A kind of gum-resin, issuing from the trunk of a tree growing in Arabia, Egypt, and Abyssinia; it flows either naturally, or by incision; and is sent to us in small lumps of a reddish brown or yellow color. Its smell is strong, but not disagreeable. Our myrrh is the same drug that was used by the ancients under the above name. Its chief use now is in medicine. The ancient Egyptians employed it as an ingredient in the embalming of dead bodies.
Embalming, preserving the bodies of the dead from decaying or putrefying, by impregnating them with aromatics and other substances which resist putrefaction.
Where is Abyssinia?
Abyssinia is a large kingdom situated in Eastern Africa.
What is Frankincense?
An odoriferous, aromatic gum-resin, which distils, in the heat of summer, from incisions made in the bark of the tree which produces it: notwithstanding the great use of the gum, both in ancient systems of religious worship and in modern medicine, authors have been much divided in opinion with regard to the kind of tree from which it is obtained; it is a species of turpentine tree belonging to an order of resinous and fragrant trees and shrubs inhabiting the tropical parts of the world.
For what was it formerly used?
The ancients burnt it in their temples as a perfume, and to do honor to the divinities that were worshipped in them: it appears to have been applied to the same purposes by people of all religions. Myrrh and Frankincense were reckoned by the Eastern nations amongst their most costly perfumes. We are informed by St. Matthew's Gospel in the New Testament, that the wise men who came to Bethlehem to worship our Saviour at his birth, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Many of the primitive Christians were put to death because they would not offer incense to idols. In the Catholic Church we still retain its use in many ceremonies.
Primitive, early.
Incense, perfumes burnt in religious rites, or as an offering to some deity.