WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Exactly Are Frankincense and Myrrh?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey rain Stuff, Lauren vogelbomb here with a classic episode

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<v Speaker 2>from the vault. As this episode comes out, we still

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<v Speaker 2>have a few sugar plums dancing in our heads. What

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<v Speaker 2>sugar plums are is a different episode, but in this

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<v Speaker 2>one we discussed two other perhaps modernly mysterious Christmas objects,

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<v Speaker 2>frank concense and Murr.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey rain Stuff, Lauren vogelbomb here. If you've heard of

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<v Speaker 1>frankencense and murr, it's probably thanks to the Biblical account

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<v Speaker 1>of the birth of Jesus. According to the Book of Matthew,

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<v Speaker 1>chapter two, wise men followed a bright star in the

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<v Speaker 1>east of Bethlehem to where Jesus had been born and

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<v Speaker 1>presented him with gifts of gold frankncense and MRR. During

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<v Speaker 1>the Christmas season. Depictions of this event are ubiquitous in

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<v Speaker 1>American culture, decorating churches and shopping malls alike. But don't

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<v Speaker 1>let the shiny tinsel and festive candy canes distract you

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<v Speaker 1>from our question today, what exactly are frankincense and MRR.

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<v Speaker 1>Both frankincense and muhr are derived from tree sap or

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<v Speaker 1>gum resin and are prized for their alluring fragrances. Frankencense

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<v Speaker 1>is a milky white resin extracted from species of the

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<v Speaker 1>genus Boswelia, which thrive in arid, cool areas of the

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<v Speaker 1>Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and India. The finest and most

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<v Speaker 1>aromatic of this species is Bosswelia sacra, a small tree

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<v Speaker 1>that grows in Somalia, Oman and Yemen. These plants, which

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<v Speaker 1>grow to a height of about sixteen feet or five meters,

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<v Speaker 1>have papery bark, sparse branches of pared leaves and flowers

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<v Speaker 1>with white petals and a yellow or red center. Murr

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<v Speaker 1>is a reddish resin that comes from species of the

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<v Speaker 1>genus Comaphora, which are native to Northeast Africa and the

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<v Speaker 1>adjacent areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Comiphora mura, a tree

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<v Speaker 1>commonly used in the production of muhr, can be found

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<v Speaker 1>in the shallow, rocky soils of Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Saudi

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<v Speaker 1>Arabia and Somalia. It bosts shiny branches with sparse leaves

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<v Speaker 1>that grow in groups of three, and it can reach

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<v Speaker 1>a height of nine feet or about three meters. The

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<v Speaker 1>process for extracting The sap of these trees is essentially identical.

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<v Speaker 1>Harvesters make a longitudinal cut in the tree's trunk, which

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<v Speaker 1>pierces gum resin reservoirs located within the bark. The sap

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<v Speaker 1>slowly oozes out from the cut and drips down the tree,

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<v Speaker 1>forming tear shaped droplets that are left to harden on

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<v Speaker 1>the side of the tree. These beads are collected after

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<v Speaker 1>two weeks. People in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

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<v Speaker 1>have produced franken sense and mur for some five thousand years.

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<v Speaker 1>For much of this time, these arimetic resins were the

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<v Speaker 1>region's most important commodity, with a trade network that reached

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<v Speaker 1>across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Today demand for frankencense and

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<v Speaker 1>mur has subsided a bit, but numerous Chinese, Greek, Latin,

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<v Speaker 1>and Sanskrit texts remind us of their past importance. Frankencens

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<v Speaker 1>and mur were desired for personal, religious, and medicinal use.

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<v Speaker 1>In a time before daily bathing, people would use the

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<v Speaker 1>sweet smoke from the resins to make themselves smell better.

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<v Speaker 1>Egyptian women would mix frankencense ash into their eyeshadow. These

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<v Speaker 1>substances were also widely used in religious ceremonies and burials.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the Greek writer Herodotus, the Egyptians used both

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<v Speaker 1>frankncense and murr in preparation of animal sacrifices and human mummies.

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<v Speaker 1>Jews incorporated them into their religious ceremonies by the third

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<v Speaker 1>century BCE, and Christians by the fourth century CE. The

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<v Speaker 1>residents also had in medical uses. In the Papyrus Ebers

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<v Speaker 1>from fifteen hundred BCE, priests recommended both resins for the

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<v Speaker 1>treatment of wounds. Other ailments they were once reported to

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<v Speaker 1>cure included hemlock poisoning, leprosy, worms, snake bites, diarrhea, plague, scurvy,

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<v Speaker 1>and even baldness. The high demand for frankencense and muhr

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<v Speaker 1>created a booming trade in the Middle East, lasting several

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<v Speaker 1>hundred years in the first century CE. Around the height

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<v Speaker 1>of this trade, plenty of the Elder claimed that Arabia

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<v Speaker 1>produced approximately one thousand, six hundred and eighty tons about

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen hundred metric tons of frank concense at around four

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and forty eight tons or four hundred metric tons

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<v Speaker 1>of murr each year. One of the most important trade

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<v Speaker 1>centers surrounded an oasis in modern day southern Oman. This

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<v Speaker 1>outpost exported frank concense across Usopotamia, India, and China from

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<v Speaker 1>about three hundred BCE to the third century CE. The

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<v Speaker 1>ruins of the settlement remain as a UNESCO World Heritage

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<v Speaker 1>Site known as the Land of Frankincense. Clearly, frankencense and

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<v Speaker 1>mr were widely available when the wise men visited the

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<v Speaker 1>baby Jesus around five BCE and would have been considered

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<v Speaker 1>practical gifts with many uses. The expensive resins were symbolic

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<v Speaker 1>as well. A frank concense, which was often burned, symbolized

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<v Speaker 1>prayer rising to the heavens like smoke, while murr, which

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<v Speaker 1>was often used in embalming, symbolized death. So scholars think

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<v Speaker 1>that frank concense was presented to the infant Jesus to

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<v Speaker 1>symbolize his later role as a high priest for believers,

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<v Speaker 1>while murr symbolized his later death and burial. Frankencense and

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<v Speaker 1>murr may not be as popular as they once were,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're still used today in some ways that you

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<v Speaker 1>might not expect. Their common ingredients in modern perfumes and cosmetics,

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<v Speaker 1>continuing a tradition that's lasted thousands of years, Scientists are

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<v Speaker 1>finding new uses for the substances as well. A recent

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<v Speaker 1>study suggest that frank concense or its extracts may help

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<v Speaker 1>in treating as P, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and osteoarthritis.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers have also discovered possible benefits of MIRR in the

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<v Speaker 1>treatment of gastric ulcers, tumors, and parasites. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article what are Frankinsense and Myrr on

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuffworks dot Com written by Clint Pumphrey. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com and is produced by Tyler Klain.

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<v Speaker 2>Four more podcasts maheart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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