Analysis of ancient incense found at Famen Royal Temple reflects importance of incense trade along the Silk Road

Bob Yirka is a writer for Phys.org.

The Palace Museum, the Famen Temple Museum and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in China collaborated to conduct an analysis of ancient incense found at the Famen Royal Temple. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes what they found through their analysis and why they think it shows the importance of the incense trade to the Silk Road.

The Famen Royal Temple, located at the Famen Town of Fufeng County, was built between the years 499 and 532CE for the purpose of housing a finger bone from the founder of Buddhism. Excavations at the site in 1987 revealed a previously unknown underground palace. The palace had several containers of incense and a finger. The researchers have turned their attention to the incense.

The materials in the containers were subjected to analysis. The ingredients in the incense were revealed by the two techniques. Agarwood and elemi resin were mixed in one container, which was considered to be highly aromatic. The earliest example of a special blend process known as Hexiang was found in a container holding a mixture of frankincense and agarwood. The researchers suggest that the important role that incense played in trade routes across China is highlighted by the fact that most of the ingredients found in the incense are native to places thousands of kilometers from the temple. The agarwood would have originated in India or southeast Asia, while the frankincense would have come from parts of Africa or Arabia. The Silk Road could have been affected by the transport of incense.

The environment in which the incense was found suggests it was made during the Tang Dynasty, and texts from the period describe the mixing of aromatic materials. The finding of incense in the temple pushes the use back even further.

More information: Meng Ren et al, Characterization of the incense sacrificed to the sarira of Sakyamuni from Famen Royal Temple during the ninth century in China, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112724119 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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Citation: Analysis of ancient incense found at Famen Royal Temple reflects importance of incense trade along the Silk Road (2022, May 17) retrieved 17 May 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-05-analysis-ancient-incense-famen-royal.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.