Incense burners at the Oasis of Tayma, northwest Arabia: an olfactory perspective

2020, 29, No. 1


Publication date

31.12.2020

Publishing model

open access

License type


Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 2 MB

Article

Number of views:893

Number of downloads:180

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0


Abstract

Dried resins such as frankincense or myrrh were important commodities in ancient societies due to their pleasant scent when burned. Burning aromatic fragrant smoke, used for a variety of functions in antiquity, is attested in both textual and iconographic sources. Since ephemeral phenomena such as smells and scents can be studied only through their indirect effects, investigating devices used to produce them provides important data. Incense burners are thus the essence of this investigation. Excavations at the oasis of Tayma revealed several vessels and cuboid containers, interpreted as incense burners, with preserved residues. This paper aims at presenting the assemblage of burners found at Tayma and to offer a sensory perspective on the use of aromatics in antiquity to provide new insights into the scented world of an ancient oasis.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Abu Duruk, H.I. (1989). A preliminary report on the industrial site excavation at Tayma. First season, 1408/1987. Atlal, 12, 9–19

Abu Duruk, H.I. (1990). A preliminary report on industrial site excavations at Tayma. Second season, 1410 H./1989 A.D. Atlal, 13, 9–19

Abu Duruk, H.I. (1996). A preliminary report on the industrial site excavation at Tayma. Third season 1411 A.H.–1990 A.D. Atlal, 14, 11–24

Albright, W.F. (1974). The Lachish cosmetic burner and Esther 2:12. In H.N. Bream, R.D. Heim, and C.A. Moore (eds), A light unto my path: Old Testament studies in honor of Jacob M. Myers (pp. 25–32). Philadelphia: Temple University Press

Baeten, J., Deforce, K., Challe, S., Vos, D. de, and Degryse, P. (2014). Holy smoke in medieval funerary rites: chemical fingerprints of frankincense in southern Belgian incense burners. PLOS ONE, 9(11), e113142.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113142

Betts, E. (ed.). (2017). Senses of the empire: Multisensory approaches to Roman culture. London–New York: Routledge

Beuger, A. (2010). Salvage excavations at the burial site of Tala’ (Area S). In R. Eichmann et al., Tayma – autumn 2004 and spring 2005, 2nd report on the joint Saudi-Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 20, 133–137

Bradley, M. (ed.). (2015). Smell and the ancient senses. London–New York: Routledge

Brettell, R., Martin, W., Atherton-Woolham, S., Stern, B., and McKnight, L. (2017). Organic residue analysis of Egyptian votive mummies and their research potential. Studies in Conservation, 62(2), 68–82

Brettell, R.C., Stern, B., Reifarth, N., and Heron, C. (2014). The “semblance of immortality”? Resinous materials and mortuary rites in Roman Britain. Archaeometry, 56(3), 444–459

Buckley, S.A., Stott, A.W., and Evershed, R.P. (1999). Studies of organic residues from ancient Egyptian mummies using high temperature-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sequential thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Analyst, 124(4), 443–452

Charrié-Duhaut, A., Connan, J., Rouquette, N., Adam, P., Barbotin, C., de Rozières, M.-F., Tchapla, A., and Albrecht, P. (2007). The canopic jars of Rameses II: real use revealed by molecular study of organic residues. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34(6), 957–967

Classen, C. (1997). Foundations for an anthropology of the senses. International Social Science Journal, 49(153), 401–412

Classen, C., Howes, D., and Synnott, A. (1994). Aroma: The cultural history of smell. London–New York: Routledge

Cleuziou, S. and Tosi, M. (1997). Evidence for the use of aromatics in Early Bronze Age of Oman: Period III at RJ-2 (2300–2200 BC). In A. Avanzini (ed.), Profumi d’Arabia: atti del convegno (pp. 57–81). Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider

Culioli, G., Mathe, C., Archier, P., and Vieillescazes, C. (2003). A lupane triterpene from frankincense (Boswellia sp., Burseraceae). Phytochemistry, 62(4), 537–541

Day, J. (2013a). Imagined aromas and artificial flowers in Minoan society. In J. Day (ed.), Making senses of the past: Toward a sensory archaeology (pp. 286–309). Carbondale: Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Southern Illinois University Press

Day, J. (ed.). (2013b). Making senses of the past: Toward a sensory archaeology. Carbondale: Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Southern Illinois University Press

Day, J. (2017). Scents of place and colours of smell: fragranced entertainment in ancient Rome. In E. Betts (ed.), Senses of the empire: Multisensory approaches to Roman culture (pp. 176–192). London–New York: Routledge

