{"id":50679,"date":"2026-03-24T12:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/?p=50679"},"modified":"2026-03-27T16:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:03:14","slug":"boswellia-sacra-in-images-and-the-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/en\/wadi-dawkah-en\/boswellia-sacra-in-images-and-the-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"Boswellia sacra in images and the imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"    <div id=\"chapo-block_0fc03c6ca42fe8bd50e0183db551f4cb\" class=\"chapo\">\r\n        <blockquote class=\"chapo-blockquote\">\r\n            <span class=\"chapo-text\"><p>Tracing the history of the frankincense tree through images allows us to follow how humans have perceived, utilized, and imagined it over millennia. From ancient reliefs to botanical plates, these representations tell a story that is as much cultural as it is natural.<\/p>\n<\/span>\r\n        <\/blockquote>\r\n        <style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n            #chapo-block_0fc03c6ca42fe8bd50e0183db551f4cb {\r\n                background: ;\r\n                color: ;\r\n            }\r\n        <\/style>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \n\n\n<p>The snaking trunks of <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>trees pierce the skies above the vast rocky expanse of Wadi Dawkah. Their shapes seem to attest to the effort required to tear themselves from the rock and draw scarce water from the depths before undulating toward the light. Some of the twisted trunks are capped with a low, flattened crown. Others branch out from the ground in an inverted cone creating the impression of ten trees rather than a single specimen. Their papery bark curls to form fine scales in black, brown and yellow. Wounds and cuts inflicted by herbivores and humans exude a milky white resin that turns into translucent tears as it solidifies. Small, hardy leaves with an odd number of leaflets are arranged at the end of the branchlets. The flowers are inconspicuous, with five pale-colored petals and ten yellow stamens. The small fruits produced by the flowers form light-green clusters that turn brown during dehiscence. This is how we might attempt to paint a picture of the southern Arabian frankincense trees that humans have prized so highly for thousands of years. Strangely enough, very few accurate representations of these unique and precious trees have been handed down to us. Studying the history of <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>in images means venturing into unknown territory, into a place where uncertainty and inaccuracy concerning the trees\u2019 appearance hold sway. In other words, a place where facts are hard to come by and imagination often has to step in<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"1\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-1\">1<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-1\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"1\">This study does not claim to be exhaustive. It is a preliminary investigation into a subject that could only be explored in more depth by calling on a great many additional sources that are not all available online, and were therefore difficult to access for the purposes of this article.<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Trees from the Land of Punt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"844\" src=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Temple-funeraire-dHatchepsout_\u00a9Ismoon-Wikimedia-Commons-1024x844.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50793\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.2132674790015379;width:733px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Temple-funeraire-dHatchepsout_\u00a9Ismoon-Wikimedia-Commons-1024x844.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Temple-funeraire-dHatchepsout_\u00a9Ismoon-Wikimedia-Commons-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Temple-funeraire-dHatchepsout_\u00a9Ismoon-Wikimedia-Commons-768x633.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_Temple-funeraire-dHatchepsout_\u00a9Ismoon-Wikimedia-Commons.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari&nbsp;(Egypt), Early Eighteenth Dynasty: Punt relief, incense trees transportation. <br>(Source: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The trees depicted on the Punt reliefs at the Deir el-Bahari mortuary temple in Egypt were long identified as <em>Boswellia<\/em>. The reliefs commemorate the expedition organized around 1473\u20131458 BCE by Queen Hatshepsut to the faraway Land of Punt (<em>Pwn.t<\/em>), home of olibanum, myrrh and other goods highly prized in her kingdom. While the exact location of the ancient land of frankincense is still debated, most experts situate it in the northern part of the Horn of Africa<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"2\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-2\">2<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-2\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"2\">Kathryn A. Bard and Rodolfo Fattovich, <em>Seafaring Expeditions to Punt in the Middle Kingdom, <\/em>Leiden, Brill, 2018, pp. 156\u2013175. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1163\/9789004379602_008\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1163\/9789004379602_008<\/a><\/span> or the west coast of modern-day Yemen<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"3\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-3\">3<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-3\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"3\">Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean, \u201cAromates et parfums d\u2019Egypte\u201d [Aromatic Substances and Perfumes of Egypt], in <em>Senteurs c\u00e9lestes, ar\u00f4mes du pass\u00e9.<\/em> <em>Parfums &amp; aromates dans l&#8217;Antiquit\u00e9 m\u00e9diterran\u00e9enne [Divine odors, aromas of the past. Perfumes &amp; aromatic substances in Mediterranean antiquity]<\/em> (Lattara archaeological site \u2013 Mus\u00e9e Henri Prades, June 20, 2024 \u2013 February 3, 2025), Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean and Diane Dusseaux (eds.), Gent, Snoeck, 2024, p. 22.<\/span>. We know that the Egyptians returned from the trip laden with riches, including aromatic resins and living specimens of resin-producing trees to be transplanted in the Karnak temple to honor the god Amon<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"4\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-4\">4<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-4\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"4\">Although we know a great deal about the voyage arranged by Hatshepsut thanks to the wealth of iconographic and epigraphic documentation on the southern gate of Deir el-Bahari, it is just one of the fifteen or so expeditions to Punt organized during just over a thousand years of Egyptian history. (Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean, \u201cLe pays de <em>Pount <\/em>et la qu\u00eate des aromates\u201d [The Land of Punt and the quest for aromatic substances] in <em>Parfums d\u2019\u00c9gypte. Du pays de Pount aux rives du Nil [Perfumes of Egypt. From the Land of Punt to the Banks of the Nile]<\/em>,<em> <\/em>(the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, December 1, 2024 \u2013 February 28, 2025), Hanane Gaber and Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean (eds.), Gent, Snoeck, 2024, pp. 164\u2013167.)