Difference between revisions of "Oximel (1)"

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[[User:WilfGunther|WilfGunther]] ([[User talk:WilfGunther|talk]]) 10:27, 1 December 2015 (GMT)
 
[[User:WilfGunther|WilfGunther]] ([[User talk:WilfGunther|talk]]) 10:27, 1 December 2015 (GMT)
  
See [[Oximeli]], [[Squingibi]], [[Scangibin]]
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See [[Oximeli]], [[Squingibin]], [[Scangibin]]
  
  
 
<div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-right: 1em;">[[Oximel (2) | Next entry]]</div>
 
<div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-right: 1em;">[[Oximel (2) | Next entry]]</div>

Revision as of 12:02, 14 January 2016

Oximel grece Stephanus squingibim arabice sed hoc nomen tam syrupo acetoso ex melle quam ex zuccaro convenit.


Apparatus:

Oximel | Ozimel B
squingibim AC | squingibin ef | squingibĩ B | squĩgebin p | squigibiu or –bui j
tam | cum f
{tam} ĩ add. B
syrupo (syro f) AC ef | sirupo B | siruppo p | siropo j
acetoso | accetoso ms. e | acetolo C {printer’s error}
melle | mele B
{quam} ex om. j
zuccaro A jp | zucharo BC e | zuc͞hro f
convenit | venit f


Translation:

Oximel is a Greek word, Stephanus equates it with Arabic squingibim; but this name can apply to sour syrup made from honey or with sugar.


Commentary:

Stephanus in his Breviarium writes: oxumeli ... squingibĩ [[1]].
N.b. Stephanus transliterates Greek “υ” {i.e. “y”} routinely as “u”, cf. ὀξύμελι /oxýmeli/ > oxumeli.

Oximel:
Greek ὀξύμελι /oxýmeli/ is a compound noun consisting of ὀξύ- /oxý-/ “sour; vinegar” + μελι /meli/ “honey”; the itacist pronunciation being /oxímeli/. The word was adopted early into Latin as oxymeli or oxymel, often written oximel(i) in late Antiquity and medieval Latin.

Oxymel is essentially a mixture of honey and vinegar with different authors offering different recipes as to the ratio of honey to vinegar and also adding further ingredients, usually salt and water. To the ancient Greeks ὄξος /óxos/ “vinegar” was one of the sourest substances they knew and μέλι /méli/ “honey” was the sweetest, and this combination of extremes was seen as imbued with healing powers.

Its importance to the ancients is clearly reflected in the literature of the time, to mention only a few authors:

  • A discussion of its benefits occurs already in the Hippocratic Corpus, in the Regimen in Acute Diseases – ΠΕΡΙ ΔΙΑΙΤΗΣ ΟΞΕΩΝ /PERI DIAITĒS OXEŌN/ [Loeb] Hippocrates vol. II, pp. 112, 114.
  • Another recipe is given in the Greek Dioscorides (Wellmann) book V, pp. 15,16, chapter 14 [[2]],

and in Dioscorides Longobardus, book V, pp. 181,182, chapter ΛϚʹ {36} De oximelli [[3]]

  • Also in Galen.

In the Roman literature it is attested early by none other than

  • Cato in his De agri cultura (ca. 160 B.C.), chapter 157 [[4]], who advised to combine oxymel with cabbage to fight illness of the joints: Verum morbum articularium nulla res tam purgat quam brassica cruda … et brassica ex aceto oxymeli et sale sparsa – “Nothing clears disease of the joints as well as raw brassica {“cabbage”} … or as cabbage in sour oxymel with salt sprinkled over it.
  • Pliny vol. VI, book XXIII, pp. 454, 456 chapter xxix, § 60 mentions another oxymel recipe and comments on its healing power.

Oxymel as a medicinal drink remained popular through the Middle Ages and has survived well into the Modern Age, and it is still to this day popular with several alternative approaches to medicine.


squingibim:
Cf. Siggel p. 42: "p. ﺳﻜﻨﺠﺒﻴﻦ /sikanğubīn/ Oxymel, Sauerhonig aus Honig, Essig, Salz und Wasser" {i.e. 'Persian. Oxymel, sour honey from honey, vinegar, salt and water'}.
For further information on the Arabic lemma see Squingibi, Scangibin

WilfGunther (talk) 10:27, 1 December 2015 (GMT)

See Oximeli, Squingibin, Scangibin


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