Handcrafted Recreations of Ancient Egyptian Temple Incense, Anointing Oils, Balms & Perfumes
Inspired after visiting to Egypt in 2018, Shane Clayton of Wandering Stars has recreated a magical collection of ancient perfumes, unguent balms, fragrant ceremonial anointing oils, and temple incense. 'The Egyptian' Sacred Scents is the retail business gateway for these unique and truly authentic fragrance reproductions, created in small batches by Shane for his Egyptian aromatherapy practice. We call this unique collection 'The Egyptian' after a mysterious perfume described by Dioscorides circa 70 CE.
Developed from lists of their names and ingredients, and even a few detailed recipes, carved in heiroglyphics on the "laboratory" chamber walls in the 2,300-year-old Horus Temple at Edfu, these were all pretty much forgotten after their discovery in 1865 up until the more recent writings of luminary Egyptologists such as Lise Manniche, among a few others, to whom we are indebted greatly.
These fragrant oil and incense recipes are indeed ancient. Several of our products are listed as offerings to Amun Ra and Ra Horakhty in Seti I’s 1279 BCE New Kingdom “Mansion of the Gods” Temple at Abydos (pictured above), and as funerary offerings inside the sarcophagus chamber of the 2360 BCE Old Kingdom Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, included in the oldest surviving religious writings in the world - the 5,000-year-old Pyramid Texts.
"… it is almost impossible to overstate the importance of fragrance and cosmetics to the ancient Egyptians. In consideration of their prodigious feats in art, architecture, astronomy, and medicine, and their sacred science of spiritual knowledge and the symbolism that supports them, perhaps we should take a closer look at these powerful olfactory and emollient “medicines,” and begin experimenting with them in our contemporary practices of cosmetology, aromatherapy, healing arts, and spiritual communion. All in all, they are simply divine to the nose, skin, hair, and spirit - whatever your interests or beliefs may be."
- from Shane's article "The Seven Sacred Oils of Ancient Egypt"
Three of the Seven Sacred Oils and one Unguent jar, carved in stone with gold leaf and inscribed with the cartouche of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose III. Courtesy of the Metroplitan Museum of Art.
>> MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Our expertise lies in aromatherapy, fragrant botanical resins & essential oils, handcrafted incense, perfumes, and cosmetic skin/hair ointments & balms. Information contained on this website is to the best of our knowledge factual and backed by clinical citations, and is presented solely for your edification and enjoyment. Wandering Stars and/or 'The Egyptian' Sacred Scents is not a licensed healthcare provider and cannot give medical advice. For your own safety, do not ingest any of our products without first consulting your physician or naturopathic caregiver. Your reading this notice serves as our agreement that you will abide by this recommendation in accordance with ourTerms & Conditions. <<
Below: Assortment of Ptolemaic Dynasty alabaster perfume jars, from 1 to 3 inches in height, with three Merhet jars on the right and a Spikenard jar and its lid on the left. Courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
