EGYPTIAN Perfume Oils

As early as 2700 B.C. the Egyptians had discovered not only the joy of fragrance but the art of the perfumer. They developed a method to squeeze the basic oils from flowers using pressure. Perfumes were used, of course, by women, but also by priests. The priests offered scented resin – to the Sun god, at dawn, at noon and at dusk – a melange of six perfumes called Kyphi.

One of the ancient words for perfume was “fragrance of the gods,” and when the famous King Tutenkhamen’s tomb was opened in 1922 – after more than 3,000 years – the archaeologists are said to have caught one elusive whiff of Kyphi.  Since then there have been innumerable changes in Egypt. But to a large extent Egypt, more than any other country, still perfumes the world. Did you know that  80 percent of the world’s natural jasmine products, for example, come from Egypt? Egyptian specialists, in this ancient art, extract the aromatic oils from a profusion of flowers, leaves, roots and herbs and export them to perfumers in Paris, London, New York and even Moscow.