ireneparfums.com - facts and legends

FACTS AND LEGENDS

How much do you really know about perfume? Are you aware, that you are being manipulated subconsciously by fragrance every day? Almost 80 percent of manufactured fragrances go into detergents, deodorants, cosmetiques, paints, medicine, and the list goes on and on. Even things that say they are odor free contain masking fragrances. Yes, perfume is a magical powerful tool, for it can change moods, bring back memories, hide evil, arouse sexual desire, and make life bearable and even sublime with sweet smelling scents . Fragrance is "emotional magic" coined by Ruth Winter and she is right.

The History of Perfume is filled with fanciful tales, intrigue and romance, for the history of fragrance is the history of man.

Did you know: In ancient times perfume was more precious than gold? 5,000 years ago the ancient Egyptians burned sweet smelling fragrances to Ra, their sun god. They anointed men they found favor with and used it to embalm their dead. Dried perfumes were found in the pyramids. Each mummy had its own unique scent so that if part of its body was separated into pieces it could be recognized immediately in afterlife. They taught their slaves how to make perfume, who later made perfume for their god to be used to anoint the tabernacles of the congregation once they left Egypt. There are Biblical accounts concerning the use of scent. Joseph's brothers received perfume and spices as payment when they sold him. Judith, the beautiful widow sought to save her people form Nebuchadnezzar's general, Holofernes. She lured him with perfume to her tent where she cut off his head.

For thousands of years, priests were also doctors, when they used new substances for temple offerings they discovered many aromatic medications. It has been speculated that the properties of burning hemp was first found this way. For more information click on these links

FACT: Stakte, Susinum, Cyprinum, Mendesian, those names had the same effect as Joy, Opium or Chanel Number Five in our modern world.

Aphrodite Connection and Perfume Production: Oldest Perfumes Found on "Aphrodite's Island"

Jugs used to make and store ancient perfumes lie at an excavation site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

The 4,000-year-old fragrances—the world's oldest known perfumes besides King Ur Nammu—were re-created by an experimental archaeology center and are now on display at an Italian museum. John Roach for National Geographic News March 29, 2007 The world's oldest known perfumes have been found on the island reputed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, and beauty, Italian archaeologists announced last week. Discovered on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in 2003, the perfumes date back more than 4,000 years, said excavation leader Maria Rosaria Belgiorno of the National Research Council in Rome. Remnants of the perfumes were found inside an ancient 3,230-square-foot (300-square-meter) factory that was part of a larger industrial complex at Pyrgos. The buildings were destroyed during an earthquake in 1850 B.C., but perfume bottles, mixing jugs, and stills were preserved under the collapsed walls. The artifacts are currently on display at the Capitolini Museum in Rome. . Aphrodite was likely recognized as the goddess of Cyprus because the island was already well known for its perfumes by the time the myth arose. Many perfumes today are considered aphrodisiacs—substances believed to boost sexual desire "The Cyprus perfumes were born before Aphrodite, and after Aphrodite they remained linked to the island and its goddess," Belgiorno said. The archaeologist added that she doesn't know why the people of Cyprus started making and wearing perfumes 4,000 years ago. In ancient Egypt, she noted, perfumes were used for cosmetic and pharmaceuticals. The smell of the perfumes is "a nice experience that re-creates in our mind a sort of ancestral reminder” Scents Re-created Belgiorno's team analyzed the remains of the mixing jugs and identified 14 fragrances native to the Mediterranean region used in perfume production. Extracts of anise, pine, coriander, bergamot, almond, and parsley are among the ingredients the ancient perfume-makers preferred. The team also discovered four "recipes" concocted with the different fragrances. An experimental archaeology center in Blera, Italy, recreated these perfumes using techniques described by Pliny the Elder, a Roman author who died observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Plants and herbs were ground up and mixed with olive oil in clay jugs, then distilled in a clay apparatus.

FACT: Until and during the first few centuries of the Common Era, Egypt was the prestigious center of an international perfume industry. Perfumes were created and marketed in many locations, however it was Egypt that was most renowned and was identified with the international perfume trade. Egypt was so well known for its perfume that during Julius Caesar's Roman triumphs, perfume bottles were tossed to the crowd to demonstrate his mastery over Egypt.

Legend:

Irene was one of the three Horea (ho're'), Latin from the Greek means season. The Horae were three Greek symbolic personages controlling the order of nature and the recurrence of the seasons. The Horae were, Irene-Goddess of Peace, Dice -Goddess of Justice and Eunomia the Goddess of Order. They were the daughters of Themis and Zeus, and the attendants of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and the Daughter of Zeus and Dione. Aphrodite's symbols were rose, myrtle, apple dove and sparrow. The Graces and the Horae were her attendants. There were three Graces who were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynom-Aglaia, Thalia and Euprosyne. Aphrodite's scared island was Cyprus.











	History of Perfume \| Information \| Helpful Hints about Perfume FACT: Stakte, Susinum, Cyprinum, Mendesian, those names had the same effect as Joy, Opium or Chanel Number Five in our modern world. Aphrodite Connection and Perfume Production: Oldest Perfumes Found on "Aphrodite's Island" Jugs used to make and store ancient perfumes lie at an excavation site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The 4,000-year-old fragrances—the world's oldest known perfumes besides King Ur Nammu—were re-created by an experimental archaeology center and are now on display at an Italian museum. John Roach for National Geographic News *March 29, 2007* The world's oldest known perfumes have been found on the island reputed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, and beauty, Italian archaeologists announced last week. Discovered on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in 2003, the perfumes date back more than 4,000 years, said excavation leader Maria Rosaria Belgiorno of the National Research Council in Rome. Remnants of the perfumes were found inside an ancient 3,230-square-foot (300-square-meter) factory that was part of a larger industrial complex at Pyrgos. The buildings were destroyed during an earthquake in 1850 B.C., but perfume bottles, mixing jugs, and stills were preserved under the collapsed walls. The artifacts are currently on display at the Capitolini Museum in Rome. . Aphrodite was likely recognized as the goddess of Cyprus because the island was already well known for its perfumes by the time the myth arose. Many perfumes today are considered aphrodisiacs—substances believed to boost sexual desire "The Cyprus perfumes were born before Aphrodite, and after Aphrodite they remained linked to the island and its goddess," Belgiorno said. The archaeologist added that she doesn't know why the people of Cyprus started making and wearing perfumes 4,000 years ago. In ancient Egypt, she noted, perfumes were used for cosmetic and pharmaceuticals. The smell of the perfumes is "a nice experience that re-creates in our mind a sort of ancestral reminder” Scents Re-created Belgiorno's team analyzed the remains of the mixing jugs and identified 14 fragrances native to the Mediterranean region used in perfume production. Extracts of anise, pine, coriander, bergamot, almond, and parsley are among the ingredients the ancient perfume-makers preferred. The team also discovered four "recipes" concocted with the different fragrances. An experimental archaeology center in Blera, Italy, recreated these perfumes using techniques described by Pliny the Elder, a Roman author who died observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Plants and herbs were ground up and mixed with olive oil in clay jugs, then distilled in a clay apparatus. FACT: Until and during the first few centuries of the Common Era, Egypt was the prestigious center of an international perfume industry. Perfumes were created and marketed in many locations, however it was Egypt that was most renowned and was identified with the international perfume trade. Egypt was so well known for its perfume that during Julius Caesar's Roman triumphs, perfume bottles were tossed to the crowd to demonstrate his mastery over Egypt.