Perfume Industry in Syria
A symposium was held at the Arab Cultural Center in Mazzeh in Damascus entitled “The History of the Perfume Industry in Syria”.
Dr. Najlaa Al-Khadra, Professor Mukhles Al-Mahmoud and Perfumer Mohamed Mazen Zakour participated in the symposium.
Dr. Najlaa Al-Khadra talked about the history of the Damascene perfume industry and the stages that this ancient craft evolved through.
“Syria has a treasure of various aromatic flowers such as jasmine, daffodil, and the Damascene rose. The markets of Damascus and its neighborhoods have special markets for perfumes and aromatic herbs.”
“Every house in Damascus has different types of aromatic flowers, which have been used by women to perfume themselves, through our ages some doctors use the flowers to make medicines,” she added.
Al-Khadra went on to say: “The price of one gram of aromatic flowers is equivalent to the price of a gram of gold… We encourage the perfume industry.”
“Tourists and foreigners from Europe are interested in these aromatic flowers. They take them to their countries as gifts. They also take the method of making the flower scent and they then developed it to be sold in European market under new names.”
Perfumer Muhammad Mazen Zakour, explained how he learned from his father and grandfathers the craft of the distillation of flowers to extract oils with attractive aromas. He focused on the development processes that he made in the perfume industry and the need to go ahead with making perfume in Syria.
Researcher, Mukhles Al-Mahmoud, referred to some saying and proverbs about the Damascene rose, indicating that residents in Damascus were planting the Damascene rose around their houses as a decoration.
Reported By: Nada Haj Khidr