A simple introduction.
containing the background, thesis, and methodology of the MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVES.
PHYSIOLOGY | GEOLOGY | ARCHAEOLOGY | PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY | EUSTATIC SEALEVELS | DEAD SEA
LEVELS | PALAEOGEOGRAPHY | PRODUCTION SALTPETER | RELIGION | ECONOMICS |
INDIA Monopolies | CHINA
Monopolies | FRANCE the Gabelle
| THE MANY USES of Salt | ETYMOLOGY | MONOMANIA
Water and salt are essential for
maintaining extra cellular and intracellular concentrations of salt to activate cells in
all plant and animal life. The body may endure periods of lack of food, but without salt
and water , living cells would quickly perish from dehydration. Prior to the Industrial
revolution, Water was relatively easy to obtain, but salt, in the quantities required by
growing communities, was nigh, impossible.
static salt brines sometimes
referred to as the 'blood of life' looked and tasted very much like real blood. The
"hunter gatherers" of pre-agricultural communities recognised that both, the
blood of the animals they slaughtered, and these red static brines coloured
by Halophilic algae had the similar characteristics. No wonder that the salt
of animal blood and
that of salt brine became a mysterious powerful magic. In due course white
crystal salt from
other natural sources was discovered to contain this magical power of sustaining life and good
health, and was instinctively added to the slaughtered meat. It was also discovered that
this salt served to dehydrate the meat and preserve it for long periods. Thus
"salting" of slaughtered and sacrificed animals, achieved two critical
requirements: physiological, and as a preservative. So critical were these
two requirements, that a community's Abattoir soon became its Temple, and the ceremony of
ritual sacrifice was to be revered and protected, not only as a very
important and powerful economic enterprise,
but also as a central and important social theme.
The power to
monopolize and control a
population's salt supply, was power over life and death. Erratic sea level changes, made
salt production on the sea shore difficult, particularly in the Mediterranean, and
periodic flooding of the ancient coastal evaporation facilities prevented some of these civilisations from obtaining consistent salt supplies,
causing them to migrate or decay, conquer or succumb to others.
The East India Company
All Via Salarium lead ..to Rome!
- The fact that the Romans abroad, seemed to have concentrated their military
infrastructure near salt sources, or on salt routes between those sites, and Rome [Via
Salaria], should dictate that we examine more closely the importance of salt to the
A L A E O C L I M A T O L O G Y
Erratic sea level changes due
to global warming or cooling at the Antarctic pole, periodically
melted the ice and catastrophically destroyed salt evaporation ponds
at the sea shores. They were responsible for changing
coastlines and have been points of debate ever since it was recognised that unexplained
changes did occur.
Dead Sea Levels
A L A E O G E O G R A P H Y
In 1962 the first deep ice cores
were taken from the Antarctic ice mass. The dust layers found in the cores may be
correlated to the changes of the world's climates over the past few thousand years. If one
accepts the premise that volcanic dust - in particular, and other coloring matter, changed
the Albedo of the ice caps causing melting, and eustatic oscillations in ocean levels
then historians must reconsider our history with this in mind.
Aristotle believed that primitive barter trading of standardised
commodities 'hall-marked" by an authority for correct weight and
quality, represented the first use of "money". He says......."as the
necessaries of nature were not all easily portable, people agreed
for the purposes of barter, mutually to give and receive some
article .....which was practically easy to handle in the business of
life..... Today, Salt is still used as a means of payment and barter
SALT and the EVOLUTION of MONEY
"JOURNAL OF SALT-HISTORY " ANNALES
D'HISTOIRE DU SEL JAHRBUCH FUR SALZGESCHLICHTE
The physiological requirement of
salt, by the human body is immediate and life sustaining, . Many other everyday uses are
today taken for granted. In ancient times before any chemical analysis was possible
experience and wisdom, was necessary to discern the purity of the salt for specific
applications. To sustain a growing population, even more salt was required. That salt was
available or was relatively easy to produce, was a basic condition allowing a
population to increase, and develop. Where salt supply dwindled....... populations
stagnated, and autocracy ruled.
Uses of Salt
Oil formation in Nature
comprises as a first step the production of proteins in saltwater lakes and lagoons from
decomposing Dunaliella Halophilic algae. The lagoon waters - solar
ponds - are shallow and the floor uneven....Heavy salt brines
transport the organic residues downwards through the aquifers to
great depths..... Nature is continually producing more and more
crude oil from this raw decomposing alga, in a surprisingly fast cycle.
Proceedings of the
2nd International Conference on the Ecological Importance of Solar
Saltworks (CEISSA 2009)
Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, 26 – 29 March 2009
HEAVY SALINE STREAMS IN SALT DRIVEN WETLANDS,
ABANDONED EVAPORATION PANS, DOMES AND OTHER SALT DEPOSITS AS THE
RESPONSIBLE HYDRAULIC MECHANISMS CAUSING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HEAVY
WASTE LIQUIDS, AND OTHER WASTE TOXIC SEDIMENTS ON LAND AND IN THE OCEANS
- M.R. BLOCH Salt Archive 198 Ben Yehuda Str TelAviv Israel
Ancient civilisations' languages, and possibly a populations' resulting
behavior was drastically influenced
by references and lexicon concerning the supply, trading, consumption, and possession of
salt. Whether it was subjection or subservience, regulation of behaviour and language was
dictated by the way salt was supplied and traded. Peace [salaam] literally meant
negotiating [salute'] for salt, and war ['"milah"'ama] was literally about salt.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution salt was so important to the development of our
civilisations, that any inconsistency of supplies or control of the sources of salt, could be
detrimental to the community independence and liberty .
When writing about the history
of a particular commodity such as salt, or even a person, there is the danger of
over-estimating the subject's importance in the general historical context. Studying the
influence of salt on such great events as the rise and fall of civilizations, one may be
tempted to ascribe more to the effects of one's chosen subject than the facts will stand.
Follow the VIA SALARIUM [the
salt trails, or the 'silk road' trips with 'Shaarim' of the friends of the Open