<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the scenes on the reliefs depict Puntites <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/eda13be0-c6cc-012f-47de-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/eda13be0-c6cc-012f-47de-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">transporting several specimens in pots or baskets toward the river bank<\/a> while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/mission-to-the-land-of-punt-queen-hatshepsut-the-fifth-pharaoh-of-the-eighteenth-dynasty-of-egypt-image364683549.html?imageid=BBC400C1-8FD5-4C1F-A8DB-A242AD581FED&amp;pn=1&amp;searchId=35a51f2ae175a342d3eb9287cd6bf090&amp;searchtype=0\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/mission-to-the-land-of-punt-queen-hatshepsut-the-fifth-pharaoh-of-the-eighteenth-dynasty-of-egypt-image364683549.html?imageid=BBC400C1-8FD5-4C1F-A8DB-A242AD581FED&amp;pn=1&amp;searchId=35a51f2ae175a342d3eb9287cd6bf090&amp;searchtype=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Egyptians load them onto their vessels<\/a>. The trees are then shown arriving in Egypt; <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/f1702120-c6cc-012f-c43d-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/f1702120-c6cc-012f-c43d-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">firstly during the inventory of the riches brought back from Punt<\/a>, then as planted trees thriving in the soil. But Egyptologists entertain some doubts: Are the trees with their snaking, many-branched boughs \u2013 also represented at a later date on the tombs of Puyemr\u00ea and Rekhmir\u00ea<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"5\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-5\">5<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-5\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"5\">D. M. Dixon, \u201cThe Transplantation of Punt Incense Trees in Egypt\u201d, in <em>The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, <\/em>Vol. 55, August 1969, pp. 55\u201365.<\/span> \u2013 <em>Boswellia <\/em>or actually <em>Commiphora?<\/em><sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"6\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-6\">6<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-6\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"6\">Abdel-Aziz Saleh, \u201cSome Problems Relating to the Pwenet Reliefs at Deir el-Bahari\u201d, in <em>The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, <\/em>Vol. 58, August 1972, pp. 140\u2013158.<\/span> A number of elements seem characteristic of both genera while others are stylized in the tradition of Egyptian artistic conventions<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"7\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-7\">7<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-7\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"7\">\u201cEgyptian trees are depicted in an entirely conventional manner, but, in the case of a large picture where even the species of the tree represented has an important role, Egyptian artists almost always tried to reproduce the main characteristics as a minimum, stylizing them slightly according to their usual methods.\u201d (Gustave J\u00e9quier, \u201cLieblein, J., Le mot <em>anti<\/em> n\u2019indique pas myrrhe, mais encens, oliban. Christiania Videnskabs Selskabs Forhandlinger for 1910 n\u00b0 1\u201d [Lieblein, J. The word <em>anti <\/em>does not mean myrrh but frankincense, olibanum. Christiania Videnskabs Selskabs Forhandlinger for 1910 no. 1], <em>Sphinx\u00a0: revue critique embrassant le domaine entier de l&#8217;\u00e9gyptologie, <\/em>1912, no. 16, p. 24.)<\/span>, making formal identification impossible. The confusion is heightened by the fact that trees on the Puntite reliefs take two forms: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/stock-photo-scene-of-the-punt-reliefs-from-the-middle-colonnade-at-the-temple-27003242.html?imageid=D244758E-0248-4073-A073-C6C177827799&amp;pn=1&amp;searchId=0807376e0d3b60bd153950a7446d523d&amp;searchtype=0\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/stock-photo-scene-of-the-punt-reliefs-from-the-middle-colonnade-at-the-temple-27003242.html?imageid=D244758E-0248-4073-A073-C6C177827799&amp;pn=1&amp;searchId=0807376e0d3b60bd153950a7446d523d&amp;searchtype=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Some have luxuriant foliage with each leaf clearly drawn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.fr\/detail\/photo-d%27actualit%C3%A9\/carriage-of-a-tree-scenes-of-the-punt-kingdom-south-photo-dactualit%C3%A9\/630809469?adppopup=true\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.fr\/detail\/photo-d%27actualit%C3%A9\/carriage-of-a-tree-scenes-of-the-punt-kingdom-south-photo-dactualit%C3%A9\/630809469?adppopup=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">while others only show pointed branches and the outline of the foliage<\/a>. Are these separate species or, according to the most widely accepted hypothesis, the same species in two different states, dormant then flourishing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The text accompanying the images offers little by the way of clarification. The term <em>s\u00e9n\u00e9tcher <\/em>(or <em>sn\u1e6fr<\/em>) is usually interpreted by Egyptologists as referring to resins produced by trees in the <em>Boswellia<\/em> genus, while the word <em>\u00e2ntyou <\/em>(or <em>&#8216;ntyw<\/em>) is thought to mean myrrh.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"8\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-8\">8<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-8\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"8\">Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean, \u201cAromates et parfums d\u2019Egypte\u201d [Aromatic Substances and Perfumes of Egypt], in <em>Senteurs c\u00e9lestes, ar\u00f4mes du pass\u00e9.<\/em> <em>Parfums &amp; aromates dans l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9 m\u00e9diterran\u00e9enne [Divine odors, aromas of the past. Perfumes &amp; aromatic substances in Mediterranean antiquity]<\/em> (Lattara archaeological site \u2013 Mus\u00e9e Henri Prades, June 20, 2024 \u2013 February 3, 2025), Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean and Diane Dusseaux (eds.), Gent, Snoeck, 2024, p. 22.<\/span> The latter term is the one most frequently associated with the trees and resin masses depicted on the Deir el-Bahari reliefs, leading some Egyptologists in the first half of the 20th century to suggest that the word <em>&#8216;ntyw <\/em>actually refers to olibanum and the tree that produces it.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"9\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-9\">9<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-9\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"9\">Jens Lieblein, <em>Le mot <\/em>anti<em> n\u2019indique pas myrrhe, mais encens, oliban,<\/em> Christiania Videnskabs Selskabs Forhandlinger, 1910. [The word <em>anti <\/em>does not mean myrrh but frankincense, olibanum. Christiania Videnskabs Selskabs Forhandlinger for 1910].<\/span> Nevertheless, more recently, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean opined that <em>ntyw <\/em>does in fact mean myrrh, which is easier to obtain in large quantities since <em>Commiphora myrrha<\/em> trees usually grow closer to the coast than <em>Boswellia<\/em>. The trees depicted are therefore more likely to be myrrh trees.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"10\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-10\">10<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-10\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"10\">Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Servajean, \u201cLes pays des arbres \u00e0 myrrhe et des pins parasols. \u00c0 propos de <em>T\u021d-n\u1e6fr\u201d <\/em>[<em>Lands where myrrh trees and umbrella pines grow<\/em>], <em>EniM <\/em>12, 2019, pp. 87\u2013122.<\/span> With no new evidence coming to light, the exact nature of these spectacular trees remains in doubt. This uncertainty is compounded by the possibility that taxonomic groups now considered distinct were not differentiated in Pharaonic times.