An ancient 'superfood' sent from heaven
As a medicine, however, garlic has always been universally loved across class boundaries, and constantly administered for a wide variety of ailments. From the Americas to Egypt and China, garlic has historically been used to treat everything from indigestion to the plague.
Garlic needs no introduction. It makes every dish more flavorful and fragrant, and is a pantry necessity for just about every cuisine in the world.
Garlic's wide array of uses was also discovered very early on in human history. By the advent of writing and record keeping in ancient Sumer around 3400 BCE, garlic was already firmly established as a cure-all medicine.
Despite its current status as the king of the kitchen, garlic's long history is mostly medicinal, not culinary. In many ancient societies, in fact, only the poor and destitute would eat garlic for sustenance.
The healthcare of ancient Greece depended heavily on garlic. Hippocrates himself frequently utilized garlic for treating abdominal and uterine growths.
The ancient Egyptians had many uses for garlic. It was considered an essential supplement for the working class, who believed that it would help them through their hard, hot days of labor.
In Greece, as in other ancient cultures, garlic was thought to have stimulant effects that could increase energy, speed, and strength. Not only did Greek soldiers regularly ingest garlic before heading into battle, but even athletes in the very first Olympic Games took garlic before competing.
Despite the lack of insight into garlic's personal importance to King Tut, garlic's importance on a cultural scale is unquestionable. During the construction of Egypt's legendary pyramids, laborers were given garlic around the clock to help them keep their strength during their seemingly impossible endeavor.
Records have been uncovered that suggest garlic was prescribed for something similar to clinical depression in ancient China. Its use as a treatment for sadness and emotional troubles makes garlic a promising candidate for the world's first antidepressant.
Garlic was one of the most popular gifts offered to Hecate, the goddess of ghosts, the new moon, and crossroads. Cloves of garlic would be left in the middle of crossroads by travelers hoping for her protection.
Garlic was also used in ancient China as a natural preservative for other foods, particularly raw meats.
Most experts agree that garlic was a staple of Chinese medicine by at least 3000 BCE. Additionally, China was perhaps one of the first cultures to fully incorporate garlic into their daily diet.
Cloves of garlic were also found in the infamous tomb of King Tutankhaten, but experts are still unsure why they were included in the pharaoh's eternal possessions.
Evidence pulled from the Hebrew Talmud suggests that, in biblical times, garlic would sometimes be suggested as an aphrodisiac for couples experiencing marital issues. Today, most people would agree that an excess of garlic stinking up the place isn't exactly the best thing to have on a date!
Garlic has been a staple of Indian medicinal practices for as far back as records will take us. The Charaka-Samhita, an ancient Ayurveda text dating to the 1st millennium BCE, described garlic's efficacy in treating arthritis and heart disease.
In the time of Nero, ancient Rome's infamous mad emperor, the Roman army's chief physician took a page from the ancient Greeks and kept Nero's soldiers on a strict garlic regimen.
A later Sanskrit document, known as the Bower manuscript, expanded even further on garlic's medicinal properties, inferring that it could also be used to fight infections and severe cases of worms.
The influential Roman naturalist and physician Pliny the Elder was also a vocal proponent for garlic and its medicinal properties. Pliny's seminal Historica Naturalis listed no less than 23 distinct uses for garlic, ranging from an anti-toxin to a protector against liver failure.
One of garlic's most popular uses outside of the kitchen is also one of the oldest. It's safe to say that for as long as humans have been bugged by mosquitos, we have also been using garlic to defend ourselves from their bites and stings.
Europeans in the Middle Ages relied on garlic for all sorts of things over the centuries. It was utilized by aristocrats, commoners, and clergy members alike.
This strategy of filtering air through garlic was even used by criminals on at least one occasion. During an outbreak of the plague in 18th-century France, a band of robbers burgled the homes of the dead and dying, all the while wearing garlic and vinegar-soaked cloths over their faces in order to protect themselves from the ailments that plagued their victims.
King Henry IV of France (pictured) is said to have been baptized in garlic water in hopes of further protecting himself of evil spirits and diseases.
Garlic was believed to even be able to fight against the Black Death of the 14th century. The infamous beaked masks worn by plague doctors were almost always filled with, you guessed it, garlic.
Garlic plays a central role in Nowruz, the Persian new year. Cloves of garlic are situated front and center in the holiday's popular Haft-sin displays.
In the realm of folklore, it's not only vampires who are deterred by garlic. Any number of evil entities in local European tales were said to be susceptible to garlic, including werewolves and ghosts.
Garlic juice squeezed from fresh cloves has a rarely talked about secret use. It makes a strong but gentle adhesive that's perfect for repairing glass or fine porcelain.
On the Korean Peninsula, the creation myth of the ancient Gojoseon kingdom involves an interesting character named Ungnyeo. Ungnyeo successfully transforms from a bear into a human woman by eating a diet of exclusively garlic and mugwort for 100 days.
Many of the medicinal properties of garlic that were being guessed at and assumed by cultures thousands of years old have actually stood up surprisingly well to modern scrutiny. Many people today still take garlic supplements for everything from inflammation to indigestion.
See also: The mystical and powerful plants of ancient medicine
Everyone knows that some foods are healthier than others. Certain vegetables have specific vitamins and minerals that other foods might not. Garlic, on the other hand, brings a whole new meaning to the word "superfood." Long before garlic became a cook's best friend, it was used all over the world for just about everything but cooking. Over the millennia, garlic has played the roles of everything from steroid to aphrodisiac. Even more impressive is that many of these ancient health benefits have since been scientifically proven.
Have an excess of garlic in the kitchen? Read on to discover some ancient uses for garlic that might inspire you.
The fanciful and fascinating uses for garlic throughout the ages
Have an excess of garlic in the kitchen?
FOOD Food history
Everyone knows that some foods are healthier than others. Certain vegetables have specific vitamins and minerals that other foods might not. Garlic, on the other hand, brings a whole new meaning to the word "superfood." Long before garlic became a cook's best friend, it was used all over the world for just about everything but cooking. Over the millennia, garlic has played the roles of everything from steroid to aphrodisiac. Even more impressive is that many of these ancient health benefits have since been scientifically proven.
Have an excess of garlic in the kitchen? Read on to discover some ancient uses for garlic that might inspire you.