LARS
L E U V E N
A R C H A EO L O G I C A L
R E S E A R C H
S E M I N A R
Thu
March
16.00-17.00u
MSI 01.16
2012
In the film ‘Perfume’ (2006) Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the story’s protagonist, convinces the Parisian perfumier Giuseppe Baldini of his olfactory abilities.
He does so, without any apparent perfumier’s knowledge nor experience, by preparing the perfume ‘Amor & Psyche’, made by Baldini’s competitor. Among the ingredients chosen by Grenouille, who is unaware of most of their names, is also storax. Storax (also: styrax) is quite often mentioned in the Greek and
Roman sources, including a number of Egyptian papyri. Storax is a fragrant gum that exudes from the branches of the shrub Styrax officinalis L. or Snowbell Bush, though among modern scientists there is dispute whether these classical sources could not refer to Liquidambar orientalis , a tree that also produces a gum. The context of these written sources mostly deal with the production of perfume and medicine. Impressions of leaves of Styrax officina lis L. are identified on amphorae found at Sagalassos, which are now known to have been manufactured locally. This presentation focuses on the circumstantial evidence for Sagalassos, to suggest that the area may have been involved in the production of storax-gum.