Perfume as a luxury, long before the West

Aug 11

Long before designer bottles lined department‑store shelves, the art of capturing scent flourished in ancient civilizations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The history of perfumery reveals a sophisticated craft that existed millennia before Europe claimed it as its own. This journey through time uncovers how our ancestors transformed aromatic materials into vehicles of devotion, healing and luxury.

This timeline also carries a personal dimension. My own DNA contains threads from cultures that nurtured the art of perfume: Coptic Egypt, Bedouin desert tribes, North Africa’s Berber peoples, the Hellenistic world, the Jewish diaspora, the Sahel of Niger and the Sahara, and even a small Chinese component. Exploring the history of fragrance is therefore more than academic; it is a way of tracing my lineage through the scents and stories that connect these places.

Perfume: an ancient art form

Perfume isn’t merely a modern indulgence; it is one of humanity’s oldest crafts. Archaeological evidence shows that humans were cultivating and burning aromatic materials thousands of years before European nobility adopted fragrance. Early fragrance pioneers weren’t simply creating pleasant smells; they were communicating with deities, healing the sick and creating cultural identities through carefully crafted aromas.

The earliest fragrant beginnings (c. 4500 BC – c. 3000 BC)

China and the earliest records. The oldest written references to aromatic products come from China around 4500 BC[1]. These ancient texts describe the use of scented oils and incense in medicine and religious ceremonies, suggesting an already established tradition of working with fragrant materials. As someone with a trace of Chinese ancestry, I feel a sense of connection with these early practitioners who recorded their fragrant practices so long ago.

Meanwhile, in the Indus Valley (modern-day Pakistan and northwest India), archaeological discoveries point to perfumery operations dating back to 3000 BC. These early civilizations burned aromatic woods, resins, and herbs not merely for their pleasant scent but as a bridge between the earthly and divine realms. The rising smoke carrying prayers heavenward established the sacred foundations of what would later evolve into the art of perfumery.

Egypt and Mesopotamia (c. 3000 BC – c. 1200 BC)

Egypt and Mesopotamia developed perfume into an art form. Hieroglyphics show that Egyptians and Mesopotamians were making perfumes by 3000 BC[3]. Egyptian priests used aromatic resins to sweeten sacrificial offerings and burned incense to connect with the gods[4]. Perfumes recovered from tombs still retained their scent after thousands of years[5], demonstrating the sophistication of their preparations. These stories resonate with my Coptic heritage. My ancestors in Egypt would have been immersed in a culture where fragrance linked earth and heaven. They also echo my Bedouin roots: nomadic tribes carried these resins across the desert, helping to spread aromas along ancient trade routes.

The Egyptian perfume palette included jasmine, frankincense, lotus, myrrh, lilies and honey[6]. One famous formulation, Kyphi, blended myrrh, sweet rush, wine, honey, raisins, resin and juniper into a complex incense that was burned nightly in temples[7]. Temples such as Edfu housed dedicated laboratories where recipes were inscribed on the walls, documenting ointments and perfumes like the Hekenu ointment, Medjes ointment and Kyphi[8]. These texts reveal that Egyptians made three types of preparations; fumigations, fat‑based cooked ointments and resinous ointments[9].

Across the Euphrates, the world’s first named perfumer was Tapputi‑Belatekallim. Cuneiform tablets from the second millennium BC describe how she distilled flowers, oils, calamus, cyperus, myrrh and balsam through repeated filtering and redistillation[10]. Her methodology shows that perfumery already applied sophisticated chemistry in Mesopotamia. To know that a woman pioneered this science so early is particularly inspiring, and it hints at the roles that women in my own lineage may have played in preserving aromatic knowledge.

