Frankincense, also known as olibanum (/oʊˈlɪbənəm/),[1] is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French franc encens ('high-quality incense').[2] There are several species of Boswellia that produce frankincense,[3] including, but not limited to, Boswellia sacra (syn. B. bhaw-dajiana, syn. B. carteri), B. frereana, B. serrata (B. thurifera), and B. papyrifera. Resin from each is available in various grades which is affected by the time in which it is harvested. The resin is hand-sorted for quality.
Frankincense has been traded on the Somali and Arabian Peninsula for more than 5,000 years.[26] Greek historian Herodotus wrote in The History that frankincense was harvested from trees in southern Arabia. He reported that the gum was dangerous to harvest because of winged snakes[27] that guard the trees and that the smoke from burning storax would drive the snakes away.[28][29] Pliny the Elder also mentioned frankincense in his Naturalis Historia.[30][31]
Frankincense, which was used in the Roman Empire prior to the spread of Christianity, was reintroduced to Western Europe possibly by Frankish Crusaders[32] and other Western Europeans on their journeys to the Eastern Roman Empire, where it was commonly used in church services. Although named frankincense, the name refers to the quality of incense brought to Western Europe, not to the Franks themselves.[2]
Southern Arabia was an exporter of frankincense in antiquity, with some of it being traded as far as China. The 13th-century Chinese writer and customs inspector Zhao Rugua wrote that Ruxiang or xunluxiang (Chinese: 乳香 rǔ xiāng/ 薰陸香 xūn lù xiāng) comes from the three Dashi states (Chinese: 大食 dàshí – Caliphate (Arab Muslims)) of Maloba (Murbat), Shihe (Shihr), and Nufa (Dhofar), from the depths of the remotest mountains;[33] the trunk of the tree is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and, when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps; it is transported on elephants to the Dashi ports, then on ship to Sanfoqi; which is why it was known as a product of Sanfoqi.[34]
In Christian tradition, frankincense is one of the gifts given by the Biblical Magi to Jesus at his nativity as described in the Gospel of Matthew.[35]