History of perfume

Perfume has been part of human culture for thousands of years, long before modern perfume bottles and designer brands existed. From ancient Mesopotamia to the laboratories of today, people have constantly found new ways to capture and create beautiful smells.

• The Word Means Smoke – The word perfume comes from the Latin per fumare, meaning “to smoke through,” referring to the ancient practice of producing fragrant smoke by burning aromatic materials.
• A Woman Made History – One of the earliest recorded perfume makers was Tapputi, a woman mentioned on a Babylonian cuneiform tablet from around 1200 BCE. She used flowers, oils and other aromatic ingredients and developed methods for extracting scents.
• A 4,000-Year-Old Factory – Archaeologists discovered an enormous ancient perfumery in Pyrgos, Cyprus, dating back more than 4,000 years. The site contained at least 60 stills, along with mixing bowls, funnels and perfume bottles.
• Egypt Loved Perfume – Perfume was an important part of ancient Egyptian culture, where fragrant substances were used for cosmetics, rituals and other purposes. Egypt became one of the major centres of ancient perfumery.
• The Greeks Joined In – Ancient Greeks produced perfumes using ingredients such as flowers, woods, seeds, roots, saps and gums. Perfumed oils also became closely associated with bathing and personal grooming.
• Romans Took It Further – The Romans adopted and refined perfume-making, using fragrances in everything from personal grooming to public baths. Perfumed substances could even be used to scent buildings and clothing.
• The Islamic Golden Age – In the 9th century, the Arab chemist Al-Kindi wrote a book about perfume and distillation containing more than 100 recipes for fragrant oils, aromatic waters and other scented products.
• Roses Became Liquid – Persian physician Avicenna used distillation to produce essential oils from rose petals. His work helped develop techniques for producing rose water and other plant-based fragrances.
• Perfume Went Global – Perfumery developed independently or alongside other traditions in places including Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and possibly ancient China, before being further refined by Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab cultures.
• Chemistry Changed Everything – Modern perfumery eventually moved beyond simply extracting scents from natural ingredients. The development of chemistry introduced new techniques and synthetic fragrance materials, dramatically expanding the possibilities available to perfumers.