Arabs love spices, and almost all Arab countries have special spice markets. More importantly, the Arabs used to use these spices to prevent and even cure diseases.
In the Middle East, where the Arabs live, spices have a long history. Archaeologists pointed out that as early as ancient Egypt, spices have been widely used, and the ancient Egyptians even considered spices to be “divine objects”. They were not only widely used in cooking to strengthen the body, but also made into balm or balm. The sesame oil is applied to the body, believing that it can make people deified, and they even use spices to make mummies, which can exorcise evil spirits, deodorize and prevent antiseptics.
Spices are very popular in Arab countries, and there are many varieties and categories. It is understood that Arabian spices are roughly divided into three categories: edible, medicinal and ordinary, especially the former two types, many of which are even of the same origin and use as medicine and food, mainly including cardamom, musk, cinnamon, Dozens of saffron, woody, clove, frankincense, cinnamon, musk, agarwood, camphor, etc. The roots, flowers, leaves and fruits of these spices are very important raw materials, and are usually used alone or in combination. For Arabs, mixed use is more common, China has “five-spice powder”, and Arabs have “seven-spice powder” and “nine-spice powder”.
Spice is an important consumer product in the daily life of the Arabs, with a huge market and huge profits. In Saudi Arabia, agarwood is an indispensable standing item for almost every family. Saudi Arabia consumes 500 tons of various spices every year, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Arabs have been using spices to prevent disease and keep fit. This is due to the development of medieval Arabian medicine. Before the birth of modern medicine, the Arabs used various spices and different plants to prevent and treat asthma, diabetes, stomach problems, constipation, eye and ear diseases, colds, fever, measles, urinary system diseases, toothache, epilepsy and skin diseases. disease. To this day, although there are more medical methods, some Arab concepts and traditions are still preserved and continue to be applied in practice.
For thousands of years, the Arabs have used frankincense as a medicine to aid digestion, treat heart and kidney diseases, and more. In the old days, Arab doctors smoked their clothes with strong frankincense when they visited the clinic, believing that it would be disinfected. From 1603 to 1666, there was a great plague in London that killed more than 80,000 people. However, the spice merchants in London were not affected by the plague because they were constantly exposed to frankincense. Arabs believe that pregnant women often chew frankincense to help promote the intellectual development of the fetus. In addition, the ancient Egyptians also used frankincense as an antiseptic. In 1922, when archaeologists opened the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, they found that in a sealed long-necked bottle, a faint scent of frankincense was emitted. Ancient Egyptian women used frankincense as a face mask, believing that it would make the face delicate and youthful.
The cinnamon familiar to the Chinese has also been used to the extreme by the Arabs. The Chinese use cinnamon as a cooking spice, while the Arabs use it to strengthen health and prevent diseases. They not only use cinnamon in large quantities when cooking food, but also make water with cinnamon, and even put cinnamon in tea and coffee. Arabs are generally tall and strong, which may have a lot to do with their regular consumption of various spices.
