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[German version] Member of the crowfoot plant family (Ranunculaceae) delphínion in Dioscorides 3,73 (only RV; [1. 84] = 3,77 [2. 310]). Because of the dolphin-like or pony-like nectaries on the larkspur, it is probably identical with D. ajacis L. (Modern Greek καπουτσῖνος) and consists of about 200 varieties, of which eight are to be found in Greece and Italy. That includes the common field weed …

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[German version] [1] Plant (κοτυληδών/ kotylēdṓn, κυμβάλιον/ kymbálion, σκυτάλιον/ skytálion, γῆς ὀμφαλός/ gȇs omphalós; Latin umbilicus Veneris, cotyledon), genus of the Crassulaceae family: navelwort with two species ( Umbilicus erectus and Umbilicus horizontalis) still growing on rocks and walls in the Mediterranean area, m…

[German version] ( Procavia capensis) is the only family representative from the mammal order Hyracoidea which is still found today in Palestine and the Middle East. These hare-sized herbivores are probably identical to the rabbits ( Hare) of the Luther Bible, χοιρόγρυλλος/ choirógryllos, Latin choerogryllus, chyrogryllius or middle-Latin cirogrillus, which are unclean according to the Mosaic food laws (Lv 11:5; Dt 14:7). At Thomas of Cantimpré 4,24 [1. 124] it is maintai…

[German version] ( Caprimulgus europaeus L.). The curious earth-coloured bird has its name αἰγοθήλας/ aigothḗlas (Lat. caprimulgus, i.e. 'goat-milker') from the statement in Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),30,618b 2-9 (= Plin. HN 10,115; Ael. NA 3,39) that it sucks the udder of goats at night [1. 72], causes their milk to dry up and makes the animals blind. In reality the bird flies about at night catching insects with its rather wide beak. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Leitner. Keller 2, 68 f.  D'Arcy W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds, 1936 (repr. 1966), 24 f.

[German version] (Greek σίλφιον/ sílphion, word of non-Greek origin, from σίλφι/ sílphi or σίρφι/ sírphi; Latin sirpe, laserpicium from lac sirpicium). An as yet unidentified plant, imported from the 6th cent. BC from Cyrenaeca in northern Africa, and the resinous milky juice obtained from its stem and root (Latin laser, main citation in Plin. HN 19,38-46 and 22,100 f. according to Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,1,6; 6,3,1; 6,3,3; 6,4). It seems to have been related to asafoetida ( Ferula asa-foetida L.). The plant is supposed to have had a strong but pleasant smell. Theophr. (Hi…

[German version] (κίσσα/ kíssa or κίττα/ kítta, Garrulus glandarius). It was often confused in Greek with the  Magpie [1. 146] and, as garrulus, in the Middle Ages (among others in Isid. Orig. 12,7,45) with either the graculus, the Alpine chough ( Jackdaw), or the rook (e.g. in Thomas of Cantimpré 5,62; [2. 209]). The colourful crow shows characteristic coloration and behaviour. Plin. HN 10,119 already admires the talkativeness of the related magpies and of the acorn eaters ( earum quae glande vescantur). Aristot. Hist. an. 9(8),13,615b 19-23 describes the changeability o…

[German version] (στυπτηρία; styptēría, alumen). Name for a group of earth salts already known to the Babylonians [1.76 f.] ( salsugo terrae, Plin. HN 35,183), namely the salts of sulphuric acid that, in so-called alum works (μέταλλα τῆς στυπτηρίας; métalla tês styptērías) were, according to Dioscorides 5,106 [2.3.75] = 5,122 [3.532], mined in Egypt, …

[German version] The word ἀκρίς/ akrís (from κρίζειν, ‘to scream’) attested since Hom. Il. 21,12 describes all species of Saltatoria same as locusta (since Naevius in Varro, Ling. 7,39 basic meaning ‘equipped with joints’ or ‘jumping’). This also applies to the synonyms βροῦχος/ broûchos = bruc(h)us, βρύκος/ brýkos, μάσταξ/ mástax, πάρνοψ/ párnops (Aristoph. Ach. 150 and Av. 588; Ael. NA 6,19; Paus. 1,24,8) or κόρνοψ ( …

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[German version] In the Mediterranean, beeches propes such as Fagus silvatica and orientalis (φηγός; phēgós) only grow on relatively high mountains, but are often confused with hornbeams ( Carpinus) or even oaks (δρῦς; drŷs), although mainly with Quercus aegilops and the edible oak Quercus ilex var. ballota ( aesculus), supposedly the main food plant of prehistoric times.  Trees Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography K. Koch, Die Bäume und Sträucher des Alten Griechenlands, 21884, 55ff.

