In the arid climate of Ancient Egypt, perfumes were highly regarded by all. Egyptians even created a god that dealt exclusively with them, a god they called Nefertem. Nefertem was called “the lord of the nose” and in hieroglypths was pictured with a lotus blossom hovering over his head. The lotus blossom itself was so wildly popular with Ancient Egyptians that if there was a picture of a large banquet the lotus blossom was to be found on the heads of all the guests and adorned the table of the meal also.
Egyptian perfumes were noted for their intensity throughout the world and were highly sought after. The Ancient Greeks even considered them experts in the art of perfumery with the Greek philosopher Theophrastus extolling their virtues and proclaiming of perfumes, “Those which last the longest are the Egyptian ones.” It was the belief of Theophrastus that, “A lasting perfume is what women require.” One maker of perfumes even claimed a bottle of Egyptian perfume had been in his shop for nearly 8 years and was still stronger and more fragrant than brand new perfumes he created, surely a remarkable sign to attest to the strength of Egyptian perfumes.
Since Ancient Egyptians were unaware of distillation in alcohol, at least until the 4th Century BC, perfumes were created by extracting flowers, various woods and plants which were then steeped in oil. There was a large choice of oils for them to have chosen from such as castor oil, linseed oil, moringa oil, balanos oil and almond, olive and safflower oils too. An interesting combination of myrrh, resin and balanos oil was created in Mendes which proved highly popular with Egyptians and was probably as famous back then as Chanel No. 5 is today.
For large get-togethers or meals, one thing both men and women did to smell nice was to place an unguent cone in their hair. Due to the extreme heat, these cones would slowly melt over the hours and release delicious smelling oils which also had the added benefit of adding shine to one’s hair too. The Egyptians would look and smell even better at the end of the meal than they did when they’d arrived! Even in death mummies were anointed with copious amounts of perfumes, sure to please the various gods and goddesses they would encounter in the afterlife. A good scent was sure to please them which was an important thing to those traversing the fields of the unknown in death.
Would it be possible to re-create these same perfumes today? It would be nice, but even though there are hieroglyphs of recipes located on temple complexes – known as anointing kitchens – nobody has of yet been able to decipher the ingredients. But one day if someone is able to read them we may all find ourselves wearing Ancient Egyptian perfumes once again.
Sources: Hagen, Rainer (2002), Egypt: People, Gods, Pharaohs, Taschen
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/islam24.html
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/trades/perfume_makers.htm