Source: The Nabataean Agriculture or Kitāb al-Filāḥa al-Nabaṭiyya (الفلاحة النبطية) by Ibn Waḥshiyya (ابن وحشية)
The author of the source, Ibn Waḥshiyya, claims he translated this book from Syriac into Arabic in 903. He is from the village of Kufa in what is modern-day Iraq. The exact date of the original text has been heavily disputed among scholars. The range of possible dates is remarkable, going as far back as the 14th century BCE to it potentially being a forged text of the Muslim era.
The Nabataean Agriculture was first introduced to European scholarship in 1835 by the French scholar Étienne Quatremère.[18][79] Daniel Chwolson popularized it in his studies of 1856 and 1859, believing that it provided authentic information about ancient Assyria and Babylonia.[80] He dated the original text to the 14th century BC at the latest.[51] However, his views provoked a “violent reaction” in the scholarly community, and a series of scholars set out to refute him.[51] The first of these was Ernest Renan in 1860, who dated the work to the 3rd or 4th century.[51] He was followed by Alfred von Gutschmid, who showed inconsistencies in the text and declared it a forgery of the Muslim era.[81][82] In an article published in 1875, the eminent German scholar Theodor Nöldeke agreed with Gutschmid that the work was originally written in Arabic, going as far as to argue that Ibn Wahshiyya himself was a fiction, and that the true author was Abu Talib al-Zayyat.[51][83]Nöldeke emphasized the Greek influences in the text, the author’s knowledge of the calends (a feature of the Roman calendar), and his use of the solar calendarof Edessa and Harran rather than the Islamic lunar calendar.[51] The eventual decipherment of cuneiform showed conclusively that The Nabataean Agriculture was not based on an ancient Mesopotamian source.[84]
20th and 21st centuries
Interest in the book was slight for the first half of the 20th century.[84] Martin Plessner was one of the few scholars to devote attention to it, in an article published in 1928.[85][86] Toufic Fahd began studying the work in the late 1960s, and wrote many articles on it in which he defended the idea that the text was not a forgery by Ibn Wahshiyya, but was rather based on a pre-Islamic original.[87] Fuat Sezgin also defended the work’s authenticity as a translation from a 5th- or 6th-century work,[88] and published a facsimile of the manuscript in 1984, while Fahd completed his critical edition of the text between 1993 and 1998.[87][89] Mohammad El-Faïz supported Fahd’s views and studied the work from the standpoint of Mesopotamian agriculture, publishing a monograph on the subject in 1995.[90][91] Despite the fact that several scholars had now argued for the work’s authenticity, Nöldeke’s views still had the most currency in the early 21st century.[92] This changed when Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, in his monograph published in 2006, extensively argued that the work may well have been an authentic translation from the Syriac.[93] The Nabataean Agriculture has not been translated into a European language in full,[g] but Fahd translated parts of it in to French in his articles,[22] and Hämeen-Anttila translated other parts into English.[95]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nabataean_Agriculture
Date notwithstanding, the text does reveal interesting insights into molokhia’s slimy texture in the 10th century. According to the text, the use of spices helps reduce the slimy texture of the molokhia leaves.
ولأجل انّ فيها انفاخ بيّن وتوليد الرياح في المعدة فينبغي أن يزاد في إبزارها السذاب والفلفل والكمّون والصعتر، فإنّ هذه .تقطع لزوجتها وتطرد رياحها
And because it causes bloating and creates gasses in the stomach, one should add rue (ruta graveolens), peppercorns, cumin, and thyme–these [spices] will cut the sliminess and expel the gasses.
The Nabataean Agriculture, page 839
Other noteworthy claims related molokhia from the text include:
- It was called mulukiyye (ملوكي) for ailments because it nourishes the body more than other plants, except lettuce.
- “molokhia grows year round.” This is strange because in modern times it is considered a summer plant.
- “molokhia should be planted in the end of September early October.” This is also strange because by the time it grows to maturity, the weather will be colder.
- It needs manure like all greens.
- It is a laxative (ملينة للبطن)
- “Not good for the stomach.” I believe he means that it could cause too much diarrhea.
- It lubricates and helps mild ailments of the throat and the chest.
- Good for the bladder and helps you pee (there’s a word for it).
- It should not be eaten raw, only in some ways and at some times. Either through medicine and health benefits. If the point of eating is to “release the stomach,” don’t eat it with vinegar. For anything else, eat it with vinegar.
- If the reason is to release gas and reduce bloating, add the following spices: rue, pepper, and cumin, and za’atar. The spices reduce its sliminess and expels its gasses.
- Eating it too much may result in a slimy mixture (poop?). It’s not b-radiyyen(?) instead it is expelled quickly away from mold(?).
- You can eat all of it, the part that’s in the earth (roots?), the stems, with the whole leaves, the seeds as well, and maybe it can be
- Increases lactation. Helps the bladder. Laxitive. Relaxes the stomach a bit. So it is not that good for the stomach, only for those who need to relax the stomach.
- The seeds cause more relaxation of the stomach more than the leaves and root.
- The qualities draw moisture to the stomach. This plant, as is, helps the throat and chest a great deal. If someone has an ailment in their kidney or a fever or an ulcer, molokhia is one of the most beneficial medicines. If you crush the seeds with some kind of cold water (ماء قراح) and it is applied topically to a wasp bite, it relieves the pain. If you wrap the mixture of pounded molokhia seeds on a swelling it will help with the swelling. It helps some people if they eat it with lots of fatty meats and grains.