Ointment

Ointments (aromatic oil preparations used for personal hygiene, medicinal treatment, and sacred anointing) were valued commodities throughout the ancient Near East. The Hebrew and Greek terms (shemen, myron) overlap with the words for oil, but ointment usually implies a thicker, perfumed preparation. The sacred anointing oil of Exodus 30:23–25 was a specially compounded ointment of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and olive oil.

Ointments feature prominently in several Gospel narratives. Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus's feet with a pound of expensive nard ointment — an act Jesus interpreted as preparation for his burial (John 12:3–8; Matthew 26:12). An unnamed woman anointed Jesus's head with an alabaster jar of costly spikenard in the house of Simon the leper. The women who came to the tomb on Easter morning brought spices and ointments to complete the burial preparation (Luke 24:1). Psalm 133:2 uses anointing oil as a symbol of blessing and brotherly unity.