[German version] Pulses ( legumina) such as peas (πίσον; píson, pisum), chickpeas (ἐρέβινθος; erébinthos, cicer) and lentils (φακός; phakós, lens) have been cultivated in the Mediterranean region, as crops of Middle Eastern origin, for at least as long as cereal crops, i.e. for about 6,000 years. Nicknames of reputable Roman families (Fabius, Lentulus, Cicero) are derived from them. The original small-seed varieties (κύαμος; kýamos, πύανος; pýanos, faba, Slav. …

[German version] (αἰγίθαλ(λ)ος/ aigíthal(l)os, αἰγιθάλος/ aigithálos; Latin vitiparra). The Paridae family of songbirds in which Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,592b 17-21 distinguishes three worm-eating (σκωληκοφάγα/ skōlēkophága) species, with many eggs (8(9),15,616b 2f.), enemies of bees (8(9),40,626a 8;  Ael. NA 1,58): 1. the Great Tit ( Parus maior), the size of a finch (σπιζίτης/ spizítēs), 2. a medium-sized titmouse with a long tail (ὀρεινός/ oreinós), perhaps the Long-Tailed Tit ( Aegithalos caudatus), and 3. an unspecified small titmouse with no particular nam…

[German version] ( obsianus lapis, 'stone of Obsius'; obsidianus is the incorrect reading) is a dark, vitreous (Plin. HN 36,196: in genere vitri = Isid. Orig. 16,16,5) volcanic rock that a certain Obsius of Ethiopia is said to have imported to Rome. In the Near East, obsidian was highly regarded from the 8th millennium and in Egypt from the 4th millennium, principally because of the sharp cutting edges of tools that were made of obsidian blades but also because its semi-transparent property made it attractive as a gemstone (Akkadian ṣurru; Egyptian mnw). From the 2nd millennium, obsid…

[German version] (ὀποβάλσαμον/ opobálsamon, Latin balsamum, properly balsam sap, or βάλσαμον/ bálsamon) was the name of the balsam tree Commiphora opobalsamum, famous for its valuable resin, which was known by the Greeks only from plantations in Syri…

(Ἕννα/ Henna, Ἔννα/ Énna). [German version] [1] City of the Siculi This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | | Punic Wars Well-fortified city of the Siculi (Cic. Verr. 2,4,107; Diod. Sic. 5,3,2; though possibly founded by Syracuse, Steph. Byz. s.v. H., cf. [1. 7424; 2. 395]) on a steep, almost 1,000 m high mountain in the centre of Sicily, Hellenized from the 5th cent., besieged for a short time…

[German version] (ἀδράφαξυς/ adráphaxys: Theophrastus, ἀνδράφαξυς/ andráphaxys: Dioscorides, ἀνδράφαξις/ andráphaxis: Hippocr.; Latin atriplex), a spinach-like vegetable of the goose-foot family ( Chenopodiaceae), of which only one species (Theophr. H. plant. 7,4,1 = Plin. HN 19,123), i.e. Atriplex rosea L., is cultivated in Greece. According to Theophr. H. plant. 1,14,2 and 7,3,4 it formed its broad leaf-like seeds, which…

[German version] There were several names for the pleasantly smelling members of the genus Mentha of the family Labiatae not precisely described by the Greeks: μίνθη/ mínthē (Theophr. H. plant. 2,4,1), καλαμίνθη/ kalamínthē, σισύμβριον/ sisýmbrion, ἡδύσμον/ hēdýsmon (e.g. in Theophr. ibid. 7,7,1), βλήχων/ blḗchōn…

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