Henna among Ancient Christians and Jews

“Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.” Song of Solomon 4:13-14

The Judean tradition differs here from the Islamic and Hindu religions as it uses nard as well as henna to anoint the bride, together with other costly spices.

Nard was known in ancient times and was part of the Ayurvedic herbal tradition of India. It was obtained as a luxury in ancient Egypt, the Near East, and Rome, where it was the main ingredient of the perfume nardinum. Nard was used to perfume the body of Patroklos by Achilles in Book 18 of Homer's Iliad. Pliny's Natural History lists twelve species of "nard", identifiable with varying assurance, in a range from lavender stoechas and tuberous valerian to true nard (in modern terms Nardostachys jatamansi).

Nard is mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament. It was used as one of the Eleven Herbs for the Incense in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. And it is mentioned twice in the biblical love poem, the Song of Solomon (1:12 and 4:13).
In the New Testament John 12:1-10, six days before the passover, Mary, sister of Lazarus uses a pound of pure nard to anoint Jesus's feet. Judas Iscariot, the keeper of the money-bag, asked why the ointment wasn't sold for three hundred denarii instead, (About a year's wages, as the average agricultural worker received 1 denarius for 12 hours work: Matthew 20:2) and the money given to the poor. Two passages in parallel (Matthew 26:6-13, and Mark 14:3-9) speak of an occasion 2 days before the passover, in which an unnamed woman anoints Jesus's head. The costly perfume she used came from an alabaster jar, and contained nard according to the passage in Mark. On this occasion, the disciples also protest, saying that the perfume should have been sold to benefit the poor.

It may be that in an epitomic gesture Mary poured out the nard that was being saved for her wedding upon Jesus “the Great Bridegroom”. While no one knows conclusively this certainly fits in with the traditions of the time as previously mentioned although the traditional view that it was purchased with the thought that her brother Lazarus was dying makes just as much sense. The two reasons that I favor the view that the nard was for her wedding and not her brother's funeral are;

1) Lazarus was dead and buried before Jesus got there - his body had been in the grave 4 days before Jesus brought him back. Thus, had the nard been for Lazarus, his very conscientious sister Martha, would have anointed him already.

2) As shown above, the Bible clearly records that nard was used for brides. This costly perfume would have been given to Mary after her coming of age in preparation for a future wedding. The henna would have been purchased later, close to the time of use.

In the end I there is no way to know for sure, but I prefer to think of Jesus as being anointed as the Great Bridegroom than for burial.