Why is the language Greek, porridge is buckwheat, and the nut is walnut? Why do walnuts and other tree diseases turn black, as well as their treatment.

In fact, the Greeks will not die of laughter. And they won't even understand that it's about their language. Because the official language spoken in Greece is Hellenic. Why do we use the exonym "Greek"? Let's see how historians explain this fact.

Who are the Hellenes?

The peoples living on the Balkan Peninsula - Achaeans, Ionians, Aeolians - turned into Hellenes in a banal way. Initially, only one of the Greek tribes that inhabited the region of Phthiotis (southern Thessaly) was called that. Accordingly, their land was called Hellas or Hellas.

Linguists believe that, most likely, the people received the name "Greeks" in honor of the mythical patriarch Hellenes (Eλλην). One way or another, but gradually the name spread to the neighbors. Perhaps not without the help of Homer, who mentioned this ethnic group in his works, which passed from mouth to mouth in ancient times.

By the 5th century BC. on the territory of modern Greece, an internal cultural unity of various tribes was established. The inhabitants of most city-states - Sparta, Athens, Corinth and others - began to consider themselves a single people under the general name "Hellenes".

Accordingly, from the IV century BC. e. after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the unification of the country, a single language began to develop based on the Attic dialect.

How did the Hellenes become Greeks?

The fact that the words "Greece", "Greeks", "Greek" came from Latin is not disputed. But there are different ideas about how they got into the language of Ancient Rome.

According to one version, the word "Greek" comes from the name Greek (Γραικός) - the mythological progenitor of a small nation (γραῖος), who lived on the territory of the state of Epirus. This people was mentioned by Aristotle. Then the word got into Latin.

According to another, at first the Romans called the Hellenes-colonists who moved to southern Italy from the city of Gray on the island of Euboea "Greeks". Then the word spread to all the inhabitants of Hellas, which in Latin became known as Graecia.

Another variant of the appearance of the word "Greek" in relation to the ancient Hellenes can be suggested based on the Latin words grex, gregis: 1) herd, 2) crowd, group, society. Perhaps the Romans so called a group of Hellenes who lived in southern Italy.

From the Latin language, the words "Greece, Greeks, Greek" first came into the Romance languages, and later into the Germanic and Slavic languages. In different European countries, they are pronounced differently, taking into account the peculiarities of local phonetics, but the root (gre) remains constant.

English: greek; Greek language
German: griechisch; Greek language
French: grec (grecque); de la Grece; Greek language - le grec, langue grecque
Italian: il greco; Greek language - la lingua greca
Spanish: griego de Grecia; helénico (Hellenic); Greek - lengua griega
Ukrainian: Greek

Why did Russian porridge become buckwheat?

With the origin of the word "buckwheat" is also not so simple. The food historian V. Pokhlebkin vividly described the long “journey” of this culture from southern Siberia and Altai through the Urals to areas of purely Slavic settlement. It is unequivocal that buckwheat already during the Middle Ages becomes one of the traditional cereals and the national dish of the Russian people.

According to the scientist, initially in Rus', buckwheat was cultivated on monastic lands, most often by Greek monks, who were considered well-versed in agronomy. Whether the Greeks themselves gave such a name to the cereal, or whether the Russian people called the fruits of their labor with a consonant word, it is not known for sure. However, according to the generally accepted point of view, the names "buckwheat", "buckwheat", "buckwheat" were fixed thanks to the Greeks.

The next version of the origin of the name of buckwheat has nothing to do with Greece, but is connected with the need to warm up the groats. In other words, "buckwheat" - from the verb "warm", that is, heated porridge or heated cereals.

Perhaps, once it was generally the only hot food, and everything else was eaten cold: dried, dried, salted or just raw. Thus, it turns out "warmed porridge." And if in order to store buckwheat grains, they had to be calcined in the oven or held under the sun, then the name “warmed groats” is quite logical.

The words "buckwheat" and buckwheat" are an example of a curious linguistic paradox. It is "buckwheat" - a herbaceous plant of the buckwheat family, the grain of this plant and cereals. And "buckwheat" is a diminutive name. So "buckwheat" is a derivative of the word "buckwheat" , and not vice versa.

Since the 15th century, buckwheat began to spread to other countries. Europeans considered it an oriental culture, although the concept of "east" varied greatly. In Greece and Italy, buckwheat was called "Turkish grain"; in France and Belgium, Spain and Portugal - "Saracenic or Arabic".

