Perfume Production in the Ancient World

7–8 November 2023

Vila Lanna, V Sadech 1/1, Prague 6, Czechia

The topic of this conference is the production of scented materials (“perfumes”) in the ancient world from multiple perspectives: historical, archaeological, natural scientific, artisanal, cultural, religious.

It’s aim is to challenge traditional, monolithic ideas of ancient perfumery cultures ("Egyptian", "Mesopotamian", "Roman") and explore (a) how ingredients and the methods of using scented materials travelled across different civilizations, and (b) how perfumery and the production of scented materials themselves varied within the same culture, across time and place.

The conference will include papers on scent traditions from much of antiquity, including Aegean, African, Assyrian, Athenian, Ancient Egyptian, Chinese, Christian, Ancient Greek, Islamicate, Mesopotamian, Minoan, Persian, Pompeiian, Ptolemaic Egyptian, Roman and South Arabian.

Follow this link for full conference details, programme and speakers.