The first chemist in history may have been a female perfumer

June 21, 2024 9:57 AM

Perfume making dates back at least 3,000 years – to the time of Tapputi-belat-ekalle, who is considered the first chemist in history. What we know about her comes from inscriptions on fragments of clay tablets dating back to the Middle Assyrian period (1400–1000BC). Tapputi's 3,200 Year-Old Mesopotamian Perfume Recreated
posted by ShooBoo (6 comments total)

This was neat--thanks! The thought of translating ancient perfume recipes reminds me of this recent AskMe working hard to decipher a perfume recipe published by "A Lady" in English in just 1838: "What is Essence of Mereby?" That question still seems undecided/speculative? FWIW a lot of how-to manuals from the mid 19th C. borrow from French sources, e.g. this one on perfumes by Marie Armande Jeanne Gacon-Dufour which has later editions credited to the prolific how-to author Élisabeth Celnart.
posted by Wobbuffet at 10:32 AM on June 21, 2024 [1 favorite]

compounds found in the honey mainly originate from the plants and flowers that the honeybees visited to collect the nectar that, through much processing, is converted into honey. We found all of the samples had aroma notes from several different plants.
sweet

an acquaintance just returned from Grasse [npr]. i was feeling jealous. now, i feel better somehow. thank you
posted by HearHere at 11:35 AM on June 21, 2024

But did she get the copper for her stills from Ea-nāṣir?
posted by Hairy Lobster at 11:46 AM on June 21, 2024

^^^ jinx! ea-nasir never gets old.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:27 PM on June 21, 2024

> But did she get the copper for her stills from Ea-nāṣir?

Presumably not, because her still worked?
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 1:04 PM on June 21, 2024 [1 favorite]

Her still would likely have been clay and bamboo or other kind of hollow reed (for the lyne arm). Stills like this are still in use in India as well as in Mexico for making mezcal.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:38 PM on June 21, 2024 [2 favorites]