Miriam Mirani about the Scents of Aqaba

Aqaba, the ancient jeweled city on the coast of the Red Sea, is known as a point on the ancient caravan trade route for perfume oils and spices. Aqaba was the place where the Queen of Sheba landed when traveling in a ship built for her by King Solomon, on her way to visit the wise King.

Leaving no soul indifferent, Aqaba also inspired Miriam Mirani, who paid tribute to the legendary love between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon by creating a collection of five fragrances which symbolize and represent the awakening of eternal love and eternal spring: Aqaba Classic, Aqaba Spring, and the "Jewels of Aqaba" trilogy—Sands of Aqaba, Midnight Sun and Jewels of Blu.

Fragrantica has the pleasure of presenting an interview with Miriam Mirani, whose fragrance collection was previously introduced in the article The Legend of Love in the Scents of Aqaba.

Fragrantica: You have a diverse family and educational background. What are your ties with Middle East?

Miriam Mirani: I have grown up in the Middle East, living in Israel, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. I have studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at Columbia University in New York City.

Fragrantica: What was so special about Aqaba?

Miriam Mirani: Aqaba is very remote, very simple and many of the people there live the same way they did thousands of years ago. Aqaba is also the only place from which you can see the Dead Sea, the hills of Egypt, Syria and also Israel. Additionally, Israel’s border is only a 10-minute drive from Aqaba and Aqaba is only a 30-45 minute drive from Petra, the ancient Nabatean City carved out of stone and one of the extraordinary wonders of the world.

Fragrantica: How did you come to be so fascinated by the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon’s love? Are their legends still alive there?

Miriam Mirani: I have first heard about it from studies as a child in Bible school. These are very well-known legendary love stories about very heroic and legendary biblical personalities. For Islam, King Solomon is a prophet; in Judaism he is a legendary King; and the Queen of Sheba for Arabia and specifically Maarib, Yemen, from where she came, is a great North African Queen of mystical and honorable character.

Fragrantica: The story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was happening in Jerusalem. How was Aqaba connected to the story?

Miriam Mirani: The Queen of Sheba passed through Aqaba on her way to meet King Solomon in 900 BC. It is in Aqaba that King Solomon built Sheba a fleet of ships to sail her incense, perfume oils and spices to trading routes in points of India and China. This cut her sailing route in half, as before she had these ships from King Solomon, her sailing route was much more difficult and long, as it began from Alexandria, in Egypt.

Fragrantica: You spent some time living and traveling with the Bedouins. What are the smells of Bedouin life?

Miriam Mirani: The scents and aromas of Bedouin life are saffron, frankincense, cinnamon, and mint leaves.

Fragrantica: Do Bedouin women produce perfumes?

Miriam Mirani: They sometime do produce perfumes themselves, but these days they will buy their oils instead of pressing the oils from leaves.

Fragrantica: How did you decide on the components of Aqaba?

Miriam Mirani: The oils and notes of AQABA are based on actual research I did into the caravan incense route of the Queen of Sheba. On her trading routes she would buy and sell cinnamon, frankincense, cardamom, and many other spices compounded in the oils of AQABA.

Fragrantica: Are there any documents about the fragrances of Queen Sheba? How did you know what notes to use?

Miriam Mirani: If you follow the ancient maps of the spice routes during 900-1,000 B.C. and do the research of this period, many of the ingredients can be known and understood. It can be a little complex, but much information can be had.

Fragrantica: Please, tell us the story behind the other fragrances—Aqaba Spring, Midnight Sun, Sands of Aqaba and Jewels of Blu.

Miriam Mirani: AQABA is the tribute to the legendary love of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. AQABA Spring is the re-birth of this love and the Eternal Spring. From the Eternal Spring and Eternal Love, we have the Four Components of Love (according to Miriam Mirani…), the first of which is NATURE. In NATURE you have the SUN, the SAND and the Blu SEA: therefore, Midnight Sun, Sands of Aqaba and Jewels of Blu. As you know, Aqaba is located on the tip of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba.

Fragrantica: Could you tell us more about the design of the bottle and the outer package? How did you come to use the materials you did use?

Miriam Mirani: The Cane Reed of the outer package represents the ship-building materials in ancient times, along with the imaged papyrus printed on the paper box. Cane reed today (and in ancient times) grows on the banks of the Nile River. The red ruby stone represents the thousands of rubies which covered the throne of Sheba, and the gold setting in which the stone sits represents the gold luxury of ancient royalty in the Kingdoms of Arabia in ancient times.

Fragrantica: Will there be any continuations, or fragrances for men?

Miriam Mirani: The continuation of the fragrances will be three more components of love, which will be in trio, or in 3’s, as was NATURE. Stay tuned for the next three.

AQABA MEN has just been completed and is now in production! It is very beautiful, with notes of Lemon, Cognac and Patchouli.

See Aqaba official US web site, Aqaba web site for Europe.

Interview made by: noor_jehan
Fragrantica Member