This is how ambergris looks like
a Christian doctor working in Baghdad (d857)
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Yuhanna ibn Masawaih (circa 777–857), or Masawaih, Masawaiyh, was a Persian or Assyrian Nestorian Christian physician from the Academy of Gundishapur. He became director of a hospital in Baghdad, and was personal physician to four caliphs. He died in Samarra in 857 CE. He composed medical treatises on a number of topics, including ophthalmology, fevers, leprosy, headache, melancholia, dietetics, the testing of physicians, and medical aphorisms. One of Masawaiyh's treatises concerns aromatics, entitled: On Simple Aromatic Substances. In it some substances from East Africa.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
1961 XVI(4):394-410
jhmas.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/XVI/4/394.pdf
Iranica.com article on Cardamom by Husang Aʿlam
Also called Masuya, Masawaiyh or Mesue Maior/ Abu Zakariya Yuhanna ibn Masawaih
Ambergris perfumes
Aloes Tree
Camphor tree
Cloves Tree
Sandalwood tree
Pepper tree
All pictures in this row from Qazwini.
(1) This text on ambergris for which Ibn Masawaih (857) is the earliest source is repeated by others like: Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi d897, Ibn Rosteh 903, al Masudi 916, Ibn Serapion 950, al Tamimi 980, Abu al Mutahhar al Azdi 1010; Ibn Butlan 1066; Ibn al-Wafid 1074; Nuwayri 1333; Musa Ud-Damiri 1405; Al Qalqashandi 1418. Off course much was added and discarded on the way. The most extensive article on ambergris is from Musa Ud-Damiri 1405.
(2) Salahati: Ambra al salahati: was imported from the region of Sofala(India). Ambra al schalahati: salahat ambergris; a good quality. Also found in: Ibn Masawaih (857); Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi (d897); Sa'id al-Tamimi (980); Abu al Mutahhar al Azdi (1010); Ismail Gorgani (1110); Nuwayri (1333).
(3) qaquli: From Qaquala, west coast of Sumatra).
(4) mand; Persian A species of jet or black ambergris.
(5) Shahr: or Shihr; coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.
(6) Samaki literally means fish.
Musk……………..
Ambergris (1)
There are various kinds of which some are superior. However, they are known from experience by their provenance. The best of the types of ambergris is the salahati (2). It is superior. The best
of the salahati kind is the blue type, very oily, fatty, used in perfumery. Then, there is the qaquli (3) which has a good odor and is a little dry. It is inferior to the first and is not
good for perfumery except in case of necessity. It is for refreshing the air. Then there is the mand (4); it is the most inferior and is found in many varieties. Of the mand, that from Shahr (5)
is the best. One knows it by its color which is black with yellow in it. It dyes the hand if it is touched by it. Its odour is like that of dry ambergris; it does not, however, remain in water.
It is best as an unguent. It does not yield the result obtained from the dry. It is used in perfumery when the salahati is hard to find. Of the mand, that from Zanj is like the Shahr type. It is
inferior to it in odor, black with no yellow in it. Of the mand, there is the purple-red. It dyes the hand. It is not used with aromatic salve except rarely. This is good to make the dye
disappear from the hand. Then, there is the samaki (6) type; it is ambergris which the fish and the birds eat at sea. Then it kills those who ate it and the waves cast it ashore. It becomes
spoiled and the ambergris remains a liquid similar to pitch. It is bad in aromatics and in odor. With it one falsifies the best [ambergris] The salahati and qaquli types both come from the region
of Sofala, India. The mand, Shahr type, comes from the Yemen coast, bounded by Oman to the coast of Hadramut (32). Then it stops a distance of some days journey this side of Aden. The Zanj
[black] and red-purple types both come from the land of Zanj. One says this also of the Shahr variety; however, the Zanj is named for its black colour. It is said that ambergris is a plant on the
floor of the sea. Also it is said that it is dung of an animal that is in the sea. Further it is said that it is the excrescence of the sea. Ambergris remedies the humours of the aged; it is put
into electuarie. prescribed for them.
