They have gold, copper, the best emeralds in the world, pepper, nutmeg, spikenard and
galingale. They have the custom as the Roman Patrician Ludovico di Varthema says, of selling their parents when they are old to a people called Anthropophagi who kill and eat them.
Take a galoun off white wyne, ij lib sugur, vj unce synamon, ij unces greynes, j unce cardamom, ij unce
galingale: meng wyne & pouder togeder & lette yt penn thoro a bag lyke as bu doyst ypocras.
1, the emendation of the first term, i.e., [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] as [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("boxthorn"), is mistaken; the correct reading is [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), i.e., "
galingale." The term's fourth letter is not ayin but a ligature of nun and gimel.
Some of the core medicinal plants common across the Middle East include: aloe, anise, black seed (see side bar, next page), cardamom, chamomile, cherry, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cress, cumin, fennel/fenugreek, flax, frankincense (lubban),
galingale, ginger, greek sage, henna, Indian frankincense, laurel, licorice, mastic, mint, mustard, nutmeg, olive, parsley, pepper, pimento, rosemary, saffron, senna, sumac, Syrian rue, turmeric and wormwood.
