OINTMENTS. 329 



Balsam of the North African tree, Bahamodendron myrrha: 

 "Balsam seeds'', that is to sa^' the pea-sized fruits of the 

 Arabian tree Bahamodendron gUJadense; the q'um-resin 

 of a Persian umbellate, Ferida galbain'fiua; and lasth' 

 the turpentine of the Turpentine-Pistachias. We can form 

 some conception of the scent of this ointment; it must 

 have smelt principalh' of bitter almonds and Balsam. 

 These ointments were obtained from man^• different places; 

 from Eg-\'pt, Delos, Mendesium. Corinth, Cilicia, Rhodes, 

 CA'prus, and later from Naples, Capua and Praeneste. 

 The\' varied constantly according to taste and fashion. 

 Some of these ointments ^vere A'er^' expensiA-e, and 

 afforded work to a \\'hole army of preparers and vendors. 

 In the shops of the ointment-dealers idlers lounged about. 

 vShad\' spots \\-ere chosen for these shops so that the 

 ointments, which 'were kept in jars of lead or stone, might 

 not suffer Irom the heat of the sun. The stone, which 

 we call Alabaster, was much worked for these vessels, 

 but as Rheinhold Sigismund seeks to prove in his book 

 on "aromata", the ancient word Alabastron appears to 

 have referred more to the shape than to the material of 

 the ointment jars. 



The abundant information giA'en us h\ Athenaeus 

 shows to what excess perfumed unguents were used in 

 (jreece. He relates that the SA'barites of Athens anointed 

 each part of their bod\' \\\i\\ a different ointment. Egjptian 

 uncfuents were used for feet and thiphs, I^hoenician for 

 jaws and chest. SisA'mbrion unguents for the arms, Ama- 

 racon unguent for hair and CA'cbrows. and Serp^'llos unguent 

 for chin and neck. Imapine the scent of a human 



