The oldest perfume was found in En Boquet, approximately 19 miles south of En Gedi by the Dead Sea.  The oldest perfume researched was found in a Kings Tomb of Ancient Ur dating to the time of Abraham of the Old Testament.  For 300 years (200 BC to 100 AD), the best perfumes were made in Alexandria, Egypt under the control of Cleopatra and the Ptolemy Dynasty established by Alexander the Great.

Pliny, Dioscorides, Homer and other learned men created poetry, copied formulations and wrote about the extensive use of perfumes.  Some were even quoted from Cleopatra Gynaeciarium Libri, her famous book of “perfumes and cosmetiques”.  The gift of scent was so highly prized and so costly it was reserved for royalty and used only in the temples.  In the years just before and during the time of Christ, there was a universal use of scent.  Frankincense and Myrrh were more costly than gold.