THE SCENE: I’m not sure whether this obsequious vassal of a Mesopotamian king is speaking literally or figuratively, but either way he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with fragrance.
THE TEXT: This is the message of a slave to his master after he had heard what the kind messenger of the king said to his servant upon arriving here, and felt the sweet fragrance that came out of the mouth of Your Majesty toward his servant. And he was craving the king’s fragrance before the arrival of the messenger of Your Majesty. How should one not crave for a fragrance which one’s nose remembers so well? And indeed, I was extremely glad when the fragrance of the king wafted towards me and there was a festival every day because I was so glad. Is not the entire world happy when it hears the kind messenger who comes from the very presence of my lord. Also the entire country was in awe of my lord when it heard about the sweet fragrance and the kind messenger who had come to me.
– Letters From Mesopotamia, edited & translated by A. Leo Oppenheimer, 14th Century BC
