The Scents of Larsa: A Study of the Aromatics Industry in an Old Babylonian Kingdom

Th e aromatics trade is a luxury trade with origins in distant antiquity. Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian techniques at perfume production are the roots of the Arabic perfume industry so famous in the Middle Ages. The south Arabian incense trade, so important to the Greeks and Romans, seemingly appears fully grown with the domestication of the camel. However, this trade and the production of perfumes arose from a much older tradition of which the sources are difficult to grasp. Th ere are no texts which describe perfume production before the Middle Assyrian period, nor did the ancient Mesopotamians state where many of the raw materials they imported came from.
This work will discuss the aromatics trade in the early Old Babylonian Kingdom of Larsa. It will be seen that at this time and place, a vibrant trade in fragrant products and raw materials existed which involved many sectors of the society and economy in the Kingdom of Larsa. In this section, section one, the groundwork for this discussion will be laid, starting with a history of aromatic scholarship, moving on to a textual discussion, and ending by stating both the modern and ancient terms used to describe aromatics and perfumes, as well as defining the use and non use of the šim determinative. Section two will describe the manufacture of aromatic products; beginning with an examination of the materials used in production, moving on to an overview of the methods involved
in perfume manufacture, then describing the perfumer, and finishing by exploring the places of aromatic production. Section three will discuss how aromatics and fragrances fi t into the society and economy of the Kingdom of Larsa. Th is section will investigate the sources of aromatic raw materials, the people involved in the aromatics trade, and the availability and uses of aromatics in the Kingdom of Larsa’s society.