Cinnamon, Cassia and Ancient Trade

Abstract

There is a widespread assumption that ancient "cinnamon" and "cassia" were the same as the spices now known by those names; that is, products obtained from trees of the genus Cinnamomum. This article argues that this is not the case, but that the "cinnamon" and "cassia" of ancient writers very probably came from plants native to northeast Africa, as several early writers actually state. Possible African sources of ancient "cinnamon" and "cassia" are suggested. The most probable principal source is identified as Cassia abbreviata. It is also argued that alleged identifications of cinnamon or cassia at archaeological sites in the Mediterranean region are questionable. It is shown that cinnamon and cassia did not figure in Southeast Asian and Chinese trade at an early period, and that Austronesian settlement of Madagascar occurred after the Classical period, probably during the second half of the first millennium CE, too late for Southeast Asians to have played any major role in trade with the Roman Empire. There is no good reason to believe that cinnamon and cassia were traded to the western Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean region at any very early date.

Bastard Spice or Champagne of Cinnamon? Conflicting Value Creations along Cinnamon Commodity Chains in Northern Vietnam

“…The case of cinnamon ( quế in Vietnamese) is particularly interesting because of the controversies surrounding the definitions of and qualities attached to this agro‐food commodity. When one looks beyond the supermarket shelf, it emerges that a great deal of what is sold as cinnamon is not ‘true’ cinnamon at all, but cassia, also known as ‘bastard cinnamon’ (Chennault, 2006: 156; see also Haw, 2017; Senanayake and Wijesekera, 2004). Moreover, as cultivators in northern Vietnam insisted in interviews, even cassia is ‘not just cassia’.…”

Spicing Wine at theSymposion:Fact or Fiction? Some Critical Thoughts on Material Aspects of Commensality in the Early Iron Age and Archaic Mediterranean World

“…40 The fact that in the mid-19th century Newton called the fragmentary grater he excavated on Kalymnos a 'nutmeg grater' (see above, n.3) underlines the close association between graters and nutmeg in modern European practice. 41 On nutmeg and its trade, see Dalby (2000) 53-55;(2003) 44 Gilboa and Namdar (2015); for a critical view, see Haw (2017).…”

“…51 On the whole, though, both medical texts and cookery books refer to grating 45 Cf. Dalby (2000) 36-41;(2003) 87;Haw (2017). The context of Plutarch's Table Talks is the abovementioned debate on the virtues of straining wine, which would imply that pieces of cinnamon and saffron were large enough to be filtered out (and thus perhaps not a fine powder), unless of course fine cloth was used for straining.…”

Into the wild: disentangling non-wood terms and definitions for improved forest statistics

“…The Phoenicians used Argan oil from the Argania spinosa tree for food and cosmetics (Morton and Voss 1997). Cinnamon is thought to have been a valuable commodity during the 13 th and 14 th centuries (although it is less clear if this refers to "true Cinnamon" (Cinnamomum verum), Cinnamomum cassia or other species yielding cinnamon or cassia bark) (Haw 2017). Countless other NWFPs such as vanilla, cloves and nutmeg drove the spice trade between Asia and Europe, and were key drivers of global expeditions from the 14 th to 16 th centuries, becoming important and valuable commodities (the word "spice" derives from Latin and means a commodity of special distinction or value) (Van der Veen and Morales 2015).…”

“…The term "naval stores", used to denote products obtained from resin tapping of mainly pine trees (genus Pinus) dates back to the 1600s when wooden ships were waterproofed using resin (FAO 1995a). Countless other products can be found in literature dating to the Ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians (FAO 1995a, Haw 2017, Van der Veen and Morales 2015, Wardell 2013. As a category or group, NWFPs have been largely referred to as "minor" or "secondary" forest products regardless of their value to local people or the national/international economies since the beginning of the century at least (Robbins and Matthews 1974).…”