Katrina Rosales
Cleopatra, the last ruler of Egypt before the Romans took power, has been described as a powerful and beautiful queen. She is said to have used perfume to enhance her attractiveness, which she leveraged for political gain. In 2019, archaeologists may have discovered what her perfume smelled like. Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa led a team that uncovered an ancient Egyptian perfume factory, kilns for producing perfume bottles, and amphorae with residual ingredients for perfume. Through chemical analysis, they recreated ancient Egyptian perfumes, including the popular Mendesian perfume from the city of Mendes, which may have been worn by Cleopatra. The reconstructed Mendesian perfume, which can now be purchased, is described as having a strong, warm, rich, sweet, and slightly bitter scent.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To enhance her attractiveness and for medical purposes |
| Ingredients | Myrrh, cardamom, olive oil, cinnamon, frankincense, benzoin, cedar oils, resins, roots, berries, animal fat, vegetable oil |
| Properties | Strong, spicy, musky, thick, sticky, sweet, bitter |
| Production | Made in a personal workshop or factory |
| Usage | Used in incense, scented oils, perfume |
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What You'll Learn
- Cleopatra's perfume was likely from Mendes, a city in the Nile Delta
- The scent was strong, sweet, slightly bitter, and musky
- She used perfume to enhance her attractiveness and for political advantage
- She may have created her own signature scents in a personal workshop
- Recreated ancient Egyptian perfumes are available to smell at some museums
Cleopatra's perfume was likely from Mendes, a city in the Nile Delta
The unique fragrance Cleopatra is believed to have worn came from Mendes, a prosperous settlement in the Nile Delta. Mendes was a city that flourished from around 500 BCE to 600 CE. It played an integral part in the trade of spices from India, Africa, and Arabia. The perfume from this region, called Mendesian, was mentioned by many Greek and Roman writers, including Pliny the Elder, and was similarly associated with expense and luxury.
In 2012, archaeologists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, led by Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein, uncovered a perfume manufacturing site in Mendes, Egypt. They recreated an ancient Egyptian perfume, which may have been worn by Cleopatra. The perfume, called Mendesian, has been described as sweet, spicy, and faintly musky.
While there is no direct evidence linking Cleopatra to the Mendesian perfume, it is clear from ancient texts that she was well-known for her love of fragrances. The Greek physician Galen wrote that Cleopatra was well-educated and wrote about the application of perfume for medical purposes. Thus, it is highly likely that Cleopatra had access to and wore the Mendesian perfume, which was the most popular fragrance at her time.
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The scent was strong, sweet, slightly bitter, and musky
The scent of Cleopatra's perfume has been a mystery for centuries, with the Queen of the Nile renowned for her beauty and her love of fragrances. However, thanks to modern archaeological research and chemical analysis, we can now gain a glimpse into the past by recreating the ancient perfumes of Egypt.
The basis of the recreated scent is myrrh, a resin extracted from a thorny tree native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Additional ingredients include cardamom, olive oil, and cinnamon, resulting in a strong, spicy, and musky fragrance. This combination of spices and resins creates a warm, rich, and slightly bitter aroma, with a hint of sweetness. The perfume is also thicker and stickier than modern perfumes, allowing the scent to linger longer.
The recreated perfume is believed to be similar to the popular fragrance known as Mendesian, which originated in the city of Mendes in the Nile Delta. This perfume was mentioned by Greek and Roman writers, including Pliny the Elder, and was associated with luxury and expense. While there is no direct evidence linking Cleopatra to the Mendesian perfume, it is highly likely that she had access to it, given her interest in fragrances and her status as a powerful ruler.
Cleopatra is said to have used perfume for both political and romantic advantages, such as seducing Marc Antony by coating the sails of her ship with fragrant oils before their first meeting. The scent of her perfume, with its strong, sweet, slightly bitter, and musky notes, would have been an integral part of her allure, enhancing her reputation for beauty and power.
Through the recreation of ancient perfumes, we can now imagine the scents that surrounded Cleopatra, bringing this legendary figure to life and offering a new perspective on her world.
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She used perfume to enhance her attractiveness and for political advantage
Cleopatra, the last ruler of Egypt before the Romans took power, has been described as both beautiful and not so beautiful in ancient histories. While we may never know what she looked like, archaeologists may have figured out what she smelled like.
In 2012, Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa uncovered a perfume manufacturing site in Mendes, Egypt, a city that flourished from around 500 BCE to 600 CE. They were able to recreate an ancient Egyptian perfume that Cleopatra may have worn. The scent was described as "incredibly voluminous, red-coloured, strong, warm, rich, sweet and slightly bitter".
The basis of the recreated scent is myrrh, a resin extracted from a thorny tree native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Ingredients including cardamom, olive oil, and cinnamon were added to produce the ancient perfume, which was much thicker and stickier than modern fragrances. The resulting perfume produced a strong, spicy, and faintly musky scent that lingered longer than modern fragrances.
Cleopatra is said to have used perfume to enhance her attractiveness, which she leveraged for political advantage. For example, she reportedly used fragrance to seduce Mark Antony, with the floor of her boudoir strewn with roses, leading a scented trail to her bed. She also had the sails of her royal ship coated with fragrant oils so that he could smell her coming when she visited him at Tarsus.
