Witnessed by: Unani

Balm of Gilead (Commiphora gileadensis), of the Burseraceae family. Small thorny deciduous tree or shrub with peeling papery bark that bleeds a fragrant oleo-resin when cut; native range: the dry hills of south-western Arabia, Yemen and the Horn of Africa; long cultivated in the Jordan valley and about Mecca. Globally recognized as balsan · dohn-ul-balsan in Arabic, habb-e-balsan (the fruit) · ood-e-balsan (the wood) in Urdu, and balm of Gilead, Mecca balsam, balsam of Mecca in English. The part used is oleo-resin, fruit, and wood. A pale, thin, turpentine-scented balsam that thickens and darkens with age; the small fruit and the twiggy wood carry the same warm balsamic smell, bitterish and faintly acrid on the tongue.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.