Silphium: The Miracle Herb That Disappeared Forever
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- Опубліковано 18 кві 2023
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Miracle contraceptive, wonder drug, aphrodisiac, the origin of the heart symbol, and hemorrhoid cure??? Tiktok, National Geographic, even FACEBOOK are all obsessed with this plant, Silphium, which grew over 2000 years ago here near Cyrene, Libya. It’s been called THE most effective contraceptive of the ancient world. But the ancient randy Romans boinked this plant into extinction by the first century CE. Making Silphium the first victim of human-induced extinction.
But is this story actually true? Who killed Silphium? And what does it have to do with a Beaver based birth-control? Let’s find out!
This video was researched and co-written by Deborah Melo.
The illustrations were created by our illustrator / chicodlhistoria
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SOURCES:
The Silphium Motif Adorning Ancient Libyan Coinage: Marketing a Medicinal Plant
Riddle, J., & Estes, J. (1992). Oral contraceptives in ancient and medieval times. American Scientist, 80(3), 226-233.
Reassessing the Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Extinction of Silphium
The Economic Condition of the Main Cyrenaican Cities (North-Eastern Libya) from the Hellenistic to the mid-Roman period: textual analysis
Pliny's Historia Naturalis
Pliny the Elder’s Silphium: First Recorded Species Extinction
John Riddle Eve's Herbs
Ibn Sina, A. A System of Medicine (Arabic Text); Bulaq: Cairo, Egypt, 1877; Volume 2.
Asciutti, Valentina(2004)The Silphium plant:analysiso f ancient sources
Douaa Elalfy Silphium, the Extinct Plant
Monika Kiehn, Silphion revisited, Medicinal Plant Conservation
www.insider.com/dont-take-mug...
Amy Richlin Pliny's Brassiere
POST-COITAL ANTIFERTILITY ACTIVITY OF FERULA ASSAFOETIDA EXTRACT IN FEMALE RATS
www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/...
Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance
Applebaum, S. (1979). Jews and Greeks in Ancient Cyrene
APICIUS COOKERY AND DINING IN IMPERIAL ROME www.gutenberg.org/files/29728...
Manam W. B. Saaed, Yacoub M. El-Barasi & Rebeh O. Rahil (2019) Our present knowledge about the history and composition of the vegetation and flora of Libya
Theophrastus: Enquiry into Plants
De Materia Medica - Dioskorides
Gynaecology - Soranus
Mahmut Miski Next Chapter in the Legend of Silphion: Preliminary Morphological, Chemical, Biological and Pharmacological Evaluations, Initial Conservation Studies, and Reassessment of the Regional Extinction Event
Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
Video/Images provided by Getty Images and Archive.org
Maps provided by maptiler/Geolayers
Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: go.nebula.tv/cogito
Watch Modern Conflicts exclusively on Nebula: nebula.tv/modernconflicts?ref=cogito
Wow
4:04 FRANCE?!?!!? *dryheave* 😂😂😂😂
Q for you: I'm a Nebula subscriber, but I still find myself on UA-cam a lot. Does it help or harm you if I watch your videos here instead of there? Do your view counts on Nebula impact things a bunch? Maybe not something you can respond about in the comments, but really appreciate your work and want to continue to support you!
🙃🙃🙃🙃🙂
0:34 Um, mammoths?
I can't get over the dude who wrote about hemorrhoids being named "Soranus"...
i wish the name was an epithet
The original butthurt
He was clearly a player character during that period of the simulation.
Pupienus and Lekapenos have entered the chat
@@ForageGardener you murdered me
I think it's easier to list the things that AREN'T considered aphrodisiacs. If you've got something to sell, tell someone it will give them the Wood of Zeus.
Histories most favorite serial rapist.
The lightning bolt
I'm so glad "Wood of Zeus" wasn't one of the magical qualities granted Capt. Marvel/Shazam!
I remember researching about Cyrene and how it became rich and prosperous via the Trade of silphium, although none of my sources were really clear on what silphium was so I always wondered. Great to know about its... varied use!
Asafoetida is used quite a bit in Indian cooking. I agree that when it is raw it has an odour that is not very pleasant (I think it is a bit like cat pee!). But its character changes entirely when it is cooked, and it is extremely yummy then. I've never been brave enough to try it raw like you do. But try it cooked in something and I think you'll agree that it is delicious.
