mer. [Latin myrrha.] A gum-resin that comes in the form of drops or globules of various colors and sizes, of a pretty strong but agreeable smell, and of a bitter taste. It is imported from Egypt, but chiefly from the southern or eastern parts of Arabia; from what species of tree or plant it is procured, is unknown. As a medicine, it is a good stomachic, antispasmodic and cordial.
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
A gum resin, usually of a yellowish brown or amber color, of an aromatic odor, and a bitter, slightly pungent taste. It is valued for its odor and for its medicinal properties. It exudes from the bark of a shrub of Abyssinia and Arabia, the Balsamodendron Myrrha. The myrrh of the Bible is supposed to have been partly the gum above named, and partly the exudation of species of Cistus, or rockrose.
Myrrh
Encyclopedia Britannica
MYRRH is a gum-resin highly esteemed by the ancients as an unguent and perfume, used for incense in temples and also in embalming. The word is Semitic; it appears in the Old Testament as *10 (Exod. xxx. 23; Ps. xlv. 8; Cant, passim), in Arabic as “morr.” In Exod. (l.c.) “pure myrrh” should rather be “flowing myrrh,” that is, the “myrrha stacte” of classical writers,—the finest myrrh, according to Pliny (xii. 35), exuding without incisions in the bark. So Johnson says that it exudes from cracks in the trunk near the root and flows freely on stones underneath, the exudation being sometimes aided by bruising the bark with a stone. Myrrh was one of the gifts offered by the Magi, and a royal oblation of gold, frankincense, and myrrh is still annually presented by the queen on the feast of Epiphany in the Chapel Royal in London, this custom having been in existence certainly as early as the reign of Edward I. Until the present century the botanical source of myrrh was enveloped in great obscurity. In 1826 Ehrenberg brought home specimens of the myrrh trees found at Jizân on the east side of the Red Sea, in lat. 16° 40' N., and also on the neighbouring mountains of Jara. The more recent investigations of Hildebrandt (1878) show that one of the plants brought home by Ehrenberg and named Balsamodendron Myrrha yields the true myrrh. It was found by Hildebrandt growing on sunny slopes of the Sarât mountains at an elevation of 1600 to 3200 feet. It forms a low tree, attaining a height of not more than 10 to 12 feet, with thorny branches and a light grey bark, bearing some resemblance to those of the hawthorn. The leaves are ternate, the two lateral leaflets being minute in comparison with the central one; they are smooth, obovate, and denticulate. The fruit is ...about the size of a pea, oval and somewhat compressed. The tree grows interspersed among Acaciae and Euphorbiae in dwarfish thickets. The myrrh, according to Ehrenberg, when it first exudes is of an oily and then of a buttery consistence, and of a yellowish white colour, gradually assuming a golden and ultimately a reddish tinge as it hardens. Myrrh is chiefly collected, according to Vaughan, in the Somali country and in the neighbourhood of Harar (9° 20' N., 42° 17' E.) south-west of Zeila, in the months of July and August (Johnson, loc. cit.), and is brought to the great fair of Berbera held in November, December, and January. Thence it is transported to Aden and shipped to Bombay, where it is sorted, the inferior kinds being sent chiefly to China and the finer sorts to Europe. The Banians of India, who trade in myrrh, have their business houses at Bombay, but employ partners or agents, who reside at Makallah and Aden to attend the fair at Berbera, and exchange Indian or English piece goods for myrrh, bdellium, and frankincense. Myrrh of the best quality is known as Turkey myrrh, and the inferior quality as East Indian myrrh, from being exported from Bombay. At the present time, however, all myrrh is imported either direct from Aden or from Bombay. The Somalis also cross over to the Arabian shore and collect this gum-resin on the hills about Shugra and Sureea to the east of Aden, where myrrh trees abound. The myrrh of this district differs slightly in appearance, and is less resinous than that of Somali Land, and in the opinion of Hanbury (Pharm., p. 143) is probably the produce of a distinct species of Balsamodendron. The difference between African and Arabian myrrh was known to the ancients, who considered the Troglodyte or African myrrh the best. At Bombay this difference is still recognized. Specimens of the Arabian myrrh tree collected by Wykeham Perry in 1878 were less spinous than those of the Somali plant, but were too imperfect to determine if they belonged to a distinct species. Balsamodendron Kua, R. Br., a small spiny Abyssinian species allied to B. Myrrha, as yet undescribed, was found by Salt to yield myrrh.
Myrrh is usually imported in chests containing from one to two cwt., and is mixed with other gum-resins obtained from different species of Balsamodendron. The principal of these are subjoined.
(1) Baisa Bol, Bhesa Bol, or Bissa Bol, probably the produce of Balsamodendron Kataf, Kunth, a tree which is known to the Somalis as hebbdkhade, and which has much larger leaves than the myrrh tree. This gum-resin resembles myrrh in appearance, but has a disagreeable taste and is scarcely bitter. At Aden bissa bol is worth only 21 rupees per maund (28 δ>), while myrrh sells for 9∣ rupees per maund. It is used in China, mixed with food, to give to milch cows to improve the quality and increase the quantity of milk, and when mixed with lime as a size to impart a gloss to walls. (2) Opaque bdellium, probably identical with the gum hotai described by Vaughan (loc. cit.), and produced by B. Playfairii. When shaken with water it forms a slight but permanent lather, and on this account is used by the Somali women for cleansing their hair and by the men to whiten their shields. It is known as meena hdrma in Bombay, and is there used for the extraction of the guinea-worm. (3) African bdellium is the produce of B. africanum, and is probably the tree described by Adanson as Nistoutt. The last two gum-resins are without the white streaks which are characteristic of myrrh and bissa bol; the former presents an opaque and the latter a resinous appearance, both being acrid, but having scarcely any bitterness or aroma. (4) Indian bdellium, probably identical with the Indian drug googul obtained in Scinde and Baluchistân from Balsamodendron Mukul and B. pubescens, Hook, has an acrid taste, an odour resembling cedar-wood, and softens in the hand. It is probably the produce of B. Mukul which has recently been found by Balfour in Socotra.
