Rose water Phoenicians considered large public rose gardens to be as important as croplands such as orchards and wheat fields. Rose perfumes are made from rose oil, also called "attar of roses", which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam-distilling the crushed petals of roses. Rose water is a by-product of this process. The cultivation of various fragrant flowers for obtaining perfumes, including rose water, may date back to Sassanid Persia, where it was known as "golāb" (Middle Persian: گلاب), from "gul" (rose) and "ab" (water). The term was adopted into Byzantine Greek as "zoulápin". The process of creating
Mohammed el-Attar was supposed to travel to Israel. When arrested, el-Attar was in shock about the amount of information the Egyptian authorities had compiled and felt it was best to confess. Later, el-Attar claimed he confessed only after days of torture. He said he was forced to drink his own urine, was given electric shocks, and that his family in Egypt was threatened. During his trial, most of the evidence came from his confession, which he signed after spending at least three weeks incommunicado, with no consular assistance and no lawyer. Mohammed el-Attar Mohammed Essam Ghoneim el-Attar (born 1970 in Cairo, Egypt)