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"11\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-11\">11<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-11\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"11\">Jesus Trello, \u201cThe incense distribution scene in TT 39 \u2013 redistribution of economic goods to Deir el-Bahari and other locations in Western Thebes\u201d, in <em>Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, <\/em>Vol. 30, no. 1, 2021, pp. 157\u2013186<em>.<\/em><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Manuscripts from the Byzantine and Islamic worlds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"659\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_-659x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50799\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6435492484931716;width:449px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_-659x1024.jpg 659w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_-768x1193.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_-989x1536.jpg 989w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2LightS_Spencer-Collection-The-New-York-Public-Library_.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dioscoride,&nbsp;<em>De materia medica<\/em>. Frankincense (gum of <em>Boswellia carteri<\/em>), arabic copy by M\u00eerz\u00e2 B\u00e2qir, Tehran or Mashhad (Iran), 1889-1890, fol. 39v <em>Aal-lub\u00e2n<\/em>&#8220;.  <br>(Source: Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>While Egyptian bas-reliefs leave room for a great deal of uncertainty, a number of medieval manuscripts make it possible to identify the frankincense tree with far greater accuracy, including some of the first depictions in various copies of ancient medical treatises, such as Dioscorides\u2019s <em>De materia medica<\/em>. The first-century Greek doctor and botanist recommended using the bark of the frankincense tree and olibanum resin to treat various ailments.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"12\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-12\">12<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-12\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"12\">In chapter LXX, Dioscorides writes: \u201c[T]he bark of frankincense is burnt and produces smoke, with the scent of a pleasant odor. The bark burns in the same way and has the same virtues as the frankincense.\u201d (English translation of Martin Math\u00e9e\u2019s French translation, <em>The six books of PedaniusDioscorides of Anazarbus on medicinal matters, translated from Latin to French. To each chapter are added certain very learned annotations, collected from the most excellent doctors, ancient and modern<\/em>, Book I, published in Lyon by Balthazar Arnoullet, 1553, p. 38.)<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/ica.themorgan.org\/manuscript\/page\/427\/143825\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/ica.themorgan.org\/manuscript\/page\/427\/143825\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The image of a <em>Boswellia <\/em>tree accompanied by two baskets containing tears of solidified resin thus feature in a Byzantine version of his influential treatise (ms. M.652, fol. 230v) from the mid-10th century<\/a>.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"13\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-13\">13<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-13\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"13\">The subsequent folio (231R) also features an illustration of the bark and the resin itself in a basket.<\/span> The tree is shown as a schematic representation with long dark-green needles that bring to mind the <em>Pinaceae<\/em> rather than the <em>Burseraceae<\/em> family,<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"14\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-14\">14<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-14\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"14\">Understandably, since the resin-producing trees familiar to an illustrator in the Constantinople region would very likely have been members of the pine family. A great many Europeans, from Marco Polo to Linnaeus, also confused the frankincense tree with a conifer.<\/span> accompanied with a caption that reads, \u201colibanum manna\u201d (<em>\u039b\u0399\u0392\u0391\u039d\u039f\u03a5 \u039c\u0391\u039d\u039d\u0397<\/em>).<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"15\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-15\">15<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-15\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"15\">The Greek word used here, <em>\u039b\u0399\u0392\u0391\u039d\u039f\u03a5<\/em> or, in standardized lowercase, <em>\u03bb\u03b9\u03b2\u03ac\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5<\/em>, which means both olibanum and the tree that produces it, is the genitive of the word <em>\u03bb\u03af\u03b2\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2<\/em>, transliterated as <em>libanos<\/em>, itself derived from the Semitic root <em>lbn <\/em>(the basis for terms linked to milk or, more broadly, the white color associated with it) which is also the origin of the Arabic word <em>lub\u0101n (<\/em>\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646<em>), <\/em>the Hebrew term <em>l\u0259\u1e07\u014dn\u0101 <\/em>(\u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05d5\u05b9\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4)and the English \u201colibanum.\u201d The Greeks referred to resin-producing regions (<em>thurifera regio, <\/em>from the Greek <em>thus, <\/em>\u201csubstances used for burning\u201d) in southern Arabia with the expression <em>Libanotophoros\u00a0<\/em>(<em>\u00a0\u03bb\u03b9\u03b2\u03b1\u03bd\u03c9\u03c4\u03bf\u03c6\u03cc\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2<\/em>), i.e., literally \u201cproducing olibanum.\u201d<\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<em>Boswellia sacra<\/em> also features in a number of Arabic translations of the original Greek text, such as in the <em>Kit\u0101b al-\u1e24a\u0161\u0101\u02bei\u0161 f\u012b h\u0101y\u016bl\u0101 al-\u02bfil\u0101g \u030cal-\u1e6dibb\u012b <\/em>(ms. Or. 289, fol. 16v) illustrated by an artist from Samarkand around 1083<em>.<\/em> Interestingly, the artist did not depict the resin but focused on the tree\u2019s other characteristics: knots on the trunk, the crenate-serrate shape of the leaflets margin, and the fruit, depicted as yellowish-brown spheres clustered at the end of the branches. Despite the highly stylized technique, particularly in terms of the general shape of the tree, these striking features denote either first-hand knowledge of the plant or, at the very least access, to relatively accurate sources describing its real appearance. The same features were used by scribes working on several other Arab manuscripts of <em>De materia medica<\/em>, who occasionally added a yellow liquid flowing down each side of the trunk as well as a woven mat placed at the foot of the tree (BnF, Arab ms. 4947; McGill, ms. 7508; NYPL, Persian ms. 39). <a href=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/906934\/29\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/906934\/29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">This approach to representing the tree can also be found in a Seljuk<\/a><sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"16\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-16\">16<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-16\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"16\">The Seljuk Empire, or Great Seljuk Empire, was a medieval, culturally Sunni Muslim empire stretching from Anatolia and the Levant\u00a0in the west to Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. It peaked in the late 11th century.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/906934\/29\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/906934\/29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">version of another ancient pharmacological work, <em>The Book of Theriac, <\/em>dating from 1199 and preserved under the title <em>Kit\u0101b al-diry\u0101q <\/em>(BnF, Arabic ms. 2964)<\/a>, pointing to the existence of a specifically Islamic iconographical tradition concerning the frankincense tree in medical literature.