Salt

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that because salt is needed the world over, for people and for animals, it has always been in demand; therefore, salt was probably the first traded commodity. The author points out that the world-over, in the past and in the present, salt is used for many different applications, such as, in the European Middle Ages, it was used not only to preserve food but also to cure leather, clean chimneys, glaze pottery, solder pipes and as a medicine for a variety of complaints. The paper describes salt manufacturing produce from edible sea salt in Japan, which has no known salt deposits and whose climate makes evaporation extremely impractical; nonetheless, today, Japan is the world's largest importer of salt.

Table of Contents
The Traditional Uses of Salt
Ancient China
African Uses of Salt
Salt in the Roman Empire
Advances in Salt Production
Venice and the Mediterranean
Britain
Japan
Salt in Today's World

From the Paper:

"Egyptian history starkly contrasts with that of the Chinese; they were the first civilization to preserve food on a large scale with salt. The Egyptians realized that by preserving a product with salt, such as fish, olives, or eggs, a value was added per pound. They exported vast amounts of salted food to the Middle East and trade in salted food would shape many economies for the next four millennia. The Egyptians also traded salted food with the Phoenicians who inhabited a narrow strip of land on the Lebanese coast, north of Mount Carmel. Not only did the Egyptians preserve food with salt, they also mummified bodies by keeping them in salt for 70 days. The Egyptians made thier salt by evaporating the seawater in the Nile; they also obtained salt from trade with Libya and Ethiopia."

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