-Greek term describing what we could today breakdown into incense, perfumes, spices, and drugs

-perfume; broader implications than what there is today 

-was good to breathe, eat, or drink was also good for the gods, disease, and wounds 

-aromata; zest of life

-perfumes and such may have been considered basic necesities in ancient life

-conotations with smell

-bad= death/ illness

-derivative of perfume

-meaning "by smoke"

-connected to the spiritual role of perfumes

-sacrificial fires, where the smoke could transport the fragrance gifted by man to the gods

-smoke of sacrificial fires was food for the gods; thought they would die without it

resins

-sticky materials that are insoluble in water but often soluble in alcohol; often obtained from trees

-'queen of resins' turpentine from Chios but many others existed

-resins in general played a huge role in Arabian society 

-adhesives 

-used on wounds

-made wounds smell better 

-one of the few products that never decay in nature 

-Majno says it seems like there is a very good chance that it actually improved the healing of wounds 

-one of the two most important products of Arabia

-main source from the South Arabian coast and the Horn of Africa 

- archaic for 'choice incense'

-milky sap that oozes out of tress

-gave incense its Arabic name 'al luban'- coming from a root word meaning milk

-when dried for a week or two, dries into amber-colored oleo-gum-resin that when lit produces a good smell

-incense literally means 'that which is lit'

myrrh

- one of the two most important products from Arabia 

- main source from the South Arabian coast and the Horn of Africa

- tapped from a tree

- taste is bitter; the name myrrh comes from Hebrew and Arabic word 'murr' meaning 'bitter'

-used on wounds as salve 

- lotion of wine and myrrh used on burns 

- Majno states may have some antiseptic properties*

-favorite resin in the Hippocratic books; referenced 54 times  

-overall represents anceint world dependence on resins and other natural materials for wound healing

*Manjo relates antispetic properties to pefuming scent

-antiseptic volatile oils- thus smell is correlated to antiseptic powers  

-resin that rubbed onto to sheep as the brushed by plants, was combed off sheep with a speical gadget called ladanisterium 

-musklike perfume 

-another example of a resin that was utilized in the ancient world for a variety of applications

Castoreum

- like musk, animal product based perfume  

-most common one used in medicine was castoreum

-obtained from the rear end of the beaver

-specifically the scent glands between the anus and genital organs

-contains salicin and salicylic acid- aspirin! 

- 'happy Arabia' where the state of Yemen is currently located

-Roman given name; region where the Roman eventually tried to infiltrate but failed*

- where most Franincense and Myrrh grew 

-became a famous located, farmed for spices and other valuable natural products

-gained incredible wealth from the Incense Route; travelled by those looking to buy spices and other products to transport to sell in other countries 

*lots of bloodshed lost over spices and other valuable natural products

*cultures and societies destroyed over greed 

- a spice derived from the botanical family of Lauraceae

- bark from a tree

-bark is stripped and sun dried into little hollow canes 

-Cinnamon Route from India to Vietnam- open as early as 1500 B.C.

-cinnamon specifically is from India 

-Majno talks about the cost of cinnamon and cassia on human lives 

-the price it cost to transport; dangerous and expensive 

- not mentioned as being used on food

-metioned in the Bible and Hippocratic book for treating pain in the womb

-Majno states that 'recent' reports say cinnamon is a germicide 

- like cinnamon, from the botanical family Lauraceae 

- bark of cassia is rougher- often confused for low-grade cinnamon

- most of what is consumed is actually cassia

-like cinnamon, transported on The Cinnamon Route 

-specfically produced in North Vietnam and southern China

-cost of transportation in monetary and human life terms was high, similar to cinnamon 

- literally a 'medicine'

- mentioned in terms of wine preservation however so today we would probably translate to 'preservative' 

- wine is not the natural end product of fermentation 

- left alone it will produce a vinegar solution 

- thus something needs to be employed to stop fermentation 

-made a medicamentum to add to wine out of multiple different resins such as myrrh, turpentine. cassia, cardamon, saffron etc.

- did not want the taste of wine to be affected but enjoyed aromatic wines

- myrrh was one of the most common preservatives and fine wines were known for smelling of the resin 

- for the most part, this technique was known to work

*significance:  human fascination with wine lead to the development of pastuerization by Louis Pasteur in 1863

- 'pastuerization was born in wine, not milk'

1. How medically significant were Arabian spices? Give some specific examples of medical treatments with spices. How effective were these remedies?

- very medically significant

- used to treat all medical maladies

-specific examples

-slaves used to treat burns

-salved to reduce inflammation

- wound cleaners

-supposedly fairly effective

 - many of the spices used are found to have antibacterial or germicidal tendencies today 

- see cinnamon, myrrh, other products that contain aromatic volatile antiseptics 

2. Why is Arabia called felix? What nation states comprise “Arabia” and what does the epithet felix indicate about Arabia in the popular imagination of the time?

- Yemen is the current nation state that comprises Arabia felix

- Arabia is called felix because this region was the only region known for producing the all-valuable frankinsence and myrrh

            -brought incredible wealth to the region

- probably painted the image of a place that was literally happy, most likely due to its great wealth

- in reality, yes there was great wealth but the actual constitution of the land was that of semi-desert

-also, the great wealth attracted invasions from the Romans which caused great `   blood shed and destruction