When cooked it was delicious. Raw it does smell a little like cat pee or skunk
Lol yes, I remember sneaking into the kitchen, as a child, to taste that thing raw. I wondered how can something which tastes so shit raw, gives such a brilliant fragrance when cooked.
That's quite an herb.
@@CogitoEdu the best part is that the paper on the rat pregnancy that you cited was written by a bunch of Indian people, so now I can't get the image of them looking at their spice cabinets and deciding to come up with an experiment lol
Asafoetida is a key ingredient in the Indian vegetable stew called sambar.
According to the records, it wasn’t just a birth control plant for women, it was also an aphrodisiac for men. An all around wonder drug. Thanks for making this video. Cheers from Libya!
A horny drug which also prevents babies!? Really disappointed we can't have good things like this.
@@smith2354 It was just claims. There's no reason to believe that the claims were true. Many of these claims came from Nero, a known bullshitter. He said that Silphium could cure many diseases, too. It was just the Roman times' snake oil.
Knowing you won’t get someone pregnant is arousing enough 👍
@@yoeyyoey8937 haha, someone didn't watch the video
@@sam5992 it was a joke
It tickles me to think of your brain being like, “Ah the sheep animation is done. Now for the poop animation. Love your creativity and passion for learning and teaching! 😄👍
Poop animation day was one of the highlights of this video's production 😁
I could watch those sheep poop for several minutes straight ... absolutely the best visual of the video. I mean, also, amazing research!
soranus was an expert in hemorrhoid treatment... i bet he was
This was the most uplifting thing I've encountered this year - that Silphium might not be extinct after all.
Wow, this definitely challenged a lot of what I'd heard from other sources, even ones I would have thought I could trust. Thanks for providing these alternate sources and context.
Yeah we went into this video thinking we were going to make something completely different and than we found all this information. It was incredible
Romans *COOKED WITH LASERS!* Not what I was expecting to learn but I leave thoroughly satisfied nonetheless.
Learning the real lessons
Another amazing video! You're quickly becoming probably the gold standard from me amongst all the current youtube videos in terms of A) reliable quality videos, b) interesting topics, c) well thought out scripts and impressive research.
Keep it up cogito, I know everytime I click that link I'll go on a great journey.
This video is really informative and the animation is on point. Hope you focus on something like the History of Silk/Cotton or Porcelain in a future video 🎉❤
Or Cannabis and Jute, and why we make clothes out of cotton and not hemp.
Peace.
@@stefanschleps8758 The cannabis one sounds cool, though I'm unfamiliar with Jute. Mind enlightening on some of the uses/value of jute.
All of these are great video ideas. I hope he does a similar focus like with how he did coffee, tea and beer.
@caesumcrimson6381 Glad you like the proposed ideas. Any suggestions you think would be cool.
This style of video was really fun! Great work as always :)
Thank you, glad you liked it!
I recently heard an expert claim they think they have found silphium growing in the region. It may not have been completely eradicated. I hope so, so that medical scientist can research it. If it really has any benefits they may be able to create a new medicine!
You’re not supposed to eat it plain, silly! 😂😜 Asafoetida, or hing, is a flavor enhancer, imparting a delicious umami type flavor used in a lot of Indian dishes in place of, or in addition to, onion. My dal would be very very sad without it 😢 Thank you for another fascinating and informative video mixed with just the right amount of humor!
Silphion may not have been less funky than asa-foetida, the Romans loved funky food. The word silphe (σίλφη) meant cockroach in ancient Greek. Although that could have referred to the shape of the seeds rather than the smell. That Turkish plant _Ferula drudeana_ looks nothing like the representations on the coins (to a botanist), which are the only thing we have to judge it by. Great way to promote his journal article, though. There are 221 species of Ferula, let alone the related genera, and most smell either nice or nasty. There is another plant in the family (that has 446 genera) that does have heart-shaped seeds, _Heracleum sphondylium_ - the common hogweed. Edible and tasty, unlike the dangerous giant hogweed. 90 species in that genus. Anyway, good video, I have subscribed.
On midwives, I attended a seminar on the history of them in my southern state. Largely, they weren't phased out until the early 20th century and mostly by claims of it being unhealthy, primitive, etc. Of course mortality in childbirth skyrocketed once they were gone, and it didn't stop until the late 60s.
@Rose Madrid And what does this have to do with Rustin Wilson's comment? If you want to evsngelise set up your own channel!
just a movement by the government to remove the ability to have children away from the masses without government intervention.
