The History Of Perfume Explained

In 1939, the Nobel prize for chemistry was won by Leopold Ruzicka, a Croatian scientist with a passion for understanding the composition of natural substances. Ruzicka spent many years working in perfumery, studying the chemical compounds responsible for fragrances and working with molecules like jasmone and linalool, which contribute to the fragrances of jasmine flowers and citrus fruits. From his work, Ruzicka had a deep understanding of the intimate relationship between perfumes and modern chemistry. As a presentation at the 2015 International Workshop on the History of Chemistry explained, he noted how "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry."

The history of perfumes and fragrances is intertwined with all of recorded human history and, as Leopold Ruzicka rightly pointed out, it's linked with many scientific processes which are now essential parts of 21st-century society. The process of distillation, for instance, is used in processes as varied as desalination of seawater and creating alcoholic spirits – a process which, as 1001 Inventions explains, was perfected by Islamic scientists in the 14th century for the creation of perfumes.

According to Britannica, perfumery was part of a number of ancient civilizations as varied as the Chinese, Arabs, Romans, Hindus, and Egyptians. Even the word perfume derives from the Latin phrase per fumus, which literally translates as "through smoke." An apt meaning, as some of the earliest perfumes in history were used in incense.

Some of the first perfumes were used in Ancient Egypt and, as Tailor Made Fragrance explains, some people credit the Ancient Egyptians with the original invention of perfume. The Egyptians used a variety of essential oils, resins, and fragrant unguents which were first used in their religion. These scents were part of ceremonies and prayers, and were also used to convey messages to the dead. According to McGill Office for Science and Society, fragrant resins like myrrh and frankincense were popular in Ancient Egypt, and these were among the goods widely traded at the time. The Egyptians would have had access to incense imported from places like Arabia and India, enjoying them so much that they'd eventually begin to use them in daily hygiene as well as in worship.

A commonly used Ancient Egyptian fragrance is known as kyphi, though as Ancient Egypt Online notes, the original name for it was kapet. Archaeologists have found a few surviving recipes for kyphi which usually included cinnamon and resins like pine and mastic, as well as herbs like mint and camel grass. Kyphi was widely used as a temple incense, as well as a medicine. Even in Egyptian society, this fragrance had a long history, with the earliest known mention of it coming from the pyramid texts, dating back over 4300 years.

Alongside Egypt and Mesopotamia, the third of the world's earliest known societies was the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley, and they too had a flourishing perfume industry. As an article in The Atlantic notes, clay distillation pots have been unearthed from Harappan ruins dating back thousands of years. These were used to make fragrant oils known as attars which have been enjoyed in South Asia ever since, from the 15th-century rulers of the Mughal Empire to people across modern-day India.

The people of the Indus valley evidently valued perfumes just as highly as their neighbors in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as ornate perfume bottles have been discovered there. These are sometimes sold to collectors, as attested by the archives on Live Auctioneers. Dating back roughly 4500 years, these items show that the Harappans rivaled the Egyptians in early perfumery. As Karnataka Aromas explains, the Indus Valley's knowledge of distillation dates back to around 3000 BCE, making their terracotta vessels some of the world's oldest.

The Ancient Romans were famously decadent and hedonistic and, as might be expected, they made liberal use of perfume. The Romans placed great importance on hygiene and personal care and, as the Perfume Society explains, perfumes featured prominently in Roman public baths. Fragrant oils and lotions were used to scent peoples' skin and hair, and Emperor Nero was even known to fragrance public spaces.

Not everyone in Rome was quite so extravagant, however. The philosopher Pliny the Elder was known to condemn the excessive use of perfumes as wasteful and superfluous luxuries. Notwithstanding his opinions on them, however, Pliny's writings are part of the reason why so much knowledge about the Roman love of perfumes survives to the modern day. A Getty blog post discusses this, explaining how Pliny wrote about perfumes in his book, "Naturalis Historia." It contains details about the sophisticated methods used to create Roman perfumes, from ingredients to the techniques and tools used in their preparation. As in other ancient cultures, perfumes were particularly important in Roman temples, which often had nearby perfume factories to supply them with sweet fragrances on demand.

