Researchers Successfully Recreate Ancient Perfume Formula from Mesopotamia
A woman named Tapputi has been recognized as the first female chemist in Mesopotamia and the world’s first female perfumer, dating back 3,200 years. Utilizing a formula left by Tapputi on a clay tablet, a team of 15 Turkish scientists successfully recreated one of her perfumes in the laboratory, as reported by Ancient Origins on July 25.
One of the two clay tablets inscribed with Tapputi’s perfume formula. (Photo: Wikipedia)
The scientists collaborated with the Academy of Scent and the Turkish Fragrance Culture Association (Koku Akademisi ve Koku Kültürü Derneği) to conduct extensive research on the perfume production methods of ancient Mesopotamia. Their goal was to thoroughly understand Tapputi’s techniques and then replicate her products as accurately as possible. Although they have achieved this goal, the team plans to continue translating and recreating Tapputi’s perfumes.
The archaeological team discovered Tapputi’s name inscribed on two clay tablets with cuneiform writing during excavations near the village of Harran in southern Turkey, which was once part of Babylon in the second millennium BC. The clay tablet dates back to 1200 BC. Expert in ancient fragrances Bihter Türkan Ergül and her colleagues translated 27 pages of documents from the two clay tablets. Through the inscriptions, Tapputi is described as a formal chemist and a specialist in high-end perfume production in Mesopotamia.
On the clay tablet, Tapputi recorded her perfume formula and the steps she took to create the fragrance using the ancient Akkadian language. She combined various types of flowers, oils, calamus, orris root, aromatic resin, horseradish, spices, balsam, and many other ingredients. She mixed different blends with water or solvents, then distilled and filtered the liquid multiple times to produce a pure and pleasant-smelling perfume.
Thanks to the information on the clay tablet, Ergül and her team were able to recreate one of Tapputi’s perfume formulas. Ergül emphasized that there are still hundreds of clay tablets describing perfume production methods in ancient Mesopotamia that have been found during the excavations, and researchers will need more time to translate all of them.
