American Archaeological Mission Unearths World’s Oldest Perfume Factory

By: Ali Abu-Dashish

CAIRO, Dec. 26 (SEE)- Jay Sliver Stein, the head of the American archaeological mission in Egypt, announced today the details of discovering world’s oldest village, that was the source and home for the first perfume factory which Queen Cleopatra’s perfumes were manufactured.

This came during a seminar organized by the General Directorate for Human Development in Dakahlia, in the presence of Dakahlia Governor Dr. Kamal Sharobim, Dr. Amina Shalaby, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism, Mansoura University, and Dr. Nihad Kamal, Vice Dean of the faculty.

Stein said that he started his work with the mission in 2007, when he was asked to travel to the “Tama Aamdeid” site to evaluate the excavations as there was a fear that urban expansion would negatively affect the antiquities there. In 2009, he was granted a permission to excavate and discover the monuments in the site, this is what motivated him to resign from University of Hawaii and work at a University in Russia, as it offers him 6 months to look for antiquities in Egypt’s Delta unlike its American counterpart that grants only one month.

Moreover, stein added that the excavations unearthed dates back to the era of Ptolemy III, including weapons and unburied corpses that confirm a war or unrest was ongoing in that place. Granite pillars were discovered and clarified the pision of streets in the village in addition to unearthing a layout of an old house, a statue of Ancient Egypt’s God of Fun Ps, the god of birth for women, a number of coins, designs of weapons and an unburied skeleton. 

Regarding the perfume factory, Stein said that the discovery included models of ovens with a fountain where scents were stored and in fact the village was a perfume warehouse that exported the material to the whole world. This village was Queen Cleopatra’s preferred source for perfumes,  and inscriptions explained the females squeezed flowers to extract perfume oil. Also, bottles in which perfumes were sold were found.

He added: “We are currently assembling these findings in America in order to know the types of perfumes ancient Egyptian used and I will bring samples with me in my next visit to Egypt. I also suggested that a part inside the American Geographic Museum should be allocated to showcase these perfume.”

The head of the mission confirmed that he has a futuristic vision for the antiquities of delta through which Egypt’s relation with the external world could be explained.