Cinnamon (Cinnamomum) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians aquire cinnamon through trade. Besides use as a scent and flavoring, cinnamon has ritual, healing and spiritual benefits.
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Cinnamomum verum or C. zeylanicu (Ceylon cinnamon) from Sri Lanka is considered the true cinnamon. Most cinnamon on the market comes from four other species, called "cassia":
C. burmanni (Indonesian cinnamon or Padang cassia)
C. cassia (Chinese cinnamon or Chinese cassia)
C. loureiroi (Saigon cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia)
C. citriodorum (Malabar cinnamon)
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With 43% of the world market today, China is the biggest producer of cassia cinnamon. 80% of Ceylon cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka, an island off the southeast coast of India.
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Herodotus (c. 484 - 425 BCE) asserts cinnamon and cassia both grow in Arabia, together with incense, myrrh and labdanum. The trees are guarded by winged serpents.
Aristotle describes giant cinnamon birds who collect cinnamon sticks from an unknown land where the trees grow, and use them to build their nests on cliffsides. According to Aristotle, the Arabs cut oxen into pieces and scatter the pieces.
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When the giant cinnamon birds carry the meat to their nests, the weight breaks the nests. The Arabians can then collect the fallen cinnamon sticks.
In the above manuscript from the Middle Ages in France (c. 1450 CE) the bird is shown nesting in a tree, while a person twirls a sling with a rock. The rock is either to kill the bird, knock down the nest or frighten the bird away from the nest.
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The cinnamon referred to by Herodotus and Aristotle is Cassia senna, found on the Arab peninsula. The fanciful giant cinnamon birds come from tales told by traders to hide their sources and increase the value of the products.
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A treasured spice in the ancient world, cinnamon is considered an appropriate gift for kings and queens. In Egypt's Ptolemaic Kingdom 305 - 30 BCE, cinnamon is one of the plants or oils used to embalm the deceased. Rosemary is also used for embalming.
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Egyptian recipes for kyphi, an aromatic compound incense, includes cinnamon and cassia. Various recipes exist. The incense is rolled into balls and placed on a brazier or fire grill.
Ingredients may include honey, wine, raisins, myrrh, juniper berries, cyperus, turpentine (pine resin), aspalathus (Cape gorse), calamus (sweet flag) and rush. Calamus is thought to have psychoactive properties.
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In magic and spiritualism, cinnamon has several uses. It blocks negative energy and enhances the senses. It cleanses the divination space and objects and allows intuitive and psychic energies to flow. Cinnamon is thought to have wealth-drawing powers.
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Gifts of Hellenistic rulers to temples often include cassia and cinnamon. The word cassia comes from the Hebrew meaning 'to strip off bark'. Inner bark stripped from the tree dries in the familiar curled tubes of cinnamon.
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The spice trade is originally a maritime connection traveling from ports in China, Java, India, Persia, Arabia, northeast Africa, Egypt, the Mediterranean and finally Rome in the final centuries BCE.
The famous Silk Roads originate about 130 BCE, when the Chinese Emperor agrees to trade with the west. These are incorporated with existing overland and maritime routes.
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Trade routes in place at the time include the maritime Jade Roads, the Amber Roads, Steppe Routes and Tin Trade Routes. Trade is the lifeline of every society from prehistory onward.
The practice of trade unites clans and kingdoms, creates the first main roads and boosts technology such as metallurgy and the creation of bronze. Trade spreads news and advances in agriculture and animal husbandry.
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Stronger strains of grain and livestock breeds increase prosperity of households and empires. Spices purveyed along the ancient spice routes include cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove and turmeric.
Cinnamon grows as small trees or bushes about 10ft (3 m) high. They're first harvested in their third year and produce for 50 - 60 years.
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Most have medicinal as well as flavor attributes. Spices are part of the natural healing cultures of China, India and other civilizations.
According to Pliny the Elder (1st century CE), cinnamon is brought around the Arabian peninsula on "rafts without rudders or sails or oars", taking advantage of the winter trade winds.
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Flavoring and fragrance of cinnamon is well known and loved. Medicinal benefits of cinnamon include antioxidant, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory properties inherent in the bark and other tree parts, such as flowers.
Cinnamon tea or cinnamon water before bed has relaxation benefits and helps promote a restful sleep. It's used in folk medicine to treat indigestion and stomach ailments.
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In antiquity no one knows exactly where cinnamon is sourced. Like many purveyors, those with access to the aromatic bark carefully guard their secrets.
In the time of Pliny the Elder, a Roman pound (327 grams or 11.5 oz) of cassia cinnamon (serichatum), costs up to 1,500 denarii, the wage of fifty months' labour.
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Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices from 301 AD gives a price of 125 denarii for a pound of cassia. An agricultural labourer earns 25 denarii per day.
Cinnamon is too expensive to be commonly used on funeral pyres in Rome. It's said the Emperor Nero burns a year's worth of the city's supply in 65 CE, at the funeral for his wife Poppaea Sabina.
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