Perfume in the Bible - by Charles S Sell (Hardcover)

About the Book

The book recounts some interesting biblical events involving perfume ranging from courtship through seduction to prostitution and murder. It explores the preparation, storage and uses of perfume and is aimed at a broad audience.

Book Synopsis

The stories around the perfumes of the Bible are as abundant as the contemporary fragrances that are available. Identifying the ingredients used in biblical times is difficult when information and meaning is lost in ancient languages. Biblical perfumes might be expected to be made from natural products with the majority of ingredients from flower oils providing heart notes to the fragrances but although flowers are mentioned in the Bible it is never as part of a perfume. The biblical ingredients are base notes; their natural origins are either as defensive substances or as products of decay, which opens up an avenue of speculation as to why this is so! Aimed at a broad audience from chemists and general scientists to historians and those interested in religious studies also lay readers with an interest in exploring chemistry in the world of art and creative professions.

Review Quotes

It is a wide-ranging study in which, in addition to chemistry, Dr Sell examines geographical sources, botany, sensory science, medicine, and the arts. There is even a section on perfume storage. Bottles, interestingly, have survived from before 500 BC, and Isaiah mentions the ownership of perfume bottles as one of the trappings of wealth, along with bracelets, charms, and nose-rings.

-- "The Church Times"

It's amazing how often the subject of smell comes up in the Bible, whether it be pleasing odours of sacrifice of Noah or the perfumes of the Song of Songs - and of course that expensive perfume used to anoint Jesus's feet, much to Judas's horror. Dr. Sell takes us on a fascinating journey through both Bible and science, laying bare the mechanism of smell and then seeking to explain how these perfumes (all natural ingredients in those days) were obtained. The evidence is often fragmentary (let's face it, the Bible was never meant to be an instruction in the art of perfume formulation), but Dr. Sell teases out many fascinating details, and augments them with beautiful illustrations using the stained glass windows, particularly those of Canterbury cathedral. A must for anyone interested in perfumery or chemistry.

-- "Amazon Review"