The story of herbs is as old as history. In the early pages of Genesis we read ‘Even as the green herb have I given you all things’, a statement once again placed early in civilization by the discoveries of ancient writing at Ur of the Chaldees. In the Psalms, considerably later, there is the pleasant comment ‘God who maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of man’.

These quotations imply that in earlier times all green plants were considered herbs, and it is as the practical use declines that the number of plants regarded as herbs is reduced also.

We have noted how wormwood and gall (from the opium poppy), hyssop and bay are mentioned in scripture. One of the earliest recorded is the mandrake, Atropa mandragora, prized for the scent of its fruits and for its romantic medicinal uses. It features in the story of Rachel, Leah and Reuben, and again in Canticles.

In the earliest days of history, in the Sudan, not later than 3000 B.C., incense was the most prized substance for trade after gold.

Perfumes were highly valued in the significant worship of the Tabernacle. An oil of holy ointment and a perfume were to be used, the former on the altar and the ark, also for the priests; the perfume, containing ’sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; . . . with pure frankincense‘ was to be placed beside the Testimony where God met his servant and friend, the High Priest. The perfume and oil were to be unique, and judgment lay on any who dared to make the same blends for their own pleasure. These compositions were to be holy—set apart. Frankincense was especially the symbol of prayer rising up to God.

Herbal BeautyThese perfumes and spices are of eastern origin, unable to be cultivated outside in this country. Frankincense (known as Boswellia thurifera) is a forest tree with pinnate leaves and spikes of pink flowers, and its gum gives fine incense. Aloes (Aloe vera) have foliage rather similar to the low, palm-like Agaves cultivated ornamentally over here. They have reddish or golden flowers and are natives of Africa and elsewhere. Myrrh is a resin from various species of plants, one of which appears to be Commiphora myrrha, a spiny bush found by the Red Sea, in an almost impossibly barren and hot area, amongst other situations. Stacte is a liquid form of myrrh, according to some authorities, and is obtained from storax (Styrax officinalis), which has snowdrop-like flowers.

The shittah tree, yielding the aromatic wood, has yellow flowers and acacia- like foliage.

The balm of Gilead or balsam of Gilead comes from the Commiphora opobalsamum, yielding resinous juice. This is a small tree with trifoliate leaves and small reddish flowers, and was cultivated on the Mount of Gilead, but found wild in countries both sides of the Red Sea. Another plant, a Labiate, Cedronella triphylla, with a citron-like scent, is sometimes called balm of Gilead.

Cinnamon is obtained from an aromatic tree, Canella alba, and the bark yields the well-known and characteristic flavour. Calamus, the sweet rush, has foliage with cinnamon-like scent. Myrrh, cinnamon, cassia and calamus were ingredients of the holy oil of anointing.

The instructions for the equipping of the Tabernacle were full of meaning, and it is interesting to think round them. Why was the pomegranate chosen to be embroidered on the High Priest’s robe? Because the flowers, of glorious crimson and orange-flame, were a reminder that all the gaiety and splendour of life, its vitality and beauty, were focussed in this highest service? And because the pomegranate, beyond the loveliness of its flowers, is valuable in every part? Almost in paradox, the fruit-juice is refreshing, and has refrigerant qualities in fevers, while the rind and leaves and the bark, are astringent and purgative. The flowers give a red dye, and the seeds are used in syrups and conserves. There is, too, great beauty in the subtle shading of the fruit.

By a strange coincidence, as I write this, a dwarf pomegranate, a friend’s gift, is beginning to flower for me in the greenhouse. It is Punica granatum nanum, and at 3 inches high has three intensely bright flower-buds, which must represent considerable effort. It gives me a sense of the inspiration behind the specifications and of our unity with those seemingly far-off days, by the continuity of created beauty and significance.

Of other herbs with an early mention there is the description of manna from heaven as resembling coriander seed, small, round, white and pleasant to eat. Amongst other civilized delights for which the children of Israel languished when they complained bitterly in the wilderness was garlic.

The gourd shredded into the pot by the sons of the prophets was most probably the bitter colocynth, and in this way its valuable though unpalatable medicinal properties may have been discerned.

The acanthus, used by the Corinthians in sculpture on their pillars, is in the book of Job translated ‘nettles’. The exquisite azure-blue, gold-centred water-lily, called Nymphaea coerulea, was used by the Jews for the design for the lily work carved on the chappiters of the Temple. It was also the sacred flower of Ancient Egypt, symbolizing the spiritual life arising in perfection above the murk and mire.

One of the loveliest pictures of all time is the one in the Canticles or Song of Solomon likening the one loved to a perfumed garden, ‘a garden enclosed’. Grown for their joy are ‘an orchard of pomegranates, cypress, with spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and also with all the chief spices, a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, 0 North Wind, and come, thou South, blow upon my garden, that the spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits . . . until the day break and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.’ ‘The vines with the tender grapes give a good smell.’

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