In the second half of the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus gave buckwheat the Latin name "fagopirum" - "beech-like nut", since the shape of buckwheat seeds resembled beech tree nuts. Since that time, in the German-speaking countries - Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark - buckwheat began to be called "beech wheat".

In modern Greece there is, as they say, everything. Except for buckwheat. That groats, which is translated as "buckwheat", neither in appearance nor in taste resembles buckwheat, which is familiar to Russians.

And what about the walnut?

Greek is a synonym for modern "Greek". Judging by the fact that the word was used by N.V. Gogol, it is not very outdated: “They rolled out a barrel of honey into the yard and put a lot of buckets of walnut wine.”

Ushakov D.N. interprets as follows: "WALNAL - WALNUT, walnut, walnut (out of use and preserved only in a few special names: Walnut (a variety of large nuts). Walnut sponge".

Why is the obsolete “walnut” used in connection with a tree whose homeland is Central and Asia Minor? The antiquity of what is happening gives historians a flight for fantasy: the ubiquitous Greek monks are again on the scene, bringing and cultivating walnut trees in the monastery gardens. Or perhaps they were Greek merchants who traded nuts in Rus'. In both cases, the walnut came to us through Greece.

In Hellas itself, the walnut has been growing for so long that even legends have had time to add up. For example, such. The god Dionysus had a beloved - the daughter of the Greek king Carius. Due to an accident, the girl died. Then Dionysus turned her into a hazel. In memory of his daughter, Karius erected a temple, the columns of which were made of walnut wood in the shape of a young woman and were called caryatids.

This is the contribution the Greeks made to the Russian language. Or rather, the Romans, since it was they who called the ancient Hellenes Greeks.

Candidate of Biological Sciences V. Artamonov. Photo by I. Konstantinov
Science and Life No. 10, 1988, p. 158-1615

The legend about the origin of the walnut says that Caria, the daughter of the Laconian king Dion, beloved of Dionysus, was turned into a walnut tree by him. In Caria, named after her (the word "brown" meant "hazel" among the ancient Greeks, but most often this meant walnut), in the old days, girls led round dances in honor of Artemis, to whom this plant was dedicated. One day, the members of the round dance, frightened, rushed under the protection of a sacred tree and suddenly turned into nuts hanging on its branches.

The wide distribution of legends about the walnut tree in Greece indicates the age of its growth there. Modern botanists believe that the areas of natural distribution of the walnut are South Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, the western regions of the Himalayas and Tibet, the southeast of Transcaucasia (Talysh), Significant walnut forests in other places of the Transcaucasus, in particular in Western Georgia, are considered as overgrown ancient gardens, abandoned during the numerous wars of the Georgian people with the Persians and Turks. In Central Asia, walnut forests are located mainly at an altitude of 1000-2000 meters above sea level. The plant has chosen steep rocky slopes, ravines, gorges, where its roots strengthen a thin layer of fertile land.

In Rus', walnuts were cultivated in monastery gardens nine centuries ago. According to scientists, the earliest centers of this culture were the Vydubetsky and Mezhegorsky monasteries, located along the Dnieper above and below Kyiv, the first bastions of Christianity in Rus'. Apparently, along with the faith, the Greek preachers brought this plant with them, which determined its Russian name.

True, the clergy did not always treat the walnut with favor. It was noticed that there is no vegetation under the canopy of the tree. Christian preachers explained this fact by the fact that supposedly evil spirits nested in the walnut, harming people and plants. In fact, a special substance juglone is formed in its leaves, which is toxic to other plants; so, it inhibits the growth of tomatoes, alfalfa, potatoes ... Rains wash juglone out of walnut leaves, it enters the soil and poisons the vegetation that appears under the crown. In general, walnut leaves are a real biochemical plant that produces a number of important substances. They found caffeic acid, vitamin E, serotonin, calcium pectate, a huge amount of vitamin C and even nicotine. For this reason, traditional medicine has long used leaf decoctions to treat many diseases.

Walnut is a beautiful tree up to 30 meters in height with a spreading crown and a powerful trunk covered with thick dark gray cracking bark. The leaves are complex, large. They consist of 5-11 ovate-elongated leaves and look like ash leaves. The first leaves appear. in April - May, and at the same time the tree blooms.

Walnut flowers are small, inconspicuous, inconspicuous. In Central Asia, many old people believe that the tree does not bloom at all. There is even a saying about this: "The one who sees the walnut flower will die." Meanwhile, male flowers are collected in green earrings, the length of which reaches 12 centimeters. Earrings are laid on young shoots in summer, winter in large conical buds, and in April - May, when leaves appear on the plant, they lengthen very quickly. Each male flower contains 12-18 stamens. Female flowers are located singly or in groups of 2-4 in the upper part of the shoots.

