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Scientists concoct incense from ancient recipe

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Jennifer Palmer with hair pulled back wearing blue gloves and Satish Viswanathan, with dark hair and beard, both wearing white lab coats and looking down at bowlCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
A discussion over a college lunch in the summer led to a team of historians and scientists buying the necessary ingredients and recreating the incense

The scent of 10th Century incense has been wafted around a chapel after scientists recreated it using a recently rediscovered recipe.

Prof Philippa Hoskin first spotted the recipe, written in Latin on the edge of a 9th Century manuscript owned by Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

"I said to some colleagues over lunch, 'Wouldn't it be great to know what this smells like?' and colleagues who worked in biological sciences, said, 'Well, our PhD students could do that'," she said.

Ingredients, including frankincense, cinnamon, cloves and scented woods, were ground down and added to simmering honey to replicate the substance.

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Philippa Hoskin and Tuija Ainonen a special collections librarianCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
Philippa Hoskin (right) and special collections librarian Tuija Ainonen were on hand with a translation of the recipe, originally written in Latin

The college, which is part of the University of Cambridge, has more than 600 manuscripts in its Parker Library.

"The catalogue is very good, but when we're looking at the additional documents that have been added into a manuscript later, that's where you find the exciting things," said Prof Hoskin, who is the library's director.

"I was looking at the flyleaf and in one of its extra sets of notes was this small recipe for incense that had not been seen before."

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Prof John Carr (second left) with Dr Betty Chung (back left) and Robbie Waddell (front right), Jennifer Palmer (second right) and Satish Viswanathan (far right) all in white lab coats and clear safety goggles in Corpus Christi College chapelCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
(Pictured left to right) PhD student Robbie Waddell, Prof John Carr, Dr Betty Chung and PhD students Jennifer Palmer and Satish Viswanathan chopped and melted the ingredients together

Manuscripts frequently have marginal notes, many not connected with their contents.

Prof Hoskin suspects it was a 10th Century monk's "perfect recipe" which he wrote down "somewhere he wouldn't lose it".

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge A sepia coloured 9th Century manuscript with faded brown writing showing a recipe for incense in Latin, listing the ingredients and their quantities Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
The original ingredients, listed with the quantities needed, also included scented woods, resin and musk, although the team found a substitute for the musk

The college lacked laboratory space, so its chaplain, the Reverend Matt Bullimore, suggested they base the challenge in the chapel.

It took a team led by Prof John Carr and Dr Betty Chung, assisted by PhD students Satish Viswanathan, Jenni Palmer, and Robbie Waddell, about half an hour to concoct the recipe.

Prof Hoskin said: "It doesn't actually tell you how you're going to put it together, but we realised you'd grind down the ingredients, make them small, you need a binding agent and honey was a common binding agent, and you're going to end up with some sort of hard cake."

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Dr Betty Chung with dark hair pulled back in a pony tail and a red neck scarf, holding a copy of the 9th Century manuscript page, and Prof John Carr with white hair and beard and wearing rectangle glasses, both wearing white lab coats in Corpus Christi College chapelCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
The 9th Century manuscript, made in modern-day France, contains a number of works by the Roman poet Prudentius (AD348 -410), while the recipe was written a century or so later after it arrived in Saxon England

On completion, a small piece was put into a church incense burner - or thurible - and lit.

Mr Bullimore swung it into action on its long chains, releasing the pungent smoke.

Many of the ingredients, such as cloves, cinnamon and frankincense, were expensive imports which travelled vast distances before arriving for use in Saxon England.

The manuscript is on loan to the British Museum, as part of its Silk Road exhibition, because the recipe reflected the many types of goods that came down that route.

So, what does 10th Century incense smell like?

"It's really very nice, somebody said it was a little bit like fruitcake, it's got a Christmassy rich scent to it," said Prof Hoskin.

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Matt Bullimore, chaplain of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, with beard and short cropped greying hair, swinging a brass coloured thurible on brass-coloured chains through the air in the college chapel after setting light to the incense withinCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
Enough incense was made for chaplain Matt Bullimore to be able to use it during several services

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