Friday, 24. November 2006
Natural Remedies of Arabia

Whether you are in Doha, Dubai, Manama, Salalah, Jiddah or an obscure country village, when you step into an herbal medicine shop or wander through the traditional suqs (markets), you will find vendors of herbs, spices, bark, twigs, rocks and salt intended for culinary, cosmetic or medicinal purposes.

As you gaze at the piles of twisted bark or the varied combinations of dried flowers, you may wonder: What are these products? Where do they come from? How are they used locally?

These fascinating items whisper tales of the ancient trade routes, for many still come to Arabia from India, China, Indonesia, Egypt, Syria and other exotic locations, and are distributed across the Peninsula through existing commercial networks. Others are harvested locally, some under harsh desert conditions, and have their own fascinating stories to tell.

The people of the Arabian Peninsula have, for centuries, combined goods obtained by trade and barter with a prudent use of local plants and have developed a rich heritage of folk medicine.

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Natural Remedies of Arabia by Robert Lebling and Donna Pepperdine.

Donna Pepperdine is an ESL instructor with a special interest in literacy, culture and health education. As a master herbalist, she has focused much of her research on natural health solutions within the context of the Saudi family. Donna has lived in the Middle East 10 years.
Her website is very interesting: Herbal Educator.
Category: Body & Health | Herbs & Kitchen |


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