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RESEARCH ON INORGANIC CHEMICALS DESCRIBED BY SCIENTISTS AT UNIVERSITY OF HAIFA
Science Letter
June 15, 2010
According to recent research published in the journal International
Geology Review, "Inorganic materials have constituted part of the
inventory of medicinal substances used in various cultures since
ancient times and continue globally to the present day in many ethnic
and folk medicines. The medicinal interaction between humans and
inorganic substances has been ongoing in most societies."
"Minerals, metals, soils, organic minerals (e.g. asphalt, crude oil,
glycerine, sulphanilamide, tartaric acid, and vaseline), and other
pure inorganic substances or mixtures (e.g. ink) have played an
important, though perhaps minor, role in the healing practice of
the inhabitants of five continents. This article systematically
evaluates many historical records that document the materials and
their uses available from the Levantine (mediaeval Bilad al-Sham)
societies from the Middle Ages to the present. An overview of the
data reveals that 23 inorganic substances were recorded as used in
the Levant from the early mediaeval period to the present; among
them, alum, arsenic sulphides, asphalt, borax, Jew's stone, soils
(including the substance known as Armenian earth), galena, hematite,
iron, lead, lead oxide, mercury, mineral mumia, salt (NaCl), sulphur,
tartaric acid, vitriol (blue and green), and zinc," wrote E. Lev and
colleagues, University of Haifa (see also Inorganic Chemicals).
The researchers concluded: "Fifty-four additional substances were
first recorded by several ethnopharmacological surveys made during
the twentieth century; some of these might have been used in the
mediaeval Levant, but they were not recorded."
Lev and colleagues published their study in International Geology
Review (Healing with minerals and inorganic substances: a review of
Levantine practice from the Middle Ages to the present. International
Geology Review, 2010;52(7-8):700-725).
For additional information, contact E. Lev, University of Haifa, Dept.
of Erets Israel Studies, IL-31999 Haifa, Israel.
The publisher's contact information for the journal International
Geology Review is: Taylor & Francis Inc., 325 Chestnut St., Suite 800,
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.
From: A. Papazian
Science Letter
June 15, 2010
According to recent research published in the journal International
Geology Review, "Inorganic materials have constituted part of the
inventory of medicinal substances used in various cultures since
ancient times and continue globally to the present day in many ethnic
and folk medicines. The medicinal interaction between humans and
inorganic substances has been ongoing in most societies."
"Minerals, metals, soils, organic minerals (e.g. asphalt, crude oil,
glycerine, sulphanilamide, tartaric acid, and vaseline), and other
pure inorganic substances or mixtures (e.g. ink) have played an
important, though perhaps minor, role in the healing practice of
the inhabitants of five continents. This article systematically
evaluates many historical records that document the materials and
their uses available from the Levantine (mediaeval Bilad al-Sham)
societies from the Middle Ages to the present. An overview of the
data reveals that 23 inorganic substances were recorded as used in
the Levant from the early mediaeval period to the present; among
them, alum, arsenic sulphides, asphalt, borax, Jew's stone, soils
(including the substance known as Armenian earth), galena, hematite,
iron, lead, lead oxide, mercury, mineral mumia, salt (NaCl), sulphur,
tartaric acid, vitriol (blue and green), and zinc," wrote E. Lev and
colleagues, University of Haifa (see also Inorganic Chemicals).
The researchers concluded: "Fifty-four additional substances were
first recorded by several ethnopharmacological surveys made during
the twentieth century; some of these might have been used in the
mediaeval Levant, but they were not recorded."
Lev and colleagues published their study in International Geology
Review (Healing with minerals and inorganic substances: a review of
Levantine practice from the Middle Ages to the present. International
Geology Review, 2010;52(7-8):700-725).
For additional information, contact E. Lev, University of Haifa, Dept.
of Erets Israel Studies, IL-31999 Haifa, Israel.
The publisher's contact information for the journal International
Geology Review is: Taylor & Francis Inc., 325 Chestnut St., Suite 800,
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.
From: A. Papazian