You can order objects with Henna Art and ask for henna-workshops (incl. materials for henna painting)
by e-mail jsurba@ gmail.com

available FRAME DRUMS WITH HENNA ART by Julia Surba PLEASE ORDER HERE

The history and origin of Henna is hard to trace with centuries of migration and cultural interaction it is difficult to determine where particular traditions began. There is very persuasive evidence that the Neolithic people in Catal Huyuk, in the 7th millennium BC, used henna to ornament their hands in connection with their fertility goddess.


The earliest civilizations to have used henna include the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Semites, Ugaritics and Canaanites. The earliest written evidence that mentions henna specifically used as an adornment for a bride or woman's special occasion is in the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, inscribed on a tablet dating back to 2100 BC, found in northwest Syria. Henna has also been used extensively in southern China and has been associated with erotic rituals for at least three thousand years, during the ancient Goddess cultures.

The use of Henna in the 4th-5th centuries in the Deccan of western India is clearly illustrated on Bodhisattvas and deities of cave wall murals at Ajanta, and in similar cave paintings in Sri Lanka. The evidence proves henna usage in India seven centuries before the Moghul invasion, and hundreds of years before the inception of the Islamic religion, which began in the mid-7th century AD.

The word Henna has its origin in the Arabic word Al-Hinna. In botanical terms it is Lawsonia Enermis, a plant which grows to be 4 to 8 feet high in hot climates and can be found in Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Persia, Morocco, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and India. The leaves, flowers and the twigs of the plant are ground into fine powder containing natural dying properties called tannins.

As a healing plant, henna conditions, cleanses, colors and cools the skin. Hennaed skin is not tattooed as the practice does not require any piercing. Henna paste is a dye that leaves a more or less durable stain on the outer layer of the skin alone. Henna contains hennotannic acid that binds with cells, so the henna paste must stay moist and in contact with the skin for a while. When applied, the henna paste is always black, but the resulting pattern with natural henna varies from light orange to dark brown.

Reference: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia