The recipe belonged to the first female perfumer.
A group of 15 scientists was able to reproduce Mesopotamian spirits by recipe, the age of which is estimated at 3200 years. It belonged to Tapputa, the first female chemist of Mesopotamia and the first female perfumer in the world, according to Ancient origins.
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Turkish scientists worked with the Academy of Smell of Turkey and the Association of Perfume Culture to understand the methods used by Tapputi in the preparation of perfumes, and then recreate her work in as much detail as possible. They have already partially succeeded, but researchers will continue to study the work of the legendary female perfumer.
In the course of the study, scientists studied clay tablets created by Tapputi herself. Her name was discovered on a pair of cuneiform tablets unearthed during excavations in southern Turkey, which was part of Mesopotamia in the second millennium AD.
The woman's full name on the tablets was given as Tapputi-Belatekalim, where Belatekalim means “woman overseer of the palace”. Artifacts dated to 1200 BC mention Tapputi as a registered chemist and skilled Mesopotamian perfume maker. The publication notes that this is an unprecedented title for a woman who lived so far in the past.
On the tablets, Tapputi described the recipe for her perfume and the steps she took to create it in ancient Akkadian. Fortunately, scientists know enough about her to decipher what was written.
So, the researchers found out that Tapputi used a combination of different types of flowers, oil, plantain, cypress, myrrh, horseradish, to make her ancient perfumes. spices and balsamic are just a few of the identified ingredients. She mixed the concoctions with water or other solvents, distilled them, and then filtered the liquid product many times to create a purer and more pleasant-smelling formula of Mesopotamian perfumes.
After identifying the ingredients and the sequence of actions, scientists were able to recreate one of the formulas spirits One of the methods used by Tapputi was to work under a full moon, which allowed the perfumer to communicate with the stars in the night sky. using products available at the moment. In particular, they used a very rare type of wheat.
