Category: Maceration
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Chemically decoding the ancient blue lotus
The blue lotus water lily is the heraldic symbol of the Upper Nile of Egypt. This ancient and mystic flower, Nymphaea caerulea, appears throughout the culture and religion of ancient Egypt. The blue water lily grows well along the Nile River and may have been farmed and harvested for thousands of years (Viljoen, Cherise; Notten,…
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Mesopotamian Maceration
“I anoint myself everyday with oil, burn perfumes and use cosmetics that make me worthier of worshipping thee.” Nebechudnezzar II, in supplication to Marduk, David Pybus and Charles Sell, The Chemistry of Fragrances, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1999 Very early in Mesopotamia some aromatics were harvested from within the region while others were imported…