Frankincense

Frankincense or olibanum is an aromatic resin obtained from the tree Boswellia thurifera or B. sacra, B. carterii (Burseraceae). It is used in incense as well as in perfumes.

Frankincense is tapped from Boswellia trees through slashing the bark and allowing the exuded resins to harden. Tapping is done 2 to 3 times a year with the final taps producing the best resin due to its higher aromatic terpene, sesquiterpene and diterpene content. High quality resin can be visually discerned through its level of opacity. Omani frankincense is said to be the best in the world, although quality resin is also produced in Yemen, and along the north coast of Somalia. Recent studies have indicated that Frankincense tree populations are declining due to over-exploitation. Heavily tapped trees have been found to produce seeds that germinate at only 16% while seeds of trees that had not been tapped germinate at more than 80%.

History

The name for this resin possibly comes from “incense of Franks” since it was reintroduced to Europe by Frankish Crusaders. More probably, the meaning of "frank" seems to be "of high quality." Although it is better known as “frankincense" to westerners the resin is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubán (roughly translated:"that which results from milking"), a reference to the milky sap tapped from the Boswellia tree. Some have also postulated that the name comes from the Arabic term for "Oil of Lebanon" since Lebanon was the place where the resin was sold and traded with Europeans. Compare with Exodus 30: 34, where it is clearly named levonah, meaning either "white" or "Lebanese" in Hebrew.

The lost city of Ubar, sometimes identified with Irem in what is now the town of Shisr in Oman, is believed to have been a centre of the frankincense trade along the recently rediscovered 'Incense Road'. Ubar was rediscovered in the early 1990s and is now under archaeological excavation.

Use

Frankincense is used in perfumery and aromatherapy. Olibanum essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the dry resin. The smell of the olibanum smoke is due to the products of pyrolysis.

Frankincense was lavishly used in religious rites. In the Bible's Old Testament, it was part of the temple rites; according to the Gospel of Matthew 2:11, gold, frankincense and myrrh were among the gifts to Jesus by the Biblical Magi 'from out of the east'.

The growth of Christianity, with an initial deritualisation of religion later to be reverted^{[citation needed]}, depressed the market for frankincense during the fourth century AD. Desertification made the caravan routes across the Rub al Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia more difficult. Additionally, increased raiding by the nomadic Parthians in the Near East caused the frankincense trade to dry up after about AD 300.

See also

• Nabataeans

References

• The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands — Clapp Nicholas, 1999. ISBN 0-395-95786-9.
• Frankincense & Myrrh: A Study of the Arabian Incense Trade — Groom, Nigel, 1981. ISBN 0-86685-593-9.
• Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh: An Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality — Maloney George A, 1997. ISBN 0-8245-1616-8.
• Frankincense & Myrrh: Through the Ages, and a complete guide to their use in herbalism & aromatherapytoday — Watt, Martin & Sellar, Wanda, 2004. ISBN 0-85207-306-2.
• Tapped-out trees threaten frankincense, Yahoo! News. (Link dead as of 02:04, 15 January 2007 (UTC))

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