This 20 Inch Italian Creche by Fontanini,
is made of wood, bark and moss. The manger measures 38” wide, by 20” at its peak, and 24” deep. This is a perfect manger for your 18” Nativity characters. Figures not included. This Fontanini crèche has bark trim along the roof and sides. There is sphagnum moss covering the roof. In the back of the crèche is hay. There is also a small fence on the left corner.
Select this link to view our Nativity Figurines.
Myrrh: The sap of the myrrh tree dries into hard, reddish brown lumps of gum resin known as myrrh. The tree discharges the resin from between the outer layers of the bark, and the resin falls to the ground. The perfume ingredient is an oil obtained by heating the resin to produce a vapor, then cooling the vapor. Although unfamiliar to us today, in ancient times myrrh was a precious and much sought-after substance. The Magi or wise men from the east brought the baby Jesus a gift of myrrh.
There are a number ideas about the symbolism of the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. One suggests the gold represented a gift fit for a king. Frankincense was given as a symbol of Jesus becoming the high priest. Myrrh was used in making medicines and would symbolize Jesus becoming a great physician and healer.
Another opinion is that these gifts were a kind of symbolic foreshadowing of what the life of this baby would be. Gold, given in recognition of Jesus being a king. Frankincense and myrrh were used to prepare a corpse for burial. Thus these two gifts would foreshadow the dark end Jesus would meet on the cross.
Ancient records tell us that it was perhaps most commonly employed as a medicine. The Romans Greeks Assyrians and other peoples of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East prescribed myrrh in treatments for a wide variety of afflictions, including sores in the mouth, infections, coughs, and worms. It was also burned to fumigate the rooms of the sick. Myrrh appears at the beginning of Jesus’ life as a gift and at the end of his life as a medicine. The ancient Egyptians used Myrrh in the process of embalming corpses. The ancient Hebrews also treated the dead with myrrh. Myrrh was highly valued as a component of perfume and incense. Myrrh was especially prized as an ingredient in perfumed oils and lotions because of its enduring fragrance and long shelf life. The Hebrews made myrrh one of the primary ingredients of the holy oil with which they anointed their high priests and the sacred objects of their temples. In ancient times, Arabia supplied the Mediterranean and Asia with most of their myrrh and frankincense. These products were so highly valued and so difficult to obtain outside of Arabia they became a luxury affordable only by the rich.
Today myrrh trees can be found in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Myrrh is still used as a component of incense and perfume. It is also found in mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes. Interest in the medicinal properties of myrrh has been increasing in recent years.
