Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds
Papers from a Special Session of the Fifty-fifth Meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, held in Berlin on 6th August 2022
Edited by Arnulf Hausleiter Edited by Barbara Huber
Hardback (Published)
(November 2025)
ISBN: 9781805830740
8.11 x 10.08 inches
Price: $63.00
In stock
Scents of Arabia explores how scents and incense shaped ancient Arabian life beyond trade-revealing their roles in ritual, identity, and communication. It blends archaeology, science, and culture to highlight olfaction as vital heritage and a lens for understanding past societies.
Scents of Arabia presents an innovative interdisciplinary exploration of the role of scents and incense in ancient Arabian societies. Bringing together leading experts in archaeology, biomolecular science, sensory studies, history, and ethnography, it reveals how aromatic substances were deeply embedded in social, ritual, and economic life across time. The book challenges traditional trade-focused narratives and instead highlights the complex, multisensory dimensions of scent – as a medium of communication, identity, and religious experience. Emphasizing the cultural agency of olfaction, the contributions of this book offer new frameworks for understanding how ancient societies perceived, used, and valued aromatic substances. This volume positions olfactory heritage as a key element of historical inquiry and advocates for its recognition within broader debates on intangible cultural heritage.
Guidelines and Transliteration
Preface
Titles of papers read at the Seminar for Arabian Studies special session 'Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds'
New dimensions of interdisciplinary research on ancient scents and incense in Arabia - Arnulf Hausleiter and Barbara Huber
'Assur, accept! Assur, listen!' Connecting Arabia and Assyria through aromatics and olfaction - Kiersten Neumann
Assurbanipal's bdellium: revisiting Commiphora wightii in the Persian Gulf - Sureshkumar Muthukumaran
The identifications of incenses: lessons learned in the organic analyses in the Mediterranean and the Levant - Elisabeth Dodinet
Exploring the aromatic diversity of incense materials at the ancient oasis of Tayma? using metabolic profiling - Barbara Huber, Arnulf Hausleiter, Michele Dinies, Muhammad H. Al-Najem, Majed T.F. Alonazy, Ina Saumel, Daniel Giddings Vassao, Ricardo Fernandes, Nicole Boivin, Patrick Roberts and Thi Lam Huong Pham
The archaeological and ethnographic heritage of portable incense burner production in Dhofar, the southern Arabian Peninsula - William Gerard Zimmerle
Outlook: the scents of Arabia - a 'nose-on' approach - Sofia Collette Ehrich
List of contributors
,
Guidelines and Transliteration
Preface
Titles of papers read at the Seminar for Arabian Studies special session ‘Scents of Arabia: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Olfactory Worlds’
New dimensions of interdisciplinary research on ancient scents and incense in Arabia – Arnulf Hausleiter and Barbara Huber
‘Aššur, accept! Aššur, listen!’ Connecting Arabia and Assyria through aromatics and olfaction – Kiersten Neumann
Aššurbanipal’s bdellium: revisiting Commiphora wightii in the Persian Gulf – Sureshkumar Muthukumaran
The identifications of incenses: lessons learned in the organic analyses in the Mediterranean and the Levant – Elisabeth Dodinet
Exploring the aromatic diversity of incense materials at the ancient oasis of Taymāʾ using metabolic profiling – Barbara Huber, Arnulf Hausleiter, Michèle Dinies, Muhammad H. Al-Najem, Majed T.F. Alonazy, Ina Säumel, Daniel Giddings Vassão, Ricardo Fernandes, Nicole Boivin, Patrick Roberts and Thi Lam Huong Pham
The archaeological and ethnographic heritage of portable incense burner production in Dhofar, the southern Arabian Peninsula – William Gerard Zimmerle
Outlook: the scents of Arabia – a ‘nose-on’ approach – Sofia Collette Ehrich
List of contributors
- Edited by Arnulf Hausleiter
- Edited by Barbara Huber
Similar Books
Boğazköy Tablets in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Bo 9032–Bo 9097)
Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesinde Bulunan Boğazköy Tabletleri (Bo 9032–Bo 9097)
Volume 4
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
Curating the Prehistoric Past
Studies on West Asian Archaeology and Beyond in Honour of Yoshihiro Nishiaki
Exploring Gender Dynamics across the Ancient Near East
Collected Essays of Gender and Methodology in the Ancient Near East (GeMANE) 4 and 5
Volume 7
Ḫattušaš utnē išḫameški
Hittite and Other Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Piotr Taracha on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
Kultur – Kontakt – Kultur
Beiträge anlässlich der 66. Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Frankfurt/Main und Mainz, 25.–29. Juli 2022
Volume 35
Money of Mercenaries in the Cimmerian Bosporus
From the Mithridatic Wars to the Roman-Bosporan War of AD 45-49
Volume 45
New Research on Old Collections in Southwest Asian Archaeology
Proceedings of the Workshop Held at the British Museum, London, 31 July – 2 August, 2023
Old Aramaic Inscriptions and their Contexts
An Epigraphic, Archaeological, and Historical Synthesis
Volume 63
Pottery Traditions and Material Culture in Second Millennium BC Northern Mesopotamia
Contacts and New Horizons in the Land between the Tigris and the Zagros. Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the 12th ICAANE, University of Bologna, 7 April 2021
Volume 19
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
Sertorius, the Exiles of the Sullan Regime and the Provinces of the Empire
Legitimacy, Morality and Imperial Discourse in the 70s BCE
Shame in the Worlds of the Hebrew Bible and Akkadian Texts
A Linguistic Study and Its Implications
Volume 33
Telling Contexts
Archaeological and Textual Studies in Honor of Elizabeth Bloch-Smith and Mark S. Smith
The Body
Lived, Cultured, Adorned: Essays on Dress and the Body in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Nili S. Fox
The Discourse of Rites
Shaping and Reshaping the (Counter-)Priestly Rituals Conducted Outside the Tabernacle
The Kingdom of Kizzuwatna: Recent Developments in Research
Proceedings of the Third NINO Postdoctoral Research Fellow Annual Conference, Leiden, 23rd-25th March 2023
Volume 137