Technical sophistication in Egypt (c. 1500 BC – c. 1000 BC)

Recipes preserved in Egyptian temples outline complex manufacturing techniques. The preparation of the Hekenu ointment, a premium frankincense ointment, required nine ingredients and an extraordinarily precise process including changes of fuel, lunar timing and repeated weighing[11]. Brewminate notes that making a single batch could take 487–492 days[12]. Such patience and precision reveal that perfumery was a sacred science, governed by strict protocols rather than a simple craft. These painstaking procedures give me a deeper appreciation for the skills passed down through my Coptic ancestors.

Incense trade routes and nomadic networks (c. 3rd century BC – 2nd century AD)

By the first millennium BC, networks of land and sea routes carried luxury goods including incense, and spices from Arabia and Northeast Africa to the Mediterranean[13]. These incense trade routes crossed the Levant, Egypt and the deserts of Arabia, linking Red Sea ports to India and beyond[13]. Goods traded along these routes included Arabian frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and precious stones, and rare woods and frankincense from the Horn of Africa[13]. The Egyptians sent fleets to the Land of Punt (modern Somalia/Ethiopia) to collect incense trees and treasures[14], while desert caravans carried aromatics north through Yemen, Shabwa and Petra[15].

These passages speak directly to my Bedouin and Berber heritage. Bedouin tribes acted as the custodians and carriers of frankincense and myrrh across the Arabian deserts, guiding caravans along routes that relied on their deep knowledge of the landscape. North Africa’s indigenous Berber peoples likewise facilitated trade across the Sahara and into the Mediterranean, ensuring that fragrances and spices reached markets from Gaza to Damascus. This network also intersected with ancient Hebrew populations: historians connect the Syro‑Ephraimite War to the Israelites and Aramaeans’ attempt to control the northern end of the incense route.[16]. Such resilience and strategic engagement in trade echo the legacy of my ancestors, including those from ancient Hebrew and diasporic Jewish lineages. Finally, the fact that goods once flowed through the Horn of Africa and across the Sahel resonates with my Niger-Saharan heritage. Ancestors from those arid regions were likely part of the human networks that transported precious resins and spices across unforgiving landscapes. My DNA traces back to generations of people who were always moving, trading, and exploring. After completing the National Geographic DNA study and others, I was struck by how truly global my lineage is. Sometimes, I wonder if this explains my own deep desire to travel and keep moving, let alone my enduring passion for both intelligence and perfume.

The world’s oldest surviving perfume factory: Cyprus (c. 2000 BC – 1850 BC)

On the island of Cyprus, archaeologists unearthed a 4000‑year‑old perfumery at Pyrgos. The site contained at least 60 stills, mixing bowls, funnels and perfume bottles[17]. Traces of fragrances scented with lavender, bay, rosemary, pine and coriander were found in alabaster bottles[18]. Researchers analysed the remains of mixing jugs and identified 14 different fragrances, including anise, pine, coriander, bergamot, almond and parsley[19]. Experimental archaeologists successfully recreated some of these scents [20] by using clay stills and olive oil, as described by Roman writer Pliny the Elder. The island’s later association with Aphrodite may reflect its ancient reputation for producing coveted fragrances[21]. Though this factory lies across the sea from North Africa, its products likely travelled along the same trade networks that connected the Mediterranean to the Berber lands and Saharan interior.

Mediterranean exchange (c. 1000 BC – 300 BC)

Perfume knowledge spread along Mediterranean trade routes. Greek writers such as Theophrastus produced entire treatises on odours and described suspending crushed plants and resins in oils[22]. Perfume became central to Greek worship and daily life[23]. While Greeks imported ingredients and ideas from Egypt and the Near East, they also innovated, developed oil‑based perfumes and expanded perfume shops in cities like Athens[24]. As someone with Hellenistic and Greek roots, I find a sense of continuity in these stories: the same passion for fragrance that animated Theophrastus’s writings echoes through my heritage.

