Bdellium /ˈdɛliəm/ (also bdellion or false myrrh[1]) is a semi-transparent oleo-gum resin extracted from Commiphora wightii plants, and from Commiphora africana trees growing in sub-Saharan Africa.[citation needed] According to Pliny the best quality came from Bactria. Other named sources for the resin are India, Pakistan, Arabia, Media, and Babylon.[2]
Composition[edit | edit source]
Bdellium consists of a water-soluble gum, a resin, and an essential oil. The essential oil of Commiphora africana contains predominantly α-thujene, α- and β-pinene, and p-cymene.[3]
Uses[edit | edit source]
Bdellium is used in perfumery, as incense, and in traditional medicine.[4] It is an adulterant of the more costly myrrh.[citation needed]
Name[edit | edit source]
Middle English,[5] learnedly borrowed from Latin bdellium, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek βδέλλιον, of unknown origin, possibly from Semitic or a Pre-Greek substrate. Compare Hebrew בְּדֹלַח (bdólakh).[6]
Commiphora africana resin is also known as African bdellium.[3]
Origin[edit | edit source]
Theophrastus is perhaps the first European classical author to mention bdellium, if the report that came back from his informant in Alexander's expedition refers to Commiphora wightii: "In the region called Aria there is a thorn tree which produces a tear of resin, resembling myrrh in appearance and odour. It liquefies when the sun shines upon it."[7]
Plautus in his play Curculio refers to it. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (12:36), describes the best bdellium coming from Bactria (identified as Commiphora wightii[lower-alpha 1]) as a "tree black in colour, and the size of the olive tree; its leaf resembles that of the oak and its fruit the wild fig", as well as bdellium coming from Nubia (identified as Commiphora africana). However, his descriptions[lower-alpha 2] seem to cover a range of strongly perfumed resins. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, of the 2nd century CE, reports that bdella are exported from the port of Barbarice at the mouth of the Indus.[8] The Bactrian variety is known among Arabs as mokul.[9]
The bdellium referred to by Dioscorides as "the bdellium imported from Petra" (De Materia Medica, 1:80) is probably the resin of Hyphaene thebaica, a species of palm. The Arabs call it "Jewish bdellium".[9]
In China, bdellium, known as ānxī xiāng (Chinese: 安息香) or "Arsacid aromatic", was among the varieties of incense that reached China either along the Silk Route from Central Asia, or by sea. Later ānxī xiāng was applied to an East Indian substitute, gum benzoin from Sumatra.[10]
Bdellium was an ingredient in the prescriptions of ancient physicians from Galen to Paul of Aegina, and in the Greater Kuphi.[11]
Isidore of Seville reports in his Etymologiae (XVII.viii.6) that bdellium comes from trees in India and Arabia, the Arabian variety being better as it is smooth, whitish and smells good; the Indian variety is a dirty black and very delicious.[12]
In the Bible[edit | edit source]
"Bdellium" is the common English translation in the Bible for the Hebrew bedolach (בְּדֹלַח), which appears in Genesis 2:12 and Numbers 11:7. In Genesis, it is given as a product of Havilah, where it is listed along with other precious items gold and onyx.[13] In Numbers, the reference to bdellium is in the context of the manna eaten by the Israelites in the wilderness, which is said to have "the color of bdellium".[14] These are the only two uses in the Hebrew scripture, and there is no agreement about whether the term bedolach actually referred to the resin.[2][15] The Septuagint translates the word with ἄνθραξ (anthrax) in Genesis and with κρύσταλλος (crystal) in Numbers, thus interpreting it as the name of a precious stone,[2][15][16] and Rashi describes it as "a precious stone, crystal".[9]
Footnotes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The identification was to Commiphora roxburghii, a taxonomic synonym of C. wightii.
- ↑ "Next to Ariane is Bactriane, which produces the most esteemed kind of bdellium. The tree is of a black colour and of the size of an olive-tree. Its leaf resembles that of the oak, and its fruit that of the wild fig-tree. Bdellium itself is of the nature of a gum. Some call it brochon, others malacha, others again maldacon, but when it is black and rolled into a little ball it is known as hadrabolon. This substance ought to be transparent like wax, odoriferous, unctuous when crumbled, and bitter to the taste but without being at all acid. When used in sacred rites it is steeped in wine to increase its fragrance. It grows in Arabia and India as well as in Media and Babylon. Some persons call the bdellium which is brought to us by way of Media, peratic. It is more brittle than the other kinds, harder in the crust, and more bitter to the taste; the Indian kind is, on the other hand, moister and gummy, and is adulterated by means of the almond nut. The various other kinds are corrupted with the bark of scordastum, the tree of this name producing a gum which resembles bdellium. The adulterations of perfumes, let it be said once for all, are detected by their smell, by their colour, weight, taste, and by the action of fire. The Bactrian bdellium is dry and shining, and has numerous white spots, like finger-nails in shape. Besides, it should be of a certain weight than which it ought to be neither heavier nor lighter. The price of bdellium when quite pure is three denarii per pound." (Pliny the Elder, Natural History 12.19).
