Re: Henna in the Bible

Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on March 22, 2000 at 07:58:20:

In Reply to: Henna in the Bible posted by Kalila on March 21, 2000 at 21:59:02:

Interesting translation.....I'm used to "my beloved is unto me as a
cluster of camphire in the vinyard" ... which is of course, the same
thing, and camphire is Latin for henna. What edition are you using?
In any case, there is even more specific mentioning of henna in the
Apocrypha, the books that were not included in the Bible. In the
Second Book of Adam and Eve, it mentions how uncomfortable the Jews
were with the Canaanite use of henna when they first arrived in
Israel, but they certainly got used to it and adapted it for their own
use.
The Canaanites were probably the most frequent users of henna in the
area, and their name for themselves the "Chanani" means "the red
people" .....or, the hennaed people. The Greeks called them
"Phoinikos" (Phoenicians) , or Kinanui, (Kino being red, or
henna)...and in Mycenaean records recently translated, the Phoinikos
was a plant cultivated in Crete.... that was called "the red plant".
Very early Jews weren't comfortable with the henna and the sexiness
associated with henna, particularly as the Canaanites had some
religious practices associated with henna that were just too orgiastic
for their taste..... but they eventually adapted henna, and celebrated
"the night of the henna" along with their neighbors.
Roman records also mention henna being used by Jews and the other
people living in Israel (Palestine) during the Biblical period ...
that is was frequent, and that they thought the women, with their
henna stained hands and stained (harquused and tattooed) faces looked
like Vampires! Men and women both were using henna in Israel during
the Biblical period. There are Roman records that mention that the
Jews at the siege of Masada were using henna .... and there is a 6th
Jewish century floor mosaic in Israel, showing the hand of God as
being hennaed.
As far as I can tell, henna's origin as a women's hand decoration for
fertility and beauty began in that part of the world, and sometime
around 7000 BCE (Anatolia) ... though I think it's very possible that
their predecessors, the Natufian people in Israel used henna about
9000 BCE.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Henna in the Bible Kalila 09:20:25 3/22/00 (1)
  • Re: Henna in the Bible Catherine Cartwright Jones 10:17:43 3/22/00 (0)