3,200 Year-Old Mesopotamian Perfume Recreated

[Judi Lynn]

By
James Ssengendo
December 20, 2022



3,200 Year-Old Mesopotamian Perfume Recreated. Credit: Public Domain

A 3,200-year-old Mesopotamian fragrance has been recreated in Diyarbakır, Turkey based on a formula left on an ancient clay tablet by a renowned female perfume maker of the time named Tapputi.

The perfume formula was discovered by archaeologists on a cuneiform tablet during excavations in Assur, the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state in what is modern-day Iraq. The tablet indicated the steps Tapputi used in producing her scents.

Inscriptions on the tablet displayed her full name as Tapputi-Belatekallim, with Belatekallim meaning “a female overseer of a house.” Tapputi was also described as a producer of fine Mesopotamian perfumes.

The area where the tablets were discovered was part of Babylonian Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC, and the tablets date to 1200 BC.

More:
https://greekreporter.com/2022/12/20/3200-year-old-mesopotamian-perfume-recreated/

[Biophilic]

1. I've never worn perfume, but this was fascinating. I'd love to experience the fragrances.

What an interesting 'mystery' tale.

[Wicked Blue]

2. I wonder what horseradish smells like in perfume

Did she use the root, leaves, stems, flowers?

It's fascinating.