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"17\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-17\">17<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-17\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"17\">None of the illustrations in Western manuscripts feature these characteristics. Western artists, unfamiliar with details of the tree\u2019s appearance, tended to characterize it by depicting resin in the form of tears. The rest of their representations bear no resemblance to reality. By a process of comparison we can therefore assume that at least some of the illuminations found in Arabic manuscripts were based on depictions of the tree taken from nature by artists from the southern Arabian Peninsula. However, there is still a need for an exhaustive study of these representations in medieval Arabic medical literature.<\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in certain encyclopedic works the frankincense tree loses some of its distinctive features: Fruit and resin disappear; leaves are formless; and only the branching of the trunks starting at ground level seems to lend the image a vague connection to the actual tree. This is exemplified by several illustrated versions of the famous 13th-century<em> \u02bfAj\u0101&#8217;ib al-makhl\u016bq\u0101t wa ghar\u0101&#8217;ib al-mawj\u016bd\u0101t <\/em>by al-Qazw\u012bn\u012b. In the 1537 Persian version held in the National Library of Medicine in the United States (ms. P1, fol. 152b), the 17th-century version illustrated by Deccani\u2019s paintings at the British Library&nbsp;(ms. OR 162, fol. 273r), and the 1717 Ottoman copy at the Walters Art Museum (ms. W.659, fol. 216a), only the text makes it possible to formally identify <em>Boswellia.<\/em> While the growing trend for stylization could be attributed to the fact that, unlike pharmacopoeia, these works were not designed specifically for a proper identification of the plants shown in them, it is also possible that scribes simply had no idea what this exotic tree looked like since they had no real-life models to work from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Medieval and pre-modern Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"465\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3_De-olibane-The-College-of-Physicians-of-Philadelphia-Digital-Library-accessed-February-25-2026-https___cppdigitallibrary.org_items_show_1152.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50792\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3_De-olibane-The-College-of-Physicians-of-Philadelphia-Digital-Library-accessed-February-25-2026-https___cppdigitallibrary.org_items_show_1152.jpg 465w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3_De-olibane-The-College-of-Physicians-of-Philadelphia-Digital-Library-accessed-February-25-2026-https___cppdigitallibrary.org_items_show_1152-269x300.jpg 269w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 465px) 100vw, 465px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matthaeus Platearius,&nbsp;<em>Le Grant Herbier en fran\u00e7ois,<\/em>&nbsp;printed by Pierre Le Caron, Paris (France), circa 1498: &#8220;<em>De olibane<\/em>&#8220;.<br>(Source: Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The earliest European attempts at representing the tree in illuminated manuscripts on medicinal herbs can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries. For instance, an almost unrecognizable illustration features in the Egerton 747 manuscript of <em>Tractatus de herbis<\/em> (circa 1280\u20131350). <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Category:BL_Egerton_747?uselang=fr#\/media\/File:BL_Egerton_747,_f.071r.jpg\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Category:BL_Egerton_747?uselang=fr#\/media\/File:BL_Egerton_747,_f.071r.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">At the bottom of folio 071r, the tree labeled as <em>Olibanum<\/em> looks more like an olive tree, with a thin trunk topped by simple, slender, linear leaves<\/a>.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"18\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-18\">18<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-18\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"18\">Whereas, as you may recall, <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>has compound odd pinnate leaves. The confusion possibly arose from one of Pliny the Elder\u2019s descriptions in his <em>Natural History<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cIt is well known that it has the bark of a bay-tree, and some have said that the leaf is also like that of the bay\u201d (Book 12, XXXI, translated from the Latin by H. Rackham, 1952). In actuality, it is the leaves of the oleander and the olive tree that have a relatively similar shape. Pliny further asserted that it is often impossible to recognize plants based on drawings in illustrated herbals which, even in his era, were usually made up of copies of copies and therefore far from accurate.<\/span> In the 15th century, its French translation, known as the <em>Livre des simples m\u00e9decines,<\/em><sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"19\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-19\">19<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-19\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"19\">The corpus of the <em>Livre des simples m\u00e9decines <\/em>is often attributed to Matthaeus Platearius. In reality, he was the 11th-century author of <em>Liber de simplici medicina<\/em> or<em>Circa Instans, <\/em>a medicinal work which served as the basis for the Latin compilation known as <em>Tractatus de herbis <\/em>(attributed to Barth\u00e9lemy Mini de Sienne), translated into French with the title <em>Livre des simples m\u00e9decines [Book of Simple Medicines]<\/em>. (Alice Lafor\u00eat, \u201cPeindre l\u2019arbre au Moyen \u00c2ge. Les herbiers enlumin\u00e9s de la Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France\u201d [Painting Trees in the Middle Ages. Illuminated herbals at the French National Library], <em>L&#8217;Histoire \u00e0 la BnF, <\/em>May 10, 2017. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.58079\/pmnz\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.58079\/pmnz<\/a>)<\/span> often depicts <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>as a tree with a rounded crown, symmetrical shape and lacking in distinctive features,<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"20\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-20\">20<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-20\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"20\">For example, in ms. NAF 6593 (fol. 152) and the French ms. 19081 (fol. n.p.) at the BnF, in ms. 626 (fol. 188r) at the Wellcome Collection, and in ms. 369 (fol. 465v) at the M\u00e9diath\u00e8que Jean Levy in Lille, which all feature the tree without representing the resin.<\/span> aside from the presence, in certain copies of the book, of yellowish resin clumps on the trunk and branches (BnF, French ms. 623, <a href=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b6000422n\/f283.item\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b6000422n\/f283.item\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fol. 138r<\/a>; French ms. 1307, fol. 197; French ms. 1310, fol. n.p.