How To Make Perfume - The Origin of Perfume

It is well documented that the Egyptians were paramount in teaching the rest of the ancient world "how to make perfume".  From the first known process of burning wood and incense, after rubbing it with fragrant oil, to producing aromatic blends in fancy bottles, the people of Egypt went on to trade these highly valuable wares to other parts.  While Egyptian people loved to bathe frequently in fragrant water, it was more likely that the Greeks developed the liquid version of perfume.  The recent discovery of an ancient perfume making site on the island of Cyprus gave us a hugely valuable insight into those first origins in the perfume market.

Perfume historians had already delightfully found evidence that Egyptian mummies had been embalmed in perfumed rituals, and that ancient tombs held fragranced jars.  After the discovery of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Tutankhamun's tomb, traces of perfume were found even after thousands of years.  The unearthing of the Cyprus factory though, gave history buffs an amazing impression of "how to make perfume" in the Bronze Age. 

An Italian archaeology team found the centuries-old factory, with some of the ancient artefacts still intact after the site's historical destruction in an earthquake.   The perfume trade in Egypt was reputedly massive at the time the Cyprus factory was in production, and it is highly likely that the two civilizations had firm trading links in those days.  Indeed, perfume makers today refer to a type of blend as Chypre (for Cyprus).  While some modern ingredients are much more advanced, Chypre perfumes are known for their bergamot and mossy properties, consistent with the findings at the Cyprus perfumery.  Also present in the bottle fragments were traces of myrtle, laurel and cinnamon, which confirmed previous beliefs of "how to make perfume" from the natural resources of our world.   

Huge jars of oil were also uncovered in the dig, reconfirming theories of great trading links between Cyprus, Greece and Egypt.  People in those ancient times held perfumed oils and ointments in great esteem, not just for their daily bathing routine or to impress each other.  More importantly, these people in ancient lands would not have conducted their burials and ceremonies without the presence of perfumed resins, fragranced ointments and aromatic oils.  Tracing back the origins of how to make perfume to the second and third centuries BC has been helped tremendously by the remarkable discovery of the industrial perfumery in Cyprus!