Salt, Nacl: Religion And Culture

Salt, NaCl, is a chemical compound made of sodium and chloride which has been very important to humans for many years. Salt’s ability to preserve food was the most important aspect for many civilizations. It helped eliminate the problem of only being able to eat seasonal food. Also since salt was rather hard to obtain many people used it as a form of currency. Today, However salt is almost universally accessible, while being cheap and often iodized. -- Production I --

In the Iron Age, the British evaporated salt by boiling seawater or brine from salt springs in clay pots over fires. Roman salt-making required boiling the seawater in large lead pans. Salt was also used as currency in ancient Rome and …show more content…
That’s why it is customary to throw salt over your shoulder before entering your house after a funeral. This is said to scare away evil spirits clinging to your back. Today a gift of salt endures in India as a symbol of good luck and a reference to Gandhi’s symbolic march. Also in 1933 the Dalai Lama was buried in salt.

-- Economics I -- As a precious commodity, salt has long been a cornerstone for economies. In fact,researcher M.R. Bloch hypothesizes that civilization began along the edges of the desert because of the natural surface deposits of salt around there. Bloch also believed that the first war was fought over salt supplies. In 2200 BC, the Chinese emperor Hsia Yu enacted one of the first known taxes. He taxed salt. In Tibet, Marco Polo noted that salt was pressed with images of the Grand Khan and used as coins.

-- Economics II