Gifts Fit for a King

"THE BEST-KEPT TRADE SECRET OF ALL TIME"

Arabian merchants controlled most of the spice trade for centuries. They became the exclusive suppliers  of spices from Asia, such as cassia and cinnamon. In order to discourage the Mediterranean world from establishing direct commercial links with sources in the East, the Arabians spread fanciful tales about the dangers involved in obtaining spices.  The real source of spices was "probably the best-kept trade secret of all time," according to The Book of Spices.

What stories  did the Arabians spread? Herodotus, a Greek historian of the fifth century B.C.E., described tales of fearsome birds building nests of cinnamon bark on inaccessible cliffs.  To obtain this precious spice, he wrote, collectors put large pieces of meat at the foot of the cliff.  The birds would greedily carry so much meat to their nests that the nests would crash to the ground.  The men would would then quickly collect the cinnamon bark and sell it to merchants.  Such stories became widespread.  Thus, because of the "alleged dangers of harvest, it [cinnamon] was sold at a very high price," notes The Book of Spices.

Eventually, the Arabian's secret was  uncovered and their monopoly lost. By the first century B.C. E., Alexandria, in Egypt, became a large port and commercial hub for spices. Once sailors learned how to take advantage of the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean, Roman ships sailed from Egyptian ports to India. As a result, luxury spices  became much more abundant and prices eased.  

Today, the value of spices bears no comparison to that of gold. And we would hardly consider spices suitable gifts for a king. Yet, millions of people around the world continue to use them in perfumes and medicines and, of course, to add flavor and zest to their food. Indeed, the alluring aromas of spices make them popular today, just as they were thousands of years ago. 

Next time: Gifts Fit for a King - Uses of Aromatic Spices in Bible Times

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015