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We conclude verse 2:61 with two of the most interesting plants mentioned above: garlic and onion. These 2 vegetables both have a very ancient history and are lost in the dawn of time, so much so that even the origins of the second are ignored, now untraceable given the long relationship with man.
Regret in the Exodus
Both became of extraordinary importance under the Egyptian empire, in which their incredible nutritional properties were declaimed for the first time. This vegetable was considered, in particular, an incredible food for slaves, able to make them recover their strength in a very short time, always keeping them healthy. It is no coincidence that the cuisine of the Jews, who lived in this condition in Egypt, is incredibly rich in these two elements, sought after even during the Exodus.
Just during the long crossing, in fact, the Jewish people find themselves invoking the lost good food, including garlic and onions, paradoxically a symbol also of their suffering.
Going to the East
Knowledge of their beneficial properties soon spread around the world, symbolizing health and humility wherever they were grown. The most acclaimed examples are those of the Persian and Korean world, places where they have managed to enter by right also into popular stories and folklore. Garlic is in fact the symbol of health in Nowruz, the Persian New Year and is linked to an even more particular history regarding the origins of the Gojoseon kingdom, one of the oldest in Korea.
Legend has it that a tiger and a bear longed to become human, long enough to beg for the help of the divine king Hwanung. The latter agreed to their requests, promising him that they would transform after spending 100 days in the darkness of a cave, with only 20 cloves of garlic and one of mugwort as food. At the end of the established time, the bear became the beautiful Ungnyeo, later married by the same king Hwanung and then became one of the most famous Korean queens ever. Panacea able to transform, even a bear, into the most beautiful girl, even if with a “particularly energetic” breath.
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