In addition to her perfume, Cleopatra is known for popularizing many enduring cosmetic practices. She is said to have worn lipstick made from crushed carmine beetles and bathed in fermented donkey's milk to rejuvenate her skin. She may have also washed her face with blends of honey, chalk, and apple cider vinegar. Her beauty routine had both economic and political components, as she wielded her attractiveness as a tool to rise up the ranks and maintain control over her kingdom.
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She may have created her own signature scents in a personal workshop
Cleopatra, the last ruler of Egypt before the Romans took power, has been described as a beautiful and powerful woman. She is also known for her love of fragrances and perfumes.
In Cleopatra's time, Egypt had a long-standing tradition of producing incense and perfumes, which it exported across the ancient world. The earliest known recipe for a fragrance known in Greece as "kyphi" dates back to the construction of the first pyramids. Unlike modern perfumes, which are alcohol-based, kyphi was made using animal fat and vegetable oil. These were burned alongside resins, roots, and berries, creating a smoke that scented the Egyptians' homes and clothing.
While the specific perfume Cleopatra wore remains a mystery, researchers and archaeologists have attempted to recreate ancient Egyptian perfumes that the queen may have worn. In 2012, for example, University of Hawaiʻi professors Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein uncovered a perfume manufacturing site in Mendes, Egypt, a city that flourished from around 500 BCE to 600 CE. They discovered kilns used to produce perfume bottles and original amphorae with residual evidence of the ingredients used to make the perfumes. Through chemical analysis, they were able to identify the exact ingredients used in the ancient perfumes.
One fragrance that may have been worn by Cleopatra is the Mendesian perfume from the city of Mendes. It was mentioned by many Greek and Roman writers, including Pliny the Elder, and was associated with expense and luxury. While there is no written evidence directly linking Cleopatra to the Mendesian perfume, it is clear from ancient texts that she was well-known for her love of fragrances.
It is believed that Cleopatra may have created her own signature scents in a personal workshop, rather than wearing store-bought perfumes. This idea is supported by perfumer Mandy Aftel, who has researched the subject extensively. While the exact ingredients Cleopatra used remain unknown, it is likely that her perfumes produced strong, spicy, and musky scents that lingered longer than modern fragrances.
The use of fragrance played a significant role in Cleopatra's life, both personally and politically. She is said to have scented the sails of her royal ship so that Marc Antony could smell her arrival from shore. Cleopatra also used perfume to enhance her attractiveness, which she leveraged for political advantage.
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Recreated ancient Egyptian perfumes are available to smell at some museums
Recreated ancient Egyptian perfumes, including scents that Cleopatra herself might have worn, are available to smell at some museums. In 2019, the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, exhibited the work of Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein, who, in 2012, uncovered a perfume manufacturing site in Mendes, Egypt. The pair used "experimental archaeology" to test ancient perfume recipes, eventually landing on a version that not only smelled good but also remained potent for two years.
In 2019, the Mauritshuis, an art museum in The Hague, opened an exhibit titled Scents in Color, where curators placed fragrance dispensers next to 17th-century paintings so visitors could smell what was being shown on canvas. The result was surprising, with hints of myrrh and fresh linen overpowered by the stench of Amsterdam's canals.
In 2015, Littman and Silverstein, of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, discovered an ancient Egyptian perfume factory at the Tell Timai excavation project at the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thmuis. They uncovered original amphorae with residual evidence of the ingredients used to make the perfumes, and through chemical analysis, they were able to determine what these ingredients were.
While there is no written evidence linking Cleopatra directly with the popular fragrance Mendesian, it is clear from ancient texts that she was well-known for her love of fragrances. Recreated perfumes based on ancient recipes may give us an idea of what Cleopatra smelled like, with scents described as strong, spicy, faintly musky, and lingering longer than modern fragrances.
Egyptologist Dora Goldsmith, based in Berlin, has also worked on reconstructing the famous Mendesian perfume in collaboration with Dr Sean Coughlin, a professor of Greek and Roman philosophy in Prague. Goldsmith has designed a scent collection called the "Ancient Egyptian Smell Kit" for educational purposes.
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Frequently asked questions
It is believed that Cleopatra wore a perfume from Mendes, a prosperous settlement in the Nile Delta that played an integral part in the trade of spices from India, Africa, and Arabia. The scent was likely strong, warm, rich, sweet, and slightly bitter. The basis of the perfume was myrrh, a resin extracted from a thorny tree native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Other ingredients included cardamom, olive oil, and cinnamon.
Cleopatra is said to have used perfume to enhance her attractiveness, which she leveraged for political advantage. She is also believed to have coated the sails of her royal ship with fragrant oils so that Mark Antony could smell her coming from shore.
Historians and archaeologists have used chemical analysis to recreate ancient Egyptian perfumes based on residue found in old bottles and kilns from ancient perfume factories. They have also studied ancient texts and recipes to understand the ingredients and processes used to create perfumes in Cleopatra's time.
