aSALT MADE THE WORLD GO ROUND -
?
Since the time of Hesiod for nearly 3000
years, both historians and archaeologists have neglected to discuss the importance of the
commodity salt [NaCl SodiumChloride ] in ancient times.
Up to the Industrial Revolution and in respect to
almost every scientific discipline the influence of salt has not been considered as a key
to the rise, fall or development of most ancient powers. The reason why archaeologists
and historians in particular have not been impressed by the importance of Salt, is
probably that pots, sherds, flints and metals have survived, whereas
alkali salts easily dissolved by wate are difficult to trace in ancient ruins. Also the terminology of the
word "Spice" has figured as a main object of trade in the past, flavored with a
romantic and exotic appeal. However it is clear that the most important spice was salt, a
non odorous, bulk commodity, and required by a civilised world in huge quantities.
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SALT (NaCl) - SALVATUS - SALVATION - COVENANT of most
religions
YOUR SALARY IS YOUR "worth in Salt"
SALARY / Webster Definition for:--
"salary"Cross references:--sal.a.ry \'sal-(*-)re-\ n [ME salarie, fr. L salarium
salt money, pension, salary, fr. neut.]ofsalarius of salt, fr. sal salt - more at SALT :
fixed compensation paid regularly forservices : OTHERS NOTES
on the ETYMOLOGY of SALT
MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE, is researching the
significance, of SALT [NaCl] through the period 1000 BC up to the Industrial Revolution.
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For detailed
references of statements made here, or Bibliography-
Please mail:
David Bloch -
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"SALT"
EMBRACES THESE DISCIPLINES and keywords:
PHYSIOLOGY & SALT
Water/NaCl ratio- Depravation Dehydration - Bromide / Chloride
ratio - Craving
GEOLOGY & SALT
Mining -Petroleum - Dunaliella Algae Solar ponds - The Dead
Sea, a sinkhole?
ECONOMICS & SALT
Money -Trade - Monopolies - Transport -
Protection -Temple Industries -Slavery
VIA SALARIUM
RELIGION & SALT
Sacrifice -Embalming -
Rites & Rituals - Kosher -
Slaughter
PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY & SALT
Sealevels - Solar evaporation
Salt Spray - Bromine -
Dust formation
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY & SALT
Icecores - Melting - Flooding -
Volcanic activity - Eustatic sealevel changes
ARCHAEOLOGY & SALT
Temples - Alters and Sewage Salterns - Ports - Stores
PRODUCTION OF SALT
Peat - Saltpeter - Tinder-
Explosives - Glass - Leather
table salt - Other uses
MONOMANIA & SALT
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Salt is physiologically, absolutely necessary for human
life, equal in importance to water; ...each required strictly in proportion to the other,
in the body,
......... but in ancient times, unlike water, the known
mineral sources of salt were limited, so much so, that salt became a critical demographic
power factor for most communities, until industrial means of
extraction from brines were devised.
It was only available as visible and exposed rock
outcrops in arid regions, and as dried out salt-cake in lagoon areas and on the shores of
seas and salt lakes. In humid areas, with wet climates, the salt dissolved in to salt "mirrors" below ground making it almost impossible for man
to discover.
It is probably this, more than for any other reason,
that some of the great civilisations first developed near deserts, and in desert climates:
for example the Mediterranean, Mesoamerica, and Babylonia, at the edges of the
"arid" zones.... and close to known salt sources ....and in spite of the hardships of living in such
inhospitable places.
