FRANKINCENSE 



graphical expedition of which we have a good account (with 

 illustrations) is that sent by the Egyptian Queen, Hatasu, 

 from Thebes, about three thousand years ago. She built on 

 the Red Sea a fleet of five ships, each able to carry from 

 fifty to seventy people, and sent them to the land of Punt, 

 which was probably Somaliland. The natives lived in round 

 huts built on piles like the ancient lake dwellings. The 

 object of the journey was to obtain incense. No less than 

 thirty-one incense-bushes were dug up with as much earth as 

 possible about their roots, and carried to the ships, where 

 they were placed upright on the deck and covered with an 

 awning to keep off the sun's rays. Whether they did really 

 survive the journey and grow in Egypt is uncertain. Sacks 

 of resin, ebony, cassia, apes, baboons, dogs, leopard-skins, 

 and slaves, as well as gold and silver, were also taken away. 

 The Queen of Punt accompanied them. From her appear- 

 ance it is not probable that the Queen of Sheba was any 

 relation, although some writers have supposed that Sheba 

 and Punt were the same place. 



The whole story is represented in coloured bas-reliefs in 

 the temple at Tel-el-Bahiri, near Thebes.^ 



The incense here alluded to was a very valuable drug in 

 Egypt on account of its use in embalming mummies. Quite 

 a number of gums, resins, and the like, are obtained from 

 Somaliland and similar half-desert countries. The frankin- 

 cense of the Bible, which may be the incense of Hatasu, is 

 obtained from Olibanum produced by various species of 

 Boswellia. In February and March, cuts are made by the 

 incense gatherers in the bark of the trees. Tears of resin 

 soon appear and become dried by the sun over the wound. 

 The best kinds still come from Saba, in Arabia, where the 



^ Rawlinson, Story of Egypt. 

 H 113 



