An article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
History of saffron The history of the tea, in its cultivation and use, goes back more than 3,500 years and crosses many cultures, continents and civilisations. Saffron a condiment problem of Stigma dried safflower flowers ( Crocus sativus ), is one of the most expensive substances in the world , in all of history. With its bitter taste, its almost hay-like odour and its slightly metallic tones, saffron is used as a condiment , fragrance , tincture and medicine . Saffron comes from Middle East but was first cultivated in Greece .
Flower's wild ancestor domestic saffron is Crocus cartwrightianus . Farmers have increased copy of C. cartwrightianus by selecting plants with particularly long stigmas. By crossing from the end Bronze Age , appeared in Crete a mutant form of C. cartwrightianus , C. sativus . The first reference to saffron was spotted in writing Botany asirian dating from Assurbanipal ( vii - read read BC ). Since then documents have been found indicating the use of saffron for over 4000 years in the treatment of about ninety diseases. Saffron then slowly spread in Eurasia , later ending up in Africa de North , North America and Oceania .
In Greco-Roman culture
Saffron has played a significant role in Classical Greco-Roman period (The viii - read read BC. To iii - read century However, the first appearance of saffron in Greek culture is older and dates back to Bronze Age . A saffron crop can be seen on one of the frescoes in Minoan Crete at the Palace Knossos depicting flowers picked by virgins and monkeys . One of the sites of these frescoes is in Xeste 3 building from Akrotiri on the Greek island Santorini (also known in ancient Greek as Thera ). Xeste 3 are dated 1600-1500 BC. AD (several dates have been given as 3000-1100 BC or xvii - read read BC They represent a Greek goddess overseeing the harvesting of flowers and the selection of stigmas to be used to make a medicine. A fresco from the same site also shows a woman using saffron to treat her bleeding leg. These Thera frescoes are the first accurate pictorial representations of the use of saffron as a medicinal plant. The Minoan saffron-growing lands of Akrotiri in Santorini were eventually destroyed by a terrible earthquake and volcanic eruption between 1645 and 1500 BC. Volcanic ash buried the saffron frescoes, allowing them to be preserved.
Ancient Greek legends depict fearless sailors embarking on long and dangerous voyages to the far-off lands of Cilicia where they thought they could bring back what they considered to be the most valuable saffron in the world. The best-known saffron legend is the story of Crocus and Smilax: Crocus, a handsome young man, pursues nymph Smilax in the woods nearby Athens . In their brief period of idyllic love, Smilax finds herself under the spell of his advances, then begins to tire of his attentions. As Crocus insists despite his reluctance, she comes to bewitch him, transforming the young Crocus into a saffron flower, its fiery orange stigmata symbolising her undying passion for Smilax. Tragedy and spice will later be evoked by Ovidiu :
"And you, Celmis, now a diamond, once very faithful to Jupiter in childhood,
and you, the clean, born of abundant rain, and you, who have become
Little flowers, Crocus and Smilax, I will pass you in silence.
I'll hold your spirits with the glamour of a new story. "
- Ovid, Metamorphosis
For ancient Mediterranean peoples, the saffron of the coastal city Soles ( Cilicia ) was the most valuable, especially when used as perfumes and ointments. However, figures like Herodot and Pliny the Elder and- the competitors appreciated Assyrians and Babylonians in Fertile Crescent as better treatments for gastrointestinal and kidney disorders. Quality of safflower from the burrow Korikos , in Cilicia , is mentioned by some ancient authors (including Strabo, XIV, 5). The colour of the corycian crocus is mentioned for comparison in Argonautica his Apollonius of Rhodes , and its fragrance in Epigrams from Martial .
At the end Ptolemaic Egypt , Cleopatra a poured a quarter of a cup of saffron into his hot baths to benefit from its cosmetic properties and colouring qualities. She also used it before meeting men, believing in its aphrodisiac properties. Egyptian healers used saffron as a treatment for a wide variety of gastro-intestinal ailments. For example, when an upset stomach turns into internal haemorrhaging, an Egyptian treatment consisted of safflower flower seeds mixed and crushed with aager tree waste, beef fat, coriander , and myrrh . This ointment or poultice is applied to the body. Doctors of the day expected "[expulsion] of blood from the mouth or rectum, which resembles pig's blood when cooked". The urinary system are also treated with an oleaginous emulsion of early safflower flowers mixed with roasted beans; it is applied topically to humans. Women ingest a more complex preparation.
In this Greco-Roman period, thanks Phoenicians , the saffron trade was widespread in the Mediterranean. Their customers ranged from perfumers to Rosetta from Egypt to doctors in Gaza , to the inhabitants of Rhodes who carried small bags of saffron to conceal the presence of their perfumed fellow countrymen on theatre trips. For the Greeks, saffron is often associated with courting professional and domestic known as hetairi . Plus, the factory large dyeing from Sidon and Tyre use saffron baths as ersatz . There, royal robes are dipped three times in dark purple dyes; for the gowns of suitors and commoners, the last two baths are actually saffron-based, which opens up the purple hue.
From Greeks yes Roma appreciate saffron for its use as a perfume and deodorant. They spread it in public spaces such as royal halls and courts or amphitheatres. When the emperor Black a entered in Rome, saffron was spread on the streets, wealthy Romans took saffron baths every day. They use saffron as mascara , mix saffron threads in wines theirs , spread it in halls and streets in potpourri and offers it organisations them . Roman colonists took saffron with them when they settled in the south Galicia . It was cultivated there intensively until barbarian invasions from 271 BC. AD Various theories clash over the saffron's arrival in France, with some Moors in century at viii- read other Avignon Papacy in century at xiv- read .
Pigsaffron mints have been found in prehistoric paintings used for drawing wild animals in the broken art 50,000 years old, found in Irakul current . More recent, Sumerians used saffron as an ingredient in magic remedies and potions. They did not cultivate saffron and preferred to harvest it from wild flowers, believing that only divine intervention conferred saffron's medicinal properties. Such testimonies confirm that saffron was used long before the peak of its cultivation in Crete during the II - THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT read millennium BC. Saffron AD has also been praised for 3,000 years in the Tanakhul Hebrew for its sweet fragrance:
In Persia , saffron (especially the 'Hausknechtii' variety) is grown in Derbent and Isfahan in x - read century BC BC a Persian saffron was found there interspersed in royal carpets and shrouds. Saffron is used there by the faithful as an offering to their deities, but also as a bright yellow pigment, perfume and medicine. So saffron threads are scattered on beds and served in hot teas to ward off attacks of melancholy . In fact, many foreigners suspect that the Persian saffron threads used to flavour food and teas are sedative and aphrodisiacs . These fears explain travellers' concerns about tasting Persian saffron cuisine. Dissolved in water with sandalwood , saffron is used in Persia to wash sweaty bodies after hard labour under the scorching Persian sun. Later, Persian saffron was widely used by Alexander the Great and his armies during their Asian campaigns. They use it in tea and dine on rice saffron. Alexander even sprinkles it on his hot baths. He believes he can heal his many wounds this way, and his confidence grows with each treatment. He goes so far as to recommend saffron baths to his subordinates. Greek soldiers, under the spell of its supposed healing virtues, continued to use it on their return to Macedonia . Cultivation of saffron is what it is today Turkey with harvests concentrated around the city Safranbolu in the north; this region is still known for its annual festivals around the saffron harvest.
