It has been thousands of years since anyone could accurately describe the scent of Cleopatra’s legendary perfume, but Professor Robert Littman from the University of Hawaii is on the verge of uncovering this ancient mystery. His decades-long dedication to exploring the rich history of ancient Egypt, combined with his expertise in Greek classics and archaeological research, positions him uniquely to make significant discoveries in this field.

For over fifty years, Littman has immersed himself in the study of ancient texts, medicine, and civilizations. His academic journey has not only enriched his personal understanding but has also contributed to the broader field of ancient studies.

After a decade-long excavation in Cairo, Littman and his international team may have stumbled upon remnants of a perfume believed to be the “Chanel No. 5 of late antiquity.” This remarkable find is thought to have potentially been worn by Cleopatra herself, the last queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. However, questions remain: will they confirm this hypothesis, and how soon will they receive definitive answers?

With each passing day, they find themselves closer to answers, almost as if they can catch a whiff of the past.

Now at the age of 78, Littman marked his 50th anniversary at UH Manoa last year. He initially expected to have definitive results by now, as the team discovered potential perfume residue around 2012. However, global disruptions caused by the pandemic have delayed testing plans for the ancient samples collected from the Tell Timai excavation site in Egypt.

According to Littman, the excavation site was formerly the vibrant city of Mendes, flourishing from approximately 500 B.C. to 600 A.D. This city saw a diverse mix of cultures, starting with the ancient Egyptians, and later influenced by the Greeks and Romans, creating a rich tapestry of historical significance.

Since the project’s inception in 2007, students at UH Manoa have had the unique opportunity to travel to Egypt each summer and actively participate in the archaeological digs alongside Littman. Their long-term vision is to reconstruct the entire city, shedding light on its ancient grandeur.

The researchers have already reconstructed the ancient perfume recipe using contemporary ingredients, but they are still eagerly awaiting validation of whether the residue they uncovered is indeed an authentic ancient Egyptian fragrance. This journey stretches across continents, from Hawaii to the sands of Egyptian catacombs, culminating in laboratories in Berlin and Prague.

Embarking on a Lifelong Archaeological Journey

As a distinguished professor of Classics at UH Manoa, Littman is recognized globally for his extensive knowledge in Greek history, literature, ancient medicine, and archaeology. His academic journey began at an early age and has shaped his lifelong passion for these fields.

By the age of just 14, Littman had already read all of Homer’s works in their original Greek form. He transitioned from washing dishes in a commercial kitchen earning 60 cents an hour to tutoring college students in calculus by the time he turned 15. His early academic achievements foreshadowed the illustrious career that would follow.

Now, at 78, Littman has an impressive academic background, having studied at prestigious institutions such as Columbia University and the University of Oxford. His career has spanned roles at Columbia, Rutgers, and Brandeis, and he currently teaches courses in Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Greek, Roman, and Ancient Myths at UH.

This summer, Littman is set to return to the Tell Timai site with a group of 10 students from UH. He mentioned that spots for next year’s expedition are already filled, with each student expected to invest around $4,000 to cover their expenses, room, and board, excluding airfare.

In 2012, Littman, co-director of the Tell Timai site, Jay Silverstein — then an affiliate professor at UH — and their Egyptian team uncovered what they believe to be an ancient manufacturing center. Shortly after, their Egyptian staff discovered the significant ancient residue.

Located about 90 miles northeast of Cairo, Thmouis, meaning “New Land,” was once a southern suburb of Mendes, situated in the fertile Nile Delta. Today, Mendes is known as Timai El Amdid, located near a hill that serves as the excavation site. Littman noted that the area is roughly the size of the UH Manoa campus, indicating its historical importance.

Discovering an Ancient Hub of Perfume Production

Mendes was a vibrant hub for the importation of spices and ingredients from across the globe, including regions like India, Arabia, and Africa. This made Mendes a significant center for the perfume trade during a period spanning from about 300 B.C. to 800 A.D., highlighting its importance in ancient economies.

In the third century B.C., Thmouis was known for producing a distinctive fragrance referred to as the Mendesian perfume, which Littman likens to being the “Chanel No. 5” of its time, believed to be Cleopatra’s signature scent. This perfume has captured the imagination of historians and fragrance enthusiasts alike.

While absolute proof of Cleopatra’s preferred perfumes remains elusive, historical accounts shed light on her perfume practices. According to Plutarch, a biographer writing about a century later, Cleopatra famously scented her ship’s sails with perfumes and incense during her journey to meet Marc Antony, so that her fragrance would waft along the river, announcing her arrival.

However, conducting excavations in Egypt requires obtaining permits from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, a governing body overseeing Egypt’s archaeological sites. Littman and co-director Silverstein initially secured permission, but due to the travel restrictions imposed by Covid-19, Silverstein has not been able to return to Egypt since January 2020, causing their permit to expire.

They are currently in the process of reapplying for the necessary permits to transfer the residue found at the Tell Timai site from a secured storage facility to a laboratory for testing. This bureaucratic step is essential for moving forward with their research.

“It’s important to recognize that archaeology in Egypt, as well as globally, has a colonial history,” Silverstein noted. He elaborated that countries have become more vigilant about controlling their antiquities, ensuring that foreign powers cannot operate without their express permission.

Silverstein also shared a concerning anecdote about the facility housing the residue, which faced attacks during the uprising in Egypt a decade ago, resulting in injuries to security personnel. “Dedicated individuals risk their lives daily to safeguard these invaluable antiquities,” Silverstein remarked.

This summer, Silverstein plans to facilitate the transfer of materials. Once the transfer is complete, he anticipates obtaining results from the residue analysis within approximately 30 days.

Abdelrahman Medhat, the Conservator of Organic Materials at the Cairo Egyptian Museum, will employ various analytical techniques to assess the residue. His process will begin by identifying organic compounds and matching them to the plants from which they likely originated. This will allow for a comparison with known ancient perfume formulas, potentially revealing the identity of the perfume.

While some Egyptian scholars express caution regarding the association of the perfume with Cleopatra, researchers have made connections based on the historical timeline. Cleopatra herself authored a book on perfumes, which, although lost to time, is frequently referenced by other writers, particularly regarding its medicinal attributes.

“The Mendesian perfume, being the most renowned fragrance of that era, undoubtedly suggests that Cleopatra would have been aware of it, if not directly involved in its production and trade within the Greco-Roman market,” Silverstein explained.

Littman compares the creation of perfume recipes to crafting homemade stews, where each individual brings a unique interpretation to a basic recipe, leading to variations that reflect personal choices and available ingredients. “While one can describe the basic components of a simple stew, each cook adds their own twist, and the analysis of the residue will reveal its exact composition,” he stated.

Unraveling the Mystery: Is It Cleopatra’s Signature Scent?

Silverstein is optimistic that the residue could originate from Mendesian perfume or possibly other varieties like Metopian or Kyphi. “I strongly suspect it belongs to one of those three categories, but I’m hesitant to commit to a single identification at this stage,” he said. “It’s also plausible that the residue contains elements from multiple perfumes if the same containers were reused — much like how we might cook different dishes in the same pot day after day.”

The potential perfume residue was discovered within an exposed fragment of an amphora, a tall ancient Greco-Roman storage vessel used for various products, including liquids and dry goods like oil, wine, grains, and perfume.

If confirmed, the manufacturing center unearthed by Littman and Silverstein would be among the few identified perfume production sites from that era, and possibly the only one documented in that specific location.

Dora Goldsmith, an Egyptologist nearing the completion of her PhD at the Freie Universität Berlin, specializes in the archaeology of smell in ancient Egypt. She concurs that the residue’s discovery in Mendes, a well-known center for perfumery during late antiquity, strongly suggests its connection to a perfume.

However, she cautions that the residue could represent a variety of substances and may not be perfume at all. “This is precisely why we conduct analyses,” Goldsmith stated. “There can be significant surprises when analyzing such materials. The expectations may not align with the actual contents.”

Reconstructing the Aroma of Antiquity

Goldsmith, who Littman contacted following the discovery of the residue, joined the research team to assist in recreating the Mendesian perfume.