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, this alphabetically organized treatise produced a number of more astonishing representations. The ordering of the medicinal substances cited places <em>Boswellia sacra, <\/em>under the Latin name <em>olibanum <\/em>or <em>olibane, <\/em>immediately after a reference to cuttlefish bones (<em>os de seiche <\/em>in French): The cephalopod mollusk therefore often appears superimposed perpendicular to the tree (BnF French ms. 9136, <a href=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b60004232\/f432.item\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b60004232\/f432.item\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fol. 213v<\/a>;\u00a0ms. 2888, <a href=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b550098035\/f309.item\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b550098035\/f309.item\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fol. 149r<\/a>; ms. 12319, fol. 239; ms. 12320, fol. 145; etc.).<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"21\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-21\">21<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-21\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"21\">The text in no way recommends mixing the two ingredients, which were only originally positioned together due to the alphabetical ordering of the treatise\u2019s entries.<\/span> Possibly one of the scribes originally chose that particular configuration due to a lack of space on the page, and was then imitated by the scribes who followed.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"22\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-22\">22<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-22\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"22\">Since not all <em>Livre des simples m\u00e9decines <\/em>manuscripts have been digitized, the hypothesis remains unproven. We therefore do not know if one of the versions inaccessible online could support the theory of a joint illustration for two entries based on a lack of space in the folio. And in any event, the versions we can access do not corroborate the idea since each entry has its own illustration (one of them made up of two combined images). Neither does the hypothesis of an illustration of the product itself on one side (the bone, the resin) and the living organism the product is derived from on the other (the cuttlefish, the frankincense tree) appear to hold water.<\/span> While the reason for the improbable grouping remains a mystery, the result is delightfully strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 15th century, the first printed herbals such as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitale-sammlungen.de\/en\/view\/bsb00032745?page=290&amp;q=oliban\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.digitale-sammlungen.de\/en\/view\/bsb00032745?page=290&amp;q=oliban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gart der Gesundheit<\/a> <\/em>and <em>ortus Sanitatis <\/em>by Jean de Cuba or <em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/FOLS104INV154RES\/page\/n260\/mode\/1up\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/FOLS104INV154RES\/page\/n260\/mode\/1up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Grant Herbier en fran\u00e7oys<\/a> <\/em>reproduced and established the schematic representations of the tree popularized by the manuscripts. They feature <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>reduced to a straight trunk, a handful of rigid, symmetrical branches, large falcate and lanceolate leaves with a few large tears rolling down the central trunk.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"23\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-23\">23<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-23\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"23\">In terms of shape and proportions, this representation seems to be based directly on the folio 188r illustration in the copy of <em>Livre des simples m\u00e9decines<\/em> at the Wellcome Collection (ms. 626), illustrated circa 1470.<\/span> These incunabula<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"24\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-24\">24<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-24\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"24\">Books printed in Europe before the 16th century, seen as alternatives to medieval manuscripts.<\/span> favor simple images as mnemonics, in line with the iconographic tradition of the late Middles Ages:<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"25\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-25\">25<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-25\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"25\">The same applies to certain medieval Arabic herbals where the image is used as an anchor point for memory. Nevertheless, within Islamic iconographic traditions, this mnemonic aspect is not the only justification for using images; they also serve didactic purposes (implying a degree of functional realism) as well as playing an aesthetic role.<\/span> The goal is not to faithfully reproduce a plant\u2019s appearance but rather to highlight a characteristic detail (here, resin secretion) to help with its identification.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"26\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-26\">26<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-26\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"26\">This oversimplification naturally raises difficulties when it comes to identifying the tree using images alone. The fact is that several resin-producing trees can be visually confused with each other when only their shared characteristic of gum resin is depicted rather than their actual appearance.<\/span>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fragility of text sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"601\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4_Planche-representant-des-arbres-resineux-in-Description-historique-redigee-par-le-president-de-Robien-des-collections-conservees-dans-son-cabinet--601x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50795\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.5869077592126345;width:503px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4_Planche-representant-des-arbres-resineux-in-Description-historique-redigee-par-le-president-de-Robien-des-collections-conservees-dans-son-cabinet--601x1024.jpg 601w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4_Planche-representant-des-arbres-resineux-in-Description-historique-redigee-par-le-president-de-Robien-des-collections-conservees-dans-son-cabinet--176x300.jpg 176w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4_Planche-representant-des-arbres-resineux-in-Description-historique-redigee-par-le-president-de-Robien-des-collections-conservees-dans-son-cabinet-.jpg 751w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christophe-Paul de Robien,&nbsp;<em>Description historique r\u00e9dig\u00e9e par le pr\u00e9sident de Robien, des collections conserv\u00e9es dans son cabinet<\/em>, Rennes (France), <br>circa 1740\u20131756: plate 52.<br>(Source: Library of Rennes M\u00e9tropole Les Champs libres)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The scarcity of Western representations of <em>Boswellia sacra<\/em> is also due to a long-held uncertainty over the far-off tree\u2019s appearance. Images are not taken from nature but from earlier copies or written accounts, themselves approximative. Descriptions of the tree provided by authors of antiquity such as Herodotus, Theophrastus, Diodorus of Sicily, Ptolemy, Dioscorides and Ovid are often contradictory, when not steeped in mythology. As early as the first century CE, Pliny the Elder noted that no one could agree either on the tree\u2019s shape or its size, and that no Greek or Latin text had been able to offer an accurate description. In 1688, in his <a href=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/1844792\/1\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/images.bnf.fr\/#\/detail\/1844792\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Histoire de Louis le Grand, <\/em>Jean Donneau de Vis\u00e9<\/a> noted: \u201cThe shape of the tree is contentious to such an extent that it has not yet been completely determined.