Myrrh of Bible (labdanum from Cistus Creticus)

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Myrrh \Myrrh\, n. [OE. mirre, OF. mirre, F. myrrhe, L. myrrha, murra, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. murr bitter, also myrrh, Heb. mar bitter.]
A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It exudes from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the Balsamodendron Myrrha. The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of Cistus, or rockrose.

False myrrh. See the Note under Bdellium.

Myrrh of Bible (labdanum from Cistus Creticus) in Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Carmel (Hebrew: הַר הַכַּרְמֶל‎, Har HaKarmel (lit. God's vineyard); Greek: Κάρμηλος, Kármēlos; Arabic: الكرمل‎, Kurmul; Arabic: جبل مار إلياس‎, Jabal Mar Elyas, i.e. Mount St Elijah in Arabic) is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern slope.

As a sacred location

In ancient Canaanite culture, high places were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception; Thutmose III lists a holy headland among his Canaanite territories, and if this equates to Carmel, as Egyptologists such as Maspero believe, then it would indicate that the mountain headland was considered sacred from at least the 15th century BC. According to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to Yahweh on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but was rebuilt by Elijah. Iamblichus describes Pythagoras visiting the mountain on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it was the most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many, while Tacitus states that there was an oracle situated there, which Vespasian visited for a consultation;[2] Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but without any image upon it, and without a temple around it.

Elijah
The Grotto of Elijah

In mainstream Jewish, Christian, and Islamic[1] thought, it is Elijah that is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain. In the Books of Kings, Elijah challenges 450 prophets of a particular Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kingdom of Israel; since the narrative is set during the rule of Ahab and his association with the Phoenicians, biblical scholars suspect that the Baal in question was probably Melqart.

According to the bible in 1 Kings 18, the challenge was to see which deity could light a sacrifice by fire. After the prophets of Baal had failed to achieve this, Elijah had water poured on his sacrifice several times to saturate the wood altar, prostrated himself in prayer to God, fire fell from the sky, and consumed the sacrifice shortly afterwards, in the account, clouds gather, the sky turns black, and it rains heavily.

Though there is no biblical reason to assume that the account of Elijah's victory refers to any particular part of Mount Carmel,[1] Islamic tradition places it at a point known as El-Maharrakah, meaning the burning. In 1958, archaeologists discovered something on the mountain range that resembled an altar, which they assumed must have been Elijah's altar.

from site
Mount Carmel’s rich red soil is covered by a typical Mediterranean shrub forest. There are beautiful Kermes Oak groves and not only flowering trees and delicious fragrant herbs, but all the flora of the North of Israel seems gathered in this favored spot.
So early as November, the crocus, narcissus, pink cistus, and large daisy are in bloom, and the hawthorn in bud.
In spring, wild tulips, dark red anemones, pink phlox, cyclamen, purple stocks, marigolds, geranium, and pink (Cistus salvifolius) and white (Cistus creticus) rock-roses make it spectacular.

What does myrrh mean?

MYRRH DEFINITIONS - 9 definitions found

Websters 1828 Dictionary

Myrrh MYRRH, n. mer. [L. myrrha.] A gum-resin that comes in the form of drops or globules of various colors and sizes, of a pretty strong but agreeable smell, and of a bitter taste. It is imported from Egypt, but chiefly from the southern or eastern parts of Arabia; from what species of tree or plant it is procured, is unknown. As a medicine, it is a good stomachic, antispasmodic and cordial.

WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005)

myrrh n 1: aromatic resin that is burned as incense and used in perfume [syn: myrrh, gum myrrh, sweet cicely]


English Etymology Dictionary
myrrh O.E. myrre, from L. myrrha, from Gk. myrrha, from a Sem. source (cf. Akkadian murru "myrrh," Heb. mor, Ar. murr).

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003)

myrrh noun Etymology: Middle English myrre, from Old English, from Latin myrrha, from Greek, of Semitic origin; akin to Arabic murr myrrh Date: before 12th century a yellowish-brown to reddish-brown aromatic gum resin with a bitter slightly pungent taste obtained from a tree (especially Commiphora abyssinica of the family Burseraceae) of eastern Africa and Arabia; also a mixture of myrrh and labdanum

Oxford English Reference Dictionary

myrrh
1.
n. a gum resin from several trees of the genus Commiphora used, esp. in the Near East, in perfumery, medicine, incense, etc.
Derivatives:
myrrhic adj. myrrhy adj.
Etymology: OE myrra, myrre f. L myrr(h)a f. Gk murra, of Semitic orig.
2.
n. = sweet cicely.
Etymology: L myrris f. Gk murris

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Myrrh \Myrrh\, n. [OE. mirre, OF. mirre, F. myrrhe, L. myrrha, murra, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. murr bitter, also myrrh, Heb. mar bitter.] A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It exudes from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the Balsamodendron Myrrha. The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of Cistus, or rockrose. False myrrh. See the Note under Bdellium.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

MYRRH mur: (1) (mor or mowr; Arabic murr]): This substance is mentioned as valuable for its perfume (Ps 45:8; Pr 7:17; So 3:6; 4:14), and as one of the constituents of the holy incense (Ex 30:23; see also So 4:6; 5:1,5,13). Mor is generally identified with the "myrrh" of commerce, the dried gum of a species of balsam (Balsamodendron myrrha). This is a stunted tree growing in Arabia, having a light-gray bark; the gum resin exudes in small tear-like drops which dry to a rich brown or reddish-yellow, brittle substance, with a faint though agreeable smell and a warm, bitter taste. It is still used as medicine (Mr 15:23). On account, however, of the references to "flowing myrrh" (Ex 30:23) and "liquid myrrh" (So 5:5,13), Schweinfurth maintains that mor was not a dried gum but the liquid balsam of Balsamodendron opobalsamum. See BALSAM. Whichever view is correct, it is probable that the smurna, of the New Testament was the same. In Mt 2:11 it is brought by the "Wise men" of the East as an offering to the infant Saviour; in Mr 15:23 it is offered mingled with wine as an anesthetic to the suffering Redeemer, and in Joh 19:39 a "mixture of myrrh and aloes" is brought by Nicodemus to embalm the sacred body. (2) (loT, stakte; translated "myrrh" in Ge 37:25, margin "ladanum"; 43:11): The fragrant resin obtained from some species of cistus and called in Arabic ladham, in Latin ladanum. The cistus or "rock rose" is exceedingly common all over the mountains of Palestine (see BOTANY), the usual varieties being the C. villosus with pink petals, and the C. salviaefolius with white petals. No commerce is done now in Palestine in this substance as of old (Ge 37:25; 43:11), but it is still gathered from various species of cistus, especially C. creticus in the Greek Isles, where it is collected by threshing the plants by a kind of flail from which the sticky mass is scraped off with a knife and rolled into small black balls. In Cyprus at the present time the gum is collected from the beards of the goats that browse on these shrubs, as was done in the days of Herodotus iii.112). E. W. G. Masterman

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Myrrh Heb. mor. (1.) First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:23). It formed part of the gifts brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:11). It was used in embalming (John 19:39), also as a perfume (Esther 2:12; Ps. 45:8; Prov. 7:17). It was a custom of the Jews to give those who were condemned to death by crucifixion "wine mingled with myrrh" to produce insensibility. This drugged wine was probably partaken of by the two malefactors, but when the Roman soldiers pressed it upon Jesus "he received it not" (Mark 15:23). (See GALL.) This was the gum or viscid white liquid which flows from a tree resembling the acacia, found in Africa and Arabia, the Balsamodendron myrrha of botanists. The "bundle of myrrh" in Cant. 1:13 is rather a "bag" of myrrh or a scent-bag. (2.) Another word _lot_ is also translated "myrrh" (Gen. 37:25; 43:11; R.V., marg., "or ladanum"). What was meant by this word is uncertain. It has been thought to be the chestnut, mastich, stacte, balsam, turpentine, pistachio nut, or the lotus. It is probably correctly rendered by the Latin word ladanum, the Arabic ladan, an aromatic juice of a shrub called the Cistus or rock rose, which has the same qualities, though in a slight degree, of opium, whence a decoction of opium is called laudanum. This plant was indigenous to Syria and Arabia.

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
29 Moby Thesaurus words for "myrrh": ambergris, ambrosia, aromatic, aromatic gum, aromatic water, attar, attar of roses, balm, balm of Gilead, balsam, bay oil, bergamot oil, champaca oil, civet, essence, essential oil, extract, fixative, heliotrope, jasmine oil, lavender oil, musk, myrcia oil, parfum, perfume, perfumery, rose oil, scent, volatile oil

MYRRH

Myrrh, aromatic gum resin, of which the true form is obtained from a tree in Africa and Arabia. Although similar trees yield a similar product, the quality is inferior. Myrrh consists of a mixture of resin, gum, and the essential oil myrrhol, which produces the characteristic odor. It has a bitter, pungent taste, and ranges in color from yellowish brown to reddish brown. Myrrh was highly valued in ancient times as an ingredient of perfume and incense and was also used as an ointment. The myrrh mentioned in the Bible (see Psalms 45:8; Song 4:14) is believed to have been a mixture of myrrh and the oleoresin labdanum from plant Cistus Creticus*. One of the three gifts of the Magi to Jesus Christ (see Matthew 2:11) was myrrh. The gum resin was also used as a stimulant tonic and is used today as an antiseptic in mouthwashes and dentifrices.

*Cistus Creticus grows in Eastern Μediterraneo.

Happy Easter.

El Creco
Domenikos Theotokopoulos
"The Resurrection 1596-1600"




































Cistus creticus is bloomed, Easter.