‘Traces of Scent’ opens at Şanlıurfa Museum

ŞANLIURFA

With the cooperation of the Şanlıurfa Archeology Museum and Fragrance Culture Association, the “Mesopotamia in the Traces of Scent” exhibition has been opened as a result of a three-year study, contributed by academics and archaeologists.

Bihter Türkan Ergül, vice-president of the Fragrance Culture and Tourism Association, and fragrance and aromatherapy specialist, greeted the audience at the opening of the exhibition with incense specially prepared for the protocol.

The exhibition has been organized within the scope of the World Fragrance Day activities; the Fragrance Culture and Tourism Association, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Şanlıurfa Museum and Bahçeşehir University Civilization Research Center (MEDAM) aim to celebrate the World Fragrance Day.

In the exhibition, various scents and fragrance containers made of ceramics, glass and clay, found in excavations in the region, are on display.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Governor Salih Ayhan stated that it is very meaningful to have the fragrance exhibition in Şanlıurfa, the capital of culture and civilization.

“Scent also has great importance in our religion. The favorite scent of Prophet Muhammed is the scent of musk amber. Also, as he stated in a hadith, ‘Two things in the world seemed good to me; one of them is a nice smell,’” he added.

“It is very valuable to organize the exhibition here because of Şanlıurfa’s geography with its endemic plants and being the zero point of history. In other words, it is a different exhibition in every aspect. It is necessary to come to this center to understand how the smells come out,” he said.

Stating that the exhibition is a first in Turkey and in the world, Ergül said, “It is one of the eighth World Fragrance Day events held this year. This is a pride for our country. When you look at Mesopotamia, Hittite, Assyrian, Sumerian and Ottoman, we live in a scent civilization. Our aim is to introduce the plants and fragrances here to the world. That’s why we organize different events every year. This year, the replicas of scent objects, belonging to different periods from the Mesopotamian lands, as well as the scents in clay tablets, are shown to visitors together with endemic plants at the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum. When we look at the clay tablets in this region, they mention cedar, rose and especially, juniper and seal. Studies show that these scents were very common in this region.”