If it was a hybrid species, what are the chances the parent species are still around (say, one to the east, one to the west of its ancestral home), ready to get crossed again?
You're supposed to use asafoetida in _very_ small quantities together with other ingredients for sauces and curries. I don't think anyone actually _eats_ it.
Only an idiot would eat an entire piece of asafoetida. Grated into food while cooking it's delicious.
When he ate the asafoetida, it was like eating a chunk of rock salt XD
It's gotta be grated, fried, then allowed to dissolve into the dish!
I have to applaud your commitment. To actually taste that stuff after the smell put that look on your face was braver than I could be. Bravo!
2:33 I need some silphium badly!
It actually bothers me so much that Romans replaced a productive crop w wheat
The more you read history the more you end up hating wheat and cows. This is my experience at least.
@Rose Madrid who asked
cool story, I still don't like wheat and cow
Love the frequent videos Cogito!! Keep it up 👍👍
I love this channel so much
Fascinating! And taught me more about how history is learned generally. Amazing as always
Awesome video! The truth really is more interesting than the sensationalist oversimplifications. I hope that everyone who clicks on this video will watch it whole.
This is one of the very best I've seen on YT on ANY subject, and is THE BEST treatment on Silphium that I've ever seen! Well Done!
i love the captions during the part where you smell and eat the asofoetida
4:20
*DAT ONION JUGGLE*
Was reading about this a few months ago and didn’t find very many good sources. Glad you made this!
Remember to turn on captions at 13:15
Lmaoo
I always get excited when I see a new cogito video!
It was a cure for baldness and a hair remover? ... Seems legit.
Silphium was the king of placebo effects
Such a great video essay. I learned so much
Glad you liked it 😊
Absolutely brilliant video, I love your perspective.
lol, just want to acknowledge the little extras peppered into the subtitles. Such as when the intro music plays and when the bag of "fetid gum" is sniffed. Good stuff :) Made me chuckle
The person at 15:48 joining in pooping had me laughing a lot.
Somewhat off-topic, but asafetoeda is indispensable for certain dishes; most notably curries and particularly, dhal.
In recipes just a pinch will do, but it transforms the dish.
He mentioned in the corner of the video that he made dhal with it afterward and it was much better when cooked 😅
Can't believe I've never seen this channel before. Awesome vid!
Max Miller on Tasting History mentioned that finding a couple of weeks ago but you gave more detail. BTW there is at least 1 more Roman cookbook De Agricultura by Cato.
I am cracking tf up right now. You are my new fave. Thank you!!
Thank you :D
As usual real history is far more interesting an nuanced than the easy click bait titles many of us want it to be. And sadly the contributions of women have almost entirely been invisible, as men wrote all of it. Thank you again for another amazing video. Long time fan and look forward to all of your work.
It’s more correct to say that women’s contributions have been erased or stolen by men, and that women were brutalized and murdered as witches for daring to step out of bounds.
And this does go back farther than the dark ages.
Even today, we still have this accepted in some parts of the world, and see men trying to bring women back to subservience in the US.
I can't believe no one pointed out the captions😂😂 love your caption game.
Great video!
Cogito has a face.
I don’t know if you’ll read this, but I’d love to see a video on the History of Wine. My family comes from the country that’s the biggest consumers and a big producer (Portugal) and so it’s been impactful to my family. I would just love to see how we’ve gotten to the centers of wine production and consumption of today!
14:00 his face is so red, he seems totally disgusted
That was actually a known side effect of the original Silphium. I remember a source saying it made people break out in a red flush when eaten in high quantity. Eating the entire resin was not a good idea, it's the equivalent of eating a spoonful of cinnamon or curry 😅
Very interesting, thank you!
Can you talk about indigenous canadian cultures? Their very cool
Sounds like a cool idea. Any particular ones you'd recommend someone to research.
The Haudanosaune are coming shortly and other Canadian groups are planned
@mylesjude233 The haudenosaunee have a very interesting history, so do the cree, the metis, and the Salish too
Salish history & culture are interesting.
Yes please! Any native culture from North America honestly, there's really interesting and what does not much about them that doesn't have to do with either how they were persecuted or how crappy the living conditions are relative to other people living in North America
Side note. As an indian i used to pronounce Hing In english as "asa- fa-teeda". But i much prefer your Irish inflection on the word. I seldom change my pronounciations of my Indianised words but....
So from now on i shall call Asafoetida as "As-a-FUI-t'da" forever. And i thankyou for it @Cogito
I love all your videos! Educational, interesting, simplified for normal people and witty!! Thank you for the videos and the hard work. Nice to see finally your face :) You are quite the handsome man! Reminds me a bit of Orlando Bloom. :)
Died laughing at those CC's man! 😂😂😂
Loved the video.
Your videos have always been great but your human interaction takes it to the next level and the blooper made it damned funny.
Your animations have gotten so cool lol
Thank you, I'm constantly trying to improve them 😊
I like Asafoetida a lot, I use it all the time. Do you normally bite into a garlic clove or a pepper corn? There aren't many spices that people just start chewing on directly... So it's kind of odd to do that. 😅
It was done for humour in all fairness 😅 It's like reviewing cinnamon by eating a spoonful. I've made some dishes using it correctly and it is tasty 😋
@@CogitoEdu Maybe it was just odd seeing the non-animated versions of your "humor" 😛 Your videos are amazing though.
Sure, I'd get a bite of some garlic right now
@@CogitoEdu Well, it worked - it was very funny. As a child, I would taste new spices directly from the jar. So I decided most of them were terrible ...
Very interesting ❤
OMG I can't wait to learn more about this famous herb YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Holy hell I'm only six minutes in and I had NO idea there was so much information about where it came from, etc. Thank you so much for this!
BEAVER BALLS WITH LITTLE BUCKY TEETH OH LORT HELP MEEEEEEEEE 😅
DUDE. All the kudos to you for this. Your rigorous pursuit of documentation, unbiased sources, etc, is soooooo needed in the world. Thanks again!
PS: SORANUS
@@suzbone Thank you! And I was so excited that Soranus was kind enough to hand me a joke on a platter like that 😅
I love the closed captioning, lol
Tenet farmers or tenant farmers? I've never heard of the former and I don't know how it differs from tenant farmers. Also, how are they going to try to determine if that plant they found is silphium's long lost descendant? Like is there some way of testing that they're in the process of doing? And lastly, thank you for taking one for science and trying that resin! It didn't seem very nice!
I just spell things wrong 😂 There's so many things to check before the video goes live that some mistakes always slip by
@@CogitoEdu hats off to you, they're brilliant videos. I just thought that this was some new type of feudal underling I'd never heard of! :D
I actually kinda like the smell of asafoetida. In my culture, a piece is put into a pouch and put in a baby's bed to prevent spirits from troubling them.
You didn't like the smell of asafoetida??? In India we love the smell. That's one of reasons we use it.
I think it's a smell that takes some getting used to. It's tasty though.
@@CogitoEdu Good asafoetida that has very strong smell in ven small amounts is very costly. The other reason for sing it is that it's supposed to be good for digestion.
The sound is too quiet in this video. Need to Google export audio settings for UA-cam.
Cogito and audio issues, name a better duo
What if I want to step over a beaver on purpose?
That's a whole different spell 😅
hey bro do a history of fasting, i love your videos btw
This was fun. Thanks!
Thanks for watching
0:29 😄 This is adorrable!
Good one
"How was your day at work honey?"
"Horrible. I need to call the dentist. I chipped my tooth on some old birth control drug."
This was really interesting
BABY NOT RN NEW COGITO VIDEO JUST DROPPED
Great to learn the truth behind this legendary plant!
Nearly choked to death laughing about that date night combo. And very glad the easy target with Soranus does not go un-hit.
Please could you make a video explaining Unitarianism?
I love your videos! I have been interested in medicinal plants and their history for years but learned all sorts of things from you today! Thanks!
One use of asfoetida that wasn’t mentioned is as a substitute for onions and garlic, which some people are allergic to. I have to keep mine in a glass jar, in its original packaging in my freezer because it is so pungent that it reflavors everything in my spice cabinet. 😂
I wanted to ask if you had read anything about the Tansy plant family as abortifacients, could it be that silphium was a tansy? They tend to be umbelliferous and act on the body’s venous system.
Nice that you show your face. Quality content as always.
A component hinted at but not mentioned is the black rain likely from the frequent volcanic activity, and ash is good for soil, to bring down the acidity, and add nutrients. I was around for the impacts of Mt St Helens, and farmers had to adjust. If it was ash, then the root systems, poop, and lower acidity were all factors that hindered transplants, even assuming growers were making the attempts with root cuttings.
