In XIII e century BC, Tapputi-Belet-ekalle was a perfumer at the court of Assyria. She is considered one of the oldest chemists we have kept track of.
At the court of Assyria
History has retained almost nothing of Tapputi-Belet-ekalle, not even, probably, his name. Belet-ekalle indeed means “assistant to the lady of the palace”; it is probably a title. Tapputi is mentioned in the cuneiform tablet KAR 220; it is a perfumer at the court of the king of Assyria, a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia whose capital is Assur, about a hundred kilometers south of present-day Mosul. It is in the ruins of this city that the KAR 220 tablet is discovered.
Tapputi may have been in the service of King Tukulti-Ninurta I, who reigned from approximately 1245 to 1208 BC and brought Assyria to its height; the kingdom is then the greatest power in the region.
One of the oldest chemists
The tablet that mentions Tapputi includes a list of ingredients for perfumes, including various flowers and plants, oils, myrrh. Other texts including perfume recipes are attributed to him. In addition to ingredients, these texts mention manufacturing processes based on the use of solvents, distillation and filtering, revealing in-depth knowledge and know-how. These skills and expertise have earned him the reputation of being one of the oldest known chemists.
In the library of the temple of Assur in which her recipes were discovered, a recipe is attributed to another perfumer whose name has only been preserved in a truncated way:(—)-ninu. The two could have collaborated. The existence of other fragrant women is also known throughout the history of Assyria and Mesopotamia.
Useful links
Tapputi-Belet-ekalle wikipedia page
Tablet KAR 220