Cultivators: Tapputi

Tapputi is widely regarded as one of the first known chemists, and her name appears in a Mesopotamian cuneiform tablet dating to approximately 1200 BCE. She is believed to have worked in the Babylonian royal palace, where she held the title of “Belatekallim,” meaning a female overseer or supervisor. Tapputi is most famous for making perfumes, the descriptions of her work provide some of the earliest documented evidence of chemical distillation and solvent use—techniques that form the foundation of modern chemistry.

For Further Reading:

• The first chemist in history may have been a female perfumer – here’s how the science of scents has changed since
• Tapputi-Belatekallim: The First Chemical Engineer | Great Minds
• How Mesopotamia Became the Cradle of Civilization | HISTORY
• Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

This month, we’re talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music composed by Brittany Martinez.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

• Website
• Instagram
• Twitter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello. My name is Carmen Borca Courio. I'm a producer
here at Wonder Media Network, and I'm so excited to
be guest hosting this episode of Womanica. This month, we're
talking about cultivators, women who nurtured, cross pollinated, experimented, or
went to great lengths to better understand and protect the
natural world. Today, we're talking about the first recorded chemist

(00:26):
in history. She knew how to extract fragrance from plants
and flowers through a sophisticated process that's still a cornerstone
of modern chemistry and perfume making. Let's talk about Taputti.
The little we know about Taputty's life comes from fragments
of clay tablets that date back thousands of years. It's

(00:48):
believed to Putty lived around the year twelve hundred BC
in Mesopotamia, which means the land between the rivers. The
rivers were the Tigris and the Euphrates, which continue to
be sources of water for present day Turkey, Syria, Iran,
and Iraq. Mesopotamia is known as the cradle of civilization,
where early advancements in math, science, agriculture, and law originated.

(01:15):
The Babylonians were among the societies that developed in the
region and created a strong urban culture. They had many
scholars and many disciplines, including astronomy, medicine, and alchemy. To
Putty likely worked in a Babylonian royal palace. The palaces

(01:35):
were hubs of power as well as centers of scientific activity.
The clay tablets that recorded to Puddy's work suggest she
had considerable responsibility and therefore considerable status. Her title belatcolumn
meant female supervisor. She likely oversaw the operations of the
royal palace, including her fume making for the royal family.

(01:57):
The craft was highly respected because perfumes were pre vicious
and Mesopotamian society as they were used for religious rituals
and offerings to the gods. The instructions in the clay
tablets outline a recipe for how Taputti would have produced
one of her perfumes. She would start with raw natural
ingredients such as oil, flowers, plants, and fragrant resins from

(02:20):
different trees. These would then get blended and mixed with
water to create a liquid. Then her recipe details heating
the liquid mixture and cooling it down over and over
to create a refined essence of the fragrant substance. This process,
called distillation, is actually a cornerstone of modern chemistry, and

(02:42):
it still plays a key role in the process of
making perfumes today. When you spray on your perfume in
the morning, you can smell the floral notes of jasmine
or the warm tendrils of amber, thanks to a process
equal parts science and craft that Taputty began using thousands
of years ago. The inscriptions on the clay tablets also

(03:03):
suggest to Putty had collaborators. The partial traces of someone
else's name imply she was working with a team, a
sign of the collaboration that made early society and Mesopotamia flourish,
much like the full names of her collaborators. The rest
of Taputty's story is missing from the tablets, but they
are currently preserved in Germany and France, where researchers are

(03:26):
trying to recreate the very same perfumes to Putty made
through her recipes. For more information, find us on Facebook
and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast Special thanks to Jenny and
Liz Kaplan for having me as a guest host Talk
to Tomorrow