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Home > Home & Fragrance > Incense > Frankincense Lion of Persia Incense Sticks

Frankincense Lion of Persia Incense Sticks

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Price: £1.50

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Description

Frankincense is a fantastic highly popular scent. It is spicy and perfumed and very exotic. The name for this resin possibly comes from "incense of Franks" since it was reintroduced to Europe by Frankish Crusaders. It is better known as "frankincense" to westerners, and is derived from the Boswellia tree. 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.
The Greek historian Herodotus was familiar with Frankincense and knew it was harvested from trees in southern Arabia. He believed, however, that the gum was dangerous to harvest because of poisonous snakes that lived in the trees. He reports further that the snakes possessed wings and were not only capable of flight, but also went on an annual migration across the Red Sea to an area of Ethiopia they used for their breeding ground. It was only at this time that the gum could safely be taken.

Frankincense is used in perfumery and aromatherapy and 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 given to Jesus by the Biblical Magi "from out of the east". The Egyptians ground the charred resin into a powder called kohl. Kohl was used to make the distinctive black eyeliner seen on so many figures in Egyptian art. The aroma of frankincense is said to represent life and the Judaic, Christian and Islamic faiths have often used frankincense mixed with oils to anoint newborn infants and individuals considered to be moving into a new phase in their spiritual lives. During the 4th century AD, the market for Frankincense declined due to the growth of Christianity in which ritual was frowned upon. Desert conditions intensified, making 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.
This incense is made in India.

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May 2008