\u201d<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"27\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-27\">27<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-27\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"27\">Jean Donneau de Vis\u00e9, <em>Histoire de Louis le Grand contenue dans les rapports qui se trouvent entre ses actions et les qualit\u00e9s et vertus des Fleurs et des Plantes [History of Louis the Great encompassed by the relationship between his actions and the qualities and virtues of Flowers and Plants],<\/em> Paris, 1688, fol. 18. (French ms. 6995, held at the BnF). In this peculiar book, the author gives voice to various plants in praise of Louis XIV by drawing parallels between the king\u2019s virtues and those of the plants. The first is the myrrh tree, the second the frankincense tree, which addresses the monarch in these terms: \u201cMy shape is very much contested; King Antigonus used to say that I looked like the Terebinth, and King Juba that I was related to the Maple on the Euxin Bridge. Many are of the opinion that my leaf resembles the Bay Tree, which is the most commonly held belief.\u00a0The fashion in which you are made is in no way disputed, and all people agree that if a healthy complexion and majestic and affable aspect would serve to choose Kings, and if your birth had not given you a crown, you would wear the crown for the entire world, were there but one sovereign.\u201d<\/span> However, this did not deter painter and miniaturist Jean Joubert from accompanying the text with a color picture of the tree, aligning with one of Pliny\u2019s descriptions by giving it foliage similar to the bay tree and adding six smoking censers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the handful of images produced between the late 16th century and 18th century did finally discard the symmetry and excessive oversimplification of medieval miniatures, they did not tend to come any closer to reality. <a href=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k109341b\/f273.item.r=encens\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k109341b\/f273.item.r=encens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Andr\u00e9 Thevet\u2019s widely copied engraving for his <em>Cosmographie universelle <\/em>(1575)<\/a> was the first to show not only the tree in a natural setting \u2013 an undulating rocky landscape \u2013 but also olibanum being harvested:<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"28\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-28\">28<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-28\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"28\">A Chinese illustration at the start of the century also depicted the resin harvest. China first discovered olibanum under the reign of Han Wudi (r. 141\u201387 BCE) and it took on a very important role during the Sui (581\u2013618) and Tang (618\u2013907) dynasties. It is described with the terms <em>Xunlu Xi\u0101ng <\/em>(\u85b0\u9678\u9999) (used as early as the third century) and <em>R\u01d4 Xi\u0101ng <\/em>(\u4e73\u9999) (from the eighth century). A 1503 copy of the \u672c\u8349\u54c1\u5f59\u7cbe\u8981 (<em>Classified Medical Material<\/em>) contains two illustrations of the frankincense tree, each with one of the two designations. The first shows resin clumps in an unusual fluorescent green color forming on the grayish trunk of a tree. The second represents a man digging around the foot of the tree (possibly in search of the tears fallen to the ground) while a few pieces of golden resin can be seen in a basket.<\/span>\u00a0trunk cutting and transport of the resin in jars. Nevertheless, although Thevet echoed Marco Polo<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"29\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-29\">29<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-29\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"29\">The 1930 English edition of Marco Polo\u2019s travel stories, <em>Travels of Marco Polo<\/em>, includes a reference to \u201cwhite frankincense\u201d from the Aden region he claimed came \u201cfrom a certain small tree that resembles the fir\u201d (<em>The Travels of Marco Polo (the Venetian)<\/em>, edited by Manuel Komroff, Garden City, NY: Garden City Pub. Co., 1930, p. 320). Thevet also described the frankincense-producing tree as having \u201cthe appearance of the pines that bear resin, albeit there are few men there who can boast of having seen one\u201d (Andr\u00e9 Thevet, <em>La Cosmographie universelle d&#8217;Andr\u00e9 Thevet cosmographe du roy<\/em> [The Universal Cosmography of Andr\u00e9 Thevet, royal cosmographer], Vol. I, Paris, G. Chaudi\u00e8re, 1575, p. 118).<\/span> in claiming similarities between the <em>Boswellia <\/em>and pine trees, the picture resembles neither one nor the other. The images derived from this engraving, such as the 1602 <a href=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b2100043v\/f3.item.zoom\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/btv1b2100043v\/f3.item.zoom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Histoire des drogues [History of Drugs] <\/em>by Antoine Colin and Crist\u00f3bal Acosta<\/a>, thus perpetuated an erroneous representation of the tree that nevertheless proved to be tenacious since it had very few competitors. Between the late 17th and 18th centuries, another representation derived from Thevet\u2019s image was used, with only the tiniest of variations, to illustrate the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/bub_gb_mrDQa4tPVF8C\/page\/n311\/mode\/1up\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/bub_gb_mrDQa4tPVF8C\/page\/n311\/mode\/1up\"><em>Histoire g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des drogues [General history of Drugs] <\/em>(1694) by Pierre Pomet<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/utpictura18.univ-amu.fr\/notice\/14055-encens-nlle-relation-lafrique-occidentale-1728\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/utpictura18.univ-amu.fr\/notice\/14055-encens-nlle-relation-lafrique-occidentale-1728\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Nouvelles relations de l&#8217;Afrique occidentale [New Relations in Western Africa] <\/em>(1728) by Jean-Baptiste Labat<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/f5af7a60-c6bd-012f-eb34-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/digitalcollections.nypl.org\/items\/f5af7a60-c6bd-012f-eb34-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>La G\u00e9ographie sacr\u00e9e et les Monuments de l&#8217;histoire sainte<\/em> [<em>Sacred Geography and the Monuments of Church History<\/em>] (1784) by Joseph Romain Joly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Botanical illustrations and taxonomic debate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"702\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5S_Kohlers-Medizinal-Pflanzen-in-naturgetreuen-Abbildungen-mit-kurz-erlauterndem_1890-702x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50796\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6855420767528801;width:522px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5S_Kohlers-Medizinal-Pflanzen-in-naturgetreuen-Abbildungen-mit-kurz-erlauterndem_1890-702x1024.jpg 702w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5S_Kohlers-Medizinal-Pflanzen-in-naturgetreuen-Abbildungen-mit-kurz-erlauterndem_1890-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5S_Kohlers-Medizinal-Pflanzen-in-naturgetreuen-Abbildungen-mit-kurz-erlauterndem_1890-768x1121.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mag.bynez.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5S_Kohlers-Medizinal-Pflanzen-in-naturgetreuen-Abbildungen-mit-kurz-erlauterndem_1890.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hermann A. K\u00f6hler,&nbsp;<em>Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erl\u00e4uterndem Texte<\/em>, Gera (Germany), 1887: plate 175 &#8220;<em>Boswellia carterii<\/em>&#8220;.