oils and heated to 65 degrees Celsius. The mixture was sieved and allowed to cool then shaped into cones or balls. The third process, though not used often, was to express the essence from flowers or seeds much like the wine maker did from fruit.” [Source: Cheryl Dawley, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com +]

Cleopatra's Perfumes

Cleopatra reportedly used a perfume made from rose oil and violets on her hands and anointed her feet with an oil made with honey, cinnamon, iris, hyacinth and orange blossoms. Incense burners surrounded her throne.

Scientists believe they have uncovered what Cleopatra’s perfume smelled like after years of work. Madeline Buiano wrote in Martha Stewart Living: It started when archaeologists Robert Littman of the University of Hawaii and Jay Silverstein of the University of Tyumen uncovered the roughly 2,300-year-old remains of what is speculated to be a fragrance factory. The site, which the researchers began excavating in 2009, contains kilns and clay perfume containers, according to ScienceNews. [Source:Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart Living, May 25, 2022]

Following the discovery, Berlin-based Egyptologist, Dora Goldsmith, and Prague-based professor of Greek and Roman philosophy, Sean Coughlin, tried to re-create a beloved Egyptian fragrance known as the Mendesian perfume, which Cleopatra may have used. The experts experimented with ingredients like desert date oil, myrrh, cinnamon, and pine resin to produce a scent that the pharaoh likely wore. According to Goldsmith and Coughlin, the perfume is a strong, but pleasant blend of spiciness and sweetness.

Ingredients of Perfumes in Ancient Egypt

Lise Manniche of the University of Copenhagen wrote: “When assessing the ingredients that went into scented preparations as quoted in texts, the main problem encountered is of a lexicographical nature. Although the general category of an ingredient is indicated by a determinative, many plant names remain unidentified, and some designations may have changed or developed over the centuries. Where translations into Greek are available, this is only helpful up to a point, as authors may suggest a substitute ingredient, rather than a translation, for a plant that was perhaps not available locally. Adulteration of expensive scents was common. Foreign ingredients of a durable nature were appreciated for their rarity, and preparations from more common and ephemeral ingredients (e.g., lotus) do not appear to have been recorded as frequently. [Source: Lise Manniche, University of Copenhagen, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

frankinsence

“When quoting Egyptian recipes for scents, classical authors make frequent mention of a small number of popular ingredients: frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, cassia, and cardamom. All of these would themselves have been imported by the Egyptians. Temple records of New-Kingdom date mention large shipments of frankincense and myrrh, which is known to have been acquired on the coast of modern Somalia and Eritrea. The spices would have come by caravan from even further afield. Ptolemaic inscriptions specify numerous designations for gums and resins according to age, color, texture, etc. Other plant ingredients quoted include iris, henna, juniper, lily, marjoram, mint, myrtle, sweet flag, cyprus grass, mastic, and pistacia resin. Occasionally, mineral ingredients are included.

“Known base ingredients for incense are raisins and sycamore figs, but raisins would burn easily on their own. Available base ingredients for scent to be applied to the body would include oil of local Sesamum indicum L., Ricinus communis L., Balanos aegyptiaca L., Moringa oleifera, and (in limited quantity and probably imported) olive and almond, with fat of ox, sheep, or fowl for a more solid unguent. Pulp or liquid (reben) of starchy seeds of an as-yet-unidentified Ethiopian tree (nedjem) was also used. Most available analyses of the contents of perfume jars are antiquated and only specify “fatty matter” (e.g., analyses of the substances from the tomb of Tutankhamun) or are summary, but results of the application of modern technology are beginning to appear. Samples taken from the mummy of Ramesses II were subjected to pollen analysis with interesting results: his body had been anointed with chamomile oil, the flower having grown in a field with a host of other plants that left pollen traces. Ongoing research in French laboratories (and elsewhere) using chromatography and infrared spectroscopy should provide further details on ingredients and methods of preparation, such as wet chemistry, in the future.

Manufacture of Perfumes in Ancient Egypt

Lise Manniche of the University of Copenhagen wrote: “Most textual references for the manufacture of Egyptian scents date to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. In order to extract the properties of plants and flowers to be added to the base material, the Egyptians used maceration and boiling. Apart from the choice of ingredients, sequence and timing were crucial, as the ingredient added last would be the most pungent. Some items (e.g., orris root) were added to bind the scents or to bring out the fragrance (e.g., sweet wine added to myrrh). Most perfumes were left in their natural color, although alkanet could be used for dyeing them red. [Source: Lise Manniche, University of Copenhagen, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

“Details of perfume preparation are available primarily from the Ptolemaic temple of Edfu, where they are inscribed on the walls of the so-called laboratory, which, due to lack of light and ventilation, rather served as a storeroom. The instructions may have been copied from a “Book of Unguent” mentioned among the library books stored in the temple of Dendara. The entire operation might take up to a year, even two, if the preparation of the base ingredient was included. Before proceeding with the main ingredients, the oil or fat was made astringent by adding herbs and spices. The recipes are meticulous in specifying quantities, especially of the reduction that would take place during cooking, which if done correctly, would have a pre-calculated end result. “Classical authors give many instructions about preparing scent with frequent references to Egyptian practices. These scents were aimed at Greek or Roman customers, and the perfume was a luxury item, not necessarily for sacred use. Perfume may have been imported from Egypt in bulk or in glass bottles, which have been found all over the Mediterranean. It may also have been prepared “on license” from ingredients shipped in - hence the need for having the recipes in print. Delicate floral scents had to be macerated several times. For making a batch of lily perfume, Dioscorides reports that he would take 1000 lilies and macerate them for 24 hours in spiced balanos oil. After straining and skimming, another 1000 lilies would be macerated in this oil. The more times this was repeated, the stronger the scent.

“The manufacture of scent must have been a major industry in Egypt. However, no production centers seem to have been unearthed, and, unlike other crafts, it was hardly ever included in tomb decoration. One exception is a 26th-Dynasty representation of the squeezing of flowers now in the Louvre; another is a unique sequence of figures painted on the wall of the anonymous (non-royal) Theban tomb number 175, which dates to the mid-18th Dynasty and shows grinding, sifting, cooking, and bottling along with some of the ingredients .

Uses of Perfumes in Ancient Egypt

Lise Manniche of the University of Copenhagen wrote: “Incense was burnt in quantity during the daily temple ritual, as well as in connection with embalming, at funerary ceremonies, and at home, the purpose being to purify the air. The overall caption for this act is jrt snTr, snTr having recently been demonstrated to be a specific designation for pistacia resin, although it probably carries an extended meaning. The most famous of all scents was kyphi, known from three versions on temple walls (two at Edfu, one at Philae), from papyri, and from mentions as early as the Pyramid Texts. Kyphi is the Greek rendering of Egyptian kapet, which means a substance to be smoked (= pro fumo). Kyphi was also quoted extensively by classical writers and in the Middle Ages (Nicolaos from Alexandria, c. CE 1300). The number of ingredients in kyphi is in the region of 16, including resins, herbs and spices on a base of raisins. Already in the New Kingdom, P. Ebers included a recipe for kyphi, but with fewer ingredients. Galen prescribed it for snakebites, but Plutarch described the spiritual and therapeutic effects of inhaling kyphi or even taking it in wine. He specifies a sun kyphi and a moon kyphi. Attempts have been made at recreating and marketing kyphi in modern times, but any claim to authenticity would stumble over lexicographical hurdles.[Source: Lise Manniche, University of Copenhagen, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

making lily perfume, 4th dynasty of Egypt, 2500 BC

“Perfumed oils or fats were used for anointing the image of the deity during the daily temple ritual, and liquid resin was poured over offering tables. Perfume was also part of the “package” given by the king to worthy officials during reward ceremonies, along with golden necklaces and sometimes gloves. It played a major part in funerary beliefs for ordinary mortals as well as for royalty. Tutankhamun’s tomb contained some 350 liters of oils and fats, some in fanciful containers carved of calcite (alabaster). The value of this commodity can be appreciated by the fact that the second lot of robbers who entered the tomb brought with them leather skins specifically for removing the oils. Residue remains in the jars to this day, some with the fingerprints of the robbers who scooped out the contents.

“The elite in Egypt would include in their burials samples of the traditional seven sacred oils, and no doubt also larger containers, such as those shown on the walls of their tomb chapels from as early as the 3rd Dynasty. Smaller containers, often called cosmetic spoons, were carved out of wood or alabaster in the shape of swimming girls with ducks, lotus flowers, pomegranates, gazelles, or similar. By having an erotic significance, these spoons would assist the deceased in the quest for rebirth and eternal life. In tomb scenes depicting banquets on the occasion of annual funerary festivals, guests appear to be balancing cones of unguent on top of their heads, though this is probably an indication from the artist that the guests were heavily perfumed with otherwise invisible scent. Scent played a major part in the erotic imagination of the Egyptians at many levels, from love poems to theogamy tales where the identity of a god is revealed through the perfume he exudes at the crucial moment.”

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, The Louvre, The British Museum, The Egyptian Museum in Cairo and Livescience (the mummy tattoo)

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated August 2024