Description
Omumgorwa Myrrh Resin
2oz
Commiphora tenuipetiolata
Country of Origin: Namibia Southern Africa
Uses: Traditionally used as a soap and skin cleanser. Purifies air as well.
Color: Deep brown to amber red/reddish brown
This exceptional myrrh from Namibia has overtones of dates, nutty caramel and toffee with a sweet, fruit and citrus-like aroma. Its color ranges from warm hues of dark chestnut-to-amber brown. Commonly harvested by the Himba people as a means to wash clothing, it is also used as refreshing skin cleanser and wound healer. Many people incorporate it into perfume mixtures to add a warm, sweet aroma.
It is not recommended for burning as incense. If you do choose to burn this resin as an incense, break it up into smaller pieces mixed with other resins.
This resin is also used by forming it into a paste for incense cones, or as a binder and added aroma in perfumes.
This is such a unique Myrrh. Very little in the way of bitter and earthy elements when compared to the more common Commiphora Myrrha. Instead, this resin truely oozes a soft and radiant warmth of toffee, filled with gourmand aroma, treacle-like, flowing sweet liquour middle and base notes.
Local Himba said Queen Sheba brought spices, gold, and precious stones, all products of extreme wealth came from the area of modern-day Ethiopia, Namibia, Eritrea, and Somalia, on the African coast of the Red Sea. Spices, in particular, were frankincense from Oman and Ethiopia and myrrh from Namibia and Ethiopia. Ancient gold mines have been found in the same area. However, the area of modern-day Yemen on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea was also a source of spices and lay on a major trade route.
This area of Arabia was known as the kingdom of Saba in the first millennium BCE, and various Sabaean kings are mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions from the period. It has been said that Sheba was a daughter of one of the Kings of Saba and had the title queen when she returned from King Solomon because of marriage.
The Biblical texts clearly state that the Queen of Sheba returned to her own land after her meeting with Solomon (1Kgs 10:13; 2Chr 9:12). The key is in the previous verse, in which Solomon is said to have given her everything she desired (1Kgs 10:12; 2Chr 9:11).
Because she had admired King Solomon’s wisdom and praised the happiness of his people, early Biblical Scholars, Rabbis, and Sages said she must have sought marriage with him so that her people and the Judean people were united. Solomon must have granted her wish because she has noted as Queen of Sheba a title she earned through their marriage since there were no queens of Seba mentioned in the transcripts of the Kingdom of Seba.
It is documented in transcripts of the Babylonian texts spices especially a particular Myrrh resin described as honey-sweet myrrh from people who used it to perfume their clothes and skin. This would have most likely been from the Himba people who live in Namibia.
This may be the very same Myrrh used in the baths that Queen Esther was subjected to for six months and another six months in other spices and resins. Before a woman’s turn came to go into King’s chambers, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with myrrh, and six with other spices, resins, and flowers. Esther found favor in the King’s eye and he married her (See Esther 2:12 and blog Esther’s secret Cover-Up.)