Walnut is a wind pollinated plant. Bees attracted by pollen, although visiting male flowers, ignore female ones, so their role in pollination is negligible. The difference in the blooming of male and female flowers on the same plant reaches 15 days. This results in cross-pollination.

The nut bears fruit from the age of ten, but begins to give the largest yields by the age of 30. The fruits ripen in September - October. In everyday life, they are called nuts, but from a scientific point of view, this is not true. In a real walnut - hazel, oak - the pericarp is hard, woody. But in a walnut, the fruits have an outer soft greenish shell. It is clearly visible in immature fruits, but disappears when ripe, so that the inner layer of the pericarp is outside - the so-called endocarp - the shell ... That is why botanists call the walnut fruit a drupe, but unlike a typical juicy drupe - cherries, plums, peaches , apricot, consider it a dry drupe.

Inside the drupe is the nucleus, the tuberculate surface of which is very reminiscent of the convolutions of the brain. This is nothing but a seed with two very peculiar large cotyledons, each of which is divided into two lobes. It is covered with a light brown film, the color of which can be used to judge the quality of the kernel. The most delicious and fatty seeds are covered with a light film with a golden hue. Each tree produces about 100 kilograms of nuts per year, and especially large specimens - up to 300 kilograms. The yield of the same tree varies greatly from year to year. The inhabitants of Mingrelia believe that a high harvest of walnuts portends abundant snow in winter.

Abkhazian and Mingrelian culinary specialists prepare a wonderful dish - chicken stuffed with walnuts and poured with pomegranate juice. Churchkhela is better known to readers - walnuts boiled in grape juice. In the old days, soldiers who went on a military campaign were supplied with it. And the kernels of nuts themselves are tasty and nutritious. They are high in fat (up to 75 percent) and protein (9-18 percent). The oil is used to treat burns and non-healing wounds. It is light yellow in color with a greenish tint and a pleasant smell, not inferior in taste to Provence.

Walnuts are a real storehouse of ascorbic acid and tocopherol, as well as trace elements - iron, cobalt, copper, iodine, nickel ...

K. E. Tsiolkovsky called the walnut the tree of the future, and I. V. Michurin - the tree-combine, because all its parts go into action. The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl, preparing for his long and unsafe expeditions, necessarily included walnuts in his diet. Astronauts during the flight use pasta and cream made from walnuts. Confectioners widely use them for making cakes, bread, pastries, ice cream... Oil is used not only for medical and food purposes, but also in printing, perfumery, painting - it forms a transparent, durable film that does not crack over time on canvas. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Goya, Rembrandt kneaded their paints on this oil.

Walnut cake goes to the manufacture of halva, gozinaki. Very resistant black and brown dyes for wool and silk are made from the outer shell of the fruit, and tannins used for leather processing are extracted. Walnut shells are used in the production of linoleum, roofing, in grinding...

Walnut wood is of rare beauty, it has been highly valued by cabinetmakers since ancient times. Dense, durable, resistant to pests, it is perfectly polished, does not crack and does not change its volume when heated. The walnut is used for interior decoration, the manufacture of expensive furniture, gun stocks, and various handicrafts. Its popularity in the world market is very high.

So-called burls sometimes form on trees - burrs with very dense, patterned wood, from which craftsmen make souvenir boxes, medallions, brooches, snuff boxes ... The extraction of a unique raw material - walnut burl - is carried out in Kyrgyzstan. Here, on the pre-Alpine terraces, a rather extensive array of wild-growing walnuts has been preserved, occupying almost 600 thousand hectares. The age of many trees is 500-800 years, but they are by no means old men, because some specimens live even up to two thousand years! So, for example, a thousand-year-old giant stands in the Georgian village of Martkobi. According to legend, during the Battle of Martkob, in its vast shadow was the headquarters of George Saakadze (1580-1629), the leader of a major popular uprising in Kartli and Kakheti against the Persians.

World production of walnuts is more than 800 thousand tons. It is mainly grown in the USA (up to 200 thousand tons), Turkey, Italy, China, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, India. As a result of long-term cultivation, numerous varieties of walnuts have been isolated - oilseeds, large-fruited, early ripening, with very thin shells, etc. Of particular interest is the cultivation of early-growing varieties, small trees of which begin to bear fruit in the third year of life. They are exceptionally productive.