Derrick, T.J. (2017). Sensory archaeologies: a Vindolanda smellscape. In E. Betts (ed.), Senses of the empire: Multisensory approaches to Roman culture (pp. 71–85). London–New York: Routledge

Dinies, M., Neef, R., Plessen, B., and Kürschner, H. (2016). Holocene vegetation, climate, land use and plant cultivation in the Tayma Region, Northwestern Arabia. In M. Luciani (ed.), The archaeology of North Arabia: Oases and landscapes. Proceedings of the international congress held at the University of Vienna, 5–8 December, 2013 [=Oriental and European Archaeology 4] (pp. 57–78). Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

Dinies, M., Plessen, B., Neef, R., and Kürschner, H. (2015). When the desert was green: grassland expansion during the early Holocene in northwestern Arabia. Quaternary International, 382, 293–302

Eichmann, R., Hausleiter, A., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (2010). Tayma – autumn 2004 and spring 2005, 2nd report on the joint Saudi-Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 20, 101–147

Eichmann, R., Hausleiter, A., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (2011). Tayma – atumn [!] 2005 and 2006 (spring and autumn), 3rd report on the joint Saudi Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 21, 64–118

Eichmann, R., Hausleiter, A., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (2012). Tayma 2007 – 4th report on the joint Saudi-Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 22, 72–117

Evershed, R.P. (1993). Biomolecular archaeology and lipids. World Archaeology, 25(1), 74–93

Evershed, R.P. (2008a). Experimental approaches to the interpretation of absorbed organic residues in archaeological ceramics. World Archaeology, 40(1), 26–47

Evershed, R.P. (2008b). Organic residue analysis in archaeology: the archaeological biomarker revolution. Archaeometry, 50(6), 895–924

Evershed, R.P., Bergen, P.F. van, Peakman, T.M., Leigh-Firbank, E.C., Horton, M.C., Edwards, D., Biddle, M., Kjølbye-Biddle, B., and Rowley-Conwy, P.A. (1997). Archaeological frankincense. Nature, 390(6661), 667–668

Flohr, M. (2017). Beyond smell: the sensory landscape of the Roman fullonica. In E. Betts (ed.), Senses of the empire: Multisensory approaches to Roman culture (pp. 39–53). London–New York: Routledge

Fowler, M.D. (1985). Excavated incense burners: a case for identifying a site as sacred? Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 117, 25–29

Gibson, J.J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Gitin, S. (1989). Incense altars from Ekron, Israel and Judah: context and typology. Eretz Israel, 20, 52*–67*

Groom, N. (1981). Frankincense and myrrh: A study of the Arabian incense trade. London: Longman

Hamilakis, Y. (2013). Archaeology and the senses: Human experience, memory, and affect. New York: Cambridge University Press

Hausleiter, A. (2011). Ancient Tayma’: An oasis at the interface between cultures. New research at a key location on the caravan road. In U. Franke and J. Gierlichs (eds), Roads of Arabia: The archaeological treasures of Saudi Arabia (pp. 102–123). Tübingen: Wasmuth Verlag

Hausleiter, A. (2018). The outer wall of Taymāʾ and its dating to the Bronze Age. In L. Nehmé and A. Al-Jallad (eds), To the Madbar and back again: Studies in the languages, archaeology, and cultures of Arabia dedicated to Michael C.A. Macdonald [=Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 92] (pp. 361–391). Leiden: Brill

Hausleiter, A. with a contribution by M. Daszkiewicz. (2014). Pottery groups of the late 2nd/early 1st millennia BC in Northwest Arabia and new evidence from the excavations at Tayma. In M. Luciani and A. Hausleiter (eds), Recent trends in the study of Late Bronze Age ceramics in Syro-Mesopotamia and neighbouring regions: Proceedings of the international workshop in Berlin, 2–5 November 2006 [=Orient-Archäologie 32] (pp. 399–434). Rahden/Westf.: Verlag Marie Leidorf

Hausleiter, A. and Eichmann, R. (2018). The archaeological exploration of the oasis of Taymāʾ. In A. Hausleiter, R. Eichmann, and M. al-Najem (eds), Taymā̕ I. Archaeological exploration, palaeoenvironment, cultural contacts (pp. 2–55). Oxford: Archaeopress

Hausleiter, A., Eichmann, R., and al-Najem, M. (eds). (2018). TaymДЃМ• I. Archaeological exploration, palaeoenvironment, cultural contacts. Oxford: Archaeopress

