The name of a plant is also part of a magic password, or formula, in a well-known story. This might very well be the world's most well-known password.
What plant, and what story?
The plant is sesame (sesamum indicum). It is used in the phrase "Open Sesame!" [eftah ya semsem - افتح يا سمسم ] in the story "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in the Arabian Nights.
Arabian Nights in original Arabic is alf layla wa-layla [ألف ليلة وليلة], which means Thousand and One Nights. That is also the meaning of its French name, Mille et une nuits, and its German title, Tausendundeine Nacht.
This well-known collection of stories was compiled in Egypt in the 15th century. The base was a Persian collection, Hazār afsān [هزار أفسان], The Thousand Stories, which was translated to Arabic in the 9th century. That, in turn, was based on already existing Indian tradition. Stories were added along the way, which explains the diversity of the material. Some of the oldest can be traced back to India, even to China, while the last additions were made by the compilers in Egypt. In between, there is one especially rich source; Baghdad, during its time as capital of the Caliphate.
The frame story is so well-known that there is no reason to relate it here. It is, however, typically Indian, and belongs to the oldest parts of Arabian Nights.
If you have never read this collection in its entirety, I certainly recommend you to do so. It belongs to the topmost layer of classical world literature in the same way as, for example, Homer's The Iliad. Works nobody who presumes to be generally well educated may neglect.
Sesame is a valuable plant, both the seeds and (unheated) oil are healthful. The seeds definitely belong to the superfoods. They contain eight essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamin E, several B-vitamins, and many minerals. Being as balm to the liver, sesame can be used as both cure and prevention of liver ailments. Further, it inhibits internal inflammations, stimulates metabolic processes and detoxification, combats constipation, stimulates normal heart function; and it contains at least one substance that inhibits tumour growth. Your health cannot afford that you ignore this foodstuff!
Honey, another superfood, combined with sesame, is a delicacy used in parts of the Middle East. If the honey is of good quality (never heated), this mixture is medicine, not at least for the liver. A good alternative to unwholesome sweets.
The etymology of sesame leads far back in time. The earliest recorded occurrence in English is from the early part of the 15th century. It was then written as “sisamie”. It has been assumed that it came via Latin from the Greek Doric word “sasamon”, which was a name of the sesame seed (or possibly fruit). Doric Greek probably got it from Phoenician, which, in turn, borrowed it from Babylonian “shawash-shammu”.
It is tempting to try to take this one step further back, to Sumerian, but here we tread uncertain grounds. There is a Sumerian word, “še-giš-ì“, which might mean sesame, but is sometimes translated to “linseed”. Its exact meaning is a matter of dispute.
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It is really very informative.. I will check this later