Behen oil
| Behen oil in hieroglyphics | ||||||||
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Baq / Baqet B3q / B3qt behen, ben or moringa oil |
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Baqet B3qt vessel for measuring oil quantities |
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Behen oil ( ancient Egyptian Baq , or Baqet ) is a vegetable oil from the horseradish tree ( Moringa oleifera ), which is why it is also known as Moringa oil . The oil got its name because of its behenic acid content . Information about behen oil (also ben oil, soringa oil, moringa oil) goes back to antiquity .
Origins
In ancient Egypt , behen oil was imported from northern Asia according to inscriptions of the 6th dynasty and is first documented under King ( Pharaoh ) Sahure . The transport was always filled in jugs with a handle, and it was often kept in Graviden bottles.
The odorless and sweet-tasting oil that was obtained from the nuts of the Moringa tree was used by the ancient Egyptians as an admixture in cooking, as a perfume ( kyphi ), as an ointment cone for embalming or in medicine.
Further use
The moringa tree, which originally comes from India , where it grows at the foot of the Himalayan mountains , was already reported in the ancient Vedas 5000 years ago and Ayurveda says that moringa can cure over 300 diseases. The use of ben oil was already very important in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Moringa oil is mainly used as an edible oil in India and Africa .
In cosmetics , moringa oil is used as the basis of ointments and creams, also in the production of macerates , and in enfleurage for the production of essential oils and pomades . In addition to its high stability, the oil also has fragrance-fixing properties and is therefore suitable as an ingredient in cosmetics ( INCI : MORINGA OLEIFERA SEED OIL ).
The extremely stable oil was used as a fine mechanical lubricating oil in the watch industry, especially in Switzerland and Germany, until the 19th century. As a food, behen oil was pushed out of the European market by the much cheaper olive oil around 1920. However, it is the best known stable vegetable oil.
literature
- Rainer Hannig : The language of the pharaohs (2800–950 BC). Part of the large concise dictionary of Egyptian and German (= Hannig-Lexica. Vol. 1 = Cultural history of the ancient world. Vol. 64). Marburg Edition, 4th revised edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 258.
- Wolfgang Helck : Economic history of ancient Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd millennium before Chr. In: Handbuch der Orientalistik. (HO) Dept. 1: The Near and Middle East. ed. by B. Spuler; Vol. 1: Egyptology. ed. by W. Helck, section 5. Brill, Leiden et al. 1975, ISBN 90-04-04269-5 , p. 12.