One of the most influential figures in the history of perfume was an Islamic philosopher named Al-Kindi. Born in the Abbasid Caliphate in the early years of the Golden Age of Islam, Al-Kindi studied in Baghdad before going on to become one of the most prominent polymath scholars of his time. It was his contribution to the study of fragrances, as The Perfumist explains, which would earn Al-Kindi the epithet The Father of Perfume.

Al-Kindi, like many other perfumiers, was a skilled chemist. He was one of the first to dispel the idea that base metals could be transformed into gold, and was the first person to distill pure ethanol from wine. Perfumes and fragrances were one of his greatest interests, however, and he wrote prolifically about his research. The writings he left behind include a book called "The Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations," which contains hundreds of recipes for perfumes and fragrances.

Al-Kindi's work was helped by another Muslim chemist, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who developed improved techniques for distillation, filtration, and evaporation – all essential for Al-Kindi's studies on plant-based substances. Daily Sabah discusses how Ibn Hayyan's work helped Al-Kindi to use plant extracts to create a variety of perfumes, as well as cosmetics and medicines. The methods pioneered by Al-Kindi in the 9th century are essentially the same as those still used in the modern cosmetics industry.

In the modern world, the oldest running perfumery is the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. Long after European Christianity had purged the "pagan" traditions associated with creating perfumes, Santa Maria Novella was founded by a monastic order in 1221, home to a botanical garden that they used to create medicines and ointments. The Dominican friars of Santa Maria Novella went on to play a leading role in European perfumery. They still produce perfumes and candles today, as they have for centuries.

The monks of Santa Maria Novella used the same methods as Al-Kindi and Avicenna, creating fragrant flower waters which were used as antiseptics. Smithsonian Magazine explains how they went on to play an important role during the 14th century's outbreak of the Black Death. As Europe struggled with the plague, the Santa Maria Novella monks ran an infirmary, treating people with the herbal remedies made by the monks. They also produced rose water, which they prescribed as a way to cleanse homes after outbreaks of plague.

Modern perfumes are alcohol-based fragrances, and one of the first to gain popularity was a 12th-century scent known as "Hungary Water" or "The Queen of Hungary's Water." A paper in the International Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy notes how this was created for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary around 1370. A recipe for this fragrance can be found in the 17th-century manuscript, "A Plain Introduction to the Art of Physick," describing a distillation of rosemary flowers in a round flask known as a curcubit. Having been written centuries later, however, it's hard to say how authentic this recipe is.

There's still some dispute over what exactly the original recipe for Hungary Water was. Materia Aromatica explains how the truth of the story is shrouded in rumor and legend. A popular story goes that the perfume was invented for the Queen as an anti-aging serum, created by her court alchemist to preserve her good looks. According to the tale, this kept the Queen so youthful that, even at the age of 70, a 25-year-old duke asked for her hand in marriage. Whether or not this story is apocryphal, one thing is certainly true – the Queen of Hungary's Water became a much-loved fragrance in Europe, wildly popular by the 17th century. It would remain Europe's favorite perfume until the creation of a fragrance that would eventually become far more famous. Eau de Cologne.

King Louis XV of France famously loved perfumes. He was so infatuated with flamboyant fragrances that, during his reign, the Court of Versailles became known as the perfumed court. The Chateau de Versailles is famously one of the most ostentatious places in Europe, and the French royalty who lived there led lifestyles to match. As Getty blogs explains, Louis XV's mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour, shared her lover's passion for perfumes, spending an extravagant amount of money on perfumes every year. Her budget would later be dwarfed by Queen Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI, who spent the equivalent of $32 million on perfumes each year.

As a result of the colossal demand for French perfumes, an expansive flower-growing industry blossomed in the South of France. As Complete France discusses, this industry was centered around the town of Grasse and has remained there ever since. Today, Grasse is often known as the world capital of perfume, as explained by an article in Fargo-Moorhead Forum (via NDSU). Many of the world's most famous perfumes, like Chanel and Giorgio, are still made in Grasse. In the 21st century, according to Global Newswire, perfumes have grown into a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry. Even after thousands of years of history, humanity is just as enamored with beautiful fragrances as it always has been