Frankincense’s Ritual Uses in Oman: An Anthropological Study

المؤلفون

  • المؤلف

  • Hajer Harrathi

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Frankincense، Censing، Incense، Rituals، The Sultanate of Oman

الملخص

This study investigates a set of inherited practices which have persisted in the Sultanate of Oman despite social and cultural changes in Omani society. More specifically, the study focuses on the custom of censing, the act of perfuming one’s body, clothing, and surroundings by exposing them to aromatic smoke produced by the burning of frankincense. This represents both a daily ritual and a ceremonial practice, whether individually or communally. The research relies on a combination of field observations as well as random and semi-structured interviews with Omani men and women in the provinces of Al Batinah North Governate. The study discusses the importance of frankincense in Oman, its uses, and the social, cultural, and religious perceptions that govern the daily and ceremonial practices associated with it.

المراجع

  1. Stephen Wooding, “Olfaction: It Makes a World of Scents,” Current Biology , vol. 23, no. 16 (August 2013), pp. 677-679.‏
  2. The Qaranqashūh is an annual ritual which takes place on the eve of the 15th of the month of Ramadan. Omani families prepare for the event, and children roam the neighborhoods, knocking on people’s doors and collecting gifts and sweets. Saud ibn Salem al-Ansi, al-ʿĀdāt al-ʿŪmāniyya [Arabic] (Muscat: Ministry of National Heritage and Culture, 1991), p. 91.
  3. The Shaʿbāniyya is an annual ritual that takes place on the 14th of the month of Shaʿbān, when children come out in their finest Omani costumes, while Omani families prepare for the occasion by buying gifts and distributing them to the children when they knock on their doors.
  4. Michel Maffesoli, Niẓām al-Ashyāʾ: al-Tafkīr fī mā Baʿd al-Ḥadātha , [Arabic] Saud al-Mawla & Rana Diyab (trans.) (Doha/Beirut: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 2020), p. 208.
  5. See: Christopher Baker, “Omani Incense ‘More Precious than Gold and Cures All Diseases’,” [Arabic] BBC Arabic , 19/8/2019, accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bbc.in/3pg0eph; Muhammad Tayfouri, “Hawas al-ʿIṭr Qadīm, wa-l-Bukhūr Awwal Ṭuqūsihi,” al-Iqtisadiyya , 25/2/2016, accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bit.ly/3chw8e5; Mustafa al-Hadi, “al-Bukhūr fī al-Adyān,” Kitabat , 10/12/2020, accessed on 5/1/2023, at: https://bit.ly/3XPrAS3; “Tangible Cultural Heritage,” Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, accessed on 5/1/2023, at: https://bit.ly/35tchbI; “Lubān al-Dhikr: Aham al-Fawaʾid wa-al-Khurāfāt,” WebṬīb , accessed on 5/1/2023, at: https://bit.ly/3HLmfpV
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  7. Mina Khajehdehi, Mohammad Khalaj-Kondori & Behzad Baradaran, “Molecular Evidences on Anti-Inflammatory, Anticancer, and Memory- Boosting Effects of Frankincense,” Phytotherapy Research , vol. 36, no. 3 (2022), pp. 1194-1215‏; and al-Yasiry & Kiczorowska, “Frankincense- Therapeutic Properties.”
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  10. Worthy of note, however, is the rare work that has been done on the phenomenon of perfuming from a socio-anthropological point of view, such as the research of Believers Without Borders by the Tunisian Hajar al-Turki, “al-ʿUṭūr fī Ṭuqūs Madīnat al-Mahdīyya,” [Arabic] YouTube, 6/4/2018, accessed on 5/1/2023, at: https://bit.ly/3qF4u3b; and Nacef Nakbi, Magie et sacre de l’odeur. La tradition des encens en Tunisie (Tunis: Nirvana, 2016).
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  12. The writings of anthropologist David Howes alerted me to two basic attitudes to the sense of smell. The first attitude, which is one of contempt, “ranks smell as the lowest with respect to the efficacy of the senses because it is the most animal-like”. As for the second, contrasting, attitude, “it views the sense of smell as an important source of knowledge”. For more detail, see: David Howes, “Le sens sans parole: Vers une anthropologie de l'odorat,” Anthropologie et sociétés , vol. 10, no. 3 (1986), pp. 29-45.‏
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  15. Sigmund Freud, for example, confined the sense of smell to instinctive sexual practices and the yearning for gratification. See: John P. McGann, “Poor Human Olfaction is a 19th-Century Myth,” Science , vol. 356, no. 6338 (May 2017), p. 7263.‏
