Babylon : "Cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense” (Rev. xviii. 13).

Besides the true cinnamon plant, we must also refer to another species known under the name of Cassia. It is mentioned in Scripture as Kiddah. It constituted one of the ingredients in the holy ointment already referred to (Exod. xxx. 24); and it is recorded by Ezekiel among the merchandise of Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 19). The plant referred to in these passages appears to be the Cinnamomum Cassia of botanists, which is distinguished from the Cinnamomum zeylanicum by its oblong-lanceolate triplicostate leaves, the three ribs uniting together for some extent at the base of the leaf. The bark of the tree is known as cassia-bark. It is inferior to cinnamon, being coarser and more pungent, with a certain amount of bitterness. The leaves when chewed have a true cinnamon flavour, while the leaves of Cinnamomum zeylanicum when similarly treated taste like cloves. Cassia-oil and cassia-buds appear to be produced by the same tree. It grows in India and China.

The word ketzioth, translated cassia, in Psalm xlv. 8, is by Royle conjectured to mean the costus of the ancients, the koost of the Arabs, and the Aucklandia Costus of botanists.