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- SALT
was so important to mankind, that it became a
- # 'hall'-marked "money" of those
times
- (and the "salary" and sale" of today
- ΆΛΑΣ = salt)
- Salt was more important, "then", than petroleum is
today. -
The first three known civilizations based on salt sources
were the Harappan which stretched from the borderlands of Baluchistan in the west to what
is now New Delhi in the east. It was India's first major civilization and the world's
third, after Mesopotamia and pharaonic Egypt
SEPTEMBER 1, 1997 VOL. 150 NO. 9
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- SALT was so important that mankind was prepared to give up
FREEDOM,
- in exchange for salt:--
| SLAVES WERE
BOUGHT AND SOLD in exchange FOR SALT |
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"SALVATUS"
[latin] =slave eg: "BOUGHT in exchange for salt"
sal....=[latin] salt |
SALARIUM
[latin] = payment |
"HALOONETEI"
[greek] = SLAVE -eg: BOUGHT for
halas..ΆΛΑΣ = salt..[greek] |
Salus,
Roman goddess of health |
"In the beginning"........
Primitive Man,.... the lone hunter and gatherer, ,
obtained his, and his family's immediate salt and protein needs from the blood.and meat of
his prey. - He was a free agent. and consumed the minimum salt he needed, 5 to 10 grams a
day per person.
 "Some
populations have been able to survive with salt from blood and urine. In Kenya, Masai
still keep cattle for bloodletting."
And later .......
Civilised Man, ....organised,, and living in
agricultural communities relied on hygienic distribution and storage of his meat which
could be preserved by dehydration with salt for long periods at a time. The service
enabled him to consume the meat over longer seasonal periods without fear of it going rancid.
At the same time the 'salted meat'
and 'salted fish' fulfilled his critical physiological need for both
protein and replacing lost salt.
With the periodical limited supplies of salt - This meant almost
total dependence on the community leadership, who controlled the salt supplies and who
thus performed the necessary de-hydration procedure
The slaughter - and "sacrificing" of animals
and the production of meat and fish protein, became central as a community service
and the basis of the "temple" economics. It became the basic ritual for
many religions. It provided the heads of the community, the "priests",
with their "power", and the community, with the benevolence of a healthy life.
and ....their Abattoir
became their Temple
The bye-products of this temple "industry" such
as tanning, leather, glass and [saltpeter] - tinder , also had considerable economic
attraction for the temple administration enabling them to provide very
exclusive but necessary products.
The individual salt consumption rose to well over 150
grams a day and "Control" of the supply of such quantities was indeed power !
TO RETAIN THIS POWER of survival
SALT
had to be
MONOPOLISED
and Autocracy reigned |
THE AVAILABILITY OF SALT, EITHER
FROM EVAPORATION PANS ON THE SEASHORE OR DIRECTLY FROM THE VERY FEW KNOWN SALT QUARRIES
HAS BEEN THE SOURCE OF VIOLENT FEUDS BETWEEN COMMUNITIES, UP TO THE PERIOD OF THE
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. -
SINCE THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE WHEN THE SEA LEVEL
WAS MORE THAN 40 m BELOW ITS PRESENT LEVEL SMALLER ERRATIC EUSTATIC
CHANGES OF ONLY ONE to TWO METERS WERE A CATASTROPHE, [FOR CIVILISATIONS,
RELYING ON SEA SHORE PRODUCTION OF SALT].- THEY CAUSED FLOODING AND INUNDATION OF THE SALT
EVAPORATION PANS, OR ALTERNATIVELY LEFT THEM HIGH AND DRY.
The history of salt may reflect THE TRUE HISTORY OF
CIVILISED MAN MORE THAN MANY HISTORIANS MAY CARE TO ADMIT. -
A "SALT ARCHIVE" DATABASE OF EVENTS AND EVIDENCE
SUPPORTING THE ABOVE HYPOTHESIS IS AVAILABLE AND IS BEING CONSTRUCTED TO BE USED WITH THIS
PAGE
Bibliography- Please e-mail:- David Bloch -
.
BOOKMARK for further discussion, ....
"SALT"...made
the world go round
"SALT and
Explosives..."....SALTPETER... the secret of PETRA. .
We should welcome any contributions to
these pages. Your comments:"Constructive" or "Destructive" - would be
much appreciated
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![MILHAMA [hebrew] root: "fight for salt"](Milhama.jpg)