Aloe (10)
There are various types. Of it, there are the Indian, also called the Mandali (maybe Mandari port in India) and the samandrun that comes from the district of Samandrun (Indian port near Bombay) the region of Sofala of India……………….
Camphor (11)
There are various types, one of which is zabaji, its best. It is white resembling salt. Then, there is the sarbui which is next in quality. Then, there is the dumub, then the irar, then the isfaril, then the naht. The naht may be mixed with isfaril. Another is the musa’ad derived from all the camphors; it is not the original substance. All are brought from the land of Sofala in India………..
Saffron (12) ……………
Nard (13) ……………..
Clove (14)
One kind. Its best is arid dry with a sweet, good odour. It is the fruit of a tree which comes from Sofala. It is introduced into liquid aromatics for women and into the cooking of nutmeg. It is
hot, gentle, good for the ...
Sandal (15)
There are various types. The best of them is yellow, heavy, with no cavities, and dull as if it had been rubbed with saffron. It is a sweet aromatic of the Indian people. Then after it comes the white sandal which is white in appearance, aromatic in odour, and not like the first. Then there follows a sandal which is yellow and red, and has a strong odour. It is the strongest in odour but it is not sweet. Then there is the red sandal which is not for aromatics because it does not possess an odour. All these are brought from Sofala. ………..
Nutmeg (16) and Fennel (17)
They are equal as aromatics except in a minor way. The fenel is a leaf. The nutmeg is one of the weaker ones; it has a convex leaf with a lattice similar to the rose; this distinguishes it from the former. Often it is brought in its original shape so that it is interesting and is used in ornamental neckbands. It is brought from Sofala………..
Rose……….
Falanjah (18)
There are various types. The best is the red, heavy, thick-stemmed which has the odour of apple. Also, there is the light, with abundant leaves, thin stems, which resembles the best in some of its odour. It is a fruit like the mustard. It is brought from Sofala……………
Zarnab (19) ………….
Cinnamon (20) …………..
Indian Pepper
It is a seed smaller than the pepper, dust coloured, sweet, similar to the odour of Indian aloe wood. It is employed in liquid aromatics for women. It comes from Sofala, India.
Cardamon (21)
Qaqola comes after harna/owa [the fruit of agalloch, Aloexylum agallochum Lour.] as to fragrance, which is like that of camphor. It enters into [the composition of] women's perfumes. It is
brought from belad Sofala (the land of Sofala). It [consists in] a grain [sic, haabb, probably meaning 'seed pod'] like large chickpeas, sheathed [i.e., in a capsule], which, when crushed,
produces small grains (like wheat grains) . . . Hal-bawwa is like the granules [i.e., seeds] of a crushed qaqola. It [also] is used in women's perfumes. It [also] is brought from the land of
Sofala…..
Cubeb (22)
It is like pepper in appearance. It is inferior to cardamom. Its odour resembles that of sisymbrium. It is introduced into liquid aromatics for women. It is brought from Sofala and is superior to cardamom in the warm nature.
Small Cardamom
It is like the thin part of the Cardamom. Its odour is close to that of the cardamom. It is employed in perfume for women. It comes from Sofala and is stronger than cardamom and better than it for the stomach.
Seed of the Misam
It is a seed like the seed of the terebinth, dust colored with redness in it, with an aromatic odour. It is employed in aromatics for women. It comes from Sofala.
Agnus-Castus (23)
It is a seed like the seed of the small chick pea. Its skin is hard as the skin of the prune. In its interior a black seed is suspended, like hemp and a little larger. It is employed in aromatics for women. It comes from Sofala.
Mahlab (24) …………..
True Wars (25) …………..
Costus (26)
It comes from Abyssinia…………….
Zufran (27) ………….
Bunk………..
Lentisk (28) ………….
Laudanum (29) ………..
Storax (30) …………….
Kamala (31) …………
Note: This story of ambergris will
be repeated by many authors; only they will not name any more the Zanj type is called so because of its color; Zanj will be the place where it came from.