The walnut is an extremely valuable crop from an economic point of view. From each hectare, it yields two thousand rubles with a profitability level of 260 percent. All costs for laying plantations pay off in two years of fruiting. Currently, in many places in Central Asia and the Caucasus, on the empty slopes of the mountains, new plantations are being laid - walnut groves.

The walnut is a representative of the walnut family, which has 8 genera and about 60 species. The best-known genus of the family is the walnut, which accounts for about a third of all species in the family. In our country, in addition to the walnut, two of its relatives grow - the Manchurian walnut and the ailantolium walnut, or Siebold. The first of them lives in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, and the second, listed in the Red Book of the USSR, lives in the south of Sakhalin and on the island of Kunashir.

Story

Country of origin walnut consider Persia and its adjacent territories (the territory of modern Iran). Although archaeological finds walnut have also been found in various areas as far as the Himalayas and far west and northwest of Persia in Turkey, Italy and even Switzerland.

The oldest archaeological site where it was discovered Walnut are the Shanidar caves in northern Iraq (8000 BC).

In ancient Persia, only members of the royal families could eat walnuts, so they were referred to as royal nuts.

Mesopotamia (now the territory of modern Iraq) was proud of the groves walnut, which were part of the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon 2000 BC. The first written evidence of walnut- these are clay tablets with inscriptions of that time. In 1795 BC, Hammurabi, the 6th king of the first dynasty of Babylon, created a set of laws called the Code of Hammurabi. These laws were engraved on a basalt pillar and grouped by topic. Mention of walnut was found in one of the sections of the code.

In the book of Songs of Solomon 6:11 of the Old Testament there is also a mention of walnut groves "I went down to the nut garden to look at the greenery of the valley .." Some believe that these are groves walnut, although others argue that they most likely mean almond And almond trees.

Greek mythology also remembers walnut, namely in the story of Caria, the daughter of the Laconian king, with whom the god Dionysus fell in love. When Kariya died, Dionysus turned her into a tree. walnut. The goddess Artemis brought this message to Kariya's father and ordered that a temple be built in her memory. The columns of the temple were made in the form of young women, such columns became known as caryatids.

First cultivated trees walnut attributed to the ancient Greeks. Walnuts that grew in Greece were small and had negligible oil content. When the Greeks saw big nuts Persians, they began to improve the varieties growing in them.

The ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus, founder of botany (370 - 288 BC) mentions Walnut in his book on plants, where he calls it the Persian nut. In Greece Walnut called Persian or royal.

The ancient Greeks used Walnut not only as food, but also as a medicine and dye for hair, wool and fabrics.

The Romans discovered Walnut later than the Greeks for a century and fell in love with him. In the ruins of Pompeii in the temple of the goddess Isis, whole, not split nuts. They were on the table, along with other food, on the day Mount Vesuvius began its eruption.

Titles

Through the names you can trace the history walnut. In Ancient Greece walnut nut called Persian or Royal, and he most likely came to Greece from Persia.

The Roman scholar Varro (1st century BC) called nut Greek, so we can conclude that, most likely, to the Romans Walnut came from Greece.

Latin name walnut- Juglans regia. The Latin name can be translated as Royal acorn of Jupiter(Jupiter is the most important god in Roman mythology).

I wonder what it's called Walnut in different countries. The peoples that were part of the Roman Empire Walnut simply called nut, from Latin nux: Italian - noce, Romanian - nuc, French - noix , Spanish - nogal, Portuguese - nogueira. On the periphery of the empire and among neighbors Walnut was named walnut foreigners or "Voloshsky nut»: Czech - vlašskýořech, Polish - orzech wloski, Ukrainian - hairy hair, German - walnuss, Danish - valnød, Swedish - valnöt, Norwegian - valnøtt, Dutch - walnoot , English - walnut. Volokhi in ancient times was called the peoples of the Eastern Romance languages ​​or the Romans. For many nations Walnut was foreign walnut, which is reflected in the names. It's interesting that Walnut also called English walnut because, for example, in the USA nut brought from England.

In Russia Walnut Came from Greece, hence the name. Interestingly, the very word walnut is no longer used in speech in our time and is obsolete. This signals to us that the word has ancient roots in the Russian language. Our ancestors considered the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire to be Greeks, and they had close cultural and trade ties with them. The Byzantine Empire fell in 1453, so we can assume that walnuts appeared in Russia before this event.

Walnut resembles the appearance of the human brain in Afghanistan Walnut called charmarghz , which means "four brains" in their language.

