Ancient History

The recorded history of the use of essential oils may go back as far as 4500 BCE. Clay tablets from Babylon dating back to 1800 BCE, have been found ordering cedar, myrrh and cypress. In ancient times there was no distillation as we know it today, but a simple form of the enfleurage method was used employing animal fats. There is also evidence in the Bible of the use of oils particularly for anointing purposes.

The history of the use of oils in China goes back to 2000 years BCE. The Chinese book of Internal Medicine lists several aromatics - opium, ginger while Bones Camphor is still used today for ritual purposes. India has a long history of using plants and their extracts as medicines, going back over 5000 years.

Apart from the Chinese and Indians the most famous for their knowledge of essential oils in ancient history are the Egyptians. Much about ancient Egypt is still not understood by modern scientists and may always remain a mystery. The same is certainly true of the Egyptians' use of essential oils, although we know they played a very important part in the preservation of mummies that were embalmed with aromatic resins and essences.