[Herbalist] Myrhh

Gaylin Walli iasmin at home.com
Mon Jul 23 20:49:16 PDT 2001


>On one of my other elists, someone mentioned taking myrhh capsules before
>and after dental surgery.   Someone else said they started taking them, and
>ended up not needed a planned gum surgery.

Myrrh has a long and glorious history as an antibacterial and especially one
used in wounds. About 2500 BCE is the earliest known reference to myrrh's
use in medicine, when it appeared in a Fifth Dynasty hieroglyphic inscription
documenting it's purchase in extremely large quantities (Majno, p. 207).
  Guido Majno (pg. 120-1) states that as early as 1370 BCE, myrrh's value
as a medicine was documented in the cuneiform tablets known as the "El
Amarna Letters" when a servant named Milkili requested from his King myrrh
as medicine. Even 100 years earlier than that Queen Hatshepswt was supposed
to have imported a shipload of myrrh and 31 myrrh trees that flourished
at Thebes (ibid. p. 122).

The embalmers of Egypt made great use resins such as frankincense and myrrh
as part of the mummification processes for the wealthy. If I am remembering
my history correctly (someone please update me) the Smith papyrus of Egypt
details the use of resins, including myrrh, as one of the main anti-decay
components of the embalming process. It's most definitely mentioned in the
Ebers Payrus.

In terms of general wound dressing, we can see the use of myrrh from the
earliest documented times (such as the above mentioned cuneiform tablets)
through periods such as the Greek heyday of the Hippocratic writings and
those of Dioscorides (cf. "On Ulcers" or the herbal of Dioscorides). Myrrh
is a very popular wound treatment in those writings as well, being especially
mentioned in combination with lanolin and frankincense (among other items)
diluted in wine.

Somewhere I have a reference to myrrh's use as a wound ointment in the
stories of Herodotos, but I'd have to look for the reference for you. The
reference discussed Persian soldier's use of myrrh resin as a wound salve
popular on ships. Celsus too describes a burn lotion of myrrh medicine in his
De Medicina writings.

Several experiments exist on the use of myrrh as an antibacterial. I've read
about it's use in the treatment of or experimentation with
Staphylococcus aureus.
A search of pharmacy related journals should provide you with more than a
few references to modern experiments with the resin.

Likely not *quite* the answer you were looking for, but history just the same.
*wink*

Iasmin

Majno, Guido. (1975). _The Healing Hand_. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. ISBN: 0674383303



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