Curious names of the walnut

Walnut called in ancient Greece - the acorn of the gods. walnut attributed the properties of an aphrodisiac and called the grains of love. Because Walnut resembled the brain, it was believed that walnuts strengthen the mind. And Ivan Michurin, a Russian biologist called Walnut- the bread of the future.

Folklore

Romans associated Walnut with Juno, wife of Jupiter, Roman goddess of marriage, women and motherhood. There was a tradition of throwing walnuts on the bride and groom as a symbol of fertility.

In the French villages there was a tradition to hang a bag with walnuts to the ceiling beam in the kitchen as a symbol of abundance. Walnut also symbolized longevity. And some young people thought that Walnut possesses the power of seduction, and tried to put a leaf from a tree walnut into the slipper of the girl they liked.

Along with funny beliefs, there were also gloomy superstitions about the tree. walnut. In the 17th century in Italy, a large tree grew in the city of Benevento walnut, which was considered a place where witches gather. According to legend, the bishop ordered the tree to be dug up along with the roots, which was done, but another witch tree grew in the same place.

Another legend warns that it is unlucky to plant a tree walnut too close to the stable, this can cause disease and death of domestic animals. Even travelers were warned not to pick a tree walnut overnight, as it can bring illness. Superstitions surrounded and the shadow of a tree walnut. Pliny wrote that the shadow of a tree walnut dulls the mind.

Another superstition says that nothing should be planted next to a tree. walnut, as it harms other plantings.

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that, since the form walnut resembling the shape of the brain, the nut will help in the treatment of any ailments associated with the head and brain, including headaches. And later, at the end of the 14th century, it was believed that Walnut On the contrary, it causes headaches.

Botany

Walnut belongs to the walnut family nut.

Trees grow rapidly and reach 18-30 meters in height. The trees have a large spreading crown and a massive trunk with a typical trunk circumference up to 3 meters, but there is information about the trees walnut, the circumference of the trunks of which reached 5 and 7 meters. Trees walnut centenarians, there are specimens that live up to 2000 years.

In April and May the trees walnut bloom, male and female flowers appear on each tree. Trees are self-pollinating. Plant multiple trees for optimal cross-pollination walnut.

Superstitions about what's next to the trees walnuts no need to plant anything - not groundless. Tree roots walnut prone to releasing a toxic substance into the soil, which may affect some plants close to the tree walnut. Gardeners do not recommend planting tomatoes, rhododendrons and azaleas in an area 25 meters from the tree walnut.

Trees walnut often ran wild and now you can meet wild walnut forests and groves. Despite cultivated varieties, nuts they are also collected in the forests.

Walnut consists of three distinct parts. What we eat is a nut kernel, it is also a seed walnut. The nucleolus has two lobes.

The shell, which is called the endocarp (intracarp), is very strong and consists of two halves tightly fastened together. An inedible thin membrane separates the two lobes of the nut kernel inside the shell.

The outer shell of the nut, called the pericarp (pericarp), covers the shell with a soft, fleshy green skin that protects Walnut. The unripe green shell is edible, moreover, during this period the shell and nut not hard and also edible, although they have a sour taste.

Before the era of mechanization, the harvest walnut collected by hand. The trees were shaken and a long pole was also used to knock the nuts to the ground where they could be easily collected. These days trees are shaken by special machines while other machines collect nuts from the ground using vacuum pumps.

Benefit

Since ancient times Walnut are used as a medicine. The great physician Avicenna recommended Walnut for restorative nutrition and treatment.

Walnut has a rich composition of vitamins and minerals: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc. Walnut contains vitamin E - alpha, beta, delta and gamma tocopherol, making Walnut exceptionally rich in antioxidants. Ascorbic acid in it is 50 times more than in citrus fruits.

The troops of the eastern states were usually supplied in abundance with this walnut due to its light weight and excellent nutritional properties. Its oil was used to treat burns and wounds.

Source of omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in a limited number of plants, but they are very important for our health.

Walnut- an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, a special kind of acid that our body does not produce. The content of omega-3 fatty acids makes Walnut a very valuable product that helps to strengthen and protect the cardiovascular system, improve brain activity, control blood pressure. Walnuts contain antioxidants that support the immune system and have some anti-cancer properties.

Use walnuts can be an important step towards strengthening your cardiovascular system. Walnut- an important source of monounsaturated fats, which lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The content of omega-3 fatty acids also has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. Omega-3s help regulate heart rate, prevent clogged blood vessels, and improve the ratio of good to bad cholesterol.

