chronicle: exotic spices in the ancient world

In the ancient world, spices were rare, powerful, and often misunderstood. They were grown under moonlight, traded across continents, and woven into the earliest known recipes ever recorded. Their origins were distant, their journeys uncertain, and their value immense. To follow these spices is to follow the beginnings of connection itself, where civilizations reached beyond their borders in search of something fragrant, potent, and just out of reach.

The great early civilizations were all acquainted with various types of herbs and spices. While today we tend to view spices mainly for their flavors, in the ancient world, spice was also seen as having magical and religious properties, and were used as medicines, perfumes and even as early anti-microbials.

The Mesopotamian Spice Tradition

The Mesopotamian civilizations which included the Sumerians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians, among others, prized many spices, including thyme, cardamom, anise, cumin, saffron, coriander, dill and turmeric. The Babylonians believed that herbs and spices used for healing fell under the protection of the moon god Sin (SEEN), and thus many spices were cultivated in the moonlight to imbue them with their full potency.

The World's Oldest Recipe: Tuh'u

From the Yale Collection

One recipe, which now resides in the Yale collection (and is still available for the adventuresome archaeo-cook), is for a rich mutton and beet stew called Tuh'u (too-uh) which is flavored with such spices as cumin, coriander, and garlic.

There is also some evidence that the Mesopotamian civilizations used spices as flavoring in some of the many forms of beer that they brewed. Some beer from this region was known to be sweetened with date syrup and may have been flavored with such spices and herbs as cardamom, cumin, mint, fennel, and mustard seed, among others.

Anyone for a pint of date mint beer?

Ancient Egypt: Garlic, Gods & the Great Pyramids

In the nearby Nile river valley, the ancient Egyptians were also busy integrating herbs and spices into both their culinary and spiritual life. Perhaps nothing symbolizes ancient Egypt like the great pyramids, and the legions of builders necessary to construct these timeless, massive monuments were said to be fed by mountains of garlic and wild onion. So, in addition to the merciless desert sun and backbreaking labor, one presumes we can add chronic bad breath to the list of miseries inflicted on the laborers.

Indeed, the flavor of garlic was so prized by the ancient Egyptians, that some had wooden garlic cloves placed in their tombs with them, presumably to guarantee a garlic supply for all eternity.

Spices & the Mummification Process

In our previous discussion of the early use of salt, we discussed how salt, in this case, a salt called natron (NAY-tron), was used by the Egyptians in the mummification process. As it turns out, mummies were not just salty, but spicy as well.

Thus, unintentionally perhaps, we have what must be one of the earliest pairings of salt and pepper in history, though perhaps not how we would like to enjoy it!

Spice Trade Networks: East Meets West

Interestingly, some of the spices used by the Egyptians such as cassia and cinnamon, and others cultivated in the gardens of the Babylonians such as cardamom and turmeric were not native to their regions. Thus, extensive trade networks must have evolved to places much further east, such as the early civilization centers in India and China.

Cloves & the Emperor's Court

A Breath-Freshening Tradition

Both the Chinese and Indians have tales of cloves being used to sweeten breath. One tradition claims that any messenger to appear before the Chinese emperor had to keep cloves in his mouth before presuming to speak.

From the Spice Islands to the World

Nutmeg and cloves were introduced to the eastern civilizations from the Moluccas (muh-LUH-kuhs), the so-called Spice Islands in Indonesia, and traveled vast distances through early trade networks to reach the courts of China and the markets of India.

The Ancient Greeks & the Mystery of Silphium

Turning to the ancient Greeks, Hippocrates, who is recognized as the Father of Medicine and lived between 460 and 377 BC, was a big proponent of herbs and spices for medicinal purposes. He wrote extensively on the proper use and cultivation of such spices as coriander, thyme, saffron, cinnamon and marjoram.

Interestingly, the herb that was perhaps most valued in the ancient world as both a food source, flavoring and medicine for a vast variety of ailments was silphium (SIL-fee-um). Silphium traded at a weight exchange equal to silver.

Don't go looking for it in the spice section of your grocery store today, however, for silphium is now extinct, leaving a spicy mystery as to the exact flavor and nature of this plant lost to history.

Alexander the Great & the Spice Trade

The Conqueror Who Changed the Spice World

Perhaps the biggest character whom the Greeks contributed to the history of world spice may have been Alexander the Great, who assumed kingship of the Greek province of Macedon in 336 BC. Considered one of the greatest conquerors of all time, Alexander took his soldiers on a romp through the ancient world, conquering a vast swath of land stretching from Egypt all the way to modern day India.

In the process, he paved the way for a massive new trade in spices from the eastern world to the Mediterranean, centered on the great port city of Alexandria.

The Road Ahead: Silk Roads & Spice Routes

These new trade routes would form the basis of great mercantile networks, further developed by the Romans, Arabs, and other later civilizations to carry spice and salt throughout the known world.

These fabled routes, such as the romantically called Silk Road, which stretched from China all the way to the Mediterranean world, will be the topic of our next discussion.

24 March, 2026