Two women buried in what’s now Kazakhstan went into the afterlife with a small block of white chalk beside them. A Russian and Chinese research team now says those blocks were makeup, scented with oils from plants that don’t grow anywhere near the graves. [...] The team picked out more than 300 organic compounds, and terpenes, the aromatic molecules plants make, formed the largest group. Eight match cinnamon and ten match wormwood, while one compound points to mint.

— Read more in Silk Road makeup from 2,000-year-old Kazakh graves was scented with Indian cinnamon at Archaeology News.

At the heart of the exhibition is the experimental reconstruction and modern interpretation of the perfume of Tappūtī-Bēlat-Ekalle, as recorded in KAR 220, a cuneiform tablet housed at the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. This tablet contains the oldest known recipe for an infused oil “fit for a king.” The exhibition presents the methods used in the experimental replication of the ancient formula, along with the historical context and cultural legacy of perfume-making that began in ancient Iraq.

— Read more about the exhibit, opening next week at the Palazzo Poggi in Bologna, in The First Perfume: Tappūtī and the History of Scents at Bologna Welcome. (And see also: Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim, The Oldest Perfumer on Record at World Sensorium.)

Organic residues were detected in eight of the vessels, revealing traces of plant-based lipids as well as pine and mastic resin, which are strong indicators of fragrant oil preparations. Archaeologists now believe that the small jars were used to transport perfumes and aromatic oils that helped serve as reminders of their homeland and helped to reinforce Phoenician identity for settlers who lived in far-off places.

— Read more in Phoenician Colonists Traveled with the Scents of Home at Archaeology Magazine.

In the 1950s, botanist Wilhelmina Jashemski identified traces of pollen, spores and plant fossils in the ancient city of Pompeii. The discovery suggested that the site had once been a lush, cultivated garden.

Now, that garden has been restored to its former glory, complete with thousands of roses, ruscus plants, violets, cherry trees and vines, according to a statement from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

— Read more in The 2,000-Year-Old ‘Perfume Garden’ in the Ancient City of Pompeii Has Been Restored to Its Former Glory at Smithsonian Magazine.