Spices and Perfumes

The use of scents and ointments was very necessary in the primitive hygienic conditions of the ancient world. In private life perfumes and spices were used as ingredients in perfumed oils, ointments and powders, for cosmetic purposes, to protect the skin from the heat of the sun and the dry air, and in medicine. No less important was the role they played in the religious rituals of the ancient Near East. Spices were also used in the preparation of bodies of burial (John 19:39). Cosmetics were applied with the finger, or more frequently with a spatula made of wood, bone or, in the Roman period, bronze. One of the oils mentioned in connection with cosmetics was the "precious oil/ointment" (Ps 133:2; Is 39:2 etc.). This was made from flowers, aromatic seeds and fruits mixed with olive oil. Others were oil of myrrh (Est 2:12) and the perfumer's ointment (Ecc 10:1). Perfume was made from flowers, seed and fruits soaked in oil or water. The mixture was sometimes heated and the essence was then extracted and strained through a cloth (cf Ex 30:34ff). Many perfumes were produced from resins and used either in powdered form or dissolved in oils and mixed with other substances to form an ointment. The perfumes were prepared by apothecaries, who were either men (Neh 3:8) or women (I Sam 8:13), and who in the days of Nehemiah formed a guild.

Pigments for tinting the hair, face and fingernails were used everywhere in the East. Kohl, to give emphasis to the eyes and to protect them from the strong sun, was applied on the eyebrows and eyelashes (II Kgs 9:30; Jer 4:30 etc.).

Aromatic plants in various forms were much used in all the religious cults of the East. They were mixed according to complicated formulas and burnt on the altars (Ex 37:25 etc.) and in Canaanite temples, in censers and incense-bowls; they were also puffed through incense ladles, numbers of which have been found in excavations.

Spices and aromatics were important items in the international trade of the ancient world. The OT refers to this commerce and mentions the Midianites and the Ishmaelites in connection with it (Gen 37:25). Caravans brought perfumes from Somaliland in East Africa and from the southern Arabian kingdoms along the desert routes to Palestine (cf Is 60:6). Similarly, certain spices that grew in Palestine were exported to Egypt and Syria (cf Gen 37:25; 43:11; Ezek 27:17). Some spices and aromatics must have come great distances from the Far East, but how they found their way to the Near East is still a mystery. From the Hellenistic period onwards this trade grew in importance.

Numerous aromatic plants and spices used in private life or in religious cults or both are referred to in the Bible. Some of the more important ones are mentioned below.

ALOES (Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17; Song 4:14). This perfume comes from the resin of a tree that grows in northern India and Malaya. It was one of the spices used in preparing Jesus' body for burial (John 19:39).

BALM (styrax). Among the "best fruits in the land" that Jacob's sons brought to Joseph in Egypt (Gen 43:11) and one of the products exported to Tyre (Ezek 27:17). It grew in Gilead (Gen 37:25) and was used by the local doctors (Jer 46:11; 51:8). Some scholars believe that it was a mixture of many spices.

BALSAM (Song 5:1) NKJV "spice"; AV "myrrh"; KJV "mulberry". The Hebrew name may signify any perfume, but Josephus and the early commentators (e.g. Pliny the Elder) say that the aromatic resin was extracted from the opobalsamum tree, which grows round Mecca. Large balsam plantations between Jericho and En Gedi in the time of the Second Temple were also well-known to the classical writers.

CALAMUS A type of reed, mentioned only once (Song 4:14), it was one of the spices of the fragrant garden to which the bride is likened.

CANE An aromatic substance, sweet to the taste, extracted from a reed imported from India and employed mainly as a sweet spice or drug. It is mentioned several times in the OT (e.g. Ex 30:23; Jer 6:20 etc.).

CASSIA Possibly the cinnamomum cassia but orrisroot has also been suggested as a possible identification. Cassia was an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (Ex 30:24) and was also used as a perfume (Ps 45:8).

CINNAMON The fragrant bark of a tree of the laurel family, native to Ceylon. The oil extracted from it was an important ingredient in the anointing oil (Ex 30:23), and was also valued as perfume (Prov 7:17; Song 4:14; Rev 18:13).

FRANKINCENSE One of the four ingredients of the incense that was burnt in the tabernacle (Ex 30:34-35); it was also added to other sacrifices (Lev 2:1; 24:7). Frankincense was very expensive (Is 43:23-24) because it had to be brought a great distance from Sheba (Jer 6:20). Because of its high price it was kept almost exclusively among the treasures of the Temple (I Chr 9:29), where there was a special storeroom for it (Neh 13:9). Those condemned to death were given it mixed with wine before their execution so that they might not feel pain. See INCENSE.

GALBANUM One of the four ingredients of the incense burnt in the tabernacle (Ex 30:34). In the ancient world galbanum was also used as a spice and in medicine.

HENNA (Song 1:14; 4:13). This is the scented plant Lawsonia inermis L. which was grown in Palestine. It is a small tree whose fragrant flowers grow in clusters. The roots and leaves, when ground and dissolved in water, produce a yellowish-red pigment. It was celebrated in the East for its scent and as a dye for hair, nails and teeth.

MYRRH One of the most important perfumes in biblical times, myrrh was used in the preparation of the oil with which kings were anointed (Ex 30:23-24). It was also a precious gift (Matt 2:11) and was much used by women (Prov 7:17; Est 2:12; Song 4:14). Together with aloes it was used in preparing Jesus' body for burial (John 19:39). Myrrh is extracted by means of incisions in the bark of a small tree that grows in tropical Africa and in Arabia. It was sold in both a solid and a liquid state.

SPIKENARD A fragrant, aromatic and very costly plant originating from the Himalaya Mountains. It is listed among fragrant flowers and spices in the Song of Solomon (4:13-14).

A fragrant oil was extracted from the spikenard and it was this oil with which Jesus was anointed at Bethany (Mark 14:3; John 12:3). According to John (12:5), a flask of oil cost 300 denarii (or about a year's wage for a common worker). A small juglet of the 1st century A.D. was found in a cave near Qumran containing remnants of a viscous oil (perhaps balsam).

See also PLANTS.