Henna

Several people have asked, "What is that crap on your hands in the camel fair pictures?" The answer is henna. What is henna you ask? Well, I had to go to good old Wikipedia for that answer as I'm not a local. Wikipedia says, "Henna, Lawsonia inermis, produces a burgundy dye molecule, lawsone. This molecule has an affinity for bonding with protein, and thus has been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. Henna's indigenous zone is the tropical savannah and tropical arid zone, in latitudes between 15° and 25° N and S from Africa to the western Pacific rim, and produces highest dye content in temperatures between 35°C and 45°C. It does not thrive where minimum temperatures are below 11°C. Temperatures below 5°C will kill the henna plant. The dye molecule, lawsone, is primarily concentrated in the leaves, and is in the highest levels in the petioles of the leaf. Products sold as "black henna" or "neutral henna" are not made from henna, but may be derived from indigo (in the plant Indigofera tinctoria) or Cassia obovata, and may contain unlisted dyes and chemicals.[3]

Henna is commercially cultivated in western India, Pakistan, Morocco, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Egypt, and Bangladesh. Presently the Pali district of Rajasthan is the most heavily cultivated henna production area in India, with over 100 henna processors operating in Sojat City.

Though henna has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age, henna has had a recent renaissance in body art due to improvements in cultivation, processing, and the emigration of people from traditional henna using regions.[4]

In the King James Version of the Bible, the book Song of Songs / Song of Solomon refers to henna as "camphire." Modern English translations, however, render the word as "henna".[original research?]"

So essentially it is a plant that comes from the Rajistan India region where we were and has several purposes with one being body art. In the pictures you can see a woman putting it on my hand. She was using a pastry sleeve and putting the design on my hand. We let it dry for about 10 minutes and then she scraped it off with a hair pin. As the day went on the design turned more orange and was more visible. I'm not certain, but I think most designs last a few days. There are henna parlors that look like tatoo shops all over where you can get this done. It was a very fun and native experience.