Meru (plant)

Meru in hieroglyphics
Meru Mrw Meru Plant ( Lebanon Cedar ?)

Meru is the ancient Egyptian name of a plant from which an aromatic oil was obtained, which was used, among other things, as a coveted commodity in the early days of Egypt. It is unclear from which plant the oil was obtained.

The plant could on the one hand be the Lebanon cedar , on the other hand a reference to other Asian conifers is possible. For this oil kings like Semerchet ( 1st Dynasty ) sent expeditions to the Levant . Vessels with the corresponding inscription were found in his grave near Abydos .

literature

• Rainer Hannig : Large concise dictionary of Egyptian-German (2800–950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 368.
• Ian Shaw: The Oxford history of ancient Egypt . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002, ISBN 0-1928-0293-3 , pp. 72-73.
• Toby Wilkinson : Early Dynastic Egypt . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-4151-8633-1 , p. 136.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Possibly the Lebanon cedar ( Cedrus libani Lond ): Hieroglyphic writing among others(Information according to Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German . P. 368).
2. ↑ Oil from the mrw-tree according to Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt . P. 136 .