For the Greeks Arabia was an almost fabulous land, the last inhabited region towards the south, from which the most fragrant substances in the world arrived. No ancient author gathered the stories about this land as vividly as Herodotus, the historian of the fifth century BC. In the third book of his Histories he devotes some famous pages to the way the Arabians were said to obtain their aromatics. The tales are largely legendary, but precious for that very reason: they show us how the ancient world imagined the origin of perfume.
The land that smells sweet
Herodotus states that Arabia is the only land that produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon and ladanum, and that all of these, except myrrh, are gathered with great effort. He adds a memorable image: a wonderfully sweet scent breathes from the whole of Arabia.
It is the idea of a region entirely steeped in the sacred, a country that seems to belong more to the world of the gods than to that of men. The Romans would call it Arabia Felix, Happy Arabia.
The winged snakes of incense
According to Herodotus, the trees that bear frankincense are guarded by small winged snakes of varied colours, in great numbers around each tree. To gather the resin the Arabians were said to burn storax, another aromatic substance, whose smoke drove the snakes away.
The story has an evident symbolic structure: the precious good is protected by dangerous guardians, and to reach it another perfume is needed. Smoke opens the way to smoke.
Cassia and the creatures of the marsh
Cassia, the historian continues, grows in a shallow lake, around which live winged creatures like bats, which screech terribly and are very fierce. To gather it, the Arabians were said to cover their whole body and face with hides, leaving only their eyes uncovered.
Cinnamon in the nests
The most famous tale concerns cinnamon. The Arabians themselves, Herodotus says, do not know where it grows. It is said that large birds carry the sticks of cinnamon to their nests, built of mud on inaccessible cliffs. To obtain them, men would cut up oxen, donkeys and other dead animals into large pieces and leave them near the nests. The birds would carry the meat up to their nests, which, unable to bear the weight, would fall to the ground. Then the men would gather the cinnamon.
Ladanum and the goats' beards
Stranger still is the case of ladanum, an aromatic resin. Herodotus says it is found sticking to the beards of he-goats, like a kind of gum picked up from the wood. The detail is not entirely fanciful: ladanum is produced by shrubs of the genus Cistus, and in the eastern Mediterranean it was traditionally gathered also from the fleece of goats grazing among these bushes.
Tribute and the great altar of Babylon
Herodotus also offers information of another kind. He relates that the Arabians did not pay a regular tribute to the Persian king Darius, but offered him every year a gift of a thousand talents of frankincense. In the first book, describing the sanctuary of Babylon, he reports that on the great altar the Chaldeans burned a thousand talents of frankincense every year at the festival of the god.
These figures must be taken with caution, as the historian himself often warns when reporting what he has heard. They nevertheless show the immense value attached to aromatics.
Why these stories
Scholars have suggested that some of these tales may have been spread by the merchants themselves, keen to protect their sources and justify high prices. But alongside the commercial explanation there is a symbolic one:
| Tale | Symbolic theme |
|---|---|
| Winged snakes | The sacred kept by guardians |
| Creatures of the marsh | The trial to be passed to obtain the gift |
| Nests on the cliffs | The precious that comes from above, out of reach |
| Goats' beards | Fragrance hidden in the everyday |
Perfume, in short, is not obtained without toil or risk. It is an idea that runs through many initiatory traditions: whatever has value demands a trial.
In short
- Herodotus describes Arabia as the only land of frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon and ladanum.
- He tells that frankincense is guarded by winged snakes, driven off with the smoke of storax.
- Cinnamon is said to be recovered from the nests of great birds, cassia from marshes defended by winged creatures.
- Ladanum, gathered from goats' beards, corresponds to a real practice linked to the cistus.
- The tales express the idea that a precious good requires a trial to be obtained.
