Cleopatra was an interesting woman. Much is said about how she conquered two great Roman politicians with her beauty, but little about her. intellectual gifts. And the truth is, she was as beautiful as she was smart. Unfortunately, most of the supporting documents were lost along with the Library of Alexandria. However, many treatises on medicine and alchemy are attributed to him. This highlights his writings on toxicology and cosmetics. He did everything from finding the best suicide poison to developing antibacterial eye paint or the most captivating perfume. The latter has long been of interest scientists and historians. How would he be scent of cleopatra? We will never know for sure. However, thanks to the collaboration of archaeologists, chemists and perfumers, we now have a pretty rough idea.
And the fact is that thanks to two important discoveries, they managed to make an exact copy of what could be their spirits. The result just described in Near Eastern archeology, has a spicy base based on myrrh and freshly ground cinnamon, to which sweet notes are added. This is definitely most intoxicating scentalthough it is impossible to say for sure whether this is really the one with which Cleopatra’s skin was soaked.
It may have been one of his many perfume. Or maybe none of them were. This is just a simulation, but at least it helps us learn a little more about his enigmatic figure.
In search of the spirits of Cleopatra
It all started when a group of archaeologists found book attributed to Cleopatra’s familywhich describes some recipes for perfumes.
There were great perfumers in ancient Egypt. And, given the interest of the Egyptian ruler in alchemy and cosmeticsno wonder he also wanted to learn the art of fragrance.
Some of the ingredients described by the hieroglyph do not carry these names today.
The first thought that comes to mind when searching for such a treasure is to try recreate one of Cleopatra’s spirits. However, this is not so simple, since the literal translation hieroglyphs raised many doubts. Some of the ingredients had names that are not used today, so it would be difficult to know exactly what they were. For example, as reported in IFLSciencewe are talking about walnut perfume oil. But what is this nut?
These archaeologists and historians almost abandoned their intentions recreate perfume when they learned about another interesting find: an ancient Egyptian perfume factory. It is located in city of thomasin the region of the Empire, whose spirits were known throughout the Mediterranean.
Those responsible for the discovery concluded that it was a factory or business due to the large number of perfume containers that were inside. It is unlikely that they were used at home. And the best thing is chemical analysis of their remains one could learn more about the unknown ingredients of Cleopatra’s recipes.
Very nice simulator
These historians contacted scientists who analyzed the vessels using X-ray fluorescent. In this way, they could get an idea of the molecules present in them.
This analysis, combined with Cleopatra’s texts, resulted in several candidate ingredients that were grouped together to create different recipes. As a basis, a typical one for that time was used. And this is what instead alcoholl, used in Egypt vegetable oils or animal fats. Subsequently, fragrances were obtained by burning resin, bark, and herbs, or by soaking flowers, other resins, herbs, and spices.
The perfume was kept for two years.
By following these steps and combining different recipes, they came up with a very pleasant perfume based on myrrh and cinnamon, with a spicy base and certain sweet notes. It was intoxicating and full of character, befitting what Cleopatra might have worn. But, in addition, he had one more detail, consistent with what we know about him: the presence antifungal and antibacterial ingredients. This can help neutralize bad odors, such as sweat, to make perfume more noticeable.
Finally, this is a good candidate because the fragrance of the perfume lasted for two years, about as described in the description. writings of the time. It could well be the spirits of Cleopatra or someone else from the influential circles of the Egyptian Empire. That’s why, although we don’t know for sure, now that we imagine Cleopatra, we can think of her as more than just a beautiful woman. We can imagine her as a self-confident queen, smart, powerful and with a pleasant smell of myrrh and cinnamon.
Source: Hiper Textual
