A Brief History of Perfume

The record of the oldest perfume bottles revealed that the perfumes already existed in the year 5000 BC.

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Hey fellows. I am once again back with a origin history article. It always gives me great pleasure to share what I learn about the old days. My previous article was about the origin of pen, and today I’m going to tell you about another commonly used object of today (And the subject of one of my favorite movies of all time): “Perfume”

We all know that the ancient people used the smoke from the burning wood, herbs, and spices to perform rituals of contact with the gods and as a way to ward off evil spirits.

In religious ceremonies, it was also normal to make the burning of rare plants because it was believed that the smoke ascended to the heavens and drew attention from the gods. It was used from sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense and cinnamon, to the calamus and cedar of Lebanon.

These secular habits explain the origin of the word perfume, which derives from the Latin "Per Fumum" meaning "through smoke."

The first people to have a regular use of the perfumes was, not so surprisingly, the Egyptian people. In Egypt the perfumes were manufactured by the priests of the temples, in an artisan way, who used them in their daily rituals.

[ancient Egyptian painting of producing perfume] source

It is known that Queen Cleopatra had the habit of perfuming her feet with a liquid prepared with extracts of almond, cinnamon, orange blossoms and honey; and used to anoint her hands with an oil made of roses and violets.

Even the Egyptian mummies were anointed with various mixtures of herbs during their embalming.

In Greece, their own perfumery technique was created, by plunging flowers and herbs into oil and wine. The Greeks discovered, perhaps unintentionally, the art of macerating to extract aromas.

The Roman civilization was a great lover of scented aromas, using various essences in the most diverse situations. In fact, the Romans belonging to the nobility had slaves to mass and anoint these essences.

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And even the Christian tradition escaped the "power" of the perfume, for one of the offerings that the Magi brought to offer Jesus was the incense.

As for Europe, it was during the Renaissance period that fragrances, balsams and lotions became indispensable products for the richest people.

Curiously, it was not until the end of the 18th century that the perfume began to be associated with seduction and it was in the following century that the perfume began to walk side by side with fashion, in a relationship so intimate that it remains to the present day .

So that was it about the brief history of perfume. My fascination for this subject came about for the first time when I first watched the movie “Perfume” for the first time back in 2009. I had no idea that this could be so amazing. Someday, I hope to make some myself (not in the way that shown in the movie, I’m not a psychopath). If you haven’t watched the movie yet, you should. Here’s a torrent download link of the movie . I hope you’ll enjoyed the movie big time; and I also hope you’ve enjoyed the article. For more like this, Follow my blog here on steemit.

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Have A Wonderful Day

courtesy: wysinfo.com, wikipedia, perfumesociety.org