Civet (perfumery)

Its odor is strong, even putrid as a pure substance, but once diluted it is pleasantly and sweetly aromatic.

The animal scent is reinforced by the presence of smaller amounts of indole and skatole, which in African civet are present at a concentration of about 1%.

[7] The name derives from the Arabic زباد zabād or سنور الزباد sinnawr al-zabād, civet cat (Viverra civetta), by way of Old Italian zibetto and Middle French civette and Ethiopian name ዝባድ (Zibad) .

[8] [9] The 10th-century Arab historian al-Masudi mentioned civet (zabāda) as a spice in his book Murūdj al-dhahab ('Meadows of Gold').

[10] Civet was among the many trade items that caravans, controlled by the Ghana empire, carried from the Niger valley to North Africa, including Ancient Egypt.