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  24. Perfumes were an integral part of purification processes among the people of Mesopotamia. The ritual of burning incense was performed daily in the temple by special priests. The burning of incense also accompanied the processing of chanting incantations, as incense was believed to drive out evil spirits". See: al-Janabi, p. 36.
  25. Seton Lloyd, The Archeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest , Sami Saeed al-Ahmad (trans.) (Baghdad: Ministry of Culture and Information, 1980), p. 36.
  26. The Old Testament mentions the following command of the Lord to the Prophet Moses: “Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle” (Exodus 20:24), and “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense” (Exodus 30:1). See al-Janabi, p. 40.
  27. Its basic idea is related to God’s command to make an altar on which to burn incense: “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps” (Exodus 30:7).
  28. We read in the Book of Revelation 8:3, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. And the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God”.
  29. Charles Bannati, The Story of Customs, Traditions, and the Origin of Things , Marwan Masloub (trans.) (Riyadh: The New National House for Publishing and Distribution, 1996).
  30. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts’” (Exodus 30:34).
  31. Samah Hamza, Ṭuqūs al-Nașārā fī Diyār al-Islām , [Arabic] Part 2 (Tunisia: Maskiliani for Publishing and Distribution, 2021), p. 534.
  32. See, for example: Ibn al-Jazzar, p. 27.
  33. Ibn Bakr al-Qibti, Mișbāḥ al- Ẓulma fī Īḍāḥ al-Khidma, Part 2: Rasāmat al-Shamāmisa wa-l-Ruhbān wa-l-Rāhibāt, wa-l-Maʿmūdiyya wa-l- Ṣalawāt wa-l-Aʿyād [Arabic], special edition prepared by the monk Rev. Samuel al-Siryani (n.c.: n.p., 1992), p. 166.
  34. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Muʿjam al-Buldān [Arabic] (Beirut: Dar Sader, n.d.), p. 60.
  35. The frankincense tree grows in a few other regions of the world, perhaps the most important of which are Yemen, Somalia, and parts of India and Pakistan. See: “Frankincense,” Britannica , accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bit.ly/41Z5vCO
  36. The instrument with which the bark of the frankincense tree is cut is called a mangaf.
  37. See: “Frankincense,” Britannica.
  38. Such as the journeys made by Ibn Baṭṭuṭa and the Italian traveler Marco Polo in the eighth century AH/fourteenth century CE.
  39. Muhammad al-Mundhiri, Ṣilāt ʿUmān al-Khārijīyya wa Abʿāduhā al-Siyāsiyya wa-l-Ḥaḍārīyya [Arabic] (Muscat: Muscat Library, 2018), p. 34.
  40. Support for this is found in papyri containing instructions for embalming rituals, including “rubbing the head of the corpse with frankincense”. Saber Jabra, Tārīkh al-ʿAqāqīr wa-l-ʿIlāj [Arabic] (Cairo: Hindawi Foundation for Education and Culture, 2015), p. 69.
  41. The Land of Frankincense, one of the oldest archaeological sites in Dhofar, includes several sites along the Frankincense Road, from the spacious valley dotted by the wild frankincense trees which produce this important commodity, to the places where it is stored, to the seaport from which it is exported to the ancient commercial ports that have long provided points of contact between Oman and other human civilizations. The archeological site of the Land of Frankincense includes Shusr, Wadi Dawkah, Al-Baleed, Khor Rori, and the port of Samharam. See: “Tangible Cultural Heritage,” Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bit.ly/35tchbI
  42. Salem Shammas, Dawrat Ḥayāt al-Insān ʿAbra al-ʿ Ādāt wa-l-Taqālīd bi Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār: Dirāsa Maydāniyya [Arabic]. (Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture, 2007), p. 33.
  43. Located along the coast of the Sultanate of Oman, Al Batinah North Governorate consists of six wilayats [provinces] with Sohar in the center, and including Liwa, Shinas, Saham, Al Khaburah, and Al Suwaiq. Source: prepared by the researcher.
  44. The word "Bedouin" in the study is used to refer to inhabitants of rural areas located in mountainous and desert regions.
  45. Dominique Maingueneau, Key Terms in Discourse Analysis , Muhammad Yahyatne (trans.) (Beirut: al-Dar al-Arabiyya li-l-Ulum, 2008), p. 11.
