Fermentation is used intentionally by c. 8000 BCE to create honey mead , a blend of fermented honey and water. Yeast is crucial to...

Maria or Mary the Jewess c. 100 AD is considered the first true alchemist. In her works she mentions a clear white herb growing on small...

Why do onions make people cry? The answer involves a combination of chemistry and enzymes. The trigger behind the tears is an organic...

Myrtle, Rose, Scammory and Flowers of Brass are four infused wines used medicinally in the ancient world. Infused wine in medicine often...

Portrimpo is a pagan Baltic sea god. Also known as Autrimpo he rules the sea, earth, grain and crops. One of the Old Prussian gods,...

Opium poppy (Papaver somnifum) is the common source of opium and derivatives such as morphine or heroin. All poppies produce the narcotic...

Honey bees create honey, beeswax and folklore. First domestication of the honeybee is c. 8000 BCE, in the Neolithic Age. At this time the...

Honey mead is likened to ambrosia , nectar of the Greek Gods, with qualities of immortality and divine transcendence, beloved by bears...

Rhododendron is a plant genus of the heather family. With bright showy flowers, this glamorous perennial is known for medicinal...

Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey. A saline soda lake, it's fed by numerous mountain streams. Van lacks a water outlet, making it...

Pistacia is a shrub or tree prized for food , resin, tannins, oils and natural turpentine for thousands of years in the Mediterranean...

Wheat, barley, millet and rice are four of the ancient grains, going back to the Neolithic agrarian revolution c. 10,000 BCE. Ancient...

Mugworts are used in folk medicine of India, China, Europe, America and other regions. A member of Artemisia , mugwort is also called...

Neolithic farmers in Britain and northern Europe are the first to drink milk. Early humans are lactose intolerant but consume dairy...

Broad beans ( Vicia faba ), faba or fava beans are cultivated as a crop from pre-Neolithic times to present day. Among the earliest...

Enki is an ancient Sumerian primary god worshiped for over 3000 years. He's among the first deities to emerge in Sumerian myth. Enki is a...

Urash (Uraš) is an ancient Mesopotamian earth goddess and wife of Anu , sky god and oldest deity. Anu has two other consorts, different...

Aruru is a goddess of vegetation with a nasty yen for violence. Her major cult centers are Sumerian sites Adab (Bismaya), Kesh and...

An innocuous shrub of desert regions, green ushtun ( Seidlitzia rosmarinus ) is used by ancients for soap and medicine. In Mesopotamia...

Watercress ( Nasturtium officinale ) grows in fresh water. With hollow stems, it floats and is easily gathered from the water's surface....