<br>(Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>A 1793 illustration by Benedetto Bordiga in <em>Storia delle piante forastiere le pi\u00f9 importanti nell\u2019uso medico, od economico<\/em> claims to represent <em>L\u2019Olibano. <\/em>However, it only depicts a conifer-type branch consistent with the erroneous classification of Carl Linnaeus who, in 1749, asserted that the frankincense tree belonged to the <em>Juniperus <\/em>genus<em>.<\/em><sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"30\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-30\">30<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-30\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"30\">The 1761\u20131763 Danish expedition to Yemen should have served to rectify the mistake, since one of its goals was to accurately identify the goods mentioned in the Bible, including olibanum from southern Arabia. The expedition\u2019s Swedish naturalist Peter Forssk\u00e5l, who studied with Linnaeus, was specifically tasked with providing a botanical description of the frankincense tree, bringing back its seeds, and gathering information on the resin harvest. However, Forssk\u00e5l died in 1763 before reaching the Hadramaout region where the <em>Boswellia <\/em>trees grew<em> <\/em>(Mats Thulin, <em>The Genus Boswellia (Burseraceae). The Frankincense trees<\/em>, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2020, p. 12). Consequently, the 1832 book <em>Medical botany: containing systematic and general descriptions,<\/em> written by William Woodwille and William Jackson Hooker, again claimed that olibanum was produced by <em>Juniperus lycia<\/em> and imported from Turkey and the West Indies.<\/span> One of the first accurate representations of a fragment of a tree in the <em>Boswellia<\/em> genus did, however, appear in a series of pencil sketches from nature by Bolognese architect Luigi Balugani who traveled through the north of modern-day Ethiopia in 1769\u20131770.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"31\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-31\">31<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-31\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"31\">\u201cThe first Europeans to see and depict a frankincense tree were James Bruce and Luigi Balugani, during their travel in Abyssinia searching for the source of the Nile. In January 1770, near the Takazze River, they found the Ethiopian frankincense tree, Anguah.\u201d Mats Thulin, <em>ibid.<\/em><\/span> His drawings include several branches of an African species bearing flowers and fruit, but it is highly likely that these unfinished drawings did not reach much of an audience for many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The development of botanical science in the 19th century combined with European colonization and the expansion of international trade<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"32\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-32\">32<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-32\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"32\">For example, trade relations established between the Omani Empire and Great Britain in 1798, then with the United States of America in 1833.<\/span> led to the (re)discovery of several <em>Boswellia <\/em>species. In 1807, Scottish botanist William Roxburgh, who lived in India, named the botanical genus in honor of his colleague John Boswell. As a result, the first member of the family to be described and represented was the Indian species <em>Boswellia serrata.<\/em><sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"33\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-33\">33<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-33\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"33\">Henry Thomas Colebrooke, \u201cOn Olibanum or Frankincense\u201d, <em>Asiatic researches, or, Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for inquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia<\/em>, Vol. 9, 1809, pp. 377\u2013382. The species also goes under the name <em>Boswellia thurifera, <\/em>derived from the name <em>Libanus thuriferus <\/em>imagined by Colebrook (John Fleming, \u201cOn Boswellia thurifera Roxb. ex Fleming\u201d, <em>Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal for inquiring into the history and antiquities, the arts, sciences and literature of Asia,<\/em> Vol. 11, 1810, p. 158).<\/span> It was several decades before the southern Arabian species<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"34\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-34\">34<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-34\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"34\">Even though Herodotus, along with other authors in antiquity, stated that Arabia was the only land to produce olibanum, and frankincense from Arabia produced by <em>B. sacra <\/em>was long known as \u201creal olibanum\u201d and considered to offer the highest quality, a number of 19th-century authors, particularly English ones, expressed doubts over the existence of southern Arabian frankincense. They believed its origins were more likely to lie in India, pointing to the likelihood of a colonial bias.<\/span> caught up, baptized <em>B. sacra<\/em> by Swiss botanist Friedrich A. Fl\u00fcckiger in 1867. Three years later, Anglo-Indian botanist <a href=\"https:\/\/numba.cirad.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k13086755\/f307.texteImage\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/numba.cirad.fr\/ark:\/12148\/bpt6k13086755\/f307.texteImage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">George C. M. Birdwood<\/a> described what he felt were three new species from Somalia, including <em>B. carterii<\/em>,<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"35\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-35\">35<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-35\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"35\">George Birdwood, \u201cOn the Genus <em>Boswellia<\/em>, with Descriptions and Figures of three new Species\u201d, <em>Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, <\/em>Vol. 27, no. 2, 1870, pp. 111\u2013148.<\/span> so similar to <em>B. sacra <\/em>that most botanists now consider them to be conspecific.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"36\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-36\">36<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-36\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"36\">From a nomenclatural viewpoint, <em>B. sacra<\/em> and <em>B. carterii<\/em> are now treated as conspecific. However, various studies demonstrate the probability of differences between the Arabian tree and the Somalian tree (see: Xiuting Sun, Yujia Yang, Chuhan Peng, Qing Huang, Jianhe Wei, Xinquan Yang, \u201cFrankincense from\u00a0<em>Boswellia<\/em>: A review of species, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology\u201d, <em>Chinese Herbal Medicines, <\/em>2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chmed.2025.09.007\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chmed.2025.09.007<\/a>).<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the two names used for the Arabian tree in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamyimages.fr\/photo-image-l-encens-ou-oliban-boswellia-sacra-arbre-boswellia-carterii-birdwood-coloriee-a-la-gravure-sur-cuivre-du-dr-willibald-sammtlicher-mediinisch-hand-atlas-artus-pharmaceutischer-gewachse-manuel-de-tous-les-medecins-usines-pharmaceutiques-iena-1876-165860712.html\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.alamyimages.fr\/photo-image-l-encens-ou-oliban-boswellia-sacra-arbre-boswellia-carterii-birdwood-coloriee-a-la-gravure-sur-cuivre-du-dr-willibald-sammtlicher-mediinisch-hand-atlas-artus-pharmaceutischer-gewachse-manuel-de-tous-les-medecins-usines-pharmaceutiques-iena-1876-165860712.