Innovation No. 44 of 77 in the book
Perfume
Scented wax cones that melted slowly through the day
- When
- c. 1350 BCE
- Dynasty
- 18th Dynasty
- Era
- New Kingdom
At New Kingdom banquets, around 1350 BCE, elegant Egyptians are shown wearing cones of scented fat on their heads — widely read as the first ‘time-release’ perfume.
Through the evening the cone was thought to melt in the heat, trickling perfumed oil down the wig and shoulders and keeping the wearer sweet-smelling for hours.
Whatever the cones exactly were, the industry behind them is not in doubt: Egypt blended flowers, myrrh and resins into prized perfumes traded across the ancient world.
The art of wearing a signature scent was perfected on the Nile.
Half the question was settled at Amarna in 2019. Excavating ordinary workers' graves, archaeologists found two skeletons still wearing the physical remains of head cones, and testing showed they were built from a biological wax. The cones were real objects, not a painter's shorthand. The other half is still open: the Amarna cones held no detectable perfume, and the excavators said so plainly.
Frequently Asked Questions
So did the cones really melt and release scent?
That is the reading which best fits the tomb paintings, the surviving recipes and the objects — but it is a reading, not a result. What they were scented with, and whether they melted at all, is still argued over.
What was used to scent them?
Blue lotus, Nymphaea caerulea, is the flower most often named. It carries naturally soothing compounds, which would have given off a mild, calming smell across the length of a banquet.