According to many archaeologists, the most famous and richest associations
concerning the first aromatics materials are those surrounding the ancient
Egyptian civilization. The Egyptians were using aromatics three thousand years
before Christ for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, and to embalm their dead.
According to various papyrus manuscripts, dating back to 2800BC, many aromatic
plants were used for medical purposes. They made suppositories, pills, medical
cakes, powders and purees, pastes and ointments for external use, etc., from a
wide variety of trees and plants, as well as mineral substances and animal. They
also used plant ashes and smokes. Plants used included grapes, cumin, aniseed,
cedar, castor oil, coriander, garlic and water melon among many others.
In the light of scientific research, the aromas of natural aromatics
such as cedarwood, cinnamon, myrrh and pine have the power to slow down
putrefaction and decay. In ancient Egypt, eternal life was the main focus, which
meant preserving the body forever. They tried to provide a secure resting place
that would last an eternity. When Tut? ankhamun?s tomb was opened in 1922,
archaeologists discovered a pot of ointment which was still redolent with the
fragrance of frankincense. More recently, when forensic scientists unwrapped a
three-thousand-year-old mummy, the aromas of myrrh and cedawood still wafted
from the inner bandages. The mummification techniques in ancient Egypt do not
just bear witnesses the embalmers? skill, but also demonstrated the
extraordinary preservative powers of plant essences.
Even though the Egyptians were considered the first civilization to have
knowledge of using aromatics plants as medicine, they had no knowledge of
distilling essential oils. No mention of distilled oils is found in the earliest
documents, and none of the containers found in tombs would have been suitable
for storing essential oils. At that time, most of their healing oils were
prepared by placing aromatics plant material in a vegetable oil or animal-fat
base and leaving the mixture to infuse in the sun for several weeks.
According to the ancient Greek historian Dioscorides, the Egyptians
eventually developed a primitive form of distillation in the 3rd century B.C.
Water was poured into large clay pots over the aromatic plant parts (lavender
follower tops, for example) and the pot openings were covered in woolen fibers.
Fire was set below the pots and the essential oil rose in the stream which
saturated the wool. This was later squeezed to obtain the essence. Cedarwood oil
was highly prized at that time because it was used in medicine, embalmment and
perfumery. It was one of the most expensive and sought after aromatics in the
whole of the ancient world.
Another Egyptian method for extracting aromatic oils from exotic
flowers, for instance, lilies, was by squeezing. Blooms were gathered into a
large cloth bag and two wood sticks, one at each end, were attached to the sides
of bag. These wood sticks would then be twisted round until the bag was tightly
passed and the essential oil eventually oozed out of the petals. However, this
method was only use to extract oils from flowers.
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