Incense burner decorated with appliqués of womenJohannes Eber/Courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura – Parco Acheologico di Pompei
Posted on 04/05/2026 3:46:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
According to a Gizmodo report, analysis of residue samples taken from an incense burner previously unearthed near Pompeii has identified an offering used in ancient Rome. "We've long known from ancient writers that the Romans burnt frankincense in their sacrifices," said Johannes Eber of the University of Zurich. "Preserved ashes and traces of fragrant resins from a domestic shrine near Pompeii provides tangible proof and a striking reminder of just how globalized the ancient world truly was," he added. The terracotta censer, decorated with an appliqué of a reclining woman, came from a domestic shrine at a rural villa north of Pompeii. The woman may have been intended to represent a deceased person who was venerated with the burning of incense. The residues and phytoliths recovered from the ash within the burner contained traces of wine and frankincense, ingredients for a ritual practice called praefatio intended to invite the gods to bless the proceedings. Praefatio had been known from written sources, but this is the first time that it has been verified in the archaeological record, Eber explained. The study also determined that the frankincense had been imported from either India or sub-Saharan Africa. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about a marble incense burner and other objects excavated in a Pompeian garden, go to "Digging Deeper into Pompeii's Past: Gardens."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Incense burner decorated with appliqués of womenJohannes Eber/Courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura – Parco Acheologico di Pompei
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$12 will get you a bag of frankincense on Amazon:)
It’s great in a soak tub.
Wait a minute. What about the incense and peppermints?
Must have been good business to sell Frankincense back around 40 B.C. to 40 A.D. It was used everywhere from Greece to Rome to Antioch to Egypt and even in the Jerusalem Temple.
I prefer Hot Smoke and Sassafras.
Incense of different kinds from geographically quite different sources was hugely popular in Rome. Of course, most Roman homes didn’t have toilets, and various beasts of burden were pulling the deliveries throughout the city at night, and no one cleaned up after them.
The rest of the Frankincense keyword, sorted:
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