Page 65 - All About History - Issue 72-18

Empire of Aromatics

campaign, largely between Egypt to the south and
Bedouin While
the Persian Empire to the north, led to a change in nomads
the spheres of influence and allowed Petra to gain explore the Tapputi was not
ruins of
an advantage. The result of all of this was that the Petra from Petra, she has
Nabataeans gained the monopoly on that super- an interesting claim to
luxurious item of the ancient world, frankincense.
fame as the first person in
Frankincense is, in essence, plant sap. It comes
recorded history to mix
from a hardy bush that grows in hot and arid
compounds. Some regard
environments. Indeed, the plant is unusual in its
ability to grow in such a harsh environment; it’s her as the first ever
even been known to grow out of solid rock. This chemist
kind of landscape pretty much summarises the
Arabian Peninsula as well as the Horn of Africa,
and as Petra was the major trading centre in the
region, it became the natural outlet for this resin.
The earliest images of frankincense appear
on a temple in Egypt built by Hatshepsut, who
died in the 15th century BCE. This confirms and
underlines its importance as well as its antiquity.
The frankincense, in this case, had come from the
land of Punt, which, while its exact location is still

“The earliest images of

frankincense appear on a

temple in Egypt built by

Hatshepsut”

contested, seems to have been in the general area
of the Horn of Africa.
The reason for its importance is the aromatic
qualities of its granules, used, as mentioned
earlier, by the rich as perfume and by the religious
as devotional incense. Its rarity made it a very
expensive commodity, and the monopoly helped
make Petra even wealthier.
Thentherewasmyrrh.WhilePetradidnothave
a monopoly on this, it was one of the epicentres of
myrrh trade, and once again, we are in the realm
ofperfumes andincense.Myrrhhasbeenvalued
forthousandsofyearsforthesequalities,
but unlike frankincense, it is
anaturalantiseptic.Itis
derivedfromavery
thorny tree called
A ceramic bowl believed to have been
Commiphora, produced by the Nabataean Kingdom,
whose natural it clearly shows Greek influence
habitat is,
once again, the anumberofanti-RomansentimentsintheNew
Arabian Peninsula intoxicating Testament, right up to Jesus’ title of King of Kings,
and the Horn of qualities. which was actually the Persian emperor’s title
Africa. It is interesting Touching briefly of Shahenshah. In other words, with the Roman
to note that this may be an on the Nativity, there is, persecutionoftheChristiansandJewsatthetime
example of a product that went the other of course, the story of the three of the writing of the New Testament, there seems
wayontheSilk Roadas it hasbeenapart of wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and tohavebeenadesiretolooktootherculturesto
Chinese medicine for at least a millennia. myrrhtothebabyJesus.Thepointofthegiftsis validate Jesus’ role on Earth.
By now, you might well have made a connection that they were all fabulously expensive and, quite There is, however, another connection between
between the kingdom’s two major exports and the literally, gifts fit for a king. the Nabataean Kingdom (and specifically Petra)
Bible. However, before we get to the most famous To anyone around at the time, these gifts would andtheBible.KingAretasIVwaskingfrom
exampleoftheirimportance,it’sworthpointing have validated Jesus’ position as a King of Kings. roughly 9 BCE to 40 CE, in other words, he was
outthatmyrrhis mentionedanumberoftimes Thetwogiftsoffrankincenseandmyrrhwere acontemporaryofJesus.Aretasmarriedhis
intheBible.Itisalmostuniquelyassociatedwith very much associated with areas outside of the daughter to Herod Antipas, the King Herod of New
religious ritual, but on one occasion, it warns of its Roman Empire and to the east of it. They point to Testament fame. Herod would eventually divorce
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