Herbal in Sumerian and Egypt

Herbal in Sumerian and Egypt

The Sumerian Civilization began in Mesopotamia in3400 BC and one of its most important contributions was the invention of writing. During peacetime, this state was run by priests who made written records on tablets of baked clay with the point of a graver or sculpting tool. Thus, there still exists today a clay tablet dating from 3000 BC giving formulas for poultices made from mixing water, wine and milk with herbs such as thyme and mustard.

Medical knowledge developed gradually and it is from the Egyptians that we have an idea of how the herbs were first used. Archaeologists discovered detailed prescriptions written on papyrus, dating from after 1800 BC. Known as the Ebers Papyrus, this lists the symptoms of diseases, and instructs how to mix up and administer the cures. Religion and healing were still fused together, combining the god Thoth, believed to have imparted medical knowledge, and Imhotep, the first known physician of Egypt, worshipped as a god after his death.

It was in the ceremonies of death that the Egyptians could really draw on their plant knowledge, and the practice of embalming used fragrant resins and gums from trees such as myrrh, frankincense or Balm of Gilead. They also used anise and marjoram for mummification, and buried herbs in the tombs when they were sealed. The mummies were often wound in linen, woven from the fibers of the flax plant. The builders of the pyramids in Egypt were given onion and garlic every day to prevent scurvy and to keep them healthy for work.
The Egyptians were also highly skilled in preparing cosmetics and perfumes and they imported many aromatics from the East. Cedar wood oil was massaged into the body after bathing to keep the skin supple; henna was used as rouge for the cheeks and for dying finger- and toe-nails red; and a cream from quince fruits was used as a moisturizer for the face. Queen Cleopatra is famous for her lavish use of perfumes.

Hebrew medicines had much in common with those Egypt, using many resins and spices and, in the temples; holy oils were used to anoint the sacred utensils while aromatics were burned during services. There are many Old Testaments references to herbs, such as anise, mint, lavender and cumin, as well as more exotic species, such as spikenard from India.

Parallel cultures in India and China recorded the use of herbs in medicine. The Rig-Veda of India and the later Ayurveda were great works of learning, detailing the use of herbal remedies, and were the basis for the Indian system of medicine. In China, the earliest herbal dates from around 2700 BC and describes many toxic plants as well as herbs like the Chinghai Rhubarb which is still used in China for treating constipation. The Chinese were practiced in the difficult skill of mixing up many different herbs into one prescription.

Herbs through History

Herbs through History

Prehistoric peoples, who were nomads and hunters, learnt to use the plants around them for food and in ceremonies of ritual magic linked with healing. There was no division between medicine and religion, and the person who had knowledge of healing plants would be seen as being close to Mother Earth. This sacred knowledge, which gave power and prestige first to Shamaness (the medicine woman) and then Medicine Man, would be passed down by word of mouth to initiates. Herbs would be used in one of the most significant of rituals, that of burials, and there is evidence that Neanderthal people covered their dead in flowers when they were buried.

As early races began to settle into agricultural communities, they cultivated some of the most used herbs or had special places near at hand were they could be gathered. This was a time when mot cults were based around Mother Goddess and her son and the cyclical mysteries of birth, death and re-birth as seen in the early cycle of sowing and harvesting corn. We only speculate about the plants they might have venerated, or that played part of their seasonal rituals, and it is with the civilization of Sumeria and Egypt that we first have some written evidence of early herbalism.

What is Herb?

What is Herb?

What is herb? Many people define herbs as plants which have a use in some aspect of our lives. This maybe a broad definition, but it encompasses those herbs throughout history that have been harvested for cooking, medicine and cosmetics, as well as for the household use, religion and celebrations. If we narrow the boundaries of what is or is not a herb, we exclude plants such as teasel, traditionally use for the nap on cloth, or honesty, believed in the past to cure “moon” madness as its transparent seeds pods resemble moons. Some plants, like honesty, are included in herb collections purely fed as or their historic symbolism though they are not used as a herb today. In the past, what we now term vegetables were called ‘pot herbs’, so we can embrace all these ideas by simply calling a herb ‘a useful plant’.