Demand for scents, spices and comparable products fromIndia and further east was a major incentive for thenaval expeditions which led, after 1497 AD, to thecreation of European empires in the Orient. Therewas the same demand in the ancient Mediterranean andMiddle East, to which these goods travelled throughthe Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. People in Egypt andBabylonia in the classical period were bothmiddlemen and consumers, and this paper drawsattention to the existence of a few alabaster jarsthat reflect the trade. They are mainly in theDepartment of the Ancient Near East at the BritishMuseum (previously called the Department of WesternAsiatic Antiquities), and are inscribed inBabylonian or Greek with the names of scents orspices. While these inscriptions are unusual,perhaps many more jars were once inscribed in inkwhich is no longer visible.