Perfumes and Religious purposes

Plants for your scents and sensibility

Perfumes

The precise time when humans began to use perfumes was known.  Ancient Egyptian knew the art of perfumery-the technique of capturing pleasing scents of flowers and plants.  The references of perfumes and incense in the Torah reflected the importance of perfumes in the Judaic culture.  The Chinese used incense in ceremonies and clocks.  The Japanese modified this clock to burn different scents at different times of the day.  Later the Greek used perfumes in many aspects of their daily lives.  The height of perfume use was reached during the Roman Empire where incenses were burned in temples, perfumes were added to baths and oils for anointing the body.  The story of the birth of Christ mentioned the gifts of myrrh and incense to baby Jesus.  However, the fall of the Roman Empire left Europe scentless.  Like the use of spic, it was not until the Crusades that the use of perfume was brought back to Europe by the Crusaders returning from the East.  The French was the leader in the art of perfumery since 1190 when the government granted a charter to the perfumers.  Although severely challenged by American companies, the French are still the leading perfumers in the world today.  Read UCLA Website on # The history of perfumes and incense  (required).

After completing Unit III Section B, please click on Section C. 

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