The ancient Egyptians were skilled in the use of herbs and spices for medicines, cooking, cosmetics, perfumes and many other purposes. The author draws on texts by the Egyptians and their neighbours, and on works by classical authors and the Copts, to reconstruct a herbal of 94 species of plants and trees, used earlier than the pharoahs and up to the Coptic period. It reveals, for instance, that celery was used as a contraceptive, wild bananas as an aphrodisiac, and juniper berries as cure for asthma.
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The ancient Egyptians were skilled in the use of herbs and spices for medicines, cooking, cosmetics, perfumes and many other purposes. The author draws on texts by the Egyptians and their neighbours, and on works by classical authors and the Copts, to reconstruct a herbal of 94 species of plants and trees, used earlier than the pharoahs and up to the Coptic period. It reveals, for instance, that celery was used as a contraceptive, wild bananas as an aphrodisiac, and juniper berries as cure for asthma.
Read Less