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Price:
£225.00
Size: 100ml
Fragrance Category: Amber Oriental
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| | Top Notes: | Mandarin and Bergamot from Italy, essence of Clary Sage |
| Heart Notes: | Essence of Cardamom, Elemi, Frankincense, Styrax |
| Base Notes: | Amber and Cistus-Labdanum, Vanilla and Patchouli |
Born more than 5,500 years ago from the civilisation of Uruk that invented writing, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) stretched between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The “archaic dynasties” of some 5,000 years ago, when the territory was divided into city-states, were replaced around 2,300 BC by a unified empire under the rule of a mythical sovereign, Sargon. Not only was he a conqueror, but also a visionary, forerunner of a civilisation of which we today are still the heirs. Abandoned as a baby in a wicker basket at the River Euphrates by his mother, a priestess, he was taken in by the king’s cupbearer and gardener, Aqqi, who brought him up at the court of Kish, where the ambitious boy would eventually succeed the king.
The “Great Marshes” refer to the marshlands of Iraq, which in all likelihood inspired the “Garden of Eden” of ancient lore. The Land of Punt is a legendary place to the east of Egypt, where the Egyptians sent their caravans to seek aromatic resins, balms and frankincense to use in their religious ceremonies. Ingredients such as Bergamot and mandarin came from the “islands of the Great Sea”: like cistus, which was known as “plant amber”, from the island of Cyprus, these were products from the Mediterranean islands. Cardamom and patchouli from India and especially vanilla (from Mexico) are anachronisms here, but perfumery allows itself poetic licence.
Akkad is a luminous amber perfume, mystical but also sensual, a descent into the profane pleasures of ancient tyrants, an exhalation of sacred oils, and the spicy skin scent of gorgeous, willowy 'odalisques' lying back limply on divans and silk sheets.
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