The first chemist in history may have been a female perfumer - here’s how the science of scents has changed since

By Roberta Angioi, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in Analytical Chemistry, Dublin City University

Perfume making dates back at least 3,000 years – to the time of Tapputi-belat-ekalle, who is considered the first chemist in history. What we know about her comes from inscriptions on fragments of clay tablets dating back to the Middle Assyrian period (1400–1000BC).

The inscriptions tell us that Tapputi was in charge of “overseeing the palace” as the leader of a collective of female expert perfume makers in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq and Iran). These muraqqītu, experts in aromatics, prepared fragrances…

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