A very ancient history
In the "odor of sanctity", the hypnotic movement of the censer and the ritual of the incense burner open the way to a history that began in Mesopotamia and then in the Pharaohs, passing through Ras Al-Jinz, at the easternmost tip of the sultanate in the Sharqiya region. Here, excavations revealed the use of incense in the 3rd millennium BC. Some 500 centuries later, researchers at the Institut de Chimie de Nice succeeded in characterizing the fragrant substances of oleo-gum by isolating a sample purified by a series of distillations. Using nuclear magnetic resonance, perfume researcher Nicolas Baldovini was able to determine the molecular structure of this "old church" scent. This stroke of genius for the fragrance industry has enabled and catalyzed the creation of magnificent oriental essences. A trip to the land of Oman allows us to discover the original tree, its rough habitat and to approach the natural note, which is never the same depending on the season.
The white incense of Dhofar
Firmly rooted in the limestone of the alluvial bed of the Wadi Dawkah, baked by the sun on the desert margins of the Rub al-Khali, the progenitor is a member of the Burseraceae family. It's a small, twisted deciduous tree, three meters high, ideally scarified in summer to shed its ten kilos of 2 cm tears in autumn. When it's a male and reaches ten years of age, its bark is incised into narrow shreds, then vigorously scraped off. Two or three weeks later, the bleeding produces gum-resin concretions that are dropped into a container. This is Nedjd incense, white in autumn - the most precious - and red in spring, the kind that was historically transported by nomadic caravans from the interior via the oasis of Shisr (or Ubar) to the ports of the Salalah region. From there, the precious gum was shipped to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and India. In exchange, ships loaded with products from Asia docked. The remains of the two main ancient ports, both under Unesco label, can be visited: the fortified city of Sumhuram founded in the 3rd century BC on the banks of the Khor Rori; and the city of Al-Balid, identified by Marco Polo and visited by Ibn Battuta, now the site of the inescapable Incense Museum, where many secrets are revealed, such as those of the exceptional Royal Hojari resin.
Between rite of passage and medical virtues
A great traveler, frankincense has taken on different names in the course of its commercial peregrinations: it is frankincence in English, the real stuff, that which the Frankish Crusaders brought back to Europe; it is frankincense, from the Arabic al-Luban, the milky white resin; it is incense, from the Latin incensum: material burned as a sacrifice, to perfume - per fumum = by smoke in Latin. In history as in myth, oleo-gum has been used throughout time: to perfume the underground palace of the Chan Gan temple in Nanjing; to compose the kyphi of the Egyptians (a sacred incense-based perfume they burned in honor of the God Ra) as reproduced by nose Sandrine Videault with L'Oréal laboratories; to serve as a link between the living and the dead among Buddhists.. The same is true of the balls of frankincense and myrrh kept in the Saint Paul monastery on Mount Athos, a reliquary of the gifts offered by the Magi to the Christ Child.
Everywhere in the sultanate's markets, the softly-colored nuggets are offered in reference to these sacred and ancient times. More concretely, they also have many virtues. Distilled by low-pressure steam distillation, frankincense essential oil is widely used in aromatherapy. Renowned as a skin-healing, anti-catarrhal and expectorant agent, supporting the natural immune system, it is used in "well-being" compositions to combat depression and anxiety, and in palliative care. Its warm scent provides an ideal base note for eaux parfées, in association with camphor, geranium, basil, pine, sandalwood and black pepper oils. In its resinous exudate form, frankincense is a well-known fumigant, purifying the air and respiratory tract. Also soluble in 90° alcohol, the opaque crystals, ranging from light yellow-green to yellow-brown, soothe stress.
The greatest incense-based perfumes
Frankincense is also used in the composition of many prestigious and unusual fragrances. Gold from Amouage, Oman's leading perfume brand, is a guarantee of 100% local incense and the signature of one of the greatest noses of the 20th century, Frenchman Guy Robert. The brand's founding essence, grandiloquent and magnificent, Gold is considered by professionals to be one of the most beautiful variations on the "floral-aldehyde" theme, one of the only fragrances that can, say the noses, compete in terms of radiance with the scathing floral bouquets of Chanel's famous No.5 . With Avignon (olibanum, elemi, myrrh, vanilla, amber, very smoky cedar, patchouli), Comme des garçons and nose Bertrand Duchaufour wink at the Basilica of the Popes. For James Heeley, the Englishman from Paris, Cardinal starts with pink berry, spices up with olibanum and dresses up with labdanum (cistus leaf resin with incense-like notes), in an accord reminiscent of white linen. Then there's Bois d'Encens by Armani Privé, a deep, bewitching essence that Giorgio himself wears every day. For Yves Saint Laurent, Nu by Jacques Cavallier plays on the purity and sensuality of cardamom, jasmine and cedar with airy, androgynous yet feminine vanilla. M7 by Alberto Morillas, bursting with oud and incense, is a smoky, mystical accord, fresh at the top, resinous at the base. Then there's the theatrical Rouge Hermès by Akiko Kamei, Passage d'enfer by Olivia Giacobetti for L'Artisan Parfumeur, a cathedral of lily and musk, and Bois d'argent by François Demachy for Dior, an Edenic odyssey on an iris absolute.
