A Historical Study on the Ka’ba Washing (Its Aroma with Rosewater Produced in Qamsar Kashan)

The Ka’ba has been washed, cleaned, and later perfumed with rosewater since the Prophetic era. Since two decades ago (1993), the Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in sending the pure rosewater of Qamsar Kashan to Mecca, washing the Ka’ba, and making it fragrant with. This pure rosewater is produced during a special ceremony every year in May and the required amount (about 80 liters) by rosewater producers in Qamsar and handed over to the Supreme Leader’s representative. The good tradition of perfuming and washing the House of God with rosewater is conducted twice a year, at the beginning of Sha’ban and Dhu al-Hijjah. In this glorious and spiritual ceremony, the House of God is washed with the pure Iranian rosewater and water of Zamzam after morning prayers. Considering the importance and necessity of the matter as an honor for Islamic Iran and to get acquainted with the history of sending rosewater from Iran to Mecca, this descriptive-field study starts with preliminary discussions and addresses the history of sending Iranian rosewater to Mecca and other subjects such as the time and place of extracting rosewater, the time of processing the product, the extractors who send rosewater to Mecca, the amount of the rosewater sent to Mecca, the price of the sent rosewater, the essence percent of the sent rosewater, a dual-fire extraction, gardens dedicated to rosewater producing, the documents of sending rosewater to Mecca, the endowments for preparing rosewater to be sent to Mecca, the factories and machineries of producing rosewater, carriers, and containers of the sent rosewater, the time of washing the Ka’ba with Qamsar rosewater, the cleaners of the Ka’ba and its surroundings, and the time of perfuming and washing it. The results of the research indicate that although washing the Ka’ba with the pure Iranian rosewater does not enjoy a long history, this ritual is a source of pride for Iranians in the last quarter of the present century.