Posted on 03/27/2007 9:48:43 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Rome, March 26: You can smell the scent of ancient history thanks to an exhibit in Rome featuring fragrances from the world’s oldest known perfume factory.
On display at the Capitoline Museums are four perfumes — a mix of natural spices and olive oil — recreated by a team of archaeologists from 14 original fragrances dating from 4,000 years ago. Traces were found in Cyprus by archaeologists digging in the Pyrgos-Mavroraki site, some 90 km southwest of Nicosia, who turned up a complex they believe was used as a perfume lab.
"The Perfumes of Aphrodite and the Secret of Oil" exhibit, which opened here on March 14, will continue till September 2.
The experts extracted the fragrances from the traces left in containers at the site and recreated the ancient aromas with the same techniques used in the past, said Maria Rosaria Belgiorno, the leading archaeologist who discovered the factory in 2003. "Today, we are used to chemical and alcoholic scents, but these are fresher ones, smelling of herbs and spices, like almond, coriander, myrtle, conifer resin, bergamot — and not flowers," said Ms Belgiorno, who is also the curator of the Rome exhibit.
The perfumes were made by ancient techniques including steeping the spices in water and oil for days, she said.
Displayed behind glass walls with a lid that visitors can lift up to smell the fragrances, these perfumes — called after Hera, Athena, Artemide and Afrodite — offer a rare firsthand experience. On display also are 60 items, including amphorae, jugs, grinders and distilling equipment coming from the Cypriot complex. While perfumes and ointments have been found in tombs in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Ms Belgiorno said this was a rare case where an entire factory dedicated to making perfumes was found.
The 4,000-sq.m. lab, believed to have been destroyed in an earthquake in antiquity, is exceptionally well-preserved, Ms Belgiorno said.
Throughout the Bronze Age and into the 1st millennium BC, Cyprus played a key role in copper and olive oil production and trade. Olive oil was employed as base for medicines, cosmetics and perfumes, some of which were exported mainly to Greece.
(AP)
Incredibly way cool. Another reason to go to Rome.
I don't know--I prefer a floral scent on a woman, not the scent of salad dressing.
Very interesting. No flowers? Wonder why.
Maybe they only specialized in men's perfume?
Caught the scent of the lady beside me on the commute this morning, smelled like vanilla, very nice.
Cyprus turned to perfume manufacture once its copper mines played out.
I still prefer the slight scent of fruit; I haven't lost that preference that I first had in my junior high years.
And thus the French bath was born...
The main purpose of perfume in those days was to mask the womens Bad Odor.
I'm thinking that's the key. Bergamot is a distinctly masculine fragrance. Think Earl Grey tea. Coriander is masculine, too. I have no idea what myrtle smells like, but I would guess it's masculine also.
Meanwhile in France, They have an exhibit featuring the aroma of old socks, underware and armpits.
I bet they didn't shower often.
Old habits die hard... if you know what I mean.
Actually, the Romans were among the cleanest of all civilized societies of the time. Take a look at the Roman baths that were part of everyday life--even for soldiers out in the boondocks along the Scots border.
For all we know, these scents might have been for males and the equivilent of our men's colognes of today.
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