History Of Spices

How Spices Have Influenced History

Spice has a long history, almost as long as human civilisation. It’s a story of new territories being found, empires rising and falling, wars won and lost, treaties signed and broken, new flavors being sought and offered, and the rise and fall of many religious practices and beliefs. Spices were among the most valuable items of trade in ancient and medieval times.

Spices were used by the ancient Egyptians for flavoring food, cosmetics, and embalming their dead as early as 3500 BC. Spices were used in the Middle East before spreading to the eastern Mediterranean and Europe. Spices were formerly delivered overland by donkey or camel caravans from China, Indonesia, India, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Arab intermediaries dominated the spice trade for about 5000 years, until European explorers discovered a sea route to India and other spice-producing countries in the East.