We are told that when the three wise men went to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. What isn't generally known is that the gold was the least valuable item of the three.
I am indebted for this information to Gordon Robison's guidebook The Arab Gulf States, part of the Lonely Planet series, which I brought with me on a recent visit to the fascinating and little-known country of Oman in the Persian Gulf. Robison, who has reported from the Middle East for this newspaper, tells us that the frankincense and myrrh were worth more than the gold at the time.
Gold doesn't grow on trees (despite the existence of gold leaf), but frankincense does. More precisely it grows in trees: frankincense is an aromatic gum obtained by making incisions in the trunks of certain trees of the Boswellia genus.
These trees grow only in Dhofar, Oman's southernmost region, as well as the Yemen and Somalia. I didn't get as far as Dhofar, but in the Mutrah souk, or bazaar, in Muscat, capital of Oman, I struck a bargain with a stallholder who sold me frankincense and myrrh and even threw in some sandalwood as well, plus a burner and some charcoal.
The burner is like a candleholder and, when the charcoal is lit, you put the frankincense on top of it and wait for the results. It looks like smoke but the effect is bracing and refreshing and you don't feel suffocated or asphyxiated in any way.
Frankincense is an ingredient in the incense used at some religious ceremonies in the West. An Omani friend explained that, in his country, frankincense is not used for religious purposes but instead occupies the place that after-shave, cologne and deodorant hold in Western culture. Our conversation took place during a traditional Arab meal under a canopy in the open air. On arrival, the guests were given rose-water to refresh their hands and face and a whiff of frankincense to awaken their senses. Lawrence of Arabia, eat your heart out.
If one assumes the Gospel story to be the literal truth, one can imagine the Holy Family gaining similar solace from the frankincense. There might have been no room at the inn and a stable is not exactly luxurious, least of all for childbirth, but once they had gold, frankincense and myrrh, they must have felt like kings. Incidentally, St Matthew's Gospel doesn't tell us how many wise men came to Bethlehem; we just assume that, if there were three gifts, there must have been three donors. My former Irish Times colleague Rev Patrick Comerford informs me that, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, their number was sometimes reckoned at 12, prefiguring the Apostles. It is also possible one or more of them may have been women: the three wise persons, as it were.
Gordon Robison, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in person when we were both reporting from Iran in the early 1990s, tells us that incense has a natural oil content, which means it burns well. It also has curative qualities so, like the whiskey-drinker back home, one can say, "I'm taking this for medicinal purposes". In ancient times, there was a great demand for frankincense from the temples of Egypt, Jerusalem and Rome. The Roman historian Pliny wrote in the first century AD that control of the frankincense trade had made the inhabitants of southern Arabia the richest people on earth. It is said that the Emperor Nero, better known for his musical activities, burned a year's supply from Rome's entire stock of frankincense at the funeral of his wife Poppaea.
Curiosity drew me to Oman, newly-fashionable as a tourist destination. Although the country has modernised itself substantially in the past 30-odd years, it retains many of the old ways and customs. For example, one of the delights of meeting Omanis in their homes or offices is the coffee ritual: the liquid, tasting more like cardamom or cloves than ordinary coffee, is poured into an eggcup-sized receptacle which you must hold in your right hand.
Unless you indicate otherwise, the cup is refilled every few minutes. A specific gesture - shaking the cup gently - is required if you don't want any more. In addition, a dish of a sweet-tasting substance - somewhere between jelly and toffee and called halawiat, I'm told - is passed around and each guest takes a spoonful. It tastes absolutely sinful. Forget your low-carb diet and ascetic lifestyle, Westerner, and give way to the sweet foods and spices of Arabia!