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其他書名
The History of an Obsession
出版HarperCollins, 2004
主題Business & Economics / Industries / AgribusinessCooking / Specific Ingredients / Herbs, Spices, CondimentsHistory / General
ISBN000257067X9780002570671
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=NRhgAAAACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋In the ancient Egyptian temple of Dayr al-Bahri is the earliest surviving representation of a merchant fleet. Dated to around 1495 BC, rows of hieroglyphs record that the pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut sent the fleet 1900 miles south to the land of Punt, a mysterious kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa, whence it returned in triumph with a priceless cargo of cinnamon. Yet cinnamon never grew there, it comes from the islands of Southeast Asia, the scarcely credible conclusion is that by 1500 BC there was a trade in cinnamon from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other. At some unknown place, the long-forgotten merchants of Punt acquired the spice, and then resold it for the use of the embalmers, cosmeticians, priests, gods and god-kings of the Nile.