Lecture: 17 Plants

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Lecture 18 The things we do for love A history
of incense spices
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Makeda, Queen of Sheba -- ca 1000 BC
Referred to in the Bible (but unnamed), the
Qur'an (named Bilquis), and Jewish Ethiopian
history (Makeda), was the ruler of Sheba, an
ancient kingdom which modern archaeology
speculates was located in present-day Ethiopia or
Yemen.
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The story of Makeda and the King Solomon

• The story is told by
• The Bible
• The Quran
• By latter Jewish legends
• Ethiopian accounts.

http//www.windweaver.com/sheba/Shebahome.htm
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Makeda What is the most certain, and what is
the most uncertain? Solomon The most certain
is death the most uncertain, one's share in the
World to Come."
http//www.windweaver.com/sheba/Shebahome.htm
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The richness of Sheba came from commerce with
myrrh and frankincense, also ginger cinnamon.
Perfume per fumum by smoke Incense that
which is lit

• Burning of fragrant substances provided an
  ethereal token of appreciation to their gods, or
  a way to repel bad spirits.
• The liberation of incense smoke was the source of
  perfume.

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Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)

• Red-brown resin from the sap of the tree.
• Ancient constituent of
• perfumes and incense,
• worth more than its
• weight in gold.
• Bacteriostatic
• Preservative.
• Stimulant.

Harvesting myrrh
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Frankincense (Boswellia spp.)

• Frankincense is resin from the sap of the tree.
• The name likely comes from incense of Franks
  since it was reintroduced to Europe by Frankish
  Crusaders.
• Ancient constituent of perfumes and incense, a
  little cheaper than myrrh.

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Frankincense, Myrrh Gold were the gifts of the
Magi to the baby Jesus.
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Ginger - Zingiber officinale

• Against nausea, dizziness, and vomiting as
  symptoms of motion sickness, and vomiting of
  pregnancy.
• Gastrointestinal problems (stimulation of
  digestion).

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Cinnamon - Cinnamomum zeylanicum

• Used in perfumes fragrances.
• Religious ceremonies.
• Treatment for coughs and sore throats.
• Stimulant.

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Really, WHY so precious?
A gift of the gods, a preservative, a cure,
andan aphrodisiac, a symbol of the bliss given
by the love-union.
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Even in todays languageSpice things
upGinger things up Hothave an erotic
connotation.
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How could Makeda do all this commerce? Simple
Domesticated camels
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The route followed by Queen Sheba was called the
Incense Road

• Camel caravans carried Frankincense, myrrh and
  other incenses from Somalia Ethiopia and spices
  from India and beyond to the Mediterranean ports
  of Gaza and Alexandria.
• Greek geographer Strabo (cca 64 BC-23 AD)
  Incense road looked like an army in transit.
• Pliny the Elder described 65 stages, each a
  suitable halt for camels.

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Sheba
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In Egypt
Embalming Body eviscerated and filled with
aromatics. Sewn up and placed in sodium solution
for 70 days. Wrapped in linen and smeared with
gum.
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Perfumes Cosmetics
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Perfumes Cosmetics
Spices were used in early Egypt as aromatic body
ointments and pomades
Complex makeup
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Queen Hatshepsut The first oceanographic
cruise?

• Ruled Egypt from ca. 1503 to 1480 B.C.
• In 1493 B.C. she sent a fleet of five ships on
  the Red Sea, to the Land of Punt (Gods Land),
  near present-day Somalia.
• Aim? Discover and bring back whole Myrrh plants
  for cultivation in Egypt.

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The expedition was successful
Transporting a myrrh tree. (Queen Hatshepsut's
Punt expedition).
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Anyway, by the time Jesus was born
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The incense spice trade has been THE major
economic force and it particularly helped spur
geographical exploration.
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References

• Al-Harbi MM, Qureshi S, Raza M, et al. 1994.
  Anticarcinogenic effect of Commiphora molmol on
  solid tumors induced by Ehrlich carcinoma cells
  in mice. Chemotherapy. 4033747.
• Bedini, S.A. 1994. The Trail of Time Time
  Measurement with Incense in East Asia. Cambridge
  University Press.
• Dolara P, Luceri C, Ghelardini C, et al. 1996.
  Analgesic effects of myrrh. from myrrh. Am J Trop
  Med Hyg 65 7004.
• Philemon, T. 2006. Makeda Queen of Sheba.
• http//www.windweaver.com/sheba/Shebahome.htm
  
• Stuart, D. 2004. Dangerous Garden. Harvard Univ.
  Press
• Turner, J. 2004. Spice the history of a
  temptation, HarperCollins.
• Zelig, Dorothy. 1974. Solomon, The Man and the
  Myth" chapter 7 of Zelig, PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE
  BIBLE, New York.

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