BrainStuff Classics: What Exactly Are Frankincense and Myrrh?

American culture, decorating churches and shopping malls alike. But don't let the shiny tinsel and festive candy canes distract you from our question today, what exactly are frankincense and MRR. Both frankincense and muhr are derived from tree sap or gum resin and are prized for their alluring fragrances. Frankencense is a milky white resin extracted from species of the genus Boswelia, which thrive in arid, cool areas of the

Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and India. The finest and most aromatic of this species is Bosswelia sacra, a small tree that grows in Somalia, Oman and Yemen. These plants, which grow to a height of about sixteen feet or five meters, have papery bark, sparse branches of pared leaves and flowers with white petals and a yellow or red center. Murr is a reddish resin that comes from species of the genus Comaphora, which are native to Northeast Africa and the

adjacent areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Comiphora mura, a tree commonly used in the production of muhr, can be found in the shallow, rocky soils of Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. It bosts shiny branches with sparse leaves that grow in groups of three, and it can reach a height of nine feet or about three meters. The process for extracting The sap of these trees is essentially identical. Harvesters make a longitudinal cut in the tree's trunk, which

pierces gum resin reservoirs located within the bark. The sap slowly oozes out from the cut and drips down the tree, forming tear shaped droplets that are left to harden on the side of the tree. These beads are collected after two weeks. People in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula have produced franken sense and mur for some five thousand years. For much of this time, these arimetic resins were the region's most important commodity, with a trade network that reached

across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Today demand for frankencense and mur has subsided a bit, but numerous Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit texts remind us of their past importance. Frankencens and mur were desired for personal, religious, and medicinal use. In a time before daily bathing, people would use the sweet smoke from the resins to make themselves smell better.

Egyptian women would mix frankencense ash into their eyeshadow. These substances were also widely used in religious ceremonies and burials. According to the Greek writer Herodotus, the Egyptians used both frankncense and murr in preparation of animal sacrifices and human mummies. Jews incorporated them into their religious ceremonies by the third century BCE, and Christians by the fourth century CE. The

residents also had in medical uses. In the Papyrus Ebers from fifteen hundred BCE, priests recommended both resins for the treatment of wounds. Other ailments they were once reported to cure included hemlock poisoning, leprosy, worms, snake bites, diarrhea, plague, scurvy, and even baldness. The high demand for frankencense and muhr created a booming trade in the Middle East, lasting several

hundred years in the first century CE. Around the height of this trade, plenty of the Elder claimed that Arabia produced approximately one thousand, six hundred and eighty tons about fifteen hundred metric tons of frank concense at around four hundred and forty eight tons or four hundred metric tons of murr each year. One of the most important trade centers surrounded an oasis in modern day southern Oman. This outpost exported frank concense across Usopotamia, India, and China from

about three hundred BCE to the third century CE. The ruins of the settlement remain as a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Land of Frankincense. Clearly, frankencense and mr were widely available when the wise men visited the baby Jesus around five BCE and would have been considered practical gifts with many uses. The expensive resins were symbolic as well. A frank concense, which was often burned, symbolized prayer rising to the heavens like smoke, while murr, which

was often used in embalming, symbolized death. So scholars think that frank concense was presented to the infant Jesus to symbolize his later role as a high priest for believers, while murr symbolized his later death and burial. Frankencense and murr may not be as popular as they once were, but they're still used today in some ways that you might not expect. Their common ingredients in modern perfumes and cosmetics, continuing a tradition that's lasted thousands of years, Scientists are

finding new uses for the substances as well. A recent study suggest that frank concense or its extracts may help in treating as P, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and osteoarthritis. Researchers have also discovered possible benefits of MIRR in the treatment of gastric ulcers, tumors, and parasites. Today's episode is based on the article what are Frankinsense and Myrr on

how Stuffworks dot Com written by Clint Pumphrey. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klain.