I have to say, the closed captions are hilarious, rounding out the story, lol!
So, silphium was the canary in the coal mine when it came to the soil abuse that eventually led to the Sahara Desert reaching all the way to the Mediterranean coast...
Hey man, I would like to make a request: make a video about the religion of Spiritism, which comes from the Spiritist Doctrine of Allan Kardec. I'm sure it will be really cool! In addition, I have to say that I simply love your content and I think the didactic and humorous way in which you pass on information is amazing! Congratulations! ✌🏽❤️
As a note, ‘bring on menses / menstruation’ was used as a code phrase for abortion in many cases.
Maybe in some cases but the writers here are all pretty blunt. They state when a plant induces abortion and also state when it brings on the menses, sometimes saying both for one plant.
You have misunderstood the term "farmers of the revenue" in the quote from Pliny. It means "tax farmers", big firms that held the right to collect taxes for the Romans; not people tilling the soil. According to Pliny, the tax farmers somehow held a lease on the land and preferred to graze sheep instead of growing silphium. That suggests that you didn't get all that much silphium when you grew it.
Catullus, the most notable Roman love poet (around 50 BCE), talks a lot about silphium in poems addressed to his mistress. That would be a reason for thinking it had some connection to romance, though it is not clear what exactly that was.
Thanks for shedding some light on silphium and for discussing the difference between it and asafoetida. For people who like Indian food, in poppadums that have little black spots on them, the spots are asafoetida.
Though it could also mean, "honey, I love your spicy food. To show my appreciation, let's spice it up in bed." (If he was naughty. A "nice" guy could just compliment his lover and leave it at that. Anyways, it doesn't require aphrodisiac properties.)
Been cooking most of my adult life with Asafoetida in my Indian kitchen and its absolutely delicious flavour indeed.
Was surprised by its connection in this video. Felt seen as in indian cook lol.
Love your videos man.
If you don't think onions are sexy, we can't be friends.
Great videos. I would love to see an Aztec video. An interesting topic would be the legend of the five suns, a creation myth. Just food for thought keep up the informative videos!!!
But I think the correct term is not aztec, The correct term is Mexica
You're right, a video about the Mexica would be quite interesting, I think Cogito had made some videos about this culture for a channel called Kings and Generals
Yep that is the planet that I'm talking about that grows wild here I will not say exactly where it is growing but I have clipped it from time to time and yes it has a wonderful scent to it the funniest thing is I know it's not fennel because when you go to the root of the fennel plant it has a certain look to the bottom that like I said it grows wild here but I don't think anybody was ever aware of it, I used to slip these this plant because not just because of its smell but because I noticed that they have certain interesting properties let's leave it at that. Kind of interesting it's not the only plant that grows here that shouldn't be growing here I found several plants that are labeled it a certain book I have as being only found in Asia but lo and behold there here to... I think the reason most people don't know about it is very few people are in to what can be found on the land...
Amazing. He looks just like the animation said he looked.
Bro. ,
Make a video on Christium
The subtitles when you were eating the resin was too much 😂😂😂
Shoutout to the incredible song by Richard dawson and circle about this plant
Whenever I get sad about missing out on a plant that's now extinct, I just think about how ancient people had to eat crapier versions of the fruits and veggies we have now.
It is otherwise called Laserwort - and grows in abundance across Cyprus and other parts of Greece and Turkey - and always has.
Great video, but replacing actual dialogue subtitles with commentary makes the video less accessible to people with hearing issues
Hey, Asofetida is used extensively in Indian cooking for a long time as far as the mughal era and has a strong funky,weird smell but adds a nice flavour to food and doesn't taste so horrible as it smells. For conyexyt of funky and weird smelling food you brits have a lot of it and an example of it is stinking bishop's cheese which frankly doen't taste that bad but would rather have cheddar due to it's horrendous stench which will knock you down unconcious if you smell ot for too long, even smell of your socks you have been wearing for a week smells nicer than it.
I want you to make a song where you say "thousand" 1000 times.
Silphium has been found recently, or atleast what they think is silphium.
where has it been found?
I have to wonder if we could engineer the closest relative to silphium to be more similar. Though the issue with that is we have no way of knowing exactly what it was like in order to achieve it.
"Good Laser flavor"!? I can assure you all I don't taste good. Please don't eat me!
That's not what the sources say!
:0 why so empty here. BTW your content is great keep it up