Incense

Incense-Frankincense or Olibanum (Frankincense in English) is another very important component of oriental perfumes. Frankincense (Boswellia sacra) began to be cultivated in the southernmost part of Oman (today's Dafar) already in ancient times. According to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, trading in this commodity, which was valued more than gold, made the people of Oman some of the richest people in the world. The main exporters of frankincense include Somalia, northern Ethiopia and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Oman and Yemen).

Description: It is an aromatic resin prepared from the so-called gum resin, which is obtained from the trunk of the frankincense tree (Boswellia) by cutting the bark. Dried effusions have the shape of spherical lumps, grains or stalactites. When burning, the substance emits a spicy aroma, so it is often used in various religious ceremonies and meditations, and more ingredients are used in smoking mixtures. Along with other fragrant essences, grains of this resin were used in censers in temples around the world, in Egypt, the Middle East, and ancient Rome. It is still used in Christian churches today.

Most of the incense comes from the Horn of Africa and India, but also from Oman, Yemen and West Africa.

History: The use of Boswellia resin for spiritual and medicinal purposes dates back to ancient civilizations. The Egyptians cleaned the body cavities in the process of mummification with incense and natron. In general, the oil is also used in Abrahamic religions to cleanse a house or building of bad or evil energy, including use in exorcisms and to bless one's being (like bakhoor, commonly found in Persian Gulf cultures by diffusing vapours towards the body).

The sacrifice of incense occupied a prominent place in the sacrificial legislation of the ancient Hebrews. The book of Exodus (30:34-38) prescribes frankincense mixed with equal amounts of three aromatic spices to be ground and burned on the sacred altar before the ark of the covenant in the desert tabernacle where it was to be a holy sacrifice,  not for its smell.

Scholars have identified the incense as what the Book of Jeremiah (6:20) says was imported from Sheba during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC.

Frankincense is mentioned in the New Testament as one of the three gifts (along with gold and myrrh) that the wise men "from the east" gave to Jesus (Matthew 2:11).

Frankincense essential oil is produced by steam distillation of the resin of the tree along with myrrh.