As met with in commerce true myrrh occurs in pieces of irregular size and shape, from half an inch to 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and of a reddish-brown colour. The transverse fracture has a resinous appearance with white streaks; the flavour is bitter and aromatic and the odour characteristic. It consists of a mixture of resin, gum, and essential oil in varying proportions from 23 to 44 per cent., the resin being present in good specimens to the extent of 27 per cent., and the oil from f to 3 per cent. The resin appears to be a complex body, partly soluble in ether and partly in bisulphide of carbon. The gum is soluble in water and forms an adhesive mucilage. The odour of myrrh is due to the volatile oil, which is heavier than water. The bitterness is believed to be due to a glucoside, the chemical constitution of which has not been ascertained. It is obtained by treating with warm water the resin extracted by means of alcohol.
Myrrh is used in medicine at present chiefly as an auxiliary to other drugs, such as iron and aloes, in order to strengthen and modify their action. It appears to have a special action on the mucous membrane, improving the quality of its secretions and diminishing them in quantity when excessive. When taken internally it produces a sensation of warmth extending over the whole abdomen. The appetite is increased and the digestive process much facilitated, especially in cases in which there is weakness and torpidity of the intestinal canal. As an emmenagogue it is found especially useful where pulmonary complications exist. The tincture diluted with water is used as an application to spongy gums and the aphthous sore mouth of children.
The Hebrew I6t, erroneously translated myrrh in Genesis xxxvii. 25; xliii. 11 (Sept, στακτή ; Vulg. stacte), is generally identified with ladanum (vol. xii. p. 718), which has been used as a medicine and perfume from the earliest times, and is still an article of commerce in Turkey. An excellent account of the mode of collecting it is given by Tournefort (Voyage, i. 79).
Bibliography. — Forskâl, Fl. Aegypt. Arab., p. 80; Nees, Beschreib. 0fficin. Pflanzen, p. 357, 1829; Marchand, Adansonia, vii. p. 258; Pharmacographia, 2d ed., pp. 140-146; Bentley and Trimen, Medicinal Plants, p. 60; Pharmaceutical Journal, (1), xii. pp. 226, 227; (3), vi. p. 661; (3), ix. p. 893; (3), x. pp. 80-84; xi. pp. 41, 42; Cooke, Report on Gum-Resins in the India Museum, 1874, p. 72; Hildebrandt in Sitzungsbericht d. Gesellsch. naturforsch. Freunde, Berlin, November 1878, p. 196. (E. Μ. H.)
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 17, p. 121
[1,451 words — estimated reading time: 9 minutes]
[1,451 words — estimated reading time: 9 minutes]
Myrrh
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
מור, Exod. xxx, 23; Esther ii, 12; Psalm xiv, 8; Prov. vii, 17; Cant. i, 13; iii, 6; iv, 6, 14; v, 1, 5, 13; σμύρνα, Ecclus. xxiv, 15; Matt. ii, Mark xv, 23; John xix, 39; a precious kind of gum issuing by incision, and sometimes spontaneously, from the trunk and larger branches of a tree growing in Egypt, Arabia, and Abyssinia. Its taste is extremely bitter, but its smell, though strong, is not disagreeable; and among the ancients it entered into the composition of the most costly ointments. As a perfume, it appears to have been used to give a pleasant fragrance to vestments, and to be carried by females in little caskets in the bosoms. The magi, who came from the east to worship our Saviour at Bethlehem, made him a present of myrrh among other things, Matt. ii, 11.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
[143 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]
[143 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]
Made of the myrrhine stone. [ See Murrine .]
Condiment Roget’s Thesaurus §393
N. condiment, seasoning, sauce, spice, relish, # appetizer, salt, mustard, grey poupon mustard, pepper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorn, curry, sauce piquante, caviare, onion, garlic, pickle, achar, allspice, bell pepper, jamaica pepper, green pepper, chutney, cubeb, pimento, capsicum, red pepper, chili peppers, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, fennel, pot herbs, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, frankincense, balm, myrrh, paprika, saffron, ginger, turmeric
Fragrance Roget’s Thesaurus §400
N. fragrance, aroma, redolence, perfume, bouquet, essence, scent, sweet smell, aromatic perfume, agalloch, agallochium, aloes wood, bay rum, calambac, calambour, champak, horehound, lign-aloes, marrubium, mint, muskrat, napha water, olibanum, spirit of myrcia, essential oil, incense, musk, frankincense, pastil, pastille, myrrh, perfumes of arabia, otto, ottar, attar, bergamot, balm, civet, potpourri, pulvil|, nosegay, scentbag, sachet, smelling bottle, vinaigrette, eau de cologne, toilet water, lotion, after-shave lotion, thurification, perfumer, eucalyptus oil, pinene
Adj. fragrant, aromatic, redolent, spicy, savory, balmy, scented, sweet-smelling, sweet-scented, perfumed, perfumatory, thuriferous, fragrant as a rose, muscadine, ambrosial
King James Bible KJV Bible
Berean Standard Bible BSB Bible
17 KJV and 17 BSB verses contain “Myrrh”
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.
And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
Now when every maid’s turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)
Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.
And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; of slaves and souls of men.
I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a pleasant odour like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.