New Artifact May Be The Key To Explaining Cleopatra's Power

Cleopatra was a ruler beloved among her people. Throughout her reign, she revived the Egyptian economy, established trade with neighboring countries, and united the public through her creation of a prosperous and powerful Egypt. Yet it's her personal life that still captivates us.

She has been the subject of artwork, plays, operas, poetry, and film, which all describe her as an otherworldly beauty. But as it turns out, Cleopatra’s supposed beauty is a relatively recent spin on her tale. In fact, early representations of the Egyptian queen, influenced by negative poems and historiographies recorded by the Romans, tended to be less than flattering.

That Cleopatra left her mark on the world is indisputable. And while she may have been vilified by the Romans, in more recent times she has become a symbol of romance and femininity. Indeed, her status as a modern cultural icon dates to the Victorian age and so-called “Egyptomania” – a fixation with all things Egypt, thanks in part to the archaeological discoveries of the day.

Egyptomania provided the inspiration for a series of famous photos of Emilie Langtry, who posed as Cleopatra in 1895. Nicknamed “The Jersey Lily,” Langtry was a British-American socialite, producer, and actress. She was a darling of bohemians and society hostesses on the London scene and the images of her reclined in full Egyptian garb just might be the kitschiest ever tribute to Cleopatra.

In more recent times, Elizabeth Taylor is remembered for one of the most enduring depictions of the Ptolemaic ruler in the 1963 Hollywood epic Cleopatra. However, the film nearly left 20th Century Fox bankrupt and was plagued by production issues. Most controversial of all, Taylor and her co-star Richard Burton had a scandalous affair. Echoing the dramas of Cleopatra’s love life, their relationship would later evolve into one of the most tumultuous in Hollywood history.

But was Cleopatra really as glamorous as Hollywood made her out to be? Although Roman historian Dio Cassius described the leader as "a woman of surpassing beauty," this may not have been totally true, as other sources claim that her physical beauty was superior to her intellect and wit. Only a few artistic recreations of Cleopatra's face exist, but they all put similar features on display.

One bust depicts Cleopatra with curly hair, almond-shaped eyes, and a pointed chin, three features that we see again and again in recreations of the Egyptian pharaoh. The most repeated and prominent feature, however, is Cleopatra's nose, which was reportedly a large aquiline shape. By many accounts, Cleopatra wasn't really the "otherworldly beauty" that Hollywood made her out to be, but she was also far from hideous.

But regardless of whether Cleopatra was as beautiful as Hollywood imagined her – or as plain as Roman artists depicted her – she continues to be a source of popular inspiration and intrigue. Indeed, we will probably never know how Cleopatra looked. However, we now know how she might have smelled, all thanks to forensic evidence dating to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, which flourished more than two millennia in the past.

Cleopatra was the eldest surviving offspring of Auletes and, after his death in 51 B.C., the rightful heir to the Egyptian throne. However, in his will, Auletes had requested that Cleopatra should marry her brother – as was customary at the time – and rule jointly with him. And so, at the age of 17, Cleopatra was married to her 10-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. She became the co-ruler of Egypt but was later ousted by Theos Philopator’s counselors.

Exiled from the palace, Cleopatra, who was 22, began gathering an army. Of course, a civil war in Egypt was bad business for the Roman Republic, which relied heavily on Egyptian exports such as grain. In 48 B.C., the Roman ruler Julius Ceasar traveled to Alexandria and conducted a clandestine meeting with Cleopatra, who was apparently smuggled to his quarters inside a rolled carpet.

With his support, Cleopatra went on to defeat her brother in the Battle of the Nile. The young pharaoh subsequently drowned in its waters, although the exact circumstances of his demise are disputed. Cleopatra then married her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, as custom demanded. And they were both pronounced co-rulers of Egypt by Caesar.

Apart from her political accomplishments, Cleopatra was also well known for her dramatic and steamy love affairs, first with Julius Caesar and then with Marc Antony, both highly accomplished Roman rulers. These romances would go on to define much of her legacy, mainly due to their scandalous nature. With Caesar, their romance began as a fling.

In 47 B.C., she and Caesar took a two-month-long excursion on the Nile, marking the start of a famous romantic liaison. The affair bore them a son, Caesarion. And in 46 B.C., the Roman ruler installed a gold statue of Cleopatra inside the Temple of Venus Genetrix.

But Cleopatra didn't only have eyes for Caesar. After the Ides of March in 44 B.C., in which Caesar was murdered by his group of senators, Cleopatra commenced a love affair with Mark Antony. Historians claim that this romance was even more passionate and controversial than her dalliance with Julius Caesar. The two were ultimately wed in Egypt and had three children together.

Naturally, Mark Antony’s affair with Cleopatra provided political dynamite to his opponents. In Rome, Cleopatra was disdained as a scheming seductress, but Marc Antony was completely head over heels for the beautiful Cleopatra. He was so devoted to her that he once made a love-struck claim that, to an outside observer, may seem a bit incredulous.

Antony insisted that he could smell Cleopatra's perfume from miles away before her ships even landed on the shores of Tarsus, the city where the two star-crossed lovers first met. Either he has a superior sense of smell, or Cleopatra had a nifty perfume trick up her sleeve!

In reality, however, it was the sails that he was smelling. Cleo doused the sails of her ships with her unique fragrance. An odd thing to do, maybe, but the queen wanted to travel in style. Her scent was so enchanting that it attracted the attention of history's most famous poet.

That's right, even William Shakespeare was so entranced by Cleopatra's perfume that he felt the need to write about it, reminiscing about her sails that were "so perfumed that the winds were lovesick with them." Cleopatra wanted to be sensed from miles away, so she had to concoct an unusable scent.

So, what exactly did she smell like? Luckily for us, scientists Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein devoted their lives to finding out just that. The results were interesting — and unexpected. Obviously, Cleopatra couldn't just visit her local drugstore for cheap perfume. She had to get much more creative than that, and so did Littman and Silverstein.

Finding answers started with an excavation project performed in the ancient city of Tell-El Timai, north of Cairo, which lasted for a period of 10 years. Tell-El Timai was the site of the city of Thmuis. This location was one that had interested scientists for years, so Littman and Silverstein were excited at the area's archaeological potential.

And sure enough, Littman and Silverstein struck olfactory gold when they uncovered the remnants of an ancient Egyptian perfumery in Tell-El Timai. The site, which is 2,300 years old, contained kilns used for firing imported clay. The perfumery apparently crafted their own bottles and receptacles, including copious amphora – that is, narrow-necked Greek or Roman jars with handles.

The presence of gold and silver near the kilns indicated that the perfumery was a site of trade or monetary exchange. With that, Littman Silverstein realized that Thmuis served as a manufacturing site for two of the most popular perfumes of ancient Egypt, scents known as Mendesian and Metopian. The research was off to a promising start.

Also known as “The Egyptian,” Mendesian was bought and sold across the ancient world for thousands of years. It is believed to have been invented on the Nile delta in the city of Mendes, an important cultural hub during the Late Period of Ancient Egyptian civilization. Meanwhile, Metopian was prized not only as a perfume but also as a stomach medicine.

Speaking to Atlas Obscura, Littman described the perfumes as “the most prized” in the ancient world. Indeed, perfumes such as Mendesian and Metopian had a high cultural value in ancient societies, but especially so in their land of origin. In Egypt, the god Nefertem — who was frequently portrayed bearing water lilies, a staple ingredient in many Egyptian perfumes — was considered the god of perfume.

Despite these fascinating discoveries, however, their main objective still remained: to recreate Cleopatra's signature scent. And eventually, the team stumbled upon an essential clue that brought them that much closer to deciphering the mystery of just what Egypt's last pharaoh had actually smelled like.

Remember the ancient perfumery in Tell-El Timai? Well, Littman and Silverstein realized that the old bottles still contained residue of the old scents. While they couldn't actually smell the stuff, the remnants were miraculously in good enough shape for Littman and Silverstein to analyze. This allowed scientists to determine the ingredients that were once used to make the perfumes.

So they got to work. Using scientific testing of the bottles alongside ancient texts for reference purposes, the men and women began the intricate process of recreating Cleopatra's alluring scent. It was no easy feat; ancient Egyptian texts don't exactly spell out recipes like a cookbook. Luckily, they had scientists Dora Goldsmith and Sean Coughlin — two authorities on Egyptian perfume — to help make the old perfumes from scratch.

The resulting substance was made out of myrrha, a resin produced from tree sap, and also hints of cinnamon, cardamom, and even olive oil. It seems that warm, spicy scents have been used in perfumes since Cleopatra's time! One thing about this ancient perfume, however, was very unusual.

Unlike most perfumes today, which typically have a watery consistency, this fragrance was thick and very sticky. One scientist even described it as being a "sludge." Doesn't sound like the most appealing thing to cover yourself in but to each their own. What scientists really wanted to know, however, was what it smelled like.

Apparently, the scent was a pleasing one, musky and spicy but not overpowering. This made sense given the aromatic list of ingredients used to make it. The researchers had high praise for the perfume, and just because of how it smelled. As it turns out, today's perfume makers could take a leaf out of Cleopatra's book...

You see, her perfume had a shelf life of several years, and may even have improved with age! And, of course, strong, long-lasting aromas were preferable to the consumers of the ancient world. As the Greek philosopher Theophrastus once remarked, “A lasting perfume is what women require.” However, if a perfume proved too overpowering, it was not uncommon to dilute it with wine.

Littman even referred to the scent as being the "Chanel No. 5 of ancient Egypt." Chanel No. 5 is arguably the most iconic perfume of the modern world and can put you out hundreds of dollars, so this is no small compliment! Their recreation of the perfume may have answered one question, but it brought other questions up to the surface.

There are always going to be doubters and nay-sayers when it comes to iconic figures like Cleopatra, and even the perfume claims were no exception. Uncovering the potential truth about Cleopatra's perfume made researchers wonder just how far her power spread. As pharaoh, would she have worn a fragrance that contained such earthy ingredients?

Some detractors of the perfume recreation claim that Cleopatra, as a royal and in fact the most powerful person in Egypt at the time, would have worn something special rather than don the same fragrance that even commoners wore. After all, only the most high-class among us can afford to wear Chanel No. 5, right? If everyone could wear it, it wouldn't be an iconic perfume.

But make no mistake — Cleopatra didn't strive to be like everyone else. In fact, some even claim that Cleopatra had an entire perfume factory dedicated to churning out scents unique to her. However, no matter how skeptical certain people were, they couldn't dampen the spirits of Littman and Silverstein.

“What a thrill it is to smell a perfume that no one has smelled for 2,000 years and one which Cleopatra might have worn,” Littman stated at a press conference. And just as Cleopatra's powerful fragrance seemed to travel for miles, so too did her recreated scent. Scientists were determined to share their recreation with the rest of the world.

From March to September 2019, a sample of the recreated perfumes was made available to the public in a temporary exhibition at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. Titled “Queens of Egypt”, the exhibition included artifacts from a range of museums in Europe and Canada, as well as jars of Mendesian.

It is impossible to smell Mendesian and Metopian without catching a ghostly trace of ancient Egypt. From bustling marketplaces to opulent palaces to mysterious temples on the banks of the Nile, the air would have been scented not only with the visceral strife of everyday life but with perfume made from earthly ingredients such as cinnamon and cardamom. Indeed, the mark of a crafted fragrance is the mark of civilization.