Chemical analyses of ancient organics absorbed into pottery jars from the beginning of advanced ancient Egyptian culture, ca. 3150 B.C., and continuing for millennia have revealed that a range of natural products—specifically, herbs and tree resins—were dispensed by grape wine. These findings provide chemical evidence for ancient Egyptian organic medicinal remedies, previously only ambiguously documented in medical papyri dating back to ca. 1850 B.C. They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
From Discussions and conclusions;
quote:Until now, textual sources, in particular a series of medical papyri, have provided the primary evidence for the ancient Egyptian materia medica, which was renowned in the ancient world (11, 12, 31). The majority of the papyri belong to the New Kingdom, including the longest one, the 108-page Ebers papyrus, dated to ca. 1550 B.C. Several papyri have been dated as early as the mid-12th Dynasty, ca. 1850 B.C., and the Egyptian word for “physician” (swnw), which involved diagnosing disease and often included treatment with herbal remedies, occurs as early as Dynasty 3, ca. 2650 B.C. (12). A later tradition, which is not independently supported, states that Djer, the second pharaoh of Dynasty 1, was also a swnw (12); this is an intriguing possibility that may relate to the chemical findings from tomb U-j, because Djer ruled shortly after Scorpion I, ca. 3100 B.C., and his tomb at Abydos is close to U-j.
The prescriptions in the papyri, numbering more than 1,000, present a detailed picture of the ancient Egyptian pharmacopeia, even if more than 80% of some 160 hieroglyphic plant names defy translation. Many vegetables and fruits, including garlic, onion, celery, Cyperus grass tubers, watermelon, fig, moringa, persea, and zizyphus, for example, figure prominently as ingredients in the formulations; however, by far the most numerous are alcoholic beverages (wine and beer), tree resins (e.g., terebinth, pine, frankincense, myrrh, fir), and herbs of all kinds (e.g., bryony, coriander, cumin, mandrake, dill, aloe, wormwood). These plants and their exudates are described as being macerated; mixed together; steeped as a decoction or infusion in wine or vinegar, beer, honey, milk, oil, and/or water; strained; and administered for specific ailments (e.g., laxatives, emollients, expectorants, anthelmintics, analgesics, diuretics, aphrodisiacs). Many of the ingredients are still part of the herbal medical tradition of modern Egypt.
Among the most probable herbal additives to the Abydos wine, only coriander is known by its ancient Egyptian name (š3w). Eight baskets (half a liter) of coriander mericarp in the tomb of Tutankhamun underline its importance in ancient Egyptian culture and medicine (32). Coriander is explicitly listed in several medical prescriptions (11). Thus, stomach problems called for drinking a beer mixed with this herb, bryony, flax, and dates. For the treatment of blood in the stool, it was to be grated and mixed with chaste-tree and another unidentified fruit, infused into beer, strained, and drunk. For treating herpes, an external salve was prepared from coriander seeds, myrrh, and fermented honey.
The other herbal additive possibilities for the Abydos wine—balm, senna, germander, mint, sage, savory, and thyme—are yet to be certainly identified by their Egyptian names, although more intensive linguistic study promises their elucidation. For example, quite possibly, ‘k3y in a recipe for kyphi (11), a well-known temple fumigant and beverage additive, is to be translated as “mint.” According to inscriptions in the late first millennium B.C. temples at Edfu and Philae, kyphi was prepared by grinding and sieving equal amounts of sweet flag (Acorus calamus), aromatic rush (Andropogon schoenanthus), terebinth resin, cassia, mint, and possibly aspalathus. This powder was then combined with separately prepared concoctions of wine with juniper berries, Cyperus and other plants, raisins and wine, and frankincense and honey. The addition of finely ground myrrh completed the recipe.
This literary attestation of an ancient Egyptian resinated herbal wine has only been partly borne out by our analysis of the Abydos sample, because, apart from the wine itself and possibly mint, the other plant components of kyphi were not chemically attested. We are not arguing that kyphi, per se, had been developed and used as early as 3150 B.C. Rather, our contention is that plant additives, including various herbs and tree resins, were already being dispensed via alcoholic beverages millennia earlier than the Edfu and Philae temple inscriptions.
The most probable herbal additives to the Abydos wine, on current evidence, share another important feature in common: nearly all were domesticated or cultivated in the southern Levant in advance of their introduction into Egypt (33). This circumstance is in accord with the wine in the Abydos jars having most likely been made in this region. Beginning ca. 3000 B.C., as the domesticated grapevine was transplanted to the Nile Delta, one may reasonably hypothesize that some southern Levantine herbs accompanied or soon followed it into the gardens and fields of the country. These developments considerably expanded the Egyptian pharmacopeia.
