Sagapenum
Sagapenum (Greek σᾰγάπηνον,[1] σικβινίτζα (Du Cange),[2] σεραπίων;[3] Arabic sakbīnadj;[4] Latin sagapenum,[5] sagapium,[3] seraphinum (Pharm. Witenbergica)[2]) is a historical plant from Media, identified with Ferula persica[1][3] and Ferula szowitziana,[4] also denoting its yellow translucent resin, which causes irritation of the skin and whose smell resembles that of asafoetida.
History
[edit]Pliny (Historia Naturalis 12.126, 19.167, 20.197) holds that sagapenum is similar to ammoniacum, and mentions its use in adultering laser.[5]
According to Dioscorides (De materia medica 3.85, 95), sagapenum smells like silphium and galbanum, and has expectorant, topical, anti-convulsant, and abortifacient properties.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Henry Liddell; Robert Scott, eds. (1897), "σᾰγάπηνον", Greek-English Lexicon (8th ed.), Harper & Brothers, p. 1371
- ^ a b Immanuel Löw (1881), Aramäische Pflanzennamen, Engelmann, p. 191
- ^ a b c Bernhard Langkavel (1866), Botanik der späteren Griechen, Berggold, p. 40
- ^ a b A. Dietrich (1995), "ṢAMGH", The Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 8 (2nd ed.), Brill, pp. 1042–1043
- ^ a b "sagapēnum", Oxford Latin Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1968, p. 1679
- ^ Dioscorides (1902), "Sagapenum", in Julius Berendes (ed.), De materia medica (PDF), PharmaWiki.ch, p. 192