My friend Dora Goldsmith is an Egyptologist who works on the sense of smell in Ancient Egypt. Last year, we worked together on a project for the National Geographic Museum’s Queens of Egypt exhibition recreating an ancient Egyptian perfume known as the Mendesian (some articles about it here, here, and here). It was named after the city in Egypt where it was first produced, the town of Mendes, and we got involved when two archaeologists and historians, Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein, approached Dora with news that they had discovered a perfume factory in the ruins of the city (it’s now known as Tell Timai). Dora and I had been talking about a collaboration and this was the perfect chance: the perfume was emblematic of ancient Egyptian olfactory culture for hundreds of years, but descriptions and recipes only existed in Greek and Latin medical and scientific texts. So we had to figure out ways of working experimentally, testing different interpretations of recipes based on evidence from all kinds of sources, from archaeological studies of residues in perfume bottles to ancient Egyptian love poetry to ancient Greek medical recipes for hangovers (the Mendesian was apparently used to cure headaches).

A few weeks ago, Dora invited me to give a Zoom workshop with her on our process and on our approach to interdisciplinary collaboration. It was a great session and I learned lots from everyone there. Afterwards, she sent me one of her Ancient Egyptian Smell Kits. Before the pandemic, Dora would give hands-on workshops at Klara Ravat’s Smell Lab and the Neues Museum in Berlin where people could recreate Ancient Egyptian perfumes and even the scent of mummification. It’s nice that even when many of us cannot collaborate as we did, Dora’s managed to share this experience in new ways (my favourite is the liquid kypi). You can find out more about her educational kits and information about how to get your own here or email her if you want to place an order.

One of the workshops I went to with Dora was on making kyphi—a very complex perfume and incense used in ancient Egypt. As a thank you, I thought I’d offer a translation of what Plutarch had to say about kyphi and Egyptian aromatherapy from his book on Isis and Osiris. It is so nice to have these scents open on my desk as I am working through texts like these.

Egypt, Aromatherapy and the Plague

“If I also need to discuss, as I promised, the incense burned as an offering each day, one should first keep in mind that these men (sc. the Egyptians) always take affairs related to health extremely seriously: especially in their sacred practices, in their observances of purity and in their way of life, matters of health are no less present than piety. For they did not think it is right to worship what is pure and in-every-way-uninjured and unpolluted with bodies or souls that are festering and diseased.

“Indeed, since the air which we use all the time and in which we live does not always have the same condition and mixture, but at night it becomes dense and stifles the body and draws the soul into depression and anxiety as if it had become shadowy and heavy, as soon as they wake up they make incense offerings of resin, caring for and purifying the air by breaking it up, and rekindling the body’s exhausted natural spirit, as the scent contains something powerful and stimulating.

“Again during midday, when they notice the sun is forcibly drawing a very great and heavy exhalation from the earth and mixing it into the air, they make incense offerings of myrrh. For heat dissolves and disperses the turbid and murky accumulations in the air around us.

“In fact, even physicians seem to treat the plague by making a great fire and rarefying the air, and it is better rarefied if they burn fragrant woods like cypress, juniper and pine. At any rate, they say a doctor named Akron became famous at the time of the Great Plague in Athens by ordering a fire to be lit next to the sick—he helped quite a few people.

“And Aristotle says the sweet smelling breezes from perfumes and blossoms and meadows are just as important for health as for pleasure, since with their warmth and lightness they gently relax the brain which is naturally cold and frigid. If myrrh is in fact called bal by the Egyptians, and if this is best translated as ‘breaking up of congestion’, then this is evidence in support of his explanation.”

εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ περὶ τῶν θυμιωμένων ἡμέρας ἑκάστης εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ὑπεσχόμην, ἐκεῖνο διανοηθείη τις <ἂν> πρότερον, ὡς ἀεὶ μὲν οἱ ἄνδρες ἐν σπουδῇ μεγίστῃ τίθενται τὰ πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐπιτηδεύματα, μάλιστα δὲ ταῖς ἱερουργίαις καὶ ταῖς ἁγνείαις καὶ διαίταις οὐχ ἧττον ἔνεστι [τουτὶ] τοῦ ὁσίου τὸ ὑγιεινόν. οὐ γὰρ ᾤοντο καλῶς ἔχειν οὔτε σώμασιν οὔτε ψυχαῖς ὑπούλοις καὶ νοσώδεσι θεραπεύειν τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀβλαβὲς πάντῃ καὶ ἀμίαντον.

ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ ἀήρ, ᾧ πλεῖστα χρώμεθα καὶ σύνεσμεν, οὐκ ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει διάθεσιν καὶ κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ πυκνοῦται καὶ πιέζει τὸ σῶμα καὶ συνάγει τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς τὸ δύσθυμον καὶ πεφροντικὸς οἷον ἀχλυώδη γινομένην καὶ βαρεῖαν, ἀναστάντες εὐθὺς ἐπιθυμιῶσι ῥητίνην θεραπεύοντες καὶ καθαίροντες τὸν ἀέρα τῇ διακρίσει καὶ τὸ σύμφυτον τῷ σώματι πνεῦμα μεμαρασμένον ἀναρριπίζοντες ἐχούσης τι τῆς ὀσμῆς σφοδρὸν καὶ καταπληκτικόν.

αὖθις δὲ μεσημβρίας αἰσθανόμενοι σφόδρα πολλὴν καὶ βαρεῖαν ἀναθυμίασιν ἀπὸ γῆς ἕλκοντα βίᾳ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ καταμιγνύοντα τῷ ἀέρι τὴν σμύρναν ἐπιθυμιῶσι· διαλύει γὰρ ἡ θερμότης καὶ σκίδνησι τὸ συνιστάμενον ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι θολερὸν καὶ ἰλυῶδες.

καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἰατροὶ πρὸς τὰ λοιμικὰ πάθη βοηθεῖν δοκοῦσι φλόγα πολλὴν ποιοῦντες ὡς λεπτύνουσαν τὸν ἀέρα· λεπτύνει δὲ βέλτιον, ἐὰν εὐώδη ξύλα καίωσιν, οἷα κυπαρίττου καὶ ἀρκεύθου καὶ πεύκης. Ἄκρωνα γοῦν τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐν Ἀθήναις ὑπὸ τὸν μέγαν λοιμὸν εὐδοκιμῆσαι λέγουσι πῦρ κελεύοντα παρακαίειν τοῖς νοσοῦσιν· ὤνησε γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγους.

Ἀριστοτέλης δέ φησι καὶ μύρων καὶ ἀνθέων καὶ λειμώνων εὐώδεις ἀποπνοίας οὐκ ἔλαττον ἔχειν τοῦ πρὸς ἡδονὴν τὸ πρὸς ὑγίειαν, ψυχρὸν ὄντα φύσει καὶ παγετώδη τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἠρέμα τῇ θερμότητι καὶ λειότητι διαχεούσας. εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν σμύρναν παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις Βὰλ καλοῦσιν, ἐξερμηνευθὲν δὲ τοῦτο μάλιστα φράζει τῆς πληρώσεως ἐκσκορπισμόν, ἔστιν ἣν καὶ τοῦτο μαρτυρίαν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς αἰτίας δίδωσιν.

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 79 (Moralia 383A–D)

A description of Kyphi from Ancient Greece

“Kyphi is a mixture composed of sixteen ingredients: honey, wine, raisins, cyperus , resin and myrrh, aspalathus and seseli; moreover, mastic and bitumen, rush, patience dock, and in addition to these both of the junipers (one of which they call larger, the other smaller), cardamom and calamus.* These are not, however, combined in just any way, but while the sacred writings are being read to the perfumers as they mix them.

