Ancient silver coin from Cyrene depicting a stalk of Silphium.

Silphium (also known as silphion or laser) was a plant of the genus Ferula. Generally considered to be an extinct "giant fennel" (although some claim that the plant is really Ferula tingitana), it once formed the crux of trade from the ancient city of Cyrene for its use as a rich seasoning and as a medicine. It was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the plant (illustration, right). This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Species See text Ferula is the Ferula or Giant fennel genus of plants of the Apiaceae family, including: - Asafoetida - Giant fennel - Galbanum - Musk root - Ferula Categories: Apiaceae ... Binomial name Foeniculum vulgare Mill. ... Cyrene, the ancient Greek city (in present-day Libya) was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region and gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. ... A coin is usually a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is issued by a government to be used as a form of money. ...

The valuble product was the resin (laser, laserpicium, or lasarpicium) of the plant. It was harvested in a manner similar to asafoetida, a plant with similar enough qualities to silphium that Romans, including the geographer Strabo, used the same word to describe both.^[1] Binomial name Ferula assafoetida L. Asafoetida (Ferula assafoetida, family Apiaceae) is a species of Ferula native to Iran. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ...

Aside from its uses in Greco-Roman cooking (as in recipes by Apicius), many medical uses were ascribed to the plant. It was said that it could be used to treat cough, sore throat, fever, indigestion, aches and pains, warts, and all kinds of maladies. Chiefly among its medical uses, according to Pliny the Elder, was its role as a herbal contraceptive. Given that many species in the parsley family have estrogenic properties, and some (such as Wild carrot) have been found to work as an abortifacient, it is quite possible that the plant was pharmacologically active in the prevention or termination of pregnancy. Legend said that it was a gift from the god Apollo. It was used widely by most ancient Mediterranean cultures; the Romans considered it "worth its weight in denarii." Apicius was a name applied to three celebrated Roman epicures, the first of whom lived during the Republic; the second of whom, Marcus Gavius (or Gabius) Apicius—the most famous in his own time—lived under the early Empire; a third lived in the late 4th or early 5th century. ... See Fever for the Kylie Minogue album; Fever is also a song by Otis Blackwell. ... Wart is also the name of a Nintendo character, see Wart (Nintendo character). ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... An abortifacient is a substance that induces miscarriage or abortion. ... Genera See text Ref: Hortiplex 2003-11-14 The Apiaceae, the carrot or parsley family, are a family of usually aromatic plants with hollow stems, including parsley, carrot, and other relatives. ... Estrogens (also oestrogens) are a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the oestrus cycle, functioning as the primary female sex hormone. ... Binomial name Daucus carota Species Daucus carota Wild carrot or Queen Annes lace, Daucus carota, is the ancestor of the domesticated carrot of Europe, widely introduced in North America. ... An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. ... Statue of Apollo at the British Museum. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... First row : c. ...

Extinction

The reason for silphium's supposed extinction is not entirely known. The plant grew along a narrow coastal area, about 125 by 35 miles, in Cyrenaica (in present-day Libya). Much of the speculation about the cause of its extinction rests on a sudden demand for animals who had grazed on the plant, for some supposed effect on the quality of the meat. Overgrazing combined with overharvesting may have led to its extinction. The climate of the maghreb has been drying over the millennia, and desertification may also have been a factor. Another theory is that when Roman provincial governors took over power from Greek colonists, they over-farmed silphium and rendered the soil unable to yield the type that was said to be of such medicinal value. Theophrastus reports that the type of ferula specifically referred to as "silphium" was odd in that it only grew in the wild, but could not be successfully grown as a crop in tilled soil. The validity of this report is questionable, however, as Theophrastus was merely passing on a report from another source. The Roman Empire ca. ... The Maghreb (المغرب العربي ; sometimes also rendered Moghreb), meaning western in Arabic, is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert and west of the Nile — specifically, the modern countries of Morocco, Western Sahara (annexed and occupied by Morocco), Algeria, Tunisia, Libya — and to a much lesser extent... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Statue of Theophrastus Theophrastus, a native of Eressos in Lesbos born c. ...

Another theory, by J. S. Gilbert^{[citation needed]}, is that the silphium resin the Cyreneans exported was not derived solely from the plant itself but also incorporated insect parts containing the chemical cantharidin. In order to make the exported product palatable to Greek tastes, the insect component was not advertised. When Roman governors took over they brought in slave labor to handle the production of silphium, but the slaves did not know how to make the proper gum, and so the medicinally effective silphium "went extinct". Cantharidin is toxic to humans and, much like pennyroyal tea, the ingestion of a small amount of it would not necessarily kill a grown human, but it would certainly kill a developing embryo. Cantharidin is a poisonous chemical compound found in the Spanish fly. ... Binomial name Mentha pulegium L. The herb Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium, family Lamiaceae), is a member of the mint genus; an essential oil extracted from it is used in aromatherapy. ...

Connection with the heart symbol

Ancient silver coin from Cyrene depicting a seed/fruit of Silphium.

There has been some speculation about the connection between silphium and the traditional heart shape (♥). The symbol is remarkably similar to the Egyptian "heart soul" (ab). The sexual nature of that concept, combined with the widespread use of silphium in ancient Egypt for birth control, and the fact that the seeds of silphium are shaped like a heart as shown in the left illustration, leads to speculation that the character for ab may have been derived from the shape of the silphium seed. Image File history File links Cyrenecoin. ... Image File history File links Cyrenecoin. ... The traditional heart shape appears on a 1910 St. ... Ab is the Egyptian concept of the heart-soul, the principle of seven souls believed to be carried in a life. ... A ripe red jalapeno cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ...

Contemporaneous writings help tie silphium to sexuality and love, as laserpicium makes an appearance in a poem (Catullus 7) of Catullus to his lover Lesbia. As well as in Pausanias', Description of Greece in which he says Latin Text Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque. ... Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. ... Lesbia is the lover to whom the Roman poet Catullus dedicates a number of poems. ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ...

"For it so happened that his maiden daughter was living in it. By the next day this maiden and all her girlish apparel had disappeared, and in the room were found images of the Dioscuri, a table, and silphium upon it."^[2]

Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ...

Heraldry

Il silfio d’oro reciso di Cirenaica

In the Italian military heraldry Il silfio d’oro reciso di Cirenaica (The golden severed silphium of Cirenaica) was the symbol granted to the units that fought in the campaigns in North Africa during World War II. Image File history File links Araldiz_silfio. ... Image File history File links Araldiz_silfio. ... Heraldry is the art and science of designing, displaying, describing and recording coats-of-arms (also referred to as armorial bearings or simply as arms). Its origins lie in the need to distinguish participants in battles or jousts, whose faces were hidden by steel helmets. ...

References

• Herodotus. The Histories. II:161, 181, III:131, IV:150-165, 200-205.
• Theophrastus. Enquiry into Plants and Minor Works on Odors and Weather Signs. II:13- 21. (translation by Hort A. Cambridge, 1949.)
• Pliny the Elder. Natural History. XIX:38-46 and XXII:100-106.
• Dalby, Andrew (2002). Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices, University of California Press. ISBN 0520236742.
• Pausanias. Description of Greece 3.16.1-3

Notes

1. ↑ Dalby p. 18.
2. ↑ Pausanias 3.16.3

Further reading

• Gemmill CL. Silphium. Bull History of Med 40(4): 295-313. July-Aug, 1966.
• Riddle JM, Estes JW, Russell JC. Birth Control in the Ancient World. Archeology, pp 27-33, March-April, 1994.
• Riddle JM. Eve's Herbs: a History of Contraception and Abortion in the West. pp 44-46. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 1997.
• Fisher N. Laser-Quests: Unnoticed Allusions to Contraception in a Poem and a Princeps? Classics Ireland 3:73-97. 1996.
• Koerper HC, Kolls AL. The Silphium Motif Adorning Ancient Libyan Coinage: Marketing a Medical Plant. Economic Botany 53(2):133-143. April-June, 1999.
• Buttrey TV. Part I: The Coins from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone. in White D (Ed). Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene Libya, Final Reports: Vol. VI. pp 1-66. Philadelphia. 1997.
• Tameanko M. The Silphium Plant: Wonder Drug of the Ancient World Depicted on Coins. Celator 6(4):26-28. April, 1992.
• Favorito EN, Baty K. The Silphium Connection. Celator 9(2):6-8. Feb, 1995.
• Tatman JL. Silphium, Silver and Strife: A History of Kyrenaika and Its Coinage. Celator 14(10):6-24. Oct, 2000.
• Wright WS. Silphium Rediscovered. Celator 15(2):23-24. Feb 2001.

External links

• John Tatman, "Silphium: ancient wonder drug?"
• David W. Tschanz; "Ancient Herbal Contraception"
• Silphium and Ancient Roman Cookery at Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages
• The Secret of the Heart