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Clivedurdle · 12-17-2006, 09:29 AM

Quote:

History of Salt

Most people probably think of salt as simply that white granular food seasoning found in a salt shaker on virtually every dining table.

It is that, surely, but it is far more. It is an essential element in the diet of not only humans but of animals, and even of many plants. It is one of the most effective and most widely used of all food preservatives (and used to preserve Egyptian mummies as well). Pre-civilization "salt men" represent a significant contemporary archeological research source. And the oldest as well. Its industrial, medical and other uses are almost without number. In fact, salt has great current as well as historical interest, and is even the subject of humorous cartoons, music, "art" and poetry. Sometimes, however, we need to separate the salt to get the history. And there's a lot of history to get ( 1 2 3 4 ). There's even a 2002 book by Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History.

The fact is that throughout history, salt--called sodium chloride by chemists--has been such an important element of life that it has been the subject of many stories, fables ( 1 2 3 ) and folktales (such as "Salt on a Magpie's Tail" from Sweden) and is frequently referenced in fairy tales. Some cultures ascribe magical powers to salt. Charles Dickens penned a Victorian era Ghost Story "To Be Taken With A Grain of Salt." Forty years later, author George Gissing's last book was "The Salt of the Earth." Salt so infuses our culture that there are innumerable quotes drawing on salt. There is even a current "Words of Salt" literary competition, keeping alive the link between salt and culture.

Salt served as money at various times and places, and it has been the cause of bitter warfare. Offering bread and salt to visitors, in many cultures, is traditional etiquette. It is used in making pottery. While we have records of the importance of salt in commerce in Medieval times ( 1 2 ) and earlier, in some places like the Sahara ( 1 2 3 4 ) and Nepal, salt trading today gives a glimpse of what life may have been like centuries ago. Alchemists use the square symbol to represent salt. "Salt," is common in the jargon of other professions.

Unsurprisingly, evidence shows salt was important as long ago as when mastadons ( 1 2 ) roamed the earth. Salt was in general use long before history, as we know it, began to be recorded. Some 2,700 years B.C.-about 4,700 years ago-there was published in China the Peng-Tzao-Kan-Mu, probably the earliest known treatise on pharmacology. A major portion of this writing was devoted to a discussion of more than 40 kinds of salt, including descriptions of two methods of extracting salt and putting it in usable form that are amazingly similar to processes used today. Chinese folklore recounts the discovery of salt. Salt production has been important in China for two millennia ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ) or more. Nomads spreading westward were known to carry salt. Ancient saltmaking in Europe and North America is well-documented

Egyptian art from as long ago as 1450 B.C. records salt-making. More recent examples are drawings of a 15th century French salt evaporation plant, a 16th century Persian picture of a Kurdish salt merchant and a 17th century Italian print offering instructions in distilling salt.

Salt was of crucial importance economically. A far-flung trade in ancient Greece involving exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the expression, "not worth his salt." The Romans were prodigious builders of saltworks as well as other vital infrastructure (for example, in Poland and England). Special salt rations given early Roman soldiers were known as "salarium argentum," the forerunner of the English word "salary." References to salt abound in languages around the globe, particularly regarding salt used for food. From the Latin "sal," for example, comes such other derived words as "sauce" and "sausage." Salt was an important trading commodity carried by explorers. Countries like Japan without salt deposits feel disadvantaged.

Salt has played a vital part in religious ritual in many cultures, symbolizing immutable, incorruptible purity. There are more than 30 references to salt in the Bible and both the Bible and the Talmud contain insights into salt's cultural significance in Jewish society. Salt has earned a reference in the Catholic Encyclopedia, using expressions like "salt of the earth"

http://www.saltinstitute.org/38.html

Clivedurdle · 12-17-2006, 09:46 AM

http://www.alchemylab.com/christian.htm

jjramsey · 12-17-2006, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clivedurdle

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/CELTS.HTM

Umm influence of Celts - let's see, Galatians?

Judging from the web page from the link above, you are confusing the Gauls with the Galatians. The Gauls were in the territory now known as France and in some bits bordering France, like Switzerland. The Galatians were in part of what is now Turkey.

Clivedurdle · 12-17-2006, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjramsey

Judging from the web page from the link above, you are confusing the Gauls with the Galatians. The Gauls were in the territory now known as France and in some bits bordering France, like Switzerland. The Galatians were in part of what is now Turkey.

http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/celts.html

Quote:

The Celts were a group of peoples that occupied lands stretching from the British Isles to Gallatia. The Celts had many dealings with other cultures that bordered the lands occupied by these peoples, and even though there is no written record of the Celts stemming from their own documents, we can piece together a fair picture of them from archeological evidence as well as historical accounts from other cultures.

Quote:

Galatia is the name given to the area in central Asia Minor that was invaded by Celts (Gauls) around 278 B.C.

http://www.geocities.com/mariamnephi...ropa/gaul.html

jjramsey · 12-17-2006, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clivedurdle

http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/celts.html

http://www.geocities.com/mariamnephi...ropa/gaul.html

I stand corrected.

Clivedurdle · 12-17-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

The Galatians to whom the letter is addressed were Paul's converts, most likely among the descendants of Celts who had invaded western and central Asia Minor in the third century B.C. and had settled in the territory around Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey)

http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/galatians/intro.htm

Clivedurdle · 12-17-2006, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Galatians 4 v 9

but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and destitute elemental powers? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?
10
You are observing days, months, seasons, and years. 7

I thought this was accepted as a direct reference to celtic practices, although NAB has missed it!

Quote:

[10] This is likely a reference to ritual observances from the Old Testament, promoted by opponents: sabbaths or Yom Kippur, new moon, Passover or Pentecost, sabbatical years.

Why would Paul be referencing Jewish customs when writing to celts?

jgibson000 · 12-17-2006, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clivedurdle

I thought this was accepted as a direct reference to celtic practices, although NAB has missed it!

You did? Why? What specifically has led you to think what you think about Gal. 4:9-10? Can you produce any scholars who say what you claim they say, let alone show that what you claim to be the "accepted" position is the "accepted" position among critical students of Galatians?

Quote:

Why would Paul be referencing Jewish customs when writing to celts?

Have you actually read the letter or done any work in the commentaries or the periodical literature on Gal. 4:9-10 or the standard NT introductions on the occasion of Galatians?

Is the internet your primary resource for your claims about NT background?

JG

jgibson000 · 12-17-2006, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clivedurdle

I think I mentioned Carthage. Oh yes Phoenicians - you know - Goliath? Salt, trading, sharing stories of an evening....

Are you actually claiming that because a text mentions Phoenicians that the culture from which that text came was assimilated to Phoenician culture?

I suppose you'd better define what you mean by "influenced".

JG

jgibson000 · 12-17-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clivedurdle

http://www.alchemylab.com/christian.htm

Oh yes! Now this is a marvelously credible site!

Have you taken its "home course" in alchemy yet? Any good results?

JG

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12-17-2006, 09:46 AM	#32
Clivedurdle Contributor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: London UK Posts: 16,024	http://www.alchemylab.com/christian.htm

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