|
|
|
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INCENSE AND SPIRITUALITY
Page 4
In Mesopotamia incense was also considered invaluable in rites and ceremonies. According to ancient records, at the temple of Baal,
there were two and a half tons of frankincense burned a year. We can find evidence of the connection
between religion and incense in the Babylonian scripture itself
from "The Epic of Gilgamesh"
An offering I bring to the mountaintop:
Incense-burning vessels, seven times seven in number,
I place on the ground,
And into them I place sweet grass, cedar wood and myrrh.
The gods have smelled the fragrance,
The gods smelled the pleasing fragrance,
The gods, like flies, came and surrounded the offering.
History's most distant recollection of the incense trade comes from Babylon. The Babylonians used stone tablets for their records. From
these tablets we learn that the Babylonians traded in incense in their own cities as early as 2250
B.C. At least 200 types of incense were known to them. Also we know of the preferences the Babylonians and their gods had for scents.
Here are seven fragrances of Mesopotamia, cedar, calmus, myrtle, cypress, labdanum, galbanum, and
storax. Overall the Babylonians used incense and fragrances in a number of settings, religious, magical, funerary, festive, and even in
daily routine.
In Greece we also find incense use. The Greeks seemed to have gained knowledge of frankincense and myrrh from the Phoenicians. Famous
historian Herodotus who is considered the father of history in the West, had this to say about frankincense.
Arabia is the only country where frankincense grows. The Arabs burned storax as incense instead, because frankincense trees protect
the winged serpents.
The Greeks burned their incense in special vessels called thymiaterion .These vessels often had the engraved image of the goddess Nike
on them. Burning of incense could be seen as part and partial to revelation from the gods themselves.
Coined by the Greeks was the term, "godliness of pleasant aroma".
There is a story about Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great once threw a great quantity of frankincense into a ceremonial fire
during a sacrifice. He was then severely punished by his teacher, Leonidas of Talmud. Leonidas told
Alexander to stop wasting so much incense until he had conquered the land from whence it came. Later in life Alexander had conquered
Gaza and afterwards sent an entire shipload of frankincense and myrrh, over 13 tons, back to Greece.
He was noted as saying:
We have sent to you frankincense and myrrh in abundance; so you can stop being so stingy toward the gods.
{{PREVIOUS}} . .
{{NEXT}}
{{PAGE 1}}
{{PAGE 2}}
{{PAGE 3}}
{{PAGE 4}}
{{PAGE 5}}
{{PAGE 6}}
|