“As for the number of ingredients, because it is a square of a square [i.e. 4 x 4] and the only even number whose perimeter is equal to its area, it is completely appropriate that it is an object of wonder; even so, it must be said that this fact contributes very little to the recipe. Rather, most of the ingredients have aromatic properties that give off a sweet and pleasant exhalation because of which the air is changed and the body, by being moved softly and gently by the stream of air, takes on a balance of elements that brings on sleep; and these aromatic properties also relax and loosen without wine the pain and stress of our everyday worries as if loosening a knot. And they brighten the imagination and the part of us that receives dreams as if polishing a mirror, and they are as purifying to it as the melodies of the lyre which the Pythagoreans used to play before going to sleep in order to charm the emotional and irrational feelings in the soul and in this way heal it.

“For scents often restore our consciousness when it is weakened; often again they smooth and calm it when there are material disturbances spread because of their smoothness throughout the body, as some doctors say sleep comes about when the exhalations from our food slip smoothly, as it were, around our vital organs, touching them and producing a sort of tickling sensation.

“They use kyphi as a potion and a perfumed oil, for when taken as a drink, it seems to purify the inside of the body; as a perfumed oil, it softens the skin. In addition to this, resin and myrrh are the work of the sun, when their plants exude their tears in response to its warmth; but the ingredients of kyphi delight more in the night, as do all those whose nature is nourished by cold winds and shadows and dew and moisture. Whereas the light of the daytime is unitary and simple and the sun shows itself, as Pindar says, ‘through a deserted aether,’ the nighttime air is a blend and mixture of many lights and forces, as if seeds from every star streamed down onto one place. And so it is fitting that they make incense offerings of the former [i.e. resin and myrrh] in the daytime, since they are simple and are born from the sun; while this one [i.e. kyphi], since it is a mixture of so many different qualities, they offer at nightfall.”

τὸ δὲ κῦφι μῖγμα μὲν ἑκκαίδεκα μερῶν συντιθεμένων ἐστί, μέλιτος καὶ οἴνου καὶ σταφίδος καὶ κυπέρου ῥητίνης τε καὶ σμύρνης καὶ ἀσπαλάθου καὶ σεσέλεως, ἔτι δὲ σχίνου τε καὶ ἀσφάλτου καὶ θρύου καὶ λαπάθου, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀρκευθίδων ἀμφοῖν (ὧν τὴν μὲν μείζονα τὴν δ' ἐλάττονα καλοῦσι) καὶ καρδαμώμου καὶ καλάμου. συντίθενται δ' οὐχ ὅπως ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ γραμμάτων ἱερῶν τοῖς μυρεψοῖς, ὅταν ταῦτα μιγνύωσιν, ἀναγιγνωσκομένων.

τὸν δ' ἀριθμόν, εἰ καὶ πάνυ δοκεῖ τετράγωνος ἀπὸ τετραγώνου καὶ μόνος ἔχων τῶν ἴσων ἰσάκις ἀριθμῶν τῷ χωρίῳ τὴν περίμετρον ἴσην ἄγασθαι προσηκόντως, ἐλάχιστα ῥητέον εἴς γε τοῦτο συνεργεῖν, ἀλλὰ <τὰ> πλεῖστα τῶν συλλαμβανομένων ἀρωματικὰς ἔχοντα δυνάμεις γλυκὺ πνεῦμα καὶ χρηστὴν μεθίησιν ἀναθυμίασιν, ὑφ' ἧς ὅ τ' ἀὴρ τρεπόμενος καὶ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῆς πνοῆς κινούμενον λείως καὶ προσηνῶς ὕπνου τε κρᾶσιν ἐπαγωγὸν ἴσχει καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ καὶ σύντονα τῶν μεθημερινῶν φροντίδων ἄνευ μέθης οἷον ἅμματα χαλᾷ καὶ διαλύει· καὶ τὸ φανταστικὸν καὶ δεκτικὸν ὀνείρων μόριον ὥσπερ κάτοπτρον ἀπολεαίνει καὶ ποιεῖ καθαρώτερον οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ τὰ κρούματα τῆς λύρας, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρὸ τῶν ὕπνων οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι, τὸ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ ἄλογον τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξεπᾴδοντες οὕτω καὶ θεραπεύοντες.

