Stakte, Susinum, Cyprinum, the Mendesian. Once upon a time, those names resonated with the impact of Opium or Chanel Number Five. And for good reason: up until and during the first few centuries of the Common Era, Egypt was the prestigious center of an international perfume industry. Although perfumes were created and mass-marketed elsewhere in the ancient world, it was Egypt that was most renowned and identified with the international perfume trade. Egypt was so identified with perfume that during Julius Caesar's Roman triumphs, perfume bottles were tossed to the crowd to demonstrate his mastery over Egypt.

Fragrance was common and accessible throughout Egypt; perfume was not. Beautifully scented flowers were readily accessible in the Nile River valley to even the humblest individuals. We know from artifacts and art that the Egyptians were fond of floral garlands, much in the manner of today's Hawaiian lei. However, perfume was an expensive luxury item created in Egypt for the elite and for export.

As befitting a luxury item, the Egyptians taste in perfume ran towards the exotic. Perfume formulae remain to us; although we have countless images of lotuses being worn and sniffed, nowhere does this indigenous and, at that time, common flower appear in perfumery recipes. Instead, imports like myrrh, frankincense, cinnamon and cassia were favored. With the sole exception of timber, fragrant materials were ancient Egypt's top import. With these materials, precious, lavish fragrances were created and then exported throughout the ancient world. Because these materials had to be transported over great distances, the most popular perfumes were created from hardy components: resins and roots.

At least as far as packaging goes, what the Egyptians would have called perfume would be recognizable to us, meaning that specific and reasonably consistent formulas were created and marketed. In other words, if you were to go perfume shopping today, let's say to purchase a bottle of "Miss Dior," you would possess certain expectations of what that product should look and smell like. In much the same way, back in ancient days, were you to purchase a bottle of Susinum, the famed and very popular fragrance based upon the aroma of lilies, you would also have expectations of fragrance and appearance.

Beyond expectations, there was also a standard of excellence to meet. Thus international debate of the time centered on exactly who made the finest Cyprinum, a fragrance based upon the scent of henna (Lawsonia inermis): the perfumers of Egypt (specifically those from Canopus) versus their competition from Ashkelon, Cyprus or Sidon? (Both Pliny and Dioscorides believed the Egyptian product to be superior over all others.)

Ancient perfumes were marketed in elaborate luxurious containers. Just as today, attractive and eye-catching packaging was an integral aspect of the luxury perfume experience. Alabaster, according to Pliny, was the finest material for storing scent. Large quantities of varied perfume bottles have been excavated. Among the cargo excavated from the Ulu Barun shipwreck (named after the Turkish town near where the ship was discovered), were bars of blue glass.