Essential Oils throughout History

Essential oils are the oldest and some of the most powerful therapeutic agents know to man. Historically, they span centuries of use in healing, therapy, and religious ritual throughout the ancient world.

Essential oils have been used throughout recorded history for a wide variety of wellness applications. The Egyptians were some of the first people to use aromatic essential oils extensively in medical practice, beauty treatment, food preparation, and in religious ceremony. Frankincense, sandalwood, myrrh and cinnamon were considered very valuable cargo along caravan trade routes and were sometimes exchanged for gold.

Among others, Frankincense is repeatedly referred to in many Judeo-Christian and Muslim religious texts. Others, such as Myrrh, lotus, and Sandalwood oils were widely used in ancient Egyptian purification and embalming rituals. Clove and Lemon oil were used as disinfectants hundreds of years before the discovery of modern antiseptics.  Romans used essential oils in their temples and political buildings as well as aromatic bathhouses that were gathering places for the upper class.

Ancient Egyptians were among the first civilizations to recognize the therapeutic qualities of oils.  In the early 1800’s, papyrus, dating back to 1500 B.C., was found listing over 800 herbal prescriptions and remedies that included the use of many oils.  They had studied the chemical properties of essential oils, the development and refinement of the distillation process.  When King Tut's tomb was opened in the 1900s it had many jars with essential oil residue.  This story sometimes gets exaggerated but does confirm these oils have been used for millennia.  

Borrowing from the Egyptians, the Greeks used essential oils in their practices of therapeutic massage and aromatherapy. The Romans also used aromatic oils to promote health and personal hygiene. Influenced by the Greeks and Romans, as well as Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic use of aromatic herbs, the Persians began to refine distillation methods for extracting essential oils from aromatic plants. Essential oil extracts were used throughout the dark ages in Europe for their anti-bacterial and fragrant properties.

An interesting episode of essential oils was during the great epidemic of the Middle Ages known as the Bubonic Plague (1330 A.D.) that destroyed almost half of Western Europe’s population.  An enterprising band of thieves took advantage of the high mortality rate by robbing the dead without becoming infected by the disease. The thieves were eventually captured in Marseilles, France and put on trial.  The judge offered the thieves leniency if they would reveal how they managed to avoid the ‘Black Death.’ It turned out that the thieves were perfumers and spice traders.  By rubbing themselves with a blend of highly antibacterial aromatics, they had effectively immunized themselves.

 The modern beginning of essential oils and aromatherapy began to blossom in the early decades of the twentieth century.  In July of 1910, the lab of French cosmetic chemist, René-Maurice Gattefossé, Ph.D. exploded, setting his hand and arm on Fire.  In a panic, he plunged his arm in what he assumed was water.  However, it actually contained pure Lavender oil. Pleasantly surprised at the analgesic effects and fearing further damage resulting from the accident, he continued with regular application of Lavender oil.  The wound healed with very little scaring.  He then investigated the chemistry of the oil in order to discover what properties had caused this tremendous healing effect. Dr. Gattefossé continued his examinations of the healing compounds of other essential oils. His studies laid the groundwork for the clinical use of essential oils.

Dr. Jean Valnet

This work was followed by Jean Valnet, M.D. also in France. Valnet was a French army doctor who began using essential oils to treat wounded soldiers and heal gangrene during the Second World War.  His post-war books introduced aromatherapy to a wider audience and lead to several more respected publications.

Two of Valnet’s students, Dr. Paul Belaiche and Dr. Jean Claude Lapraz expanded his work.  They analyzed the antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties in essential oils.

In 1979, Dr. Belaiche published a work that included results of extensive in-vitro research on the antimicrobial effects of essential oils and their subsequent clinical applications on a wide range of infectious and degenerative illnesses.  These advances lead to a selected level of acceptance by conventional medical doctors, other healthcare professionals, and even insurance companies in France and other countries.

The modern use of essential oils has continued to grow rapidly as health scientists and medical practitioners continue to research and validate the numerous health and wellness benefits of therapeutic-grade essential oils