τὰ γὰρ ὀσφραντὰ πολλάκις μὲν τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀπολείπουσαν ἀνακαλεῖται, πολλάκις δὲ πάλιν ἀμβλύνει καὶ κατηρεμίζει διαχεομένων ἐν τῷ σώματι τῶν ἀναλωμάτων ὑπὸ λειότητος· ὥσπερ ἔνιοι τῶν ἰατρῶν τὸν ὕπνον ἐγγίνεσθαι λέγουσιν, ὅταν ἡ τῆς τροφῆς ἀναθυμίασις οἷον ἕρπουσα λείως περὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα καὶ ψηλαφῶσα ποιῇ τινα γαργαλισμόν.

τῷ δὲ κῦφι χρῶνται καὶ πόματι καὶ χρίματι· πινόμενον γὰρ δοκεῖ τὰ ἐντὸς καθαίρει, [...] χρῖμα μαλακτικόν. ἄνευ δὲ τούτων ῥητίνη μέν ἐστιν ἔργον ἡλίου καὶ σμύρνα πρὸς τὴν εἵλην τῶν φυτῶν ἐκδακρυόντων, τῶν δὲ τὸ κῦφι συντιθέντων ἔστιν ἃ νυκτὶ χαίρει μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ ὅσα πνεύμασι ψυχροῖς καὶ σκιαῖς καὶ δρόσοις καὶ ὑγρότησι τρέφεσθαι πέφυκεν· ἐπεὶ τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας φῶς ἓν μέν ἐστι καὶ ἁπλοῦν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὁ Πίνδαρος ὁρᾶσθαί φησιν ‘ἐρήμης δι' αἰθέρος’, ὁ δὲ νυκτερινὸς ἀὴρ κρᾶμα καὶ σύμμιγμα πολλῶν γέγονε φώτων καὶ δυνάμεων οἷον σπερμάτων εἰς ἓν ἀπὸ παντὸς ἄστρου καταρρεόντων. εἰκότως οὖν ἐκεῖνα μὲν ὡς ἁπλᾶ καὶ ἀφ' ἡλίου τὴν γένεσιν ἔχοντα δι' ἡμέρας, ταῦτα δ' ὡς μικτὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ ταῖς ποιότησιν ἀρχομένης νυκτὸς ἐπιθυμιῶσι.

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 80 (Moralia 383E–384C)

*Plutarch’s list of kyphi ingredients

1. μέλι (meli): honey

2. οἶνος (oinos): wine

3. σταφίς (staphis): raisins

4. κύπερον (kyperon): cyperus, probably Cyperus rotundus L.

5. ῥητίνη (rhetine): resin, probably some kind of pine resin

6. σμύρνα (smyrna): myrrh, Commiphora myrrha Engl.

7. ἀσπάλαθος (aspalathos): possibly camelthorn, Alhagi maurorum L.; or thorny trefoil, Calycotome villosa Link; or Genista, Genista acanthoclada DC

8. σέσελι (seseli): hartwort, Tordylium officinale L.

9. σχῖνος (skhinos): mastic: Pistacia lentiscus L.

10. ἄσφαλτος (asphaltos): bitumen

11. θρύον (thryon): rush

12. λάπαθον (lapathon): patience dock, Rumex patientia L.

13. ἄρκευθος μείζων (arkeythos meizon): larger juniper, Juniperus macrocarpa L.

14. ἄρκευθος ἐλάττων (akreythos elatton): smaller juniper, Juniperus communis L.

15. καρδάμωμον (karadmomon): cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum Maton

16. κάλαμος (kalamos): calamus, Acorus calamus L.