Hausleiter, A., Eichmann, R., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (2018a). Tayma 2009 – 6th report on Saudi Arabian-German joint archaeological project. Atlal, 25, 45–105

Hausleiter, A., Eichmann, R., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (2018b). Tayma 2010 – 7th report, Saudi Arabian-German joint archaeological project. Atlal, 26, 66–115

Hausleiter, A., Eichmann, R., al-Najem, M.H., and al-Said, S.F. (forthcoming). Tayma 2014–2015 – 12th–13th report on the joint Saudi Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal

Hausleiter, A. and Zur, A. (2016). Taymāᵓ in the Bronze Age (c. 2,000 BCE): settlement and funerary landscapes. In M. Luciani (ed.), The archaeology of North Arabia: Oases and landscapes. Proceedings of the international congress held at the University of Vienna, 5–8 December, 2013 [=Oriental and European Archaeology 4] (pp. 135–174). Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

Hausleiter, A. and Zur, A. (forthcoming). Excavations in Area E-East. In A. Hausleiter et al., Tayma 2014–2015 – 12th–13th report on the joint Saudi Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal

Howes, D. (2005). Empire of the senses: The sensual culture reader. Oxford: Berg

Huber, B., Hausleiter, A., Dinies, M., Säumel, I., and Pham, T.L.H. (forthcoming). Multidisciplinary approach on ancient aromatics: disentangling aromatics and trade networks of the past by methods of modern ecology

Intilia, A. (2011). Area O. In R. Eichmann et al., Tayma – atumn [!] 2005 and 2006 (spring and autumn), 3rd report on the joint Saudi Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 21, 97–102

Intilia, A. (2012). Excavations in Area O. In R. Eichmann et al., Tayma 2007 – 4th report on the joint Saudi-Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal, 22, 100–106

Intilia, A. (2018). Excavations in Area O. In A. Hausleiter et al., Tayma 2009 – 6th report on Saudi Arabian-German joint archaeological project. Atlal, 25, 52–58

Intilia, A. (forthcoming). Excavations in Area O. In A. Hausleiter et al., Tayma 2014–2015 – 12th–13th report on the joint Saudi Arabian-German archaeological project. Atlal

Jütte, R. (2005). A history of the senses: From antiquity to cyberspace. (J. Lynn, trans.). Cambridge: Polity

Knappett, C. (2004). The affordances of things: a post-Gibsonian perspective on the relationality of mind and matter. In E. DeMarrais, C. Gosden, and C. Renfrew (eds), Rethinking materiality: Engagement of mind with the material world (pp. 43–51). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge

Knowles, M.D. (2006). Centrality practiced: Jerusalem in the religious practice of Yehud and the diaspora during the Persian period [=Archaeology and Biblical Studies 16]. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature

Koller, J., Baumer, U., Kaup, Y., Etspüler, H., and Weser, U. (1998). Embalming was used in Old Kingdom. Nature, 391(6665), 343–344

Lora, S. (2017). A religious building complex in the ancient settlement of Tayma (North-west Arabia) during the Nabataean period: changes and transformations. Syria, 94, 17–40

Lora, S., Petiti, E., and Hausleiter, A. (2010). Burial contexts at Tayma, NW Arabia – archaeological and anthropological data. In L. Weeks (ed.), Death and burial in Arabia and beyond: Multidisciplinary perspectives [=BAR IS 2107] (pp. 237–247). Oxford: Archaeopress

Macdonald, M.C.A. (forthcoming). TaymДЃМ• II. Catalogue of inscriptions from the Saudi-German excavations. Oxford: Archaeopress

Mathe, C., Archier, P., Nehme, L., and Vieillescazes, C. (2009). The study of Nabataean organic residues from Madâ’in Sâlih, ancient Hegra, by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. Archaeometry, 51(4), 626–636

McMahon, A. (2013). Space, sound, and light: toward a sensory experience of ancient monumental architecture. American Journal of Archaeology, 117(2), 163–179

Millard, A. (2011). Incense – the ancient room freshener: the Exegesis of Daniel 2:46. In J.K. Aitken, K.J. Dell, and B.A. Mastin (eds), On stone and scroll: Essays in honour of Graham Ivor Davies [=Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 420] (pp. 111–122). Berlin: De Gruyter

Modugno, F., Ribechini, E., and Colombini, M.P. (2006). Aromatic resin characterisation by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry: raw and archaeological materials. Journal of Chromatography A, 1134(1), 298–304

Namdar, D., Gilboa, A., Neumann, R., Finkelstein, I., and Weiner, S. (2013). Cinnamaldehyde in Early Iron Age Phoenician flasks raises the possibility of Levantine trade with South East Asia. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, 13(2), 1–19

Papageorgopoulou, C., Xirotiris, N.I., Iten, P.X., Baumgartner, M.R., Schmid, M., and Rühli, F. (2009). Indications of embalming in Roman Greece by physical, chemical and histological analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(1), 35–42

Petiti, E., Intilia, A., and Hausleiter, A. (2014). Bioarchaeological investigations at a 4th–3rd century BC cemetery at Tayma, north-west Arabia. In P. Bieliński, M. Gawlikowski, R. Koliński, D. Ławecka, A. Sołtysiak, and Z. Wygnańska (eds), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East III. Archaeology of fire, conservation, preservation and site management, bioarchaeology in the ancient Near East, Islamic session, selected papers from workshop sessions (pp. 371–390). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz

Pollard, A.M. and Heron, C. (2008). Archaeological chemistry (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry

Regert, M., Devièse, T., Le Hô, A.-S., and Rougeulle, A. (2008). Reconstructing ancient Yemeni commercial routes during the Middle Ages using structural characterization of terpenoid resins. Archaeometry, 50(4), 668–695

Reinarz, J. (2014). Past scents: Historical perspectives on smell. Urbana: University of Illinois Press

Renzi, M., Intilia, A., Hausleiter, A., and Rehren, T. (2016). Early Iron Age metal circulation in the Arabian Peninsula: the oasis of Taymāʾ as part of a dynamic network (poster). PSAS, 46, 237–246

Roffet-Salque, M., Dunne, J., Altoft, D.T., Casanova, E., Cramp, L.J.E., Smyth, J., Whelton, H.L., and Evershed, R.P. (2017). From the inside out: upscaling organic residue analyses of archaeological ceramics. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 16, 627–640

Serpico, M. and White, R. (2000). The botanical identity and transport of incense during the Egyptian New Kingdom. Antiquity, 74(286), 884–897

Skeates, R. (2010). An archaeology of the senses: Prehistoric Malta. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Sperveslage, G. (2013). Ägyptische Einflüsse auf der Arabischen Halbinsel in vorislamischer Zeit am Beispiel der Oase von Tayma. Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie, 6, 234–252

Sperveslage, G. (2018). Excavations in Square W41, 2008–2009. In A. Hausleiter et al., Tayma 2010 – 7th report, Saudi Arabian-German joint archaeological project. Atlal, 26, 67–72

Stern, B., Heron, C., Corr, L., Serpico, M., and Bourriau, J. (2003). Compositional variations in aged and heated Pistacia resin found in Late Bronze Age Canaanite amphorae and bowls from Amarna, Egypt. Archaeometry, 45(3), 457–469

Stockhammer, P.W. (2011). Von der Postmoderne zum practice turn: für ein neues Verständnis des Mensch-Ding-Verhältnisses in der Archäologie. Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift, 52(2), 188–214

Tilley, C. (1994). A phenomenology of landscape: Places, paths and monuments. Oxford: Berg

Toner, J. (2015). Smell and Christianity. In M. Bradley (ed.), Smell and the ancient senses (pp. 158–170). London–New York: Routledge

Tourtet, F., Daszkiewicz, M., and Hausleiter, A. (forthcoming). Pottery from Tayma: chronostratigraphy, archaeometric studies, cultural interaction. In M. Luciani (ed.), The archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula 2: Connecting the evidence. Proceedings of the international workshop held in Vienna on April 25, 2016. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

Tourtet, F. and Weigel, F. (2015). Taymāᵓ in the Nabataean kingdom and in Provincia Arabia. PSAS, 45, 385–404

Van Bergen, P.F., Peakman, T.M., Leigh-Firbank, E.C., and Evershed, R.P. (1997). Chemical evidence for archaeological frankincense: Boswellic acids and their derivatives in solvent soluble and insoluble fractions of resin-like materials. Tetrahedron Letters, 38(48), 8409–8412

Weigel, F. (forthcoming). Riddle of walls: decoding residential architecture at Taymā’ (NW Arabia): a preliminary case study of the architectural complex E-b9

Zald, D.H. and Pardo, J.V. (1997). Emotion, olfaction, and the human amygdala: amygdala activation during aversive olfactory stimulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 94(8), 4119–4124

Zimmerle, W.G. (2014). Aromatics of all kinds: Cuboid incense burners in the ancient Near East from the late third to the late first millenia BC (unpubl. Ph.D. diss.). University of Pennsylvania

Similar publications