galbanum

Image:GalbanumEssOil.png

In the Book of Exodus 30:34, it is mentioned as being used in the making of the Ketoret which is used when referring to the consecrated incense described in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. It was offered on the specialized incense altar in the time when the Tabernacle was located in the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. The ketoret was an important component of the Temple service in Jerusalem. Rashi (1040–1105) comments on this passage that galbanum is bitter and was included in the incense as a reminder of deliberate and unrepentant sinners. The incense formula was apparently ground smallExodus 30:36, KJV or into a powder.Exodus 30:30 NIV This would be possible because Galbanum, which is a sticky tar-like resin, can be made into a powder by drying, low boiling, or adding a diluent.Kraemer, Henry. Scientific and Applied Pharmacognosy Intended for the Use of Students in Pharmacy: As a Hand Book for Pharmacists, and as a Reference Book for Food and Drug Analysts and Pharmacologists. Wiley, 1920. pp. 588 and 586 respectively.

Galbanum was highly treasured as a sacred substance by the ancient Egyptians. The "green" incense of Egyptian antiquity is believed to have been galbanum.{{Cn|date=May 2024}} Galbanum resin has an intense green scent accompanied by a turpentine odor. The initial notes are a very bitter, acrid, and peculiar scentGrieve, Maud, A Modern HerbalThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin CompanyMerriam-webster dictionary 2010 followed by a complex green, spicy, woody, balsam-like fragrance. When diluted the scent of galbanum has variously been described as reminiscent of pine (due to the pinene and limonene content), evergreen, green bamboo, parsley, green apples, musk, or simply intense green.LAWRENCE, B. M; "Progress in Essential Oils" 'Perfumer and Flavorist'. August/September 1978, vol. 3, No. 4, p. 54.McANDREW, B. A; MICHALKIEWICZ, D. M; "Analysis of Galbanum Oils". Dev Food Sci. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publications 1988, v 18, pp. 573–585. The oil has a pine like topnote which is less pronounced in the odor of the resinoid. The latter, in turn, has a more woody balsamic, conifer resinous character.{{Cite web |last=Robbins |first=Wendy |title=Galbanum Essential Oil |url=https://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/galbanum-oil.asp |website=AromaWeb}}{{Cite web |date=September 2018 |title=Galbanum essential oil (Ferula Gummosa) information |url=https://essentialoils.co.za/essential-oils/galbanum.htm |website=essentialoils.co.za |access-date=2018-10-11 |archive-date=2018-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012053924/https://essentialoils.co.za/essential-oils/galbanum.htm |url-status=dead }} Galbanum is frequently adulterated with pine oil.{{Cite web |title=Oil of Galbanum |url=http://www.holisticaroma.co.uk/articles/OilofGalbanum.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725182646/http://www.holisticaroma.co.uk/articles/OilofGalbanum.htm |archive-date=2010-07-25 |access-date=2010-07-26}}{{cite web |title=Minor oil crops – Individual monographs (Galbanum natural oleoresin-German chamomile-Hexastylis-High-geraniol monarda-Juniapa-hinojo sabalero) |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5043E/x5043E0H.HTM}}

It is occasionally used in the making of modern perfume, and is the ingredient which gives the distinctive smell to the fragrances "Must" by Cartier, "Vent Vert" by Balmain, "Chanel No. 19", "Vol De Nuit" by Guerlain, "Quelques Fleurs" by Houbigant, as well as Silver Mountain Water by Creed, the esteemed scent of James Gandolfini used during the filming of the sixth season of The Sopranos. The debut of galbanum in fine modern perfumery is generally thought to be the origin of the "Green" family of scents, exemplified by the scent "Vent Vert" first launched by Balmain in 1945. Galbanum absolute is a brown viscous liquid which will easily resinify over time even with minimal exposure to air obtained by solvent-extraction from the gum oleo-resin of the plant. Its odour profile is described as ambery-green, sweet, balsamic, resinous with hints of freshness, "similar to how galbanum oil would smell when mixed with labdanum". It acts as a base note in perfume compositions – one of a handful of green base notes of natural origin. Because it is perceived as simultaneously 'green' and sweet, it finds a more specific role to create a special effect in 'Chypre green', 'floral green', 'Chypre coniferous', 'Woody Fougères' and 'Aquatic Fougères'.

Hippocrates employed it in medicine, and Pliny (Nat. Hist. xxiv. 13) ascribes to it extraordinary curative powers, concluding his account of it with the assertion that "the very touch of it mixed with oil of spondylium is sufficient to kill a serpent."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} The drug was occasionally given in more contemporary medicine, in doses of from five to fifteen grains.{{Cite web |title=NYS Pharmacy:Laws, Rules & Regulations:Article 137 |url=http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/pharm/article137.htm |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=www.op.nysed.gov |archive-date=2022-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128020733/http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/pharm/article137.htm |url-status=dead }} It has the actions "common to substances containing a resin and a volatile oil". Its use is now obsolete.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

The Latin name ferula derives in part from Ferule which is a schoolmaster's rod, such as a cane, stick, or flat piece of wood, used in punishing children.{{cite web | url=http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Ferulacommunis_page.htm | title=Flora of Israel: Common Giant Fennel }}

A ferula called narthex (or Giant fennel), which shares the galbanum-like scent, has long, straight and sturdy hollow stalks, which are segmented like bamboo.Encyclopædia Britannica{{Nonspecific|date=August 2010}} They were used as torches in antiquity and it is with such a torch that, according to Greek mythology, Prometheus, who deceived his father stealing some of his fire, brought fire to humanity.{{cite web |title=Ferula communis – Giant fennel |url=http://www.west-crete.com/flowers/ferula_communis.htm}} Bacchae were described using the bamboo-like stalks as weapons. Such rods were also used for walking sticks, splints, for stirring boiling liquids, and for corporal punishment.

Some of the mythology may have transferred to the related galbanum which was referred to as the sacred "mother resin."Leopold Gmelin. Handbook of Chemistry, vol. 17.

In 1858, Lola Montez recommended using a mixture of galbanum (which she spelled "gaulbanum") and pitch plaster attached to a leather strip as a tool for removing hair from body parts where more visible hair might be unwanted, similar to modern day 'waxing'.{{cite book |author=Montez |first=Lola |url=https://archive.org/details/artsbeautyorsec00montgoog |title=The Arts of Beauty; Or, Secrets of a Lady's Toilet: With Hints to Gentlemen on the Art of Fascinating |date=1858 |publisher=Dick & Fitzgerald |location=New York |access-date=12 July 2022}}

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• {{EB1911|wstitle=Galbanum|volume=11|page=397}}

Category:Ferula

Category:Resins

Category:Incense material

Category:Flora of Kurdistan