Tiny delicate bottles made of glass or pottery were general used to store perfumed oils. In Cyprus, scents were extracted from local herbs and flowers such as bay, rosemary, coriander, lavender and rock rose. The narrow neck of the bottle prevented leaking, while it’s smooth and flattened lip allowed oil to be applied directly onto the skin.
Want to make your own ancient-style perfume? Check out this blog and worksheet from the Getty!
“The Scent of Love: Ancient Perfumes.” The Getty Iris (blog), May 1, 2012. https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-scent-of-love-ancient-perfumes/.
Jewelry fragments, such as these individual beads and this shattered bracelet, provide a tantalizing glimpse of ancient fashions and aesthetics.
They also represent a high degree of technological expertise. The bracelet is beautifully fashioned from twisted, coloured rods of glass. Knowledge of glass technology emerged in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age, probably as a result of making vitreous glazes and faience for beads, tiles and pottery.
“Bronze Age Perfume ‘Discovered,’” March 19, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4364469.stm.
“Perfumes.” Accessed November 4, 2019. https://www.pyrgos-mavroraki.eu/perfumes.