Seductive Scents

Perfumes...what girl doesn't like them? They are our seductive lovers. Their secrative allure can leave a trace in our life and mark an unforgettable reminiscence. Sometimes, the smell in the air awakes an old memory we left behind; the smell of clothes may remind us of someone dear to us; the smell of a specific flower may take us back to our childhood in the exact same time we inhaled that same aroma somewhere ...the power of scent is beyond our imagination. I often think about where do perfumes come from, who were the first people to make them and when? I did some research and this is what I found.

The world's first recorded chemist is a person named Tapputi, a perfume maker who was mentioned in a Cuneiform tablet from the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia.

Archaeologists have found the world's oldest perfumes on Cyprus.The perfumes were scented with extracts of lavender, bay, rosemary, pine or coriander and kept in tiny translucent alabaster bottles. The remaining traces found at Pyrgos, in the south of the island, are more than 4000 years old. The scents are named after the Greek goddesses Aphrodite, Hera, Athena and Artemis.

The World's Oldest Perfume

Greek Goddess Aphrodite

The abundance of perfumes fits well with Cyprus' mythological status as the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The goddess' myth was strongly linked to the perfume she used to get what she wanted.

The Art of Ancient Perfume

Persia and Rome

China and India

Reading about the history of perfume, I rememeber the movie called Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I love this movie, It's an amazing story, based on the best-selling novel.

He lived to find beauty. He killed to possess it.

Enter an intoxicating world of passion, obsession and murder. Obsession can cause the unthinkable.

He still had enough perfume left to enslave the whole world if he so chose. He could walk to Versailles and have the king kiss his feet. He could write the pope a perfumed letter and reveal himself as the new Messiah. He could do all this, and more, if he wanted to. He possessed a power stronger than the power of money, or terror, or death - the invincible power to command the love of man kind. There was only one thing the perfume could not do. It could not turn him into a person who could love and be loved like everyone else. So, to hell with it he thought. To hell with the world. With the perfume. With himself.

Love Letters

Love can be expressed in a myriad of different methods, but the most timeless and most treasured will always remain the classic love letter. I often think about the greatest love letters ever written by Napoleon, Beethoven, Cathrine of Aragon and many others . All the love felt, was written on a piece of paper and delievered by hand to the loved ones. Sometimes I wish I lived in those times where this pure form of love continues to linger in a pen. I just think it's more romantic to have something written on a paper to the person we love, adore (family, a friend, or a beloved). Those word stay there to live forever, even after we are gone. Our deepest emotions that nobody can take away from us.

I am listening to Mystic Diversions - Josephine and it reminded me of Napoleon's letter to his beloved Josephine Beauharnais :

" I awake all filled with you. Your image and the intoxicating pleasures of last night, allow my senses no rest. Sweet and matchless Josephine, how strangely you work upon my heart. Are you angry with me? Are you unhappy? Are you upset? My soul is broken with grief and my love for you forbids repose. But how can I rest any more, when I yield to the feeling that masters my inmost self, when I quaff from your lips and from your heart a scorching flame? Yes! One night has taught me how far your portrait falls short of yourself! You start at midday: in three hours I shall see you again. Till then, a thousand kisses, mio dolce amor! but give me none back for they set my blood on fire. "

Dec. 29, 1795

To Bibeya, from Gimil-Marduk:

 May Shamash and Marduk grant you, for my sake, to live for ever. I write this in order to enquire after your health. Let me know how it goes with you. I am now settled in Babylon but I am in great anxiety because I have not seen you. Tell me when you will come, that I may rejoice. Come in the month of Arakhsamna (November). May you, for my sake, live for ever.

This is a Babylonian Love Letter 4,000 Years Old. I read the article on it in the New York Times. Truly amazing, it was written on a clay brick in Babylonia.  Link 4,000 Years Old Love Letter .

Greek Goddess Iris

Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields.