ana kâšim lū šulmu!
May there be well-being to you! (IN ANCIENT AKKADIAN)
Welcome to the website for Marlen Harrison’s historical fiction novel, The Perfumer of Ashur, and proposed immersive exhibit, “The Tappūtī Project.”
Marlen is a professor of English and education currently completing his MFA in Creative Writing and MA in Public History. Marlen imagines his novel being brought to life via in-person and virtual multimodal immersive experiences, inviting the reader into the world of one of the earliest known perfumers.
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The Perfumer oF Ashur
A NOVEL BY MARLEN HARRISON
Summer, 2020. The discovery of a news article about a perfume recipe on an ancient Assyrian cuneiform tablet ignites an obsession. What did it smell like?How was it made? Who was Tappūtī, the perfumer whose name was associated with this 3000 year old scent? What was her life like? How did she work, and what else did she create?
So began the adventure for author and historian Marlen Elliot Harrison. The Perfumer of Ashur, his debut work of historical fiction, explores the imagined life of Tappūtī-bēlat-ekalle, one of the world’s earliest, documented, female chemists and perfumers.
The TappŪtĪ Project
Welcome to the world of tapputi
“The Tappūtī Project” is a proposal for an immersive, multimodal exhibit about Tappūtī-bēlat-ekalle and her perfumery, as introduced in the novel The Perfumer of Ashur. Fans of the novel will enjoy being able to spend a day in the life of Tappūtī, exploring her laboratory and experiencing her fragrances.
The exhibit is currently seeking a host and sponsor, and serves as Marlen Elliot Harrison’s capstone project for the MA in Public History.
WHO WERE THE ASSYRIANS?
Welcome to the world of ANCIENT IRAQ
The Assyrians were an ancient Mesopotamian empire with a history dating back to the 21st century BCE. They made important contributions such as writing, urban planning, literature, and astronomy.
working papers
Welcome to the world of Tappūtī
Explore some of Marlen’s preliminary research on gender, religion, and perfumery in ancient Assyria, writing completed as coursework in the MA in Public History.
Explore the RESearch
explore the primary and secondary resources at padlet
I use Padlet to organize and search my research resources for The Perfumer of Ashur novel and “The Tappūtī Project” exhibit. Browse these articles, websites, and other texts/sources by scrolling up and down and right and left in this helpful online tool.
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