Other researchers have begun to report botanical and chemical evidence for herbal concoctions in alcoholic beverages. From about the same time as the Abydos wine, native rosemary and mint, together with thyme, were added to a fermented emmer wheat-barley beverage at Genó in Spain (34). Wild rosemary was also an ingredient, along with bog myrtle, yarrow, and other herbs, in gruit, the principal bittering agent in early medieval European beer (35).
Other archaeochemical and archaeobotanical evidence for rosemary is of special interest, because only this herb had a high probability of having been added to the Gebel Adda resinated wine. Unfortunately, the ancient Egyptian word for the herb is unknown; thus, its place in Egyptian medicine cannot be tracked. It is known that rosemary was a popular food flavorant in Roman and Byzantine times (36) when the Gebel Adda resinated wine was produced. Moreover, it contains numerous antioxidant compounds (e.g., rosmarinic acid, carnosol) that have potentially wide-ranging medical benefits (37–38).
Although much remains to be discovered about ancient Egyptian herbal wines, our chemical findings from Abydos and Gebel Adda, together with the results from Malkata, attest to their great antiquity and importance from the country's initial unification under the pharaohs and continuing for millennia.
Further refinements in analytical techniques will undoubtedly reveal other important compounds in ancient wines. For example, the Gebel Adda sample was recently analyzed by Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance/MS. Signals consistent with the structure of resveratrol, the well-known antioxidant that has anticancer effects and has been shown to extend life in many organisms, were detected. Follow-up confirmatory studies by ultraperformance liquid chromatography/MS are now being carried out (P. Schmitt-Kopplin, R. Gougeon, personal communication, 2009).
Posts: 6572 | From: N.Y.C....Capital of the World | Registered: Jun 2008
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They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
Oh lordy, millions of years? Say it ain't so sam. I thought the further back in time one went folks were dumb.
Posts: 2118 | From: midwest, USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Grumman: They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
Oh lordy, millions of years? Say it ain't so sam. I thought the further back in time one went folks were dumb.
Are you saying in our present day society we are not well beyond the simple knowledge of plant use for medicinal purposes?
If not, then I don't get your point!
Btw, millions of years ago is certainly talking about Homo Erectus....
Posts: 6572 | From: N.Y.C....Capital of the World | Registered: Jun 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Grumman: They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
Oh lordy, millions of years? Say it ain't so sam. I thought the further back in time one went folks were dumb.
Our earlier hominid ancestors existed for millions of years. Tool use isn't just confined to the homo sapien sapiens, my friend.
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Are you saying in our present day society we are not well beyond the simple knowledge of plant use for medicinal purposes?''
I'm not saying that at all. But the article does say this: They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
What I am saying is according to the linear progression (evolution) timeline, it seems strange to be saying we, today, are ''just beginning to isolate compounds'' when the ancients, millions of years ago(?) knew that eating the stuff contained some medicinal properties. So if they were dumb, according to the linear timeline, how would they know to eat something that would improve their lot, unless they knew it all along; which also says they must have been smarter than thought... would it not.
Bob_01 says,
Our earlier hominid ancestors existed for millions of years. Tool use isn't just confined to the homo sapien sapiens, my friend.''
I agree. Trying to catch an animal with the knowledge of some type of plant and herb medicinal properties doesn't say much for the stomach growling when you're hungry.
Posts: 2118 | From: midwest, USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Getting back to the topic. This doesn't surprise me at all. Many societies in Africa use herbs in various drinks like tea and even wine.
Posts: 26252 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Grumman: They illustrate how humans around the world, probably for millions of years, have exploited their natural environments for effective plant remedies, whose active compounds have recently begun to be isolated by modern analytical techniques.
Oh lordy, millions of years? Say it ain't so sam. I thought the further back in time one went folks were dumb.
Are you saying in our present day society we are not well beyond the simple knowledge of plant use for medicinal purposes?
If not, then I don't get your point!
quote:Originally posted by Grumman: I'm not saying that at all.
Ok.
quote:Originally posted by Djehuti: Getting back to the topic. This doesn't surprise me at all. Many societies in Africa use herbs in various drinks like tea and even wine.
Indeed, it's the act of being more in tune with the earth and environment around you, this can be found amongst many indigenous people around the world who in fact still use such practices.....
Posts: 6572 | From: N.Y.C....Capital of the World | Registered: Jun 2008
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I thought the further back in time one went folks were dumb.
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