Article: What do you know about frankincense?

[Guest guest]

I learned a few things from this article and figured some other folks here might

enjoy the " yuletide seasonal " subject

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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What do you know about frankincense?

 

 

Thursday, November 23, 2006

 

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=59854

 

AYŞE ÖZGÜN

 

Most of my Jewish and Christian readers will (or should) know what I am

talking about when I mention the word �frankincense.� According to my

research, this aromatic substance was once used in the ceremonies of Jewish

tribes where a gold vessel into which blood was poured from a sacrificial lamb

(to cleanse them of their sins). This sweet smell of the burning frankincense

covered the stench of blood and heat, while the smoke that rose from the top of

the three-sectioned tent was a taken as a message to the followers that all was

well. Should the rising smoke be seen to move in one particular direction it was

read as a sign for everyone to pack up their belongings, fold up their tent and

follow the smoke to the next spot where the three-sectioned main tent would be

re-assembled.

 

Frankincense is referred to many times in the New Testament. The Egyptians,

too, refer to it in their written records and drawings.

 

I knew little else about the subject before I watched an excellent documentary

prepared by Sibel Mesçi on Digitürk's documentary channel 88 (where we seem to

be spending most of our TV watching time nowadays and which we recommend to all

of you).

 

I learned that frankincense can be obtained from the bark of the sığala

(�amber�) tree, and that this plant is indigenous only to the Köyceğiz

region of Marmaris and nowhere else on earth. Seventy-four-year-old Ä°smet Bey

and his wife are the only ones left in our country who carry on the work of

producing frankincense; no one else seems interested in earning a living that

way anymore. It may be because the procedure is not an easy one: I'd like to

tell you how it is done.

 

Around springtime, when the first leaves appear on the branches, Ä°smet Bey

and his wife move into their mountain cottage in the middle of a sığala

forest. Every morning he takes his knife with him and begins to scrape the bark

of these trees to a certain depth until the trees' trunks resemble a zebra's

back. He collects the scraped bark chippings within a basket-like container he

carries on his belly. Soon the scraped bark begins to weep resin and oil, which

Ä°smet's wife collects in jars, to be sold to pharmaceutical companies.

 

�This was once used in the perfume industry, but in recent times it has been

replaced by a synthetic substance, so tradesmen don't come around as they once

did, even though this tree is available only in this forest of Turkey,� she

said.

 

With all the scraping done, Ä°smet Bey places the chippings into boiling hot

water for cooking after which he packs them into a drum for pressing. When

pressed, the holes on the sides of the drum bleed the �sığala oil,� which

is then collected and sold in tiny jars. Here is what Ä°smet Bey had to say:

 

�This was how my father earned his bread and his father before him. I did

the same. This oil is good for everything. If you cut your hand, it will heal

it. High blood pressure, stomach aches, intestinal problems, you name it, this

oil will heal it. They used to wrap mummies and seal them with this oil in

ancient Egypt. Perfume companies from all over the world used to buy it from us,

as it binds the smells in a perfume together. They told me this oil is mentioned

in the Bible. The resin-like aroma soothes nerves and calms one. Just imagine

that it is only available in this forest and nowhere else in the world. But...

no one wants to pick up the trade after me. Look around you. This is heaven. The

trees, the birds, the babbling brook over there. I wish someone would continue

and earn their bread from this, but I'm afraid it will be a forgotten trade.�

 

Having come across the word frankincense so many times in my research, little

did I know it originated from the sığala tree forests located only in the

Marmaris area of Turkey.

 

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=59854