Where do you think the oldest perfumes of the world have been found? Not France but the island reputed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, and beauty.
Clay jugs used to make and store ancient perfumes lie at an excavation site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The 4,000-year-old fragranceswere re-created by an experimental archaeology center and are now on display at the Capitolini Museum in Rome. Discovered on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in 2003, the perfumes date back more than 4,000 years.
Extracts of anise, pine, coriander, bergamot, almond, and parsley are among the ingredients the ancient perfume-makers preferred. Plants and herbs were ground up and mixed with olive oil in clay jugs, then distilled in a clay apparatus.
Remnants of the perfumes were found inside an ancient 3,230-square-foot (300-square-meter) factory that was part of a larger industrial complex at Pyrgos. The buildings were destroyed during an earthquake in 1850 B.C., but perfume bottles, mixing jugs, and stills were preserved under the collapsed walls. Its surprising that perfumes at that point in time were made on an industrial scale.
Aphrodite was likely recognized as the goddess of Cyprus because the island was already well known for its perfumes by the time the myth arose, according to Belgiorno. Many perfumes today are considered aphrodisiacs, substances believed to boost sexual desire.
Modern reproductions of the centuries-old scents are also at display in the Capitolini Museum.
May be with this find we will be able to redevelop a sense of natural fragrances, because today the industry is full of chemical reproductions.
Source: National geographic
