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

Mad honey comes from a group of plant-produced neurotoxins named after Leucothoe grayana, a plant native to Japan. Grayanotoxins can...

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...

Khet represents the physical body and is considered part of the soul in ancient Egypt. The soul is made of eight parts. Together they...

Salt is an essential mineral of life. In food it stimulates taste and is among the oldest preservation methods. Part of the human taste...

Pomegranate ( Punica granatum ) is one of the seven ancient foods of the southern Mediterranean. Figs are also part of the group....

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

Cinnamon birds appear in folklore of Eurasia shortly after Arab merchants begin trading with ancient lands to the north. Cinnamon enjoys...

Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum ) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians...

Dumuzi and Geshtinanna are brother and sister deities in Mesopotamia. Dumuzi, a god of shepherds and fertility, is consort of Inanna ....

Nigella sativa or kalonji is a blackseed plant with healing properties. Use in cooking and folk medicine is documented by the 2nd...

Kushuh (Kušuḫ) is the oracular moon god of the Hurrians. He's among the most popular gods of the pantheon, with worship centers in...

The Minoan Genius (pl. Genii) spirit appears as a hybrid animal merger of animals which can include lion, snake, hippopotamus, crocodile,...

The Yamnaya or Yamna people occupy the Ponti-Caspian Steppe about 3300 BCE, with a tribal origin going back to Neolithic times. In the...

In the Bronze Age, the Trzciniec culture (2400 - 1300 BCE) occupies areas of Central-East Europe in Poland and parts of Lithuania....

In natural health, magic and alchemy the fragrant herb rosemary ( Salvia rosmarinus ) is associated with memory, immortality and...

Liber is an ancient Roman wine god whose feast Liberalia is celebrated March 17. He predates Bacchus; early historians see Liber as a...