  46. The Oman Airports Company, which manages airports in Oman, has launched an initiative to introduce visitors to Omani frankincense by distributing pallets that spread its pleasant fragrance throughout the place. It has placed 45 devices at Muscat International Airport, twelve devices at Salalah Airport, and six devices at Duqm Airport, which diffuse the aroma of frankincense around the clock in cooperation with the Omani Ulban Company, which offers a product extracted from Omani frankincense in keeping with international specifications and medicinal uses important to consumers in their daily lives. Through this initiative, the company aims to revive the heritage of Omani frankincense with modern technologies, introducing Oman as the land of frankincense, and catapulting this Omani product to world fame. “The Airports of the Sultanate of Oman Receive Visitors with the Scent of Frankincense,” Raya , 12/04/2023, accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bit.ly/40ecoyH
  47. Said Abdali, al-Siḥru fī Tunis min Ajl al-Māl wa-l-Sulṭa wa-l-Jins: Dirāsa Sūsiyūlūjiyya-Anthrūbūlūjiyya [Arabic] (Tunisia: Mediterranean Publishing House, 2018), p. 172.
  48. Some is yellowish, some greenish, and some whitish.
  49. A. B. (28 years old), author interview, Saham, 12/3/2020.
  50. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 2/19/2021.
  51. During the Covid-19 pandemic, frankincense burners were seen in every section of the Raffah and Badr Al Samaa hospitals, as well as the “Lulu” and “Nesto” shopping centers in Sohar.
  52. F. S. (27 years old), author interview, Sohar, 11/11/2021.
  53. S. M. (60 years old), author interview, Sohar, 11/12/2020.
  54. A. H. (46 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  55. S. F. (30 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq, 21/10/2021.
  56. See, for example: Mulgeta Lemenith & Demel Teketay, “Frankincense and Myrrh Resources of Ethiopia: II. Medicinal and Industrial Uses,” SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science , vol. 26, no. 2 (2003), pp. 161-172.‏
  57. Hajar Harrathi, “Tawẓīf al-Turāth al-Shaʿbī fī Muwājahat Kūrūnā: al-Tajriba al-ʿUmāniyyah Namūdhajan,” [Arabic] Majallat Ādāb al-Rāfidayn , vol. 53, no. 92 (March 2023), pp. 475-499.
  58. S. K. (42 years old), author interview, Sohar, 5/2/2021.
  59. Z. H. (54 years old), author interview, Sohar, 13/12/2020.
  60. G. A. (20 years old), author interview, Sohar, 7/5/2021.
  61. S. M. (58 years old), author interview, Al-Khaboura, 24/9/2021.
  62. N. B. (33 years old), author interview, Al-Khaboura, 24/9/2021.
  63. N. S. (47 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  64. A. R. (22 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  65. Kh. N. (27 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  66. Numerous studies and laboratory experiments have shown that frankincense contains antiseptic and therapeutic substances. On a project to extract a substance from frankincense that can be used to treat cancer, see: “Interview with Dr. Ahmed bin Sulaiman al-Harassi, Assistant Dean for Studies and Scientific Research at the University of Nizwa,” YouTube, 11/5/2013, accessed on 5/21/2023, at: https: //bit.ly/45iFj8o
  67. M. K. (30 years old), author interview, Sohar, 19/3/2020.
  68. Sh. F. (30 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq, 21/10/2021.
  69. “Al-Rawahi: The products manufactured by ‘Al-Asliya Integrated Enterprises’ have undergone extensive quality-assurance testing,” Al-Reyahi , 3/1/2017, accessed on 1/5/2023, at: https://bit.ly/3huARiT
  70. A. Q. (54 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq 21/10/2021.
  71. M. M. (29 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq 21/10/2021.
  72. A. Q. (54 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq 21/10/2021.
  73. M. K. (60 years old), author interview. Al-Khaboura, 24/9/2021.
  74. A shade-producing tree which the respondents took care to plant in front of their homes in the belief that it protects against sorcery, jinn, and demons.
  75. Z. Sh. (54 years old), author interview, Sohar, 13/12/2020.
  76. See: “ Sirr al-Masḥa min al-Iḥdāth ilā al-Taʾșīl ,” [Arabic] in Hamza, pp. 503-528.
  77. The Church concerns itself with the sacrament of anointing with holy oil, a rite which qualifies “the Christian convert to attain the sacrament of the Eucharist and membership in the Church [...] The Eastern Church calls it an anointing, because the newly baptized are anointed after their baptism with fragrant oil”. Ibid., p. 504.
  78. “ Sirr al-Masḥa min al-Iḥdāth ilā al-Taʾșīl ,” p. 530.
  79. This is based on the testimony of a respondent who mentioned the many frankincense-based soaps available at beauty salons.
  80. Makhmariyya is a mixture of aromatic substances prevalent in Oman and the Gulf in general, some of which are for the body and others for the hair. After being mixed, the aromatic substances are kneaded into an ointment or fragrant cream, of which there are many types depending on the ingredients used. It is usually made in the home.