Masawayh: Kitab al-Jawahir wa-sifatiha
(The Book of Gemstones and their Properties) (d857)
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Taken from: Hawliyat Islamiyah
The pearl fisheries of Oman and the countries that follow it; Abyssinia and Yemen. The begin is the Gulf
of Oman, then comes Muscat, Al Sihr (33), Socotra, the Gulf Aden and Berbera: the sea is 10 qaymans (7) deep;
from there come all the big pearls who are the most white, and most expensive; small ones are rare; they
are better then the Qatari, because of their size they have not the roundness of the Qatari, but their
transparency is bigger, their whiteness more intense and they are close one to the other. There is in the
pearl fishery of Oman a special oyster called harkus: it is a long oyster and if there is in one a grain, it is
big and pure; the pearl fisheries of the gulf of Zendj are also part of Oman; one fishes only small quantities
and finds hardly anything; if
a pearl is found, it is big as a umani (8) or a bid less: there are no balbal (9).
Pearl fisheries in the gulf from the Catalan Atlas of 1375
Taken from : Le premier traité arabe de minéralogie le livre de Yūḥannā Ibn Māsawayh sur les pierres précieuses. Par Gérard Troupeau
The Emerald (al-zumurrud)
She is totally green, of different greens; she is found in the land of Sudan, that lays behind Egypt, in the mountains, where it is mined; sometimes the searchers find them in a vein and cut them; this is the best emerald existing; the other ones are found in the ground by sieving; they are found in the interior of the of the dirt and are washed, as the silver holding dirt is washed, and one finds the emerald. Every person who goes into that mountain will make 5 dinars in 3 weeks. There is a kind of green that is lively and a little transparent; an other one is pale, only a little green and way more transparent.
(7) Qaymans (deep): a tent; the height of a tent?
(8) Umani (pearl): from Oman.
(9) Balbal pearl: literally from an oyster-shell.
(10) The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". Because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes.
(11) is a powder that originally came from the bark and wood of the camphor tree. It's in some products that are applied to the skin. It's a common ingredient in remedies applied to the skin for cough and skin irritation.
(12) Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". Used mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food.
(13) Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from Nardostachys jatamansi, a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India.
(14) Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is a tree native to Indonesia. Its dried flower buds are a popular spice and are also used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Clove oils, dried flower buds, leaves, and stems are used to make medicine.
(15) Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for use.
(16) Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from that seed, of several tree species of the genus Myristica; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, and mace, from the seed covering.
(17) Fennel is a vegetable that is white-green in colour and bulb-like in appearance, with green stems and fronds. Varieties such as the Florence or Finocchio are treated as a vegetable, but you can also buy fennel as a herb with foliage resembling dill.
(18) From the examination of ancient texts, it emerges that the nature of the simple aromatic called falangah in Arab-Islamic treatises varies from one author to another, depending on the sources to which this author has referred and the time in which he lived. This great variability allows us to say that the word falangah very quickly received an amplitude of meaning which made it a generic term applicable to various products occupying the same aromatic and galenic niche in the preparation of perfumed compositions.
(19) a constituent of perfumed ointments.
(20) Used as a spice for thousands of years, cinnamon comes from the bark of various species of cinnamon trees.
(21) Cardamom sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae.
(22) Piper cubeba, cubeb or tailed pepper is a plant in genus Piper, cultivated for its fruit and essential oil. It is mostly grown in Java and Sumatra, hence sometimes called Java pepper.
(23) Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex, chaste tree, chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper, is a native of the Mediterranean region.
(24) Mahleb or Mahlepi is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of a species of cherry, Prunus mahaleb. The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm diameter, soft and chewy.
(26) (Saussurea costus) is an herb native to China and India. Its root and essential oil are used in traditional medicine systems.
(27) a tropical odiferous substance;
(28) Mastic tree; It grows up to 4 m tall and is cultivated for its aromatic resin.
(29) is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) in alcohol (ethanol).
(30) Styrax: is a genus of about 130 species of large shrubs or small trees. The resin obtained from the tree is called benzoin or storax.
(31) Mallotus philippensis is a plant in the spurge family. It is known as the kamala tree or red kamala or kumkum tree, due to the fruit covering, which produces a red dye.
(32) Hadramaut: eastern part of Yemen.
(33) al Sihr; coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.