Frankincense

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Frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from the tree Boswellia thurifera or B. sacra. It is used in incense.

Related Topics:
Aromatic - Resin - Boswellia thurifera - Incense

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Frankincense (whose name refers to its preeminence as the "true" or "frank" incense) is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubán ("the milk"), a reference to the milky sap tapped from the frankincense tree.

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Frankincense was lavishly used in religious rites. According to the Gospel of Matthew 2:11, gold, frankincense and myrrh were the three gifts to Jesus by the magi 'from out of the east.' The growth of Christianity depressed the market for frankincense during the fourth century, desertification made the caravan trails leading across the Rub al Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia more difficult, and increased raiding by the nomadic Parthians in the Near East combined to dry up the frankincense trade after ca 300 CE.

Related Topics:
Gospel of Matthew - Gold - Myrrh - Jesus - Magi - Rub al Khali - Arabia - Parthian

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It was said that the Roman Emperor Nero burned a year's worth of frankincense intended for the city of Rome at the funeral of his wife, Poppaea.

Related Topics:
Nero - Rome - Poppaea

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The lost city of Ubar, sometimes identified with Irem, in what is now 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.

Related Topics:
Ubar - Irem - Oman

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