Numerous studies have shown that the use walnuts helps to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, increase the elasticity of blood vessels, reduce vascular adhesions, therefore, for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cardiologists recommend using a handful walnuts 4 times a week.

Food for brain

Walnut has long been considered good food for the brain, and not only because Walnut resembles the brain, as previously thought, but because walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are simply necessary for the normal functioning of brain cells.

Studies in different countries have found an association between increasing depression and reduced consumption of omega-3 fatty acid foods. The link between low omega-3 fatty acids in children and hyperactivity disorder is being studied. The study found that children with a low content of omega-3 fatty acids are more prone to hyperactivity, they are more likely to have problems with learning and behavior, mood swings, and sleep problems.

Source of melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland of the brain that is involved in and regulates sleep and is also a powerful antioxidant. Melatonin has been found in walnuts in a bioavailable form, so walnuts will be the perfect evening food for a good restful sleep. Melatonin helps improve sleep for people who work night shifts and helps people adjust jet lag with flights. To maintain melatonin levels, it is recommended for anyone over 40 to use walnuts- a source of melatonin, since with age, the amount of hormone produced by the human body is reduced.

Ellagic acid

Walnuts contain the compound ellagic acid, which blocks metabolic pathways that can lead to cancer. Ellagic acid not only protects healthy cells from free radical damage, but it also helps detoxify potentially unhealthy cells and help prevent cancer cell growth.

Usage

Walnut in the cuisines of the world

Chefs from many countries willingly use Walnut in a variety of dishes, salads, soups, sauces and of course desserts.

Baklava or Baklava is the most well-known oriental dessert. Greens walnuts you can eat, but they are sour, but they are an excellent ingredient for jams and marmalades. Italians created Nocino liqueur from green walnuts. The recipe originates in Modena, where unripe walnuts gather on a local holiday in honor of the saint on June 24th. Walnuts break and insist for two months.

Wood walnut exceptionally hard, so it is perfect for making furniture, wall panels, musical instruments.

Dishes, spoons, water containers are made from it. Even the shoes were carved from wood walnut. During World War I, solid black wood walnut used for aircraft propellers.

shells walnut also widely used. The barber of King Louis XI used heated shells walnut for shaving, as he believed that this method would get rid of cuts. To prevent the bread from sticking, bakers crushed the shells walnut into powder and sprinkled on the base of the furnaces.

shell powder walnuts used as a polish in the aviation industry, and as an ingredient in facial powder. NASA uses powder walnuts as a thermal insulating material in the nose cone of a rocket.

Since ancient times, people have noticed that all parts walnut can be used to create flowers. Furniture manufacturers use the outer shell walnuts(pericarp) to give a rich and deep color to furniture. Women figured out how to give their appearance colors and began to make hair dye from walnut. Since ancient times, weavers have obtained a rich brown dye from the sap. walnut, and yellow dye from green outer shells walnut.

walnut oil

Oil walnut highly valued for its lightness and delicate taste. Oil walnut rich in gamma-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E). Since it is rich in antioxidants, gamma tocopherol protects the oil so that it does not quickly go rancid.

Oil walnut served completely different purposes. The ancient Egyptians used oil to embalm mummies. Where there were many trees walnuts, They used oil to light their dwellings with oil lamps. Oil in 19th century France walnut used in the church as sacred oil.

European artists liked to use oil walnut as a basis for mixing different pigments. Many French Impressionists preferred oil walnut other oils, as it surpassed them in quality. As shown by chemical analysis - the paintings of Monet, Picasso and Cezanne were written using oil walnut. And the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Lady with an Ermine" is written on a wooden plank walnut.

Storage of walnuts

Fresh walnuts appear in September. Walnuts in shell keep well for 8 months.

Purified walnuts must be stored in the refrigerator to keep them from going rancid. For long term storage cleaned walnuts put in a bag and store in the freezer.

At the time of buying walnuts in shell notice if there is a rancid smell. Shake the nut. If something rattles, then the nut is old and withered.

In prehistoric times, ancient kingdoms, the Middle Ages and modern times, nuts have always been a reliable source of food throughout human history. In fact, the walnut is one of the first semi-finished products: it was not only convenient to roam with it, it also perfectly endured storage over long harsh winters.

Recent archaeological excavations in Israel have unearthed the remains of various types of walnut that scientists believe date back to 780,000 years ago. In Texas, pecan husks dating back to 6000 BC have been found near human artifacts. There is no doubt that nuts have served humans as food for thousands of years.

There are many references to nuts in ancient times. One of the first is in the Bible. From their second trip to Egypt, Joseph's brothers brought almond and pistachios for trade. Aaron's rod miraculously transforms and bears fruit almonds, proving that Aaron is God's chosen priest (Numbers 17). Almonds, on the other hand, were a nutritional staple of the ancient peoples of the Middle East: they were consumed blanched, roasted, ground and whole. The Romans were the first to invent candied almonds and often gave such nuts as a wedding gift as a symbol of fertility. Almond oil was used as a medicine in many European and Middle Eastern cultures before the time of Christ. Adepts of natural medicine still use it to treat indigestion, as a laxative, as well as to relieve coughs and laryngitis.

Concerning pistachios, there is a rather intriguing legend here: lovers who meet under a pistachio tree on a moonlit night and hear the crackling of a nut will gain good luck. In the Bible, the sons of Jacob preferred pistachios, which, according to legend, were one of the favorite treats of the Queen of Sheba. These green nuts probably originated in an area stretching from Western Asia to Turkey. The Romans introduced pistachios to Europe from Asia around the 1st century AD. Interestingly, the nut was not known in the US until the end of the 19th century, and only in the 1930s did it become a popular American snack.

Story walnut(in this case English) is as ancient as that of almonds with pistachios. According to ancient manuscripts, walnut trees were grown in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The walnut also has a place in Greek mythology: it was God Dionysus who, after the death of his beloved Karya, turned her into a walnut tree. Oil was widely used in the Middle Ages, and peasants crushed walnut shells to make bread. The walnut made its way to the New World faster than the pistachio, arriving in California in the 18th century with Spanish priests.

chestnuts for centuries formed the basis of the diet of the Middle East and Europe. People used the chestnut as a medicine: it was believed that it protected against rabies and dysentery. However, its main role remained food, especially for cold regions.

Peanut(which is still a bean) probably originated in South America, but came to North America from Africa. Spanish navigators brought peanuts to Spain, and from there it spread to Asia and Africa. Initially, peanuts were grown as food for pigs, but people began to use them at the end of the 19th century. Because it was not easy to grow, and also because of stereotypes (peanuts were considered the food of the poor), they were not widely introduced into the human diet until the early 20th century. Improved agricultural equipment facilitated growth and harvest.

Despite the wonderful properties of nuts, it is worth remembering that their consumption is good in moderation . They are rich in monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fats, they lack cholesterol and contain protein. Walnuts are famous for their omega-3 content, which is essential for heart health. All nuts are a good source of vitamin E. Include various types of nuts in your diet in small quantities.

I went to the walnut garden to look at
the green of the valley, to see if the
vine, have the pomegranates blossomed?
Song of Songs 6:11

Nut - the fruit of trees or shrubs, with an edible core and a hard shell, usually in everyday life any edible fruit consisting of a shell (hard or soft) and an edible core is called nuts; as a food, the nut has been known since ancient times. In modern culture, an image has developed - a “hard nut”, which is obviously associated with the hard shell of nuts and the difficulty of extracting an edible part from them.

The Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nikifor (1891-92) reports: “The birthplace of the walnut tree is Persia, from there it moved to Palestine, Greece and Italy. During the time of Joseph Flavius ​​(Iv.), a lot of walnut trees grew along the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret. At present, Lebanon is especially rich in them, and, according to the description of travelers, long avenues of walnut trees lead to Damascus. Its fruits are walnuts. The trunk of this tree is strong and beautiful, it is a valuable material for carpentry. The well-known nut oil is pressed from the kernels of the fruit.”

It is believed that the walnut grows in the wild in Transcaucasia, in northern China, in northern India, in the Tien Shan, in Iran, in Asia Minor and Greece, in Western Europe it is recognized as a wild species.

1) Existing etymology

Root: -nut-. Meaning - nerd. a plant of the nut family; the fruit of some plants (mainly trees), as a rule, with a relatively soft core and hard shell; walnut.

Etymology according to Max Vasmer (insert by unknown author)

(It comes from the Proto-Slavs, from which, among other things, came: - insert) other Russian, church Slav. orb (Greek karyon), Russian. walnut, Ukrainian Gorih, Bulgarian. walnut, serbohorv. Orah, Slovenian oreh (genus n. oreha), Czech. oresh, Slovak. oresh, pol. orzech, v.-puddle. worjech, n.-puddle. woresh. Wed lit. riesutas "nut", riesas - the same, riesutys, East-lit. ruosutys (with diminution -ut- similar to fingernail), Latvian. rieksts - the same, other Prussian. bucca-reisis "beech nut", further closer to the Greek. arya ta Ierakleiotika karya (Hesychius), Alb. arre "nut".

2) Application of the term in Russian

A) Dictionary of the Russian language of the XI-XVII centuries, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, M., 1987
Orb. 1. The fruit of some trees and shrubs with an edible core and shell. “and from all the volosts of the Beloozersk flax, onions, garlic, orkhi ...”, ASVR, 1497; coconut, “has dates and great Indian orchs”, Alexandria, XV-XII centuries. 2. Walnut tree, bush. “The fig tree and the orb of the leaves and the cassock of the yavish”, (Sk. Io. Zlat.), Usp. Collection., XII-XIII centuries. 3. Wood (walnut table). 1677

The terms also used were orchia (nuts), almonds (translation), Genesis 43:11-12, 1499; walnut bush (1470); oreshek (reduced); nuts (nut trees, 1496-1113, Hod. Daniel Yegum. (to Israel)).

B) National corpus of the Russian language

* V. N. Tatishchev. Discourse on the draft tariff for the Astrakhan port (1743): "Mediocre, from which the average fee, hard trees, like dogwood, walnut, shamshit, plane trees and others."

* Grigory Skovoroda. Narkiss (1760-1769): "Not every nut and not every straw with grain."

C) S. V. Veselovsky. Onomasticon, USSR Academy of Sciences, M., 1974

“Nut, Orekhovs: Ivan Ivanovich Orekh Koverin, 1556, Kashira; Vasily Orekhov, executed in the oprichnina; Orekhva book. Vsevolod Tarussky (XIV century); Oreshkov Anton, peasant, 1496, Novgorod. From the list of names and nicknames, it is clear that in Muscovite Rus' the term "nut" was fixed in the vocabulary (replicated in the name) in the 14th century.

3) Generalization and conclusion

* The term "nut" was used in ancient Russian liturgical, secular literature (translations) and acts from the 12th century. Consequently, around this time, during the military-trade and church contacts of Rus' with Byzantium, Bulgaria, the Crimea and the Caucasus, the nut was brought to Kievan Rus.

*Walnut. Candidate of Biological Sciences V. Artamonov. Science and Life No. 10, 1988, p. 158-1615; http://www.nts-lib.ru/Online/flora/walnut.html
“In Rus', walnuts were cultivated in monastery gardens nine centuries ago. According to scientists, the earliest centers of this culture were Vydubitsky (founded in 1070-77) and Mezhegorsky (founded in the 14th century) monasteries located along the Dnieper above and below Kiev, the first bastions of Christianity in Rus'. Apparently, along with the faith, the Greek preachers brought this plant with them, which determined its Russian name.

* “He sees a squirrel in front of everyone, a golden nut gnaws” (A. S. Pushkin). The vast majority of researchers mention the nut as - "a fruit in a hard, strong shell."

Obviously, the term should contain the concept (description of the fruit) - hard shell, skin, skin, shell, then how the nut differs from other fruits, and probably the definition of how it should be handled (the fruit was unknown in the early period in Kievan Rus). There is also a version that nuts were bred in monasteries, church leaders, making visits to Jerusalem and Constantinople, could take out the seeds and organize the cultivation of this tree in their possessions.

Most likely, the term "nut" is a product of an unknown monk or clergyman, scribe and translator of the Bible. A native of the Asia Minor or Jerusalem church clergy, who is well acquainted with the plants of these regions. It is advisable to look for the meaning of the term in the sacred language of Judeo-Christianity - Hebrew.

4) Hebrew Terminology and Biblical Imagery

A) Terminology

So, the term "nut" is a description of the fruit. A hard shell (skin, skin, shell) is distinguished in it - the original, visible form, inside which is a soft, edible core (invisible).

Let's bring the term into a form close to the Hebrew grammar and highlight the roots - OPbXb = OPAX, OP + bXb.

OP + ЪХЪ = Heb. 1. OR, ORAH skin, skin + HAH beat, hit, beat, kill, hit; that is, the skin (shell, shell) is beaten (with an edible core inside).

Source
See Hebrew and Chaldean etymological dictionary for the books of the Old Testament, Vilna, 1878; http://www.greeklatin.narod.ru/hebdict/img/_345.htm

B) Help

* The letter of the Russian language YAT denoted a sound that was not preserved, the researchers suggest: IE or AE, close to E and I at the same time, ioted A, AI (opinions, as we see, are many).

* The Hebrew letter he (X-G, the