Mesopotamian Nisaba. Perfumers in Turkey played 3200-year perfumes from the cradle of civilizations
Subscribe to not miss the latest and most intricate news from the world of science! For the second time, such an exhibition of Mesopotamian fragrances is reported by Hurriyet Daily News. The first took place in the Turkish city of Shanglurf. Dmitbakir was one of the few places in ancient times, where the culture of smells and incense flourished. In fact, it was a decisive stop for the ancient route of flavors.
According to the governor of the province of Diyarbakir Efkan Ali, perfumers and fragrance specialists took part in the program. The exhibition presented the reconstruction of bottles for millennials, and visitors even presented a model of these ancient Mesopotamian scents. Created from plants originating from the Upper Mesopotamia region, perfumes were called Nisaba in honor of the Mesopotamian goddess of grain and writing.
Nisaba is one of the oldest Sumerian goddesses, whose name appears in writing. Although she gave way to her place after the Old Babylonian period of NABU, the new god-painter and the patron saint of wisdom and sciences, her name continued to appear in ancient Mesopotamian written sources.
According to one of the leading perfumers and aroma experts related to the project, Bichter Turkan Ergul, they called the perfume "Mesopotamian Nisaba - the goddess of grain, land and knowledge", because grain comes from the earth. Diyarbakir is located in the Mesopotamian basin. He was home to many ancient civilizations, including Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Hittite.
Also here was the main center of production of incense and a vital stop for perfume traders on the ancient paths of trade in fragrances that connected India and Arabia with Mesopotamia, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Ancient Mesopotamian perfumes were poured into special glass and ceramic capacities.
The exhibition presented the reconstruction of aromatic vials and capacities found during excavations on the territory of the 3000-year-old Zerzewan Castle, which is between the cities of Diyarbakir and Mardin. He was once a settlement of the Roman Empire. The project covered many studies of accurate ancient processes that were used to produce aromas. They were later adapted to laboratory technologies. It was also quite difficult to identify the plants from which Mesopotamian perfumes were made.
"Together with the team of our experts, we explored a culture of fragrances, in particular the areas where they were produced and used," Ergul explains about the long painstaking process. According to her, they know that these plants grow on Mesopotamian lands, but there is no certainty that these are the plants themselves. "We have tried to move ancient traditions in our time. They will now be produced in Europe and other countries.
The aroma born on our lands, will continue to fill the world with pride that it deserves," it continues. The reproduction of perfume vials was another important nuance that had to be taken into account. According to archaeologists, they made accurate copies of the originals and opened an exhibition dedicated to Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Earlier, Focus wrote about perfumes according to the ancient recipe of the first mother-in-law of Mesopotamia. And also about Cleopatra's favorite perfumes.