Ancient Egyptian perfume factory
An inscription depicting women in a perfume factory
Some of them bring flowers
And two squeezed lotus petals
In a press made of wood and weaving
And you gather the nectar in a jar
The lotus is one of the most important sacred symbols
And it symbolized the resurrection and was the emblem of Upper Egypt or Upper Egypt
The word perfume was pronounced “merry.”
Even now, we use the Egyptian word “scent” colloquially to refer to perfume
It covered the walls of a small room in the temple of the god Horus in Edfu
Hieroglyphic signs explain recipes for preparing essential oils
The fragrance formulas are made with ingredients that include wild herbs, flowers, fruits, aromatic woods, and incense
Some of them are local, and some are brought from neighbouring countries
Lotus flower has also been used in medical prescriptions as a pain reliever
The inscription is from the 5th century BC
From the collection of the Italian Consul Druffiti, 1824
From Saqqara