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Aromatics and Perfumes in the Song of Songs

A few years ago Professor C. Rabin advanced a theory of Tamil influence on the Song of Songs. His hypothesis includes a tentative dating of the poems to a period during which there existed trade relations between ancient Israel and India, i.e., the era of the First Temple, possibly even the reign ofKing Solomon. The theory is based mainly on similarities of theme and tone between the love lyrics of Tamil ~angam poetry and the Song of Songs, and is supported by information about trade with Southern Arabia and-through it-with Southern India in Solomon’s time. (Cf. the story of the Queen of Sheba’s visit and the account of Solomon’s wealth and trade, 1 K 10 = 2 Ch 9.) As part of his argument Rabin cites names of luxury products imported from India which occur in the Song of Songs, and whose etymology can be related to Dravidian or Sanskrit. Among these there