In markets like Khan El-Khalili in the old city of Cairo, or indeed in any other Arab souk, the shops, courtyards and the very clothing of the traders and their customers are enveloped in a pungent cloud of fragrance. The scents of rose, sweet jasmine and the spicier ambience created by ‘ud (obtained from imported aloewood), frankincense and sandalwood, encapsulate the very spirit of Muslim culture.
The perfumes of Arabia have religious, medical and scientific uses, while also encouraging one to develop a pleasing personal habit. The first long-lasting fragrances were frankincense and myrrh, distilled from the resin of trees grown primarily in southern Oman. Frankincense was also used by doctors, dentists and cosmeticians as early as 3,000 CE as cuneiform texts engraved on Sumerian tablets verify. The Sumerians had discovered that most aromatic plants and shrubs have powerful antiseptic properties that make them natural healers for external wounds, and as infusions for internal ailments. Myrrh and frankincense were also used in Pharaonic Egypt, and are still important perfume materials, not just for their scent, but also for their fixative powers.
Arabia is home to a wide variety of fragrant plants and resins, which together with secretions from certain animals (such as musk deer), constitute a vast corpus of materials for perfumery. The word “perfume” comes from the Latin per fumem, meaning "through smoke,” as clouds of incense rose from the people to their gods, carrying their prayers. Throughout antiquity there was an incessant demand for incense, particularly frankincense, to mark the rites of passage from birth to grave, for daily ritual use, as well as the domestic functions of censing rooms, bed linen and clothing. The most highly prized incense and essential oils used for perfumery were at times during their long history of trade worth more than their weight in gold. They changed hands for Bahraini pearls, for Indian teak and horses, for silk and porcelain from as far afield as China, and indeed, for gold in the mediaeval royal courts of Europe. Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, wringing her bloodied hands, cried that all the perfumes of Arabia would not sweeten them.
The most popular traditional perfumes of Arabia are still amber, jasmine, ‘ud and musk, the latter being one of the strongest and most long-lasting scents, which is often used as the basis for perfume blending. Sandalwood, imported into Arabia from southern India, has been a cherished ingredient for millennia, reaching ancient Egypt. Its rich, sweet, woody fragrance makes the use of the oil on its own desirable as a fragrance, and when dissolved in spirit, is still used as a base for blending other perfumes and incenses. The most common fragrance for men, drifting through thousands of souks most days of the week, is dehn al-ward or flower oil. The best is reputed to come from Taif in Saudi Arabia, and therefore named Taifi.
"The art of perfumery," an Egyptian expert told me, "lies in the blending." He chooses two or three kinds of ingredients from a selection of hundreds of flower oils and spices, and prepares them in precisely the same way the ancient Egyptians did. He crushes the flower petals in a wooden pressing machine to extract the oil, then blends them with spices. He said crossly that French research chemists have taken his oils back to Grasse, added chemicals and alcohol to fix the fragrance, given the products a French name and then slapped on a hefty price. His musk perfume did smell identical to the far more expensive Bal a Versailles by Jean Deprez.
Another Egyptian perfumer in Luxor related more about the art of blending essential oils. As in Western scent, creating “notes” of both dynamic and subtle characteristics is the goal of a memorable fragrance. Three layers are combined. The first is the fast-acting, quickly evaporating top or head note, often nowadays with fruit characteristics; to be followed by the moderately volatile main bouquet, the heart note, made primarily of flowers. Finally the base or body note—woody, spicy and sensual—rounds off and stabilizes the scent.
Perfume is a luxury in which even the most austere Muslim can indulge, as it is part of the process of taher, the ritual cleansing of the body that Islam commands before prayer five times a day. It may also be used by a widow after a 130-day period of mourning who might waft fumes of ‘ud through her hair. Following ancient rites, the dead are anointed "for the sake of the angels" with camphor, saffron and rose perfume, or a’atr. But every day, in many Arab households, incense is burned and perfume applied. Rooms are censed as often as five times a day, usually with incense, or bokhoor, using ingredients such as rosewater, sugar, amber, sandalwood powder and saffron in recipes handed down by generations of female perfumiers, mother to daughter.
What a civilized way to live! When it's time for guests to go home, the host or hostess will bring out the censer and pass it around. They will already have been offered a dab from two or three small flasks of essential oils on a crystal tray after their meal. Now they will waft the fragrant smoke briefly through their clothes, breathe some in reverently, and make their scented farewells. These timeless perfumes have seeped into the very texture of life, a symbol of exquisite Arabian hospitality.
Juliet Highet – A writer, photographer, editor and curator, Juliet Highet specializes in Middle Eastern heritage and contemporary culture. Ms. Highet is currently working on her second book, Design Oman, having published her first book, FRANKINCENSE: Oman’s Gift to the World, in 2006.
