Page 30 - Holyland Magazine - 2009 Edition

FOLLOWING
THE SCENT
Probably the best-known Christmas
story in any Christian household is the tale
of the birth of Jesus in the straw-filled
manger in Bethlehem.
Into this humble scene come the Three Magi
(or astrologers, as some sources refer to them) good news of the praises of the LORD."
who followed the star to Bethlehem to bring
rare and costly gifts to the newborn child.
“After Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem of Judea
during the reign of King Herod, astrologers
from the east arrived one day in Jerusalem
inquiring ‘Where is the newborn king of
the Jews? We observed his star at its rising
and have come to pay him homage.’...
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house, found the child
with Mary his Mother. They prostrated
themselves and did him homage. Then they
opened their coffers and presented him
with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
(Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11)
Frankincense and myrrh are among the
oldest commodities traded through the
30 “Who is this cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchants?”
Middle East. Worth their weight in gold,
the aromatic substances were transported
on camel caravans (Isaiah 60:6): “A
multitude of camels will cover you, the
young camels of Midian and Ephah; All
those from Sheba will come; They will
bring gold and frankincense, And will bear
In other words, these caravans traveled
from as far afield as Midian (the Arabian
peninsula) and Ephah, or southern Arabia
(known as Yemen and Oman today), and
from Sheba in east Africa (today’s Ethiopia together with the sacrifices. In the
and Somalia).
Frankincense is produced from a small tree, are offered to guests to make their clothes,
while myrrh comes from a bush. They are
made from resin or gum that oozes out of
cuts made in the bark, which is collected
and dried into hard lumps. These were
then used as medicines, cosmetics and
perfumes for public and personal hygiene.
The priests in ancient Egypt used them for
embalming the dead followed by religious
rites, believing that the souls of the dead to 400 pounds of spices and herbs, gold
and the prayers would ascend to heaven
amid the gently fragrant smoke of burning
incense.
While leading the Israelites out of Egypt,
Moses received instructions from the Lord
to use pure frankincense as one of the
ingredients of a perfume to be used in the
Tabernacle (Exodus 30:34) and pure myrrh
as an ingredient of a holy anointing oil
(Exodus 30:23-25). Later the priests at the
Temple in Jerusalem burned large amounts
of incense each day on a special altar,
marketplaces of the city, then as well as
now, the smoke and “heavenly aromas”
hair or beard smell pleasant, inviting all to
“stay a bit longer.”
Led by merchants and camel drivers, the
caravans could number thousands of camels
and moved along rather sluggishly, covering
a distance of 2,000 miles and passing
through 65 stops. Each camel carried up
and gems. The journey, which took about
two and a half months, led them from one
oasis to the next, where they stopped,
rested, took care of the animals and