  81. `Iṭr al-ḥaṭab is a perfume extracted from aged agarwood.
  82. The term ʿiṭr al-ṭūla refers to any of a number of types of perfume, including musk, frankincense, and lotus, which are purchased by a measure known as a ṭūla.
  83. Z. Sh. (54 years old), author interview, Sohar, 13/2/2020.
  84. S. M. (60 years old), author interview, Sohar, 11/12/2020.
  85. Muhammad Fayyad & Samir Adib, al-Jamāl wa-l-tajmīl fī Mișr al-Qadīma [Arabic] (Cairo: Dar Nahdat Misr for Printing and Distribution, 2000), p. 114.
  86. Z. Sh. (54 years old), author interview, Sohar, 13/2/2020.
  87. Munsif al-Mahwashi, “al-Ṭuqūs wa-Jabarūt al-Rumūz: Qirā’a fī al-Waẓāʾif wa-l-dalālāt Ḍimna Mujtamaʿ Mutaḥawwil,” [Arabic] Insāniyāt , vol. 14, no. 49 (September 2010), pp. 15-43.
  88. Segalen Martine, Rites et rituels contemporains (Paris: Éditions Nathan, 1998), p. 8; Mitchell Dinkin, Dictionary of Sociology , Ihsan Muhammad al-Hassan (trans.) (Beirut: Dar al-Taliʿa for Printing and Publishing, 1986), p. 176.
  89. al-Mahwashi, p. 18.
  90. For more on the concept of ritual and its role, approaches thereto and classifications thereof, see: Jean Maisonneuve, Les conduits rituelles , Coll. Que sais-je?, 3rd ed. (Paris: P.U.F., 1999), pp. 1-19.
  91. Al-Mahwashi, p. 20.
  92. Alexander Haggerty Krappe, The Science of Folk-Lore , Rushdi Salih (trans.) (Cairo: Dar al-Katib al-Arabi for Printing and Publishing, 1967), p. 417.
  93. Z. Sh. (54 years old), author interview, Saham, 12/3/2020.
  94. Kh. N. (27 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  95. A. N. (46 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  96. Al-Mahwashi, p. 24.
  97. Siham al-Dabbabi, Ādāb al-Sulūk fī al-Turāth al-ʿArabī [Arabic] (Tunisia: The Tunisian Book House, 2021), p. 9.
  98. Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life: The Totemic System in Australia , Randa Baath (trans.) (Doha/Beirut: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 2019), p. 483.
  99. Al-Mahwashi, p. 27.
  100. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  101. Durkheim, p. 483.
  102. J. Sh. (54 years old), author interview, Sohar, 13/2/2020.
  103. Jean Cazaneuve, Sociologie du rite (Paris: P.U.F, 1971), p. 28.
  104. Siham al-Dabbabi al-Misawi, al-Wilāda fī Tūnis: al- Ṭuqūs wa-l-Rumūz [Arabic] (Tunisia: Dar al-Junūb, 2021), p. 19.
  105. A. H. (46 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  106. Kh. K. (62 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  107. Abdullah Ibn Muammar, "al-Anthrūbūliyā wa-l-Ṭuqūs,” [Arabic] al-Fikr al-Mutawassiṭī , vol. 8, no. 1 (2019), p. 153.
  108. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  109. A. N. (46 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  110. A variety of inherited practices in Oman have been studied by numerous researchers with a focus on the past-present dichotomy in Omani society. See, for example: Amal Sachedina, Cultivating the Past, Living the Modern: The Politics of Time in the Sultanate of Oman (New York: Cornell University Press, 2021).‏
  111. Al-Mahwashi, p. 39.
  112. Kh. K. (62 years old), author interview, Shinas, 28/1/2022.
  113. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  114. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  115. Z. Sh. (45 years old), author interview, Sohar, 8/10/2021.
  116. N. M. (28 years old), author interview, Saham, 3/12/2020.
  117. A. H. (38 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq, 21/10/2021.
  118. S. M. (60 years old), author interview, Sohar, 11/12/2020.
  119. Al-Mahwashi, p. 31.
  120. Noureddine Tawalbi, al-Dīn wa-l-Ṭuqūs wa-l-Taghayyurāt [Arabic] (Algeria: University Publications Bureau, 1988), p. 34.
  121. See: Mircea Eliade, Le mythe de l'éternel retour (Paris: Folio Essais, 2001).
  122. Tawaheri Miloud, al-Muqaddas al-Shaʿbī: Tamaththulāt, Marjaʿiyyāt, wa Mumārasāt [Arabic] (Beirut: Dar al-Rawafid al-Thaqafiyya, 2016), p. 198.
  123. M. A. (33 years old), author interview, Liwa, 19/2/2021.
  124. A. S. (22 years old), author interview, Saham, 12/3/2020.
  125. Y. Sh. (62 years old), author interview, Al-Suwaiq, 21/10/2021.
  126. Durkheim, p. 438.
  127. Many researchers have relied on the Omani model for the study of the tradition-modernization dichotomy, viewing this model as a unique and successful combination of tradition and modernization. See: Linda Pappas Funsch, Oman Reborn: Balancing Tradition and Modernization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).‏
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