Spices are valuable aromatic and pungent plant substances that have been known to humans since the most ancient times. Their uses varied widely from food preparation, to perfumes and ointments, to burial of the dead - including Jesus Christ who was buried with "a mixture of myrrh and aloes" (see verses below). Much of the spices used by the Israelites came from such distant places as Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia and India.
Some of the most common spices used during the time of The Bible were aloes, balsam, cumin, cassia, cinnamon, coriander, dill, frankincense, galbanum, henna, mint, myrrh, onycha, rue, saffron, spikenard and stacte. Some examples of references to them during Bible History:
Joseph Sold To Spice Merchants
"So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt." (Genesis 37:23-25 RSV)
Spices In The Tabernacle
"Moreover, The Lord said to Moses, "Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty, and of aromatic cane two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin; and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; a holy anointing oil it shall be. And you shall anoint with it The Tent of Meeting and The Ark of the Testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the laver and its base; you shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests." (Exodus 30:22-30 RSV)
Stored Like Treasure
"And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them." (2 Kings 20:13 RSV)
The Body of Jesus Christ Was Buried With "A mixture of myrrh and aloes"
"After this Joseph Of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus also, who had at first come to Him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there." (John 19:38-42 RSV)
Fact Finder: Who discovered the empty tomb when they brought more spices to anoint the body of Jesus Christ?
Mark 16:1
