HENNA

HENNA (Heb. כֹּפֶר, kofer), the plant Lawsonia alba whose leaves yield a much-used dye. Its English name is derived from Arabic. Henna is included among the spices growing in the garden of tropical spices to which the beloved maiden is compared in Song of Songs (4:12–13), while she compares her beloved to "a cluster of henna in the vineyards of En-Gedi" (ibid. 1:14). The Mishnah mentions henna alongside the rose among the aromatic plants that grow in Ereẓ Israel (Shev. 7:6). The henna of "Ashkelon in Judea" was praised by Pliny (Historia Naturalis, 12:51) and Dioscorides (De materia medica, 1:117). According to Josephus (Wars 1:181), the name of Herod's mother was Cypros (Κύπρος), that is kofer, and he called a fortress which he built "Cypros" after her. Henna is a shrub which is grown in various places in the Jordan Valley and in the Shephelah. Its aromatic flowers are arranged in clusters (hence the "cluster of henna"). From its root or leaves a powder is prepared which is soluble in water and produces a reddish-orange dye. Throughout the ages the peoples of the East prized this beautiful, fast dye which was used for dying the hair, the palms of the hand, the nails, and even the teeth. With it the Egyptians dyed mummies. The Talmud (TJ, Git. 69b) mentions henna as a remedy for a disease of the urinary organs. In Yemen, Jews smeared a bride's body with henna dye (the person doing it pays for the privilege with a wedding gift) and hence the name "henna night" given by them to a marriage. The custom is still maintained by several communities in Israel. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Loew, Flora, 2 (1924), 218–25; H.N. and A.L. Moldenke, Plants of the Bible (1952), index; J. Feliks, Olam ha-Ẓome'aḥ ha-Mikra'i (19682), 270–1. ADD BIBLIOGRAPHY: Feliks, Ha-Ẓome'aḥ, 84. (Jehuda Feliks)