The Botanical Aspects of Ancient Egyptian Embalming and Burial

THE BOTANICAL ASPECTS OF ANCIENTr EGYPTIAN EMBALMING AND BURIAL 95
irregular shape and varying in color from
nearly white to yellowish to reddishbrown.
The taste is aromatic and somewhat
bitter. Frankincense is composed of
60-70% resin, 30-35% gum and 3-8%o
oil of olibanum.
The Egyptians used frankincense not
only as an incense, but also in perfumes,
ointments and unguents (esp. kyphi) and
in embalming. It was one of the gifts
brought by the wise men to the infant
Jesus (16, 19, 27, 30, 35, 60, 64).
Commiphora spp. Species of the genus
Commiphora are the source of the Balm
(or Balsam) of Gilead, also called Mecca
Balsam or Myrrh of Gilead, and of myrrh.
They occur in the same geographical area
(Somaliland, Abyssinia, South Africa) as
Boswellia spp. and their oleo-gum-resins
are produced and harvested in a manner
identical with frankincense. The trees
are low and shrubby, seldom more than
ten or twelve feet high, with thorny
branches.
It is generally agreed that Commiphora
(Balsamodendron) opobalsamum (L.)
Engl. is the source of the Balms, Balsams
and Myrrhs of Gilead and Mecca. The
many references in ancient writings (including
Egyptian) to balms and balsams
probably refer most often to the gumresin
of C. opobalsamum, although it is
apparent that the terms were used indiscriminately
for many kinds of resins, gumresins,
gums, ointments, unguents, etc.
There is much more d7fficulty in determining
the ancient source or sources of
myrrh. There are 160 species of Commiphora
and, of these, there are two in
Arabia, one on the Island of Socotra, and
forty-one in northeast Africa. The species
which appear to be the main supplies of
myrrh are: C. mnyrrha (Nees) Engl. var.
Molmol, C. Schimperi (Berg) Engl., C.
erythraea (Ehrenb.) Engl. and C. abyssinica
(Berg) Engl. According to most
authorities, C. Myrrha var. Molmol is the
principal source of myrrh today, but Eng-
ler says C. Myrrha gives no resin at all.
This disagreement arises because Engler
recognizes Molmol as a species rather than
a variety of C. Myrrha-in opposition to
most writers.
Perhaps much of the confusion may be
attributed to the fact that there are two
types of myrrh: herabol and bisabol.
Herabol (sometimes called "true myrrh")
commonly occurs in rough, eroded tears,
from 2.5 to 10 cm. in diameter. It is a
dull red-brown and covered with powder;
it tastes bitter although its odor is agreeably
aromatic. Bisabol is much like herabol
in color although it is more yellowish
and less dusty. It is characteristically soft
and gummy. Myrrh ordinarily contains
2-5%o volatile oil (bisabol goes up to 8%o),
25-50% resin and the remainder gum.
The Egyptians prized myrrh very highly
for use in embalming, perfumes, ointments,
(esp. kyphi) and unguents. There
are many references to it in Egyptian
records. In the Punt reliefs may be found
the description of an eighteenth dynasty
expedition where ". . . the loading of the
ships very heavily with marvels of the
country of Punt; all goodly fragrant
woods of God's-land, heaps of myrrh resin,
with fresh myrrh trees . . ." is described
(see Fig. 4). The Egyptians often attempted
the introduction of desirable
plants not native to Egypt; Tschirch and
Stock (60) state that myrrh trees were
cultivated in Egypt for a time.
Myrrh was another of the gifts from
the wise men to the infant Jesus (6, 18,
19, 23, 27, 30, 31, 35, 38, 60,64).
Compositae
Carthamus tinctoria. This is a prickly,
herbaceous plant, seldom more than two
to four feet high, which yields safflower
(also, carthamine or bastard saffron) and
safflower oil. Opinion is divided as to the
exact place of origin, but most authors
seem to agree with Vavilov (61) that
there were three (or, perhaps, any one
of three) centers; India, Central Asia and
This content downloaded from 71.172.224.159 on Fri, 23 Aug 2013 23:18:55 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions