Black Seed Oil – The Pharaoh’s secret
Over many centuries humans have been mining the bounties of nature for discovering substances that have been used for the treatment of all human diseases; many such remedies are useful even today as modern day medicine. Emerging evidence also suggests that the search is still continuing for harnessing active compounds from nature in combating human illnesses although pharmaceutical industries are equally active for synthesizing small molecule compounds as novel therapeutics. The lesson learned over many centuries clearly suggests that further sophisticated search for finding compounds from natural resources together with robust characterization and chemical synthesis will lead to the discovery of novel drugs that may have high therapeutic efficacy against all human diseases including cancer. Black cumin seed (Nigella sativa) oil extracts have been used for many centuries for the treatment of many human illnesses, and more recently the active compound found in black seed oil, viz. thymoquinone (TQ) has been tested for its efficacy against several diseases including cancer
Black cumin seeds were found in the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1333 BC to 1324 BC. He was the son of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and his tomb is the most complete Egyptian tomb ever discovered. The Egyptians supposedly put the seeds in his tomb so that he may have excellent health in the afterlife.
Out of the several accompanying articles found in the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen were the seeds of Black cumin [Nigella sativa; (Zohary and Hopf, 2001)] not to be mistaken with common cumin seed (Cuminum cyminum). It is a spice that grows in the Mediterranean region and in Western Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The historical references to these seeds are also found in some of the oldest religious and medical texts. For example, it is referred to as ‘Melanthion’ by Hippocrates and Dioscorides, while the Bible describes it as the ‘curative black cumin’ (Isaiah 28:25, 27 NKJV). It is, therefore, no wonder that they were thought to be worthy accompaniments in the ‘From Life here to Eternity’ by the pharaoh as described earlier.
There are many instances in the history of the world that upholds the glory of the black cumin. One of the earliest references to the black cumin is seen in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, in the Holy Bible. The New King James Version of Isaiah Chapter 28, Verses 25 to 27 reads as follows:
“When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin, plant the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?”
“For He instructs him in right judgment, his God teaches him.”
“For the black cumin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cumin; but the black cumin is beaten out with a stick, And the cumin with a rod.”
These verses describe how the black cumin plant is treated differently by the farmer, since it is more valuable than wheat and other crops.
It is recorded elsewhere that Cleopatra used black cumin preparations for maintaining her health, beauty and vitality.
The most often quoted historical references come from ancient Islamic literature, wherein the black cumin is regarded the greatest medicinal plant to ever exist. Prophet Muhammad has once mentioned that the black cumin seed is capable of curing every disease except death. He said:
“Hold on to the use of the black seed, for it has the cure for every illness except death.”
It is also given a very important place in the list of natural drugs of ‘Tibb-e-Nabavi’, Islamic Medicine (Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 71: 592).
Ancient Greek records say that the great physician Dioskorides used black cumin to treat and cure a variety of illnesses including intestinal parasites, toothaches, headaches, respiratory congestion and amenorrhea. He also used it as a diuretic and to promote milk production.
Hippocrates (460 BC – 370 BC) used Black Cumin for the treatment of liver and digestive disorders.
The Cannon of Medicine by Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980 – 1037), considered by many as the greatest book in the history of ancient medicine refers to black cumin seed as “that which stimulates the body’s energy and helps recover from fatigue or dispiritedness.” The Unani Tibb system of medicine also mentions Black Cumin Seed as an important remedy for a large number of aliments.