Early Botanical Plants documented in Egypt, Persia, Greece, & Rome

Homer (c 800 - c 701 BC) as depicted in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicles

There has been a strong connection between man & nature, ever since his first origins; when man discovered the benefits of the plant kingdom, which he used to feed himself, to heal & to survive. Man's first knowledge about plants initially passed through oral tradition from generation to generation.  

The basic design & roles of Western Botanical Gardens can be traced through written records to ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, & Rome, where important elements emerged that would evolve over the centuries: the garden as walled & protected sanctuary, and the garden as an organized space, & plants as agents of healing. 

"The Venidad," one of the volumes of the Zend-Avesta, the ancient Persian religious text written around the 7BC purportedly by Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), the founder of Zoroastrianism, and heavily influenced by the Vedas, mentions bhang and lists cannabis as the most important of 10,000 medicinal plants.

The Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BC, represents a collection of 800 descriptions referring to 700 plant species and drugs used for therapy such as mandrake, pomegranate, castor oil plant, aloe, senna, garlic, onion, fig, willow, coriander, juniper, common centaury, etc. The Ebers Papyrus, also known as Papyrus Ebers, is an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge. Among the oldest & most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt, it was purchased at Luxor in the winter of 1873–74 by Georg Ebers. 

The earliest known Greek herbals were those of Diocles of Carystus, written during the 3rd century B.C, and one by Krateuas from the 1st century B.C. Only a few fragments of these works have survived intact, but from what remains scholars have noted that there is a large amount of overlap with the Egyptian herbals. 

Greek and Roman medicinal practices, as preserved in the writings of Hippocrates (e.g. De herbis et curis) and - especially - Galen (e.g. Therapeutics), provided the pattern for later western medicine. Sometime between 50 - 68 A.D., a Greek physician known as Pedanius Dioscorides wrote De Materia Medica, a compendium of more than 600 plants, 35 animal products, and ninety minerals. De Materia Medica remained the authoritative reference of herbalism into the 17C. Similarly important for physicians using medicinal plants & for botanists of later centuries was Theophrastus' Historia Plantarum, written in the 4 BC, which was the first systematization of the botanical world.

According to the Bible & the holy Jewish book the Talmud, during various rituals accompanying a treatment, aromatic plants were utilized such as myrtle & incense. 

In Homer's epics The Iliad & The Odysseys, from about 800 BC, 63 plant species from the Minoan, Mycenaean, & Egyptian Assyrian medicinal plants were referred to. Some of them were given the names after mythological characters from these epics; for instance, Elecampane (Inula helenium L. Asteraceae) was named in honor of Elena, who was the centre of the Trojan War. As regards the plants from the genus Artemisia, which were believed to restore strength & protect health, their name was derived from the Greek word artemis, meaning “healthy.” 

Homer (c 800 - c 701 BC) 

Homer was the presumed author of the Iliad & the Odyssey, 2 epic poems that are the foundational works of ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the 10-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek kingdoms. It focuses on a quarrel between King Agamemnon & the warrior Achilles lasting a few weeks during the last year of the war. The Odyssey focuses on the 10-year journey home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. Scholars still debate by whom, when, where & under what circumstances the Iliad & Odyssey were composed, The topic continues to be debated in  two groups. According to some, the 1st position holds that most of the Iliad & the Odyssey are the works of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the result of a process of working & reworking by many contributors, & that "Homer" is best seen as a label for an entire tradition. It is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late 8BC or early 7BC.

The Histories by Herodotus (c 500 BC) 

 Herodotus (referred to castor oil plant, Orpheus to the fragrant hellebore & garlic, & Pythagoras to the sea onion (Scilla maritima), mustard, & cabbage. Herodotus (c 484 – c. 425 BC) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in the Persian Empire (modern-day Turkey). He is known for having written the book The Histories, a detailed record of his "inquiry" on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He is widely considered to have been the 1st writer to have treated historical subjects using a method of systematic investigation - specifically, by collecting his materials & then critically arranging them into a chronologial narrative. He is often referred to as "The Father of History," a title 1st conferred on him by the 1BC Roman orator Cicero.