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">late 19th-century botanical illustrations<\/a>. They display a high degree of anatomical accuracy: <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/mobot31753002432331\/page\/29\/mode\/1up\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/mobot31753002432331\/page\/29\/mode\/1up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bark, leaflets, inflorescence, capsules and seeds are shown in detail<\/a> thanks to chalcographical then chromolithographical techniques.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"37\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-37\">37<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-37\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"37\">Chalcography is a copper-plate engraving technique which is more precise than the woodcut printing technique previously favored. Chromolithography is a method for making multi-color prints in lithography. It became the most successful of several methods of colour printing developed in the 19th century.<\/span> While several deserve attention, one of the most famous is still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biodiversitylibrary.org\/page\/303290#page\/699\/mode\/1up\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.biodiversitylibrary.org\/page\/303290#page\/699\/mode\/1up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Walter M\u00fcller\u2019s illustration for Hermann A. K\u00f6hler\u2019s <em>Medizinal-Pflanzen <\/em>(1887\u20131898)<\/a>. After almost 2,000 years of speculation and approximations in the West over their appearance, frankincense trees were nearing the moment of accurate representation.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"38\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-38\">38<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-38\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"38\">In 1904, the chapter on resin-producing plants in Henri Coupin\u2019s <em>Les plantes originales <\/em>featured a less realistic version of the tree. It was endowed with fruit strangely similar to olives and uncharacteristic lanceolate leaves, suggesting that the botanical illustrations taken from nature from the previous century had taken some time to disseminate the plant\u2019s actual appearance.<\/span> Nevertheless, until the arrival of the first photographs in the early 20th century,<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote modern-footnotes-footnote--expands-on-desktop \" data-mfn=\"39\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-39\">39<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-00000000000057d10000000000000000_50679-39\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"39\">One of the first photographic images of <em>Boswellia sacra <\/em>seems to have been taken in Dhofar by British diplomat and explorer Bertram Thomas in 1928. It was published in his book <em>Arabia Felix:<\/em> <em>Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia, <\/em>London, Jonathan Cape, 1932, p. 122.<\/span> the tree\u2019s general shape remained a mystery, since botanical illustrations were based on samples and only depicted branches, never the entire tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The tree in today\u2019s world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Boswellia sacra<\/em>\u2019s distinctive shape is now inspiring artists and designers alike. In 2021<em>,<\/em> Anglo-Omani artist Latifah A. Stranack dedicated <em><a href=\"https:\/\/latifah3rayoflight.com\/2021\/10\/19\/the-frankincense-series-10-paintings\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/latifah3rayoflight.com\/2021\/10\/19\/the-frankincense-series-10-paintings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Frankincense Series<\/a> <\/em>of ten paintings to the tree so closely intertwined with her Omani heritage<em>. <\/em>She took a dynamic approach to painting the <em>Boswellias, <\/em>imbuing each tree with a distinctive vibration and immediately recognizable shape, and placing them in an ethereal, brown- and blue-hued landscape. Some of her pieces show leaves and flowers in close-up; others depict olibanum being harvested by the quickly sketched figures of men, while still others represent women in traditional dress burning resin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tree inspires architects and designers as well. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.de\/fotos-bilder\/Oman-Expo-2020-Duba%C3%AF.html?sortBy=relevant\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.de\/fotos-bilder\/Oman-Expo-2020-Duba%C3%AF.html?sortBy=relevant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Oman pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai<\/a>, designed by architecture firm F&amp;M Middle East, was directly inspired by the shape of <em>Boswellia sacra<\/em>: The facade of light wood laths evoking branches enclosed a central space decorated with stylized plant motifs. The interior design echoed the same decorative theme, with the texture of the tree\u2019s bark, its complex branching and its tears all suggested in various ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Boswellia<\/em>\u2019s aesthetic qualities also inspired a collection of furniture by Italian designer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ad-italia.it\/article\/gaetano-pesce-sedie-amouage-oman\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.ad-italia.it\/article\/gaetano-pesce-sedie-amouage-oman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gaetano Pesce, invited by Amouage to visit Dofar in 2024<\/a>. He drew on the undulating movement of the tree\u2019s branches that protect it from the wind to create a series of sculpted chairs in multicolored resin. The seat back has the same stylized shape of <em>Boswellia sacra<\/em> and one of the pieces, <em>Oman Chair with Frankincense<\/em>, even uses olibanum resin for the seat structure. Pesce finally represents the frankincense tree in a way that liberates it from scientific and educational shackles, setting it free to become a purely decorative motif.<br>The attempt to trace the history of <em>Boswellia sacra<\/em> in images leads us deep into the history of humanity and human beliefs, of medicine and botany, of colonialism, of representation techniques and ways of seeing. The journey from the barely identifiable tree in the Punt reliefs to contemporary works is strewn with an array of images, approximative, erudite, codified, imaginary. Thanks to these images, we learn to look at <em>Boswellia <\/em>differently, through the eyes, knowledge and imagination of the artists and scientists of the past, gaining new insights into a tree that has long been shrouded in an aura of myth and mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tracing the history of the frankincense tree through images allows us to follow how humans have perceived, utilized, and imagined it over millennia. From ancient reliefs to botanical plates, these representations tell a story that is as much cultural as it is natural.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":50749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[7564],"tags":[5489,680,700,931,7569],"series":[],"ppma_author":[1413],"class_list":["post-50679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wadi-dawkah-en","tag-amouage-en","tag-history","tag-incense","tag-natural-raw-materials","tag-wadi-dawkah-en","pmpro-has-access"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_post_mime_type":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Boswellia sacra in images and the imagination - Nez the olfactory cultural movement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tracing the history of the frankincense tree through images allows us to follow how humans have perceived, utilized, and imagined it over millennia. 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