ROODE, Sigrid van (2020). Silver & Frankincense: Scent and personal adornment in the Arab world, Zandvoort: BLKVLD, Zandvoort, ISBN 978-9492940100. Paperback, 138 pp., fully illustrated in colour, bibliography. Price: €23.99.
This is a beautifully illustrated book on an very under-researched topic: the role of scent in dress and identity. Scent refers to perfume, but also to the fumigation of clothing with incense and the use of scented pastes and other aromatic components in jewellery.
The chapter on scent and textiles was especially interesting: different scents were used in male and female clothing, and regularly fumigating a husband’s clothes was seen as a sign of devotion. Special pockets, pouches and jewellery containers were also worn, holding flower petals or different aromatic materials like fragrant wood, ambergris, or beads made of scented pastes.
The many socio-cultural aspects of scent in personal adornment, not only to make oneself attractive (both to others and to spirits), but also as a means of protection against harm, a sign of important life transitions, and as a symbol of hospitality, are explored.
Recommendation: It is a fascinating book full of details about scent, social life and personal adornment throughout northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula. It will be of interest both to researchers and interested lay people.
Shelley Anderson, 1 January 2023
