Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Hey rain Stuff, Lauren vogelbomb here with a classic episode
Speaker 2: from the vault. As this episode comes out, we still
Speaker 2: have a few sugar plums dancing in our heads. What
Speaker 2: sugar plums are is a different episode, but in this
Speaker 2: one we discussed two other perhaps modernly mysterious Christmas objects,
Speaker 2: frank concense and Murr.
Speaker 1: Hey rain Stuff, Lauren vogelbomb here. If you've heard of
Speaker 1: frankencense and murr, it's probably thanks to the Biblical account
Speaker 1: of the birth of Jesus. According to the Book of Matthew,
Speaker 1: chapter two, wise men followed a bright star in the
Speaker 1: east of Bethlehem to where Jesus had been born and
Speaker 1: presented him with gifts of gold frankncense and MRR. During
Speaker 1: the Christmas season. Depictions of this event are ubiquitous in
Speaker 1: American culture, decorating churches and shopping malls alike. But don't
Speaker 1: let the shiny tinsel and festive candy canes distract you
Speaker 1: from our question today, what exactly are frankincense and MRR.
Speaker 1: Both frankincense and muhr are derived from tree sap or
Speaker 1: gum resin and are prized for their alluring fragrances. Frankencense
Speaker 1: is a milky white resin extracted from species of the
Speaker 1: genus Boswelia, which thrive in arid, cool areas of the
Speaker 1: Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and India. The finest and most
Speaker 1: aromatic of this species is Bosswelia sacra, a small tree
Speaker 1: that grows in Somalia, Oman and Yemen. These plants, which
Speaker 1: grow to a height of about sixteen feet or five meters,
Speaker 1: have papery bark, sparse branches of pared leaves and flowers
Speaker 1: with white petals and a yellow or red center. Murr
Speaker 1: is a reddish resin that comes from species of the
Speaker 1: genus Comaphora, which are native to Northeast Africa and the
Speaker 1: adjacent areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Comiphora mura, a tree
Speaker 1: commonly used in the production of muhr, can be found
Speaker 1: in the shallow, rocky soils of Ethiopia, Kenya, Oman, Saudi
Speaker 1: Arabia and Somalia. It bosts shiny branches with sparse leaves
Speaker 1: that grow in groups of three, and it can reach
Speaker 1: a height of nine feet or about three meters. The
Speaker 1: process for extracting The sap of these trees is essentially identical.
Speaker 1: Harvesters make a longitudinal cut in the tree's trunk, which
Speaker 1: pierces gum resin reservoirs located within the bark. The sap
Speaker 1: slowly oozes out from the cut and drips down the tree,
Speaker 1: forming tear shaped droplets that are left to harden on
Speaker 1: the side of the tree. These beads are collected after
Speaker 1: two weeks. People in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
Speaker 1: have produced franken sense and mur for some five thousand years.
Speaker 1: For much of this time, these arimetic resins were the
Speaker 1: region's most important commodity, with a trade network that reached
Speaker 1: across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Today demand for frankencense and
Speaker 1: mur has subsided a bit, but numerous Chinese, Greek, Latin,
Speaker 1: and Sanskrit texts remind us of their past importance. Frankencens
Speaker 1: and mur were desired for personal, religious, and medicinal use.
Speaker 1: In a time before daily bathing, people would use the
Speaker 1: sweet smoke from the resins to make themselves smell better.
Speaker 1: Egyptian women would mix frankencense ash into their eyeshadow. These
Speaker 1: substances were also widely used in religious ceremonies and burials.
Speaker 1: According to the Greek writer Herodotus, the Egyptians used both
Speaker 1: frankncense and murr in preparation of animal sacrifices and human mummies.
Speaker 1: Jews incorporated them into their religious ceremonies by the third
Speaker 1: century BCE, and Christians by the fourth century CE. The
Speaker 1: residents also had in medical uses. In the Papyrus Ebers
Speaker 1: from fifteen hundred BCE, priests recommended both resins for the
Speaker 1: treatment of wounds. Other ailments they were once reported to
Speaker 1: cure included hemlock poisoning, leprosy, worms, snake bites, diarrhea, plague, scurvy,
Speaker 1: and even baldness. The high demand for frankencense and muhr
Speaker 1: created a booming trade in the Middle East, lasting several
Speaker 1: hundred years in the first century CE. Around the height
Speaker 1: of this trade, plenty of the Elder claimed that Arabia
Speaker 1: produced approximately one thousand, six hundred and eighty tons about
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred metric tons of frank concense at around four
Speaker 1: hundred and forty eight tons or four hundred metric tons
Speaker 1: of murr each year. One of the most important trade
Speaker 1: centers surrounded an oasis in modern day southern Oman. This
Speaker 1: outpost exported frank concense across Usopotamia, India, and China from
Speaker 1: about three hundred BCE to the third century CE. The
Speaker 1: ruins of the settlement remain as a UNESCO World Heritage
Speaker 1: Site known as the Land of Frankincense. Clearly, frankencense and
Speaker 1: mr were widely available when the wise men visited the
Speaker 1: baby Jesus around five BCE and would have been considered
Speaker 1: practical gifts with many uses. The expensive resins were symbolic
Speaker 1: as well. A frank concense, which was often burned, symbolized
Speaker 1: prayer rising to the heavens like smoke, while murr, which
Speaker 1: was often used in embalming, symbolized death. So scholars think
Speaker 1: that frank concense was presented to the infant Jesus to
Speaker 1: symbolize his later role as a high priest for believers,
Speaker 1: while murr symbolized his later death and burial. Frankencense and
Speaker 1: murr may not be as popular as they once were,
Speaker 1: but they're still used today in some ways that you
Speaker 1: might not expect. Their common ingredients in modern perfumes and cosmetics,
Speaker 1: continuing a tradition that's lasted thousands of years, Scientists are
Speaker 1: finding new uses for the substances as well. A recent
Speaker 1: study suggest that frank concense or its extracts may help
Speaker 1: in treating as P, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and osteoarthritis.
Speaker 1: Researchers have also discovered possible benefits of MIRR in the
Speaker 1: treatment of gastric ulcers, tumors, and parasites. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article what are Frankinsense and Myrr on
Speaker 1: how Stuffworks dot Com written by Clint Pumphrey. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot
Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klain.
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