As the passage in Ex 30 is assigned to P, the date of the prescription cannot be determined, but it may be late. Pliny says that unguents were not known among the Greeks at the time of the Trojan war; but he has overlooked the ῥοδόεντι δὲ xpiev ἐλαίῳ ἀμβροσίῳ of Il. xxiii. 186 and the λιπαροὶ κεφαλὰς καὶ καλὰ πρόσωπα of Od. xv. 332, and the several references to Alm’ ἔλαιον, Il. x. 577, xiv. 171; Od. iii. 966, vi. 96, etc. He assigns the invention to the Persians, because a chest of per- fumes was among the spoils taken by Alexander ; but the Egyptians had unguents much earlier, and probably also the Indians preceded the Persians in this respect. There are references to anointings in the ancient Indian poy (see, for example, Hito- ee i. 98. For Egyp. origin see P. Aegineta, vii. 18).
Pliny gives a large number of formule for sweet- smelling unguents, including one which resembles the holy anointing oil, containing myrrh, cinnamon, cassia, nard, costus, laurel, lily, and fenugreek. The myrrh, he says, gives consistency and sweet- ness, the cinnamon strengthens the odour, and the costus (or cassia) makes it more pungent. See CASSIA, CINNAMON, Myrre. RVm substitutes ‘costus’ for ‘ cassia’ in Ex 30%, and it is probable that this is the material indicated by the word kiddah. Costus is the dried root of a composite
lant Aplotaxis auriculata, imported like frank- incense through Arabia from India, and is a much esteemed ingredient in hair-unguents. It was formerly supposed to be the root of Costus Arab- icus, but this is erroneous.
For the uses of these ointments see ANOINTING in vol. i. p. 100, and OIL, above, p. 591f. For further references to the classical use of toilet oils, see Athenzeus, xii. 78. Unguents are said by Pliny to keep best in boxes of alabaster (xiii. 3), and to improve with age, becoming very precious when old; hence Patroclus’s body was anointed with ointment nine years old (JZ. xviii. 350). The very
recious alabaster box of ointment mentioned in
τὸ 267, Mk 14%, Lk 757 was thus the best of its kind; and the odorous ingredient in this unguent, spike- nard, the root of Nardostachys Jatamansi, imported from India, was one of the costliest of perfumes. This perfume is called in Mk 145 and Jn 12% νάρδος πιστική, the latter word meaning either ‘genuine’ or ‘liquid,’ or else it may be from an Indian name of the plant pisitd (Houghton in PSBA x. 144).
The making of the hol y oil by unauthorized persons was forbidden, and it has been supposed that it was compounded once for all, on account of the large quantity of ingredients specified, whose weight amounted to about half a hundredweight (see More Nebhochim, iii. 45). It was used to anoint the tabernacle, the table, the vessels, the candle- stick, the altars, the laver and its base, and Aaron and bis sons (but the anointing of the priests was not observed in the second temple; Saubert, de Sacerd. Ebr. v.), also David and Solomon, possibly Joash; but the Talmudists say that he, Saul, and Jehu were anointed with common oil.
The consistence of the oil may be interred from Ps 133%, which says that it trickled down on Aaron’s beard, where it lay on the collar (not skirt) of his outer garment. It was therefore of a very thick treacly consistence, becoming prob- ably more fluid when warmed. The act of anointing
OLAMUS
594
is figured in Lepsius, Denkméiler, iii. 76b, 230, and is described in Wilkinson, i. 426. In the Gizeh Museum is the stele of a ‘ keeper of the ointments of the king,’ ef. the royal store of Hezekiah, Is 39°.
The passage in Pr 27" where of the person who tries to hide the contentious woman it is said, *Whoso hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself,’ is very obscure. LXX, regarding it as connected rather with the succeeding than with the preceding verse, renders it, ‘The north wind is a harsh wind, but in name it is called “‘auspicious.”’ In the RV it is translated, ‘ his right hand encountereth oil,’ which seems to be the literal rendering ; but it is not much more intelligible. The Vulgate gives oleum dextere sue vocabit. It seems to refer to the difficulty of retaining a slippery, oily material in one’s hand. For more ᾿νε ἢ interpretations see Rosenmiiller’s Scholia, ix. 653; Maurer’s Comment. iii. 505, and esp. Toy, Proverbs, p. 488 f. ἢ
Por older literature see, on the whole subject, Scheidius and Weymar in vol. xii. of Ugolini.
A. MACALISTER.
OLAMUS (‘MAauos), 1 Es 9*=Meshullam of the sons of Bani, Ezr 10®.—The name appears else- where as Mosollamus (1 Es 8“ 9"),
OLD GATE.—See JERUSALEM in vol. ii. p. 593".
OLD LATIN VERSIONS.—See LATIN VERSIONS (THE OLD).
OLD MAN.—See REGENERATION.
OLD PROPHET, THE (j2) 15x x3}; Β πρεσβύτης els προφήτης, A προφ. els πρεσβ., Luc. προῴ. ἄλλος mpec8.).—This prophet lived in Bethel at the com- mencement of the reign of JeroboamI. A single incident in his life is narrated (1 K 13-2; ef. 13110 and 2 K 23!618), He desired to entertain as his guest a certain ‘man of God’ from Judah, who had appeared in Bethel to denounce the royal sanctuary (on the day of itsinauguration). The stranger was already departing when the prophet overtook him and offered his hospitality. It was refused on the ground that J” had forbidden him to take food in the city. The prophet then falsely declared that he