Silphium - Rediscovered in Turkey, finally.

[mikebell]

It remains to be seen if its got the properties attributed by the Romans however..  Looks pretty close to depictions on the coins.

Miracle Plant Used in Ancient Greece Rediscovered After 2,000 Years - GreekReporter.com

I didn't really think it had completely died out TBH.  There are still some pretty cut off places in the world yet.

[shanxi]

Quite similar:

 

This is the original report:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion?userab=ng_pw_copy-287*variant_b-1127

 

and my coin:

 

 

Cyrenaica - Cyrene
Æ 22, ca. 250BC
Obv.: Diademed head of Zeus Ammon right
Rev.: Κ-Ο/Ι-Ν/Ο-Ν Silphium plant Monogram
Æ, 9.15g, 21.9mm
Ref.: SNG Cop 1278 var.

 

 

[Deinomenid]

GreekReporter has more than a hint of using a bot to regularly recycle old stories. They show this one quite often. It used to be called Greek Hollywood Reporter. Not kidding!

[kirispupis]

I've read several reports, each one claiming that Silphium being "rediscovered" in some new place, but I don't buy it. As I recall, the ancients were quite explicit that conditions allowed it to grow in only one place. We also know what the seeds looked like and that crabs were somehow tied to its lifecycle.

Here's my example coin.

Kyrene, Magas
Ptolemaic governor, c. 300-282/75 BC
AR Didrachm 20mm, 7.30g, 12h
Head of Karneios r. R/ Silphion plant; ZE monogram to upper l., crab to upper r., KY-PA across lower field.
BMC 256; cf. SNG Copenhagen 1243

[-monolith-]

Why would you eat plants when you could be eating Turkey, mmmmmm Turkey. Sorry it's to close to Thanksgiving.

[Deinomenid]

11 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

crabs were somehow tied to its lifecycle.

For the lifecycle these creatures too. Jerboa. To disperse and bury the seeds apparently.

 

[kirispupis]

19 minutes ago, Deinomenid said:

For the lifecycle these creatures too. Jerboa. To disperse and bury the seeds apparently.

Learn something new everyday! As a kid I recall seeing jerboas in a pet store and I really wanted one because the idea of a rodent that runs up to 24/kph thrilled me. 

So, if the jerboas managed seed planting, I wonder what the crabs did? Perhaps they just managed the operation.

[mikebell]

3 hours ago, kirispupis said:

I've read several reports, each one claiming that Silphium being "rediscovered" in some new place, but I don't buy it.

Having read up a bit further following my post - neither does the scientific community.  Both are highly localised - but it looks like Silphium is extinct..  What a pity.

[Sulla80]

4 hours ago, shanxi said:

This is the original report:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion?userab=ng_pw_copy-287*variant_b-1127

Here's the article submitted in 22-Nov-2020 : 
DOI: 10.3390/plants10010102 - I find the argument compelling (without an ancient sample - it seems hard to be definitive). As we have a right facing coin - here's a left facing variant.

Edited November 28, 2024 by Sulla80