02. CAROB AND ITS USES THROUGH THE AGES
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2.1 HISTORY
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2.1 HISTORY
ANAGIA SARPAKI
Dr. Archaeologist, Archaeobotanologist, Researcher
MARIANA KAVROULAKI
Experimental Archaeologist, Nutritionist
With a borrowed name from the Arabic خَرُّوبٌ (kharrūb), that was probably accessed from the Akkadian word kharubu or the Aramaic ‘kharubha’, the carob came from the Horn of Africa and the North of Arabia, and was dispersed to the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, to Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean. The tree named ‘ḫalub’ that is mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic (ca 2900-2350 BCE) is probably a carob tree.
Wood and seeds of carob have been found at Jericho (8000-6000 BCE) and was certainly already in Egypt in the 12th Dynasty (1991-1778 BCE). Botanical remains from Crete are dated to the Neo-Palatial period (ca 1600 BCE), but they refer to non-domesticated trees. The domestication of carob occurred most probably when grafting was implemented ca. 1000 BCE.
Theophrastus (371-287 BCE) mentioned that the Ionians named it ‘Κερωνίαν’ and some ‘Egyptian fig’. Strabo ((63/64 BCE -23 CE) mentions that it grows, in abundance, in Meroe (Nubia). Disocorides (1st AD) is the one that refers to carob as ‘κερατέα’ and the fruit ‘κεράτιον’, as it resembles a goat’s horn.
In the Hellenistic Period (323-30 BCE), when the Greek language was the ‘lingua franca’, it must have spread to the Romans, and its Hellenic name ‘κερατία’ prevailed, as well as the Siliqua graeca, the Greek pod.
Bibliography
Gadotti A., 2014. Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld’ and the Sumerian Gilgamesh Cycle (Untersuchungen zur Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Book 10). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Ramon-Lacal L & Marbberdley D., 2004. The ecological status of the carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua, Leguminosae) in the Mediterranean. Botanical J. of the Linnean Society 144:431-436.
Zohary, D., Hopf, M. and Weiss, E., 2012. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. Oxford: University Press.
Θεόφραστος, Περί φυτών, IV, 2. 4. https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L070.pdf
Στράβων, 1994. Γεωγραφικά, VII, 2, 822, Αθήνα: Κάκτος -
2.2 THE CAROB TREE OF CRETE THREE CHURCHES
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2.2 The Carob Forest of Crete in the "Three Churches", unique in Europe
The carob forest of the Three Churches is located in one of the most isolated areas in Europe, south of the prefecture of Heraklion. A winding road runs through the wild Asterousia Mountains and ends at the Libyan Sea. Once we reach the Three Churches, we continue west, after the hill of the village, to the beach of Psili Ammos (or Ornios). Spontaneous Carob Trees (or wood horns) thrive in arid and rocky areas and are quite far from each other. The carob forest of the Three Churches is the largest natural carob forest in Europe and is the living proof that the carob tree is the tree of endurance and self-sufficiency.
2.1 HISTORY
ANAGIA SARPAKI
Dr. Archaeologist, Archaeobotanologist, Researcher
MARIANA KAVROULAKI
Experimental Archaeologist, Nutritionist
With a borrowed name from the Arabic خَرُّوبٌ (kharrūb), that was probably accessed from the Akkadian word kharubu or the Aramaic ‘kharubha’, the carob came from the Horn of Africa and the North of Arabia, and was dispersed to the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, to Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean. The tree named ‘ḫalub’ that is mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic (ca 2900-2350 BCE) is probably a carob tree.
Wood and seeds of carob have been found at Jericho (8000-6000 BCE) and was certainly already in Egypt in the 12th Dynasty (1991-1778 BCE). Botanical remains from Crete are dated to the Neo-Palatial period (ca 1600 BCE), but they refer to non-domesticated trees. The domestication of carob occurred most probably when grafting was implemented ca. 1000 BCE.
Theophrastus (371-287 BCE) mentioned that the Ionians named it ‘Κερωνίαν’ and some ‘Egyptian fig’. Strabo ((63/64 BCE -23 CE) mentions that it grows, in abundance, in Meroe (Nubia). Disocorides (1st AD) is the one that refers to carob as ‘κερατέα’ and the fruit ‘κεράτιον’, as it resembles a goat’s horn.
In the Hellenistic Period (323-30 BCE), when the Greek language was the ‘lingua franca’, it must have spread to the Romans, and its Hellenic name ‘κερατία’ prevailed, as well as the Siliqua graeca, the Greek pod.
Bibliography
Gadotti A., 2014. Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld’ and the Sumerian Gilgamesh Cycle (Untersuchungen zur Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Book 10). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Ramon-Lacal L & Marbberdley D., 2004. The ecological status of the carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua, Leguminosae) in the Mediterranean. Botanical J. of the Linnean Society 144:431-436.
Zohary, D., Hopf, M. and Weiss, E., 2012. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. Oxford: University Press.
Θεόφραστος, Περί φυτών, IV, 2. 4. https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L070.pdf
Στράβων, 1994. Γεωγραφικά, VII, 2, 822, Αθήνα: Κάκτος
2.2 The Carob Forest of Crete in the "Three Churches", unique in Europe
