What are frankincense and myrrh and where can you buy them today?

The familiar Bible story about the three wise men, or the Magi, is very well known. These characters, who have been discussed in the previous two columns, brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus.

Gold is known by almost every civilization in the world and in the West it is often associated with royalty, as in a golden crown. Doubtless that is the way gold was used by the biblical story to indicate the kingship of Christ.

But what is “frank” incense as opposed to other incense? And what on earth is myrrh, and is it possible to pick up a six-pack of it?

Incense is well-known to members of the liturgical churches, such as the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Priests put incense on hot coals in a thurible, a burner hung on a chain, and puff up waves of sweet smoke around an altar, a casket or some other sacred object.

An earlier generation knew of incense burned on cones or sticks to mask other, less than legal, substances being burned, but these perfumed sticks had very little true incense. Various other substances, such as leaves or scented wood grains, are called “incense” today, but these are not what the ancients knew.

Frankincense probably refers to the purest of incense as opposed to ordinary incense. The word comes to us from the Old French term “franc encens,” meaning noble or pure incense. However today the two words tend to be used interchangeably. In the medieval period, incense was known by its Latin name, olibanum.

Incense was well-known in Greek Roman times, when it was used as an offering to the old pagan gods, and it was also burned before the emperor when he walked in a formal procession. The Greeks and Romans in turn got it from Syria and Egypt where it has been known for more than 5,000 years.

It is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Scriptures, both in the worship of God and as a trading commodity. Christian ceremonial use of incense in Roman times is well attested, but it died out with the collapse of the empire. It was reintroduced to the Western church by the return of the crusaders who rediscovered it in the Holy Lands.

There is a wonderful story of how the young Alexander the Great once threw several generous fistfuls of incense in a brazier burning a sacrifice. His tutor Leonidas scolded the boy for using too much of the very expensive stuff, saying that the lad should not use so much until he ruled over a land that could afford it.

In his celebrated conquests, when King Alexander conquered Gaza, he sent 500 talents of incense back to his old tutor with a message that Leonidas should be more generous in his offerings to the gods. For the record, one talent weighed between 75 and 110 modern pounds, which is a lot of smoke dust.

True incense is harvest from the sap of the incense tree, known to scientists by its technical name, boswellia. The trees are slashed, and the sap runs slowly out and harden into lumps called tears. These are then collected, perfumes are added and the incense is sold.

For those who have never seen incense up close, it looks like translucent gravel, the grains of which are smaller than a chocolate chip. The most expensive and sweetest incense is clear or silver colored, and the darker incense is considered a lower grade.

Although it was very expensive in antiquity, incense is quite cheap today. Boswellia, or incense trees, are found in Africa, Arabia and various other parts of the Middle East. Today, more than 80 percent of all perfumed incense grains are made in Somalia, almost all of which is sold for use in churches.

Myrrh is more common than people realize today. The name myrrh is derived from an ancient Semitic term, mrr, which means bitter” Like frankincense, it is a resin made from the sap of a tree called Commiphora myrrha, a bush related to incense, and it is harvested in a similar way. The resin can be allowed to harden, in which case the grains are used in the same way as incense.

More often, it is cooked into a liquid which gives a powerful sweet scent, and today it is widely used as a perfume. It is also in a number of other commodities, including toothpaste, ointments and mouthwashes. Devotees of essential oils in aroma therapy attribute many healing qualities to it.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, liquid myrrh was used by Moses to consecrate the altars and sacred vessels of divine worshipm and the patriarch Joseph was sold for several commodities including myrrh. Myrrh was used by the Egyptians in their embalming process for mummies, and the Hebrews used it in their own burial rites to anoint the body.

Ancient Middle Eastern tombs might have to have been opened several times to place new bodies therein, and so the residual myrrh on the previous occupants of a tomb make the new burial more tolerable, as it covered the stench of decay.

The presentation of myrrh to the infant Jesus is normally attributed to a foreshadowing of the early death of Jesus, which makes it a curious gift to bring to a newborn and his mother. Its high cash value could be another reason for its use as a gift. Significantly, in Mark 15:23, the last gulp of wine given to Christ on the cross was wine mingled with myrrh.

Now, to return to the question of how to lay hands on a six-pack of frankincense and myrrh. Today these costly gifts given to gods, kings, messiahs and prophets can be found at Amazon.com at a cost of $13.96 for 10 milliliters of myrrh and $10.99 for a full pound of organic incense.