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Perfumes and Unguents in Ancient Egypt

In  modern  parlance,  a  "perfume"  is  made of essential oils in an alcohol base. Distillation of pure alcohol  was unknown in pharaonic times;

"perfume"  or  "cologne"  as  such  did  not  exist  in ancient Egypt.  Instead, oils and fats were impregnated with the essences of various  plants.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  from  what  substances  these  extracts  were  made,  since  the  essential  oils  have  not  survived  in  extant  samples  of  unguents.  Scholars  can  only  reconstruct  the  ingredients from images in tombs, recipes for scent from the Greco-Roman period,  and  knowledge  of  the  raw  materials  available  to  pharaonic perfumers.
The  plants  used  to  scent  pharaonic  perfumed  oils  most  likely  included the water lily (lotus) and the flowers of the henna plant. Two varieties of water lily, (Nymphaea caeru-lea and  N.  lotus),  are  denoted  (inaccurately)  by  Egyptologists with  the  single term "lotus." Nymphaea was a supremely important plant for  the  ancient  Egyptians,  used  as  decorative  element,  food,  and  medicine,  and  replete  with  religious  symbolism.  Its  scent  was  supposedly that of the sweat of the gods; its opening and closing  mimicked the pattern of life and rebirth. It has been suggested that  plant's essence, dissolved in wine, was used as an intoxicant.

Egyptian scene depicting the preparation of lily perfume, 4th century BC
Egyptian scene depicting the
preparation of lily perfume,
4th century BC
The flowers of the henna plant (Lawsonia inennis) also have a  strong scent, which would have been used in perfumes, as might  other fragrant flowers such as the Madonna lily (Lilium candidum).  Representations  of  perfume-making  from  the  Late  period  show  a  plant  resembling  the  Madonna  lily  being  picked  and  pressed  to  extract its essence.

Other scented substances—cedar wood, cinnamon bark, resins,  herbs (such as thyme), and spices (such as coriander)—would have  been used in the creation of unguents and perfumes. The resins in  use no doubt included myrrh and frankincense, as well as ladanum  or galbanum. Ladanum is derived from the leaves and branches of shrubs of the genus Cistus, which grow in many locations around  the Mediterranean. Galbanum, derived from Ferula (a large herb),  would have been imported from Persia, possibly by the time of the  New Kingdom.

Both the leaves and the bark of the various types of cinnamon  tree  (Cinnamomum  zeylanicum,  C.  camphora,  or  C.  cassia)  may  have  been  utilized  in  the  preparation  of  unguents  and  perfumes,  certainly by the Roman period, as the use of the term kinamomon in  Coptic attests. During the Roman Empire, an extremely expensive  scent called malabathron, made with cinnamon, was highly prized.  The type of cinnamon bark used was probably C. wylanicum, which  is not native to Egypt but to Ceylon.

Perfume  could  be  created  by  crushing  the  aromatic  elements  (seeds, bark, flowers, leaves, and so on) and infusing oil or fat with  them.  Three  techniques  seem  to  have  been  in  use:  enfleurage,  in  which layers of fat are saturated with perfume from flowers, which  would be replaced from time to time; maceration, in which flowers  or  other  plant  materials  are  dipped  into  fats  or  oils  heated  to  a  temperature of about 65°C, and the mixture then sieved and allowed  to cool; and expressing the perfume directly from flowers or fruit.  Many types of oils derived from nuts and  seeds  were  available  for  use  as  the  base  of  perfumes  and  unguents, including baianos oil, linseed oil, olive oil, sesame oil,  almond oil, and ben oil. Ben oil was derived from the horseradish  tree (Moringa oleifera). Castor oil would also have been available,  but as it has a strong smell, is unlikely to have been used. Olive oil  and almond oil would have been among the most expensive since,  although they can grow in Egypt, these trees were not native to the Nile Valley and would have required special cultivation. Almond  oil  has  a  particularly  sweet  smell  which  would  have  made  it  desirable as a base for scent or makeup.

With all of these varying types of vegetable oils available, it is  interesting to note that of the thirty-five vases of perfumes found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, the only one that had not been emptied was  found to contain an unguent based on animal grease. The animal  from which the fat came has not been determined. In medical texts  from  ancient  Egypt,  however,  the  fat  of  geese  and  the  tallow  of  oxen  are  most  often  specified  as  a  base  for  remedies  applied  externally. The fat of ducks, sheep, and goats, less expensive and  thus  more  widely  available,  might  also  have  been  used.  In  one  analyzed  specimen  of  unguent,  the  fatty  matter  was  mixed  with  another substance, which was tentatively identified as a balsam or  resin  (such  as  myrrh).  This  might  have  been  included  to  add  fragrance  or  to  fix  the  scent  already  mixed.  A  few  containers  of  perfumes from the tomb contained only resin, a Middle Kingdom  sample  also  contained  tiny  splinters  of  wood.  The  latter  were  almost certainly from a fragrant tree such as cedar.

The sophistication of pharaonic perfumers in creating fragrances  should not be underestimated. Both Pliny the Elder and Athenaeus,  in  fact,  claim  that  Egyptian  fragrance  was  the  best  in  the  world,  because its scents were the longest lasting and it was the country  best suited to the production of perfume (presumably owing to the  great number of ingredients available there). A number of ancient  authors,  such  as  Pliny,  Dioscorides,  and  Theophrastus,  give  recipes  for  perfumes  which  include  several  ingredients.  For  example,  a  famous  perfume  from  Mendes,  one  of  several  mentioned  by  classical  authors,  contained  ba-lanos  oil,  cassia,  myrrh,  and  aromatic  resins.  In  his  book  Concerning  Odours,  Theophrastus  mentions  a  scent  made  from  cinnamon  and  myrrh  mixed with other, unnamed substances.

One  item  of  pharaonic  perfumery  that  has  created  discussion  among  scholars  is  the  cones  which  appear  on  the  heads  of  banqueters  and  others  in  festive  garb  during  the  New Kingdom.  These cones are usually believed to have been made of scented fat,  probably  ox  tallow  impregnated  with  myrrh,  although  there  has  been  a  recent  suggestion  that  they  were  made  of  beeswax.  Egyptologists have noted that a similar custom survived among certain Bedouin tribes until  the present century, and fat was worn as a hairdressing by Nubian  tribes.  Egyptologist  Rita  Freed  has  suggested  that  the  custom  originated as a means of counteracting the drying effect of the sun  on hair.  Many  unguents  and  oils  were  made  from  expensive  or  rare  substances.  Thus,  in  ancient  Egypt  most  unguents  and  perfumes  would have been easily available only to the rich. The importance  of  scent  to  personal  hygiene  and  wellbeing,  however,  was  universal. Unguents and scented oils were an essential part of the  daily  toilette  for  all  classes  throughout  Egyptian  histoi-y  because  oils and unguents were essential to protect and condition the skin in  the  dry  climate.  In  fact,  the  striking  workmen of Deir el-Medina listed body oil as one of their demands. Both sexes were advised to  rub  pellets  of  ground  carob  (or  juniper)  into  the  skin  to  act  as  a  deodorant.

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