The Three Wise Men Brought the Most Useful Gifts

Christmas brings nativity plays by children that often focus on the events described in the gospels of Luke and Matthew. It is a given that the gospels were principally written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines and most Biblical scholars do not claim that the stories are historically factual. Still, some aspects of the story do ring true to the behaviors of people who lived about two millennia ago in the Middle East. For example, the wise men brought two valuable gifts, tree resins from frankincense and myrrh; these plant extracts were likely both welcomed and expected by the young woman who had just given birth.

Why?

Our ancestors were intimately aware of the beneficial effects of plant extracts for the treatment of pain and discomfort associated with giving birth. If the time is about two millennia ago and the location is in the Middle East, these two locally available spices were likely welcomed and entirely expected.

Myrrh

Myrrh—isolated from the dried resin in the bark of either Commiphora myrrha or C. gileadensis, shrubs found in Somalia and throughout the Middle East—was historically used in liniments, including in Chinese medicine (Mo Yao), to treat the symptoms of arthritis and as an antiseptic ointment. The Egyptians used it to embalm mummies.

The small tree is aromatic. Commiphora species are shrubs three meters high with rounded tops, thick trunks, dark brown bark, and large, sharply pointed thorns on the stem. The resin contains myrcene, camphorene, and a series of guggulsterols as well as many other essential oils that are chemically similar to catnip. Together, these compounds produce an analgesia, or pain reduction, that is slightly more potent than morphine and may act via the brain’s endogenous opiate receptors. The resin also has an anti-inflammatory action similar to aspirin. The resin is quite safe to consume.

Myrrh may also have another valuable action that would greatly benefit any woman who has just given birth; it enhances blood clotting and reduces postpartum bleeding. Finally, the wise men are almost always depicted as traveling via camel at night following a celestial beacon. There’s another good reason they might have traveled in the dark—the contents of the resin are unstable in sunlight!

Frankincense

Frankincense can be extracted from the Boswellia sacra tree that also grows in Somalia and Saudi Arabia. The resin is edible and contains a pair of boswellic acids and terpenes that have superior anti-inflammatory actions according to recent studies. Unsurprisingly, extracts of the resin were popular as a treatment for arthritis in ancient Egypt. In addition, recent publications suggest that one component of this resin, incensole acetate, also exhibits anti-anxiety and anti-depressive properties similar to those produced by Valium and Prozac, respectively.

Thus, in ancient times, frankincense and myrrh were commonly used together to relieve postpartum pain and anxiety, lessening the probability of postpartum depression and reducing bleeding after delivery. Whatever was left over was usually burned as incense and as immortalized in the Christmas story of the three wise men, was highly valued as a gift.