Cleopatra was an exciting woman. Much is said about how she captivated two great Roman politicians through her beauty, but little about her intellectual gifts. And the truth is that she was as beautiful as she was intelligent. Unfortunately, most of the supporting documents were lost with the Library of Alexandria. Nevertheless, many treatises on medicine and alchemy are attributed to him. In this stand out his writings on toxicology and cosmetics. She did everything from searching for the best poison to commit suicide to developing an antibacterial eye paint or the most captivating of perfumes. The latter is something that has long intrigued scientists and historians. How would he be scent of cleopatra? We will never know for sure. However, due to a collaboration between archaeologists, chemists and perfumers, we now have a pretty rough idea.
And it is that, thanks to two pertinent findings, they have managed to make a replica of what could have been their perfume. The result, just described in Near Eastern Archeology, features a spicy base made from myrrh and freshly ground cinnamon, to which some sweet notes are added. It is certainly a most intoxicating scentalthough it cannot be known for sure if it is really the one that used to impregnate Cleopatra’s skin.
Perhaps that was one of his many perfumes. Or maybe none of them were exactly like that. It is only a simulation, but at least it helps us to know a little more about the enigmatic figure of him.
In search of Cleopatra’s perfume
It all started when a team of archaeologists got hold of a book attributed to Cleopatra’s familyin which some perfume recipes are described.
Ancient Egypt had great perfumers. And, given the Egyptian ruler’s interest in alchemy and cosmeticsit is not strange that he also wanted to learn about the art of aromas.
The first idea that would come to anyone’s mind when finding a treasure like this is to try recreate one of Cleopatra’s perfumes. However, it is not so easy, since the literal translation of the hieroglyphics raised a lot of doubts. Some ingredients had names that are not used today, so it would be difficult to know what exactly they were. For example, as reported in IFLScience, we talk about nut oil perfume. But what is that nut exactly?
These archaeologists and historians had almost given up their intention to recreate the perfumes when they learned of another interesting find: an ancient Egyptian perfume factory. It is located in the city of Thomasin an area of the Empire whose perfumes were famous throughout the Mediterranean.
Those responsible for the discovery concluded that it was a factory or a business due to the large number of perfume containers that were inside. It was very unlikely that they had a domestic use. And the best thing is that chemically analyzing their remains more could be known about the unknown ingredients of Cleopatra’s recipes.
A very nice simulation
These historians contacted scientists who analyzed the vessels using x-ray fluorescence. In this way, they could get an idea about the molecules present in them.
From this analysis, in combination with Cleopatra’s texts, several candidate ingredients were obtained, which were grouped to give rise to different recipes. As a base, the typical one of the time was used. And it is that, instead of alcoholl, in Egypt they used vegetable oils or animal fats. Later, the aromas were obtained by burning resins, barks and herbs or macerating flowers, other resins, herbs and spices.
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. He was intoxicating and full of character, very much in keeping with what Cleopatra might have worn. But, in addition, he had another detail in line with what we know about her: the presence of antifungal and antibacterial ingredients. This could help neutralize bad odors, such as those derived from sweat, to give more prominence to the aromas of the perfume.
Finally, it is a good candidate because the aromas of the perfume were maintained for two years, more or less what is described in the writings of the time. It could perfectly be the perfume of Cleopatra or someone else from the circles of power of the Egyptian Empire. That is why, although we do not know for sure, now when we imagine Cleopatra we can think of her as much more than a beautiful woman. We can visualize her as a self-confident queen, intelligent, powerful and with a pleasant smell of myrrh and cinnamon.