Malabathrum, malabathron, or malobathrum is the name used in classical and medieval texts for certain

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

-like aromatic plant leaves and an ointment prepared from those leaves. ''

Cinnamomum tamala ''Cinnamomum tamala'', Indian bay leaf'','' also known as tejpat'', ''tejapatta'','' Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. It c ...

'' (sometimes given as ''Cinnamomum tejpata''), grown most commonly in the eastern Himalayas, but also in the Western Ghats, is thought to be a notable source of these leaves,Casson, Lionel. ''The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text With Introduction, Translation, and Commentary'' 1989. Princeton University Press p. 241 although other species of ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in ...

'' and even plants in other genera may have been used. In ancient

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, the leaves were used to prepare a fragrant oil, called ''oleum malabathri'', and were therefore valuable.

History

Malabathrum is mentioned in the first century

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

text ''

Periplus Maris Erythraei The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and ...

'' and sourced to a people called 'Sêsatai', identified with Kirradai ( Kirata) of Ptolemy. Though malabathrum was a product of

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

, it was rarely traded by the western traders at the mouth of the Ganges (which is much closer to the source) but at southwestern Indian ports of

Muziris Muziris ( grc, Μουζιρίς, Old Malayalam: ''Muciri'' or ''Muciripattanam'' possibly identical with the medieval ''Muyirikode'') was an ancient harbour and an urban centre on the Malabar Coast. Muziris found mention in the ''Periplus of ...

/ Nelcynda. It is mentioned in the ''Periplus'' that some people collected the green leaves after the Sêsatai in the northeast prepared them and carried them to the ports of trade. In the language of Kerala, Malayalam, the plant is called ''vazhana''. It is also known as ''edana'' in Malayalam. The name malabathrum is used in mediaeval texts to describe the dried leaves of a number of trees of the genus ''

'', which were thought to have

medicinal Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

properties. The Greeks used ''kásia'' ( cassia) or ''malabathron'' to flavour wine, with absinth wormwood (''

Artemisia absinthium ''Artemisia absinthium'' (wormwood, grand wormwood, absinthe, absinthium, absinthe wormwood, mugwort, wermout, wermud, wormit, wormod) is a species of '' Artemisia'', native to temperate regions of Eurasia and North Africa, and widely naturalize ...

''). Malabathrum leaves (''folia'') were used in cooking and for distilling an oil used in a caraway-sauce for oysters by the Roman gourmet Gaius Gavius

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer ...

.''De re coquinaria'', I, 29, 30; IX, 7 Malabathrum is among the spices that, according to Apicius, any good kitchen should contain. Malabathrum from Egypt (Dioscorides I, 63) was based on beef fat and contained cinnamon, as well; one pound cost 300 ''denarii''.

Etymology

The word "malabathrum" is the Hellenization of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

word ''tamālapattram'' (तमालपत्त्रम्), literally meaning "dark-tree leaves", with the ''ta'' being mistaken for the Greek definite article.

References

{{Reflist Pharmacognosy Periplus of the Erythraean Sea