The Islamic Golden Age (8th – 10th centuries)

The next great leap in perfumery came during the Islamic Golden Age, when Arab scholars inherited and advanced the chemical knowledge of earlier civilizations. The 9th-century chemist Al-Kindi (Alkindus) compiled the "Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations," containing 107 methods and recipes for perfumes and fragrant oils. [25]

Al-Kindi's work systematized perfume production and refined the alembic distillation process, creating apparatus and techniques that would later influence European alchemists and, eventually, modern perfumers. This period also witnessed the development of attar (essential oil) distillation in India, further expanding the world's fragrant palette. For me, this period also reflects the intellectual heritage of my Bedouin and Arab ancestors, whose contributions to science and culture extended far beyond the desert caravans. [26]

Perfume as a luxury long before the West

Fragrance was not only sacred; it was also an expensive indulgence reserved for those with status in ancient societies. In Egypt, perfume containers were carved from travertine marble or molded from faience, materials used in luxury items and were kept by the wealthy[27]. These delicate vessels held oils and unguents used in burial rites and personal adornment, symbolizing the owner’s rank and refinement[27]. Written recipes show that the highest‑quality ointments required rare ingredients and elaborate, months‑long processes[28], making them too costly for ordinary people. Even within Egyptian society, perfume was “reserved to the elite”; common folk relied on castor oil infused with simple herbs[29].

The luxury status of perfume extended across the ancient world. Frankincense and myrrh, the resins that perfumed temples and embalmed bodies, were among the most valuable commodities of antiquity. Caravans carried these resins along the Incense Route as luxury goods, enriching South Arabian kingdoms and transforming ports like Shabwa and Gaza into prosperous hubs[30]. The Euronews travel feature on Oman notes that crystals of Boswellia sacra frankincense were “once worth more than gold”[31]; such high value explains why Arabian incense was taxed, protected and traded like precious metals. My Bedouin and Berber ancestors who guided caravans across desert frontiers were thus handling treasure rather than mere commodities.

In Ancient Rome, perfumes became a symbol of wealth and excess. Upper‑class Romans doused themselves from head to toe, and banquets featured rare essences sprayed over guests and food[28]. Moralists like Pliny the Elder condemned this fashion as “the most superfluous of all forms of luxury,” pointing out that unlike jewels or clothing, perfume vanishes as soon as it is used[27]. Yet his complaint underscores that the scents filling Roman villas were expensive indulgences enjoyed by those who could afford them. The opulence of these Roman rituals echoes the extravagance of North African and Near Eastern courts that supplied the aromatics in the first place.

This long history of perfume as a luxury good challenges the Eurocentric notion that Western societies made fragrance “luxurious.” By the time European courts adopted scented waters in the late Middle Ages, perfumery had already been a status symbol for pharaohs, priestesses, caravanners and courtesans for thousands of years. To imply that luxury emerged only when perfume reached France or Italy erases the sophistication and wealth of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Arabia and North Africa, and borders on racist dismissal of non‑Western achievements. Recognizing perfume’s deep, cross‑cultural history allows us to celebrate its enduring allure without diminishing the contributions of the cultures that first elevated scent to an art.

A legacy of scent: eastern origins of a global art

By the time Renaissance Europe began importing and eventually producing perfumes, the craft had been refined for millennia in the East. From the complex Kyphi recipes of Egypt[7] and Tapputi’s distillations in Mesopotamia[10] to the industrial‑scale production at Pyrgos[17] and the scientific treatises of Al‑Kindi[25], the foundations of perfumery were established long before Western involvement. Modern fragrance owes a profound debt to these ancient innovators and the diverse cultures that cultivated the art of scent. As someone who was adopted and had to rely on DNA studies to uncover my ancestry, I’m reminded that perfumery is a shared legacy of many peoples—a fragrant thread weaving together my diverse heritage. With roots spanning Coptic Egypt, Bedouin deserts, Berber North Africa, Hellenistic and modern-day Greece, the Hebrew and Jewish diasporas, the Sahel, and even a hint of Chinese lineage, I don’t see this timeline as distant history—it feels like a family album.