The Scent of Empire

Perfumes and Aromas in the Time of King Tut

Friday , October 28, and repeated on Saturday, 29, 2011,  4:00 p.m.

Brown Auditorium Theater, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet

*Free with General Museum Admission*

Dr. Cheryl Ward, Director of Center for Archaeology and Anthropology, Coastal Carolina Univ.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Cosponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Just as people use the finest ingredients available to manufacture perfumes and aromatic substances today, exotic resins and oils from plant flowers and stems created a wealth of scents in ancient times. Ancient Egyptian poetry from the time of the pharaoh Tutankhamen opens a window into how people felt about perfumes and unguents, and a ship that wrecked off the southern coast of Turkey offers up the physical evidence of the importance of trade in aromatics at that time.

Evidence from disparate sources such as Mycenaean palace bookkeepers, the writings of ancient naturalists, and even Egyptian love poetry bring us into their world, where simple techniques still practiced in the finest perfumeries transformed plants and plant products into gateways to paradise.

Dr. Cheryl Ward is Director of the Center for Archaeology and Anthropology at Coastal Carolina University.   Using interdisciplinary research she develops projects exploring the lives and life ways of modern and ancient peoples.  Ward’s research examines the ability of humans to expand their cultural and physical horizons by exploring the origin, elaboration, and impact of technology on society.