3. The Materials
It is obvious that the material for the ceremonial
incense consisted of
fragrant substances. The
sub
stance most frequently employed was
frankincense (q.v.), a resin (etymo
logically, of ' a whitish sort; cf. Pliny,
Hist.
nW.
xii. 14), which the
Hebrews
obtained from southern Arabia (from Sheba,
according to
Jer. xi. 20;
Isa. Ix. 6). For the inner
sanctuary there is prescribed a special composition
of fragrant spices
(Ex. xxx. 34-38).
Just as the
Egyptians had a
prescription for ceremonial use
compounded of from ten to thirty-six ingredients
(Plutarch,
De Iside, lxxxi.,
enumerates sixteen sub-
stances), so in the tabernacle and in the temple an
exclusive composition of four ingredients in equal
parts was to be employed-and this might not be
prepared for profane uses. The three aromatics
that were to supplement frankincense are named:
(1) nataph, " a
tacte," an exuding gum, according to
some authorities, of the myrrh shrub (elsewhere
expressed by the Heb. mor; verse 23), according to
others, of the stoma; (2)
sheheleth, " incense
nail,"
"sea clove," the shell of a mussel, strongly pungent
under combustion;
(3) helbendh,
Lat.
galbanum,
"heart resin," abundant in Syria, which when alone
emits an unpleasant smell, but, when duly proportioned with other ingredients, contributes to
the potency and exhilarating effect of the aroma.
These
substances were to be mingled " after the
art of the perfumer " [after the manner of the ointment mixer], and salted (cf.
Lev. ii. 13),
the same
as was prescribed for the ceremonial offerings:
hence, too, they would be crushed or pulverized.
Later Jewish observance did not confine itself to
the four
substances here mentioned, but added
seven other aromatics (cf.
%erithoth
6""; Maimonides,
Hilkoth kele hammikdash, ii. 1-5).
Of the four
specified ingredients, there were to be taken, according to the rabbis, 70 pounds each. However, 368
pounds appear to have been used for the yearly
requirement. . The residue may have been composed of the accessory substances intermixed in
smaller portions. The seven additional aromatics.
are as follows: myrrh
(Ex. xxx. 23;
Cant. iii. 6),
cassia
(Ex. xxx. 24;
Ps. xlv. 8;
Ezek. xxvii. 19),
spikenard
(Cant. i. 12;
cf.
John xii. 3),
saffron
(Cant. iv. 14),
costus,
calamus
(Ex. xxx.
23),
and
cinnamon
(Ex. xxx. 23;
Cant. iv. 14).
Thus ten,
or more usually eleven, aromatics were enumerated,
according as frankincense was or was not included
among them. Josephus
(War, V.,
v. 5) speaks
even
of thirteen perfumes which went up from the altar
of incense, but this is explained by the fact that
still other aromatics were intermingled with the
compound. Quantity and component proportions
are more specifically defined by the Talmud.
