QuickCheck: Was the world’s first known chemist a woman?

FROM perfumes and cosmetics to medicines, many everyday products owe their existence to techniques developed thousands of years ago.

But who first developed these essential methods?

Could the world's first known chemist have been a woman?

VERDICT:

TRUE

One of the earliest known chemists in history is believed to have been a woman named Tapputi-Belatekallim, a perfume maker who lived in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 1200 BC (3,226 years ago).

Her name was discovered on cuneiform clay tablets from ancient Assyria, making her the earliest recorded chemist known by name.

Tapputi worked in the royal palace and specialised in creating perfumes and aromatic blends for the elite.

She used flowers, oils, myrrh, balsam and other natural ingredients in carefully prepared mixtures.

What makes Tapputi significant is the scientific techniques she used.

It was reported that she employed repeated distillation, filtration and extraction methods to refine fragrances, processes considered foundational techniques in modern chemistry.

Tapputi's recipe shows how to extract and strengthen natural scents using methods that are still used today to produce perfumes, cosmetics, medicines and dietary supplements.

Some historians also credit her work as the earliest known documentation of a distillation apparatus, or still. Researchers and historians continue to study her work today.

Sources:

1. https://theconversation.com/the-first-chemist-in-history-may-have-been-a-female-perfumer-heres-how-the-science-of-scents-has-changed-since-225613
2. https://worldsensorium.com/tapputi-badakallim-the-oldest-perfumer-on-record/
3. https://www.girlmuseum.org/tapputi-belatekallim/
4. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-3200-year-old-perfume-of-tapputi-the-first-female-chemist-in-history-came-to-life-again
5. https://sciencenotes.org/who-was-the-first-chemist/