The following article was written by me for a Malaysian friend. She is the editor of a newspaper completely directed by teenagers. I am so proud of her! :)
Writing about the origin of spices is like collecting clues about an unsolved mystery. There is no direct proof of where it all started from. During the excavation of Egyptian tombs dated back to 3000 BC, archaeologists found traces of spices. This is probably the earliest mention of spices. And not just in Egypt Knossos Crete also show an ape picking up saffron which one of the most precious spices. An interesting document called Ebers Papyrus from 1550 BC, throws light on how spices were then used in practice of surgery and medicine. Spices have thus been with men since the very beginning. Myths and stories and poems of ancient times have been inspired by spices. One of the myths states that the fragrance of spices is favoured by Gods and helps you to have a better afterlife. Biblical poems also mention spices. Even if the origin of spices does not point to anything specific, we can be sure of its existence before men could express it in words.
“A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving food. Sometimes a spice is used to hide other flavours,” says Wikipedia. The search of undiscovered spices has played a major role in the discoveries of various unknown lands on earth. The French word espice, which was later termed epice from the Latin word spec, is where our term spices come from. Its origin has been associated with the discovery of unknown lands by explorers which resulted in the discovery of spices. The earliest uses were related to medicine, surgery, magic, preservation and religious rituals. Various spices originated from plants and trees. They were usually imported to far away lands, which could be one of the reasons why we are unsure of their origin. As the spices travelled long distances before reaching their destination, one cannot know where exactly they came from. Spices have provided human race with a huge variety of tastes. Every corner of the world has its own special spice which makes our lives spicier right from sunrise to sunset!