Collaborating with Sean Coughlin, a historian of Greco-Roman philosophy and science at the Czech Academy of Sciences, they undertook experiments with various materials and methods; one of their processes took an impressive 67 days to complete, ultimately leading to the recreation of a sample of Mendesian perfume.

This innovative experiment received funding from National Geographic, and the final product was featured in the “Queens of Egypt” exhibition at the National Geographic Museum. Visitors had the opportunity to experience several Egyptian-style scents, including blue lotus, cardamom, and the Mendesian perfume that Goldsmith and Coughlin successfully recreated.

The duo based their reconstruction on an 11th-century manuscript from the medical texts of Paul of Aegina, a Byzantine Greek physician from the 7th century. They meticulously cross-referenced the manuscript’s recipe with other historical sources to ascertain the most likely ingredients, techniques, and quantities needed.

Goldsmith and Coughlin experimented with two distinct oils, balanites and moringa, under varying temperatures, combining them with myrrh, cinnamon, and resin, all finely ground in a mortar. This meticulous process highlights the complexity of ancient perfumery.

“There’s no standardized recipe in a modern sense,” Goldsmith explained. “It reflects a unique transmission of knowledge across two ancient cultures.”

Goldsmith elaborated that during the Greek conquest of Egypt, ancient Egyptians were reticent to share their sacred perfume recipes. Insights gleaned from ancient texts suggest that many perfume formulations remained undisclosed to the Greeks, preserving the essence of their cultural heritage.

Throughout their experiments, Goldsmith and Coughlin noted that the oils exhibited different reactions to heat. For instance, moringa oil released a burnt aroma when heated, while unheated moringa eventually turned rancid and developed a white growth after some weeks, showcasing the challenges in ancient perfume production.

Their final combination of ingredients and methods resulted in a fragrance that was described as “extremely pleasant, elegant, and sweet,” predominantly featuring myrrh and cinnamon notes, with a remarkable potency that lasted nearly two years. This highlights the sophistication of ancient perfumery techniques.

“The Mendesian perfume was designed to be both soothing and warming, often employed to restore balance or even applied for medicinal purposes,” Coughlin noted, emphasizing its multifaceted uses in ancient society.

Interestingly, the Mendesian perfume recipe could also be adapted for other applications, such as alleviating hangover symptoms. In such cases, the formula would be mixed with goose fat and applied as a bandage to the user’s forehead, illustrating the broad scope of ancient fragrance applications.

In addition to medicinal uses, scents and incense played a role in daily life, often employed to mask or eliminate unpleasant odors, as Littman noted. He added that the contemporary widespread use of perfume is a relatively recent development, as frequent personal bathing became normalized only in modern times.

In contrast to today’s alcohol-based perfumes, ancient fragrances were largely oil-based and had a consistency resembling a lotion, making them distinct in both formulation and application. This difference highlights the evolution of fragrance use over the centuries.

“The Mendesian perfume opened up a new realm of scent composition previously unimagined,” Coughlin remarked. “The classical Mendesian recipe has remained remarkably consistent over the centuries, akin to a timeless brand like Chanel No. 5 that retains its signature scent.”

Unlike Chanel No. 5, which is widely available, Coughlin’s research suggests that the production and sale of Mendesian perfume were likely monopolized by the Egyptian Pharaohs. This indicates that access to this exquisite fragrance was highly controlled and limited to those who could purchase it from the state.

To bridge the gap between ancient practices and modern accessibility, Goldsmith has created do-it-yourself Mendesian perfume kits, making this historical scent more available to the public.

However, without a comprehensive analysis of the residue discovered by Littman and his research team, there remains uncertainty about whether it indeed corresponds to Mendesian perfume. Nevertheless, scholars like Goldsmith continue to explore the profound impact of scent in ancient cultures.

“I find it fascinating to investigate the nuances of how ancient cultures described scents, whether as divine, pleasant, or unpleasant,” Goldsmith expressed. “What do these descriptions truly convey about their perceptions of smell, especially in contexts like gardens, temples, or intimate moments?”