References[edit | edit source]
Ibid. is an abbreviation for the Latin word ibīdem, meaning "in the same place", commonly used in an endnote, footnote, bibliography citation, or scholarly reference to refer to the source cited in the preceding note or list item. This is similar to Idem, literally meaning "the same", abbreviated id., which is commonly used in legal citation.[17]
Ibid. may also be used in the Chicago (name-date) system for in-text references where there has been a close previous citation from the same source material.[18][19] The previous reference should be immediately visible, e.g. within the same paragraph or page.
Some academic publishers now prefer that "ibid." not be italicised, as it is a commonly found term.[20] Usage differs from style or citation guides as to whether ibid should be suffixed with a full stop. For example, Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities omits full stops and does not capitalise,[21] while the Economist Style guide uses a lower case starting letter with ending full stop.[22]
Example[edit | edit source]
- [1] E. Vijh, Latin for Dummies (New York: Academic, 1997), 23.
- [2] Ibid.
- [3] Ibid., 29.
- [4] A. Alhazred, The Necronomicon (Petrus de Dacia, 1994).
- [5] Ibid. 1, 34.
Reference 2 is the same as reference 1: E. Vijh, Latin for Dummies on page 23, whereas reference 3 refers to the same work but at a different location, namely page 29. Intervening entries require a reference to the original citation in the form Ibid. <citation #>, as in reference 5.
Cultural references[edit | edit source]
- Ibid. is used in the 1960s play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. Albee uses an unabbreviated ibid[clarification needed] in his stage directions to tell an actor to use the same tone as the previous line.
- In the 1989 book Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, one of the Ephebian philosophers is called "Ibid".
- In the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, the main character, Will Hunting, when arguing for himself in court against the dismissive rebuttals of the prosecuting attorney, cites obscure case law, then follows up by stating "Ibid, your Honor."
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Pereira, Jonathan (1842). The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Volume 2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Jewish Encyclopedia". Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lumír O. Hanuš; et al. (2005), "Myrrh-Commiphora Chemistry", Biomed. Papers, 149 (1): 3–23, doi:10.5507/bp.2005.001, PMID 16170385
- ↑ James A. Duke (2008), "African Myrrh", Duke's Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible, CRC Press, pp. 126–128
- ↑ Template:Cite Merriam-Webster
- ↑ Beekes, Robert Stephen Paul; Beek, Lucien van (2010). Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-17420-7.
- ↑ Noted by Dalby 2002, ibid.
- ↑ Dalby 2000.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Feliks, Jehuda (2007). "Bdellium". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Thomson Gale. p. 234.
- ↑ Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5 (Cambridge University Press) 1974, §33. "Alchemy and Chemistry", p. 142f and note g.
- ↑ Miller, Spice Trade, p. 71.
- ↑ The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Translated by Barney, Stephen A.; Lewis, W. J.; Beach, J. A.; Berghof, O. (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. 2006. pp. 348–349. ISBN 978-0-511-21969-6.. Isidore's encyclopedia assembled facts from classical sources.
- ↑ Genesis 2:12
- ↑ Numbers 11:7
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 van Miert, Dirk (21 June 2018). The Emancipation of Biblical Philology in the Dutch Republic, 1590–1670. Oxford University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-19-252598-7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ↑ Williams, Isaac (1861). The Beginning of the Book of Genesis, with Notes and Reflections. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ↑ "Idem". thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
- ↑ Chicago Manual of Style Online, (13.64).
- ↑ New Hart's Rules, Oxford University Press, 2005, p.396
- ↑ E.g., "Style sheet: Cambridge University Press" (DOC). 2013.
- ↑ OSCOLA : Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities. Nolan, Donal., Meredith, Sandra., University of Oxford. Faculty of Law. (4th ed.). Oxford: Hart Publishers. 2012. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-84946-367-6. OCLC 775030305.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ Style guide. Economist Books. (Twelfth ed.). New York. 5 June 2018. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-61039-981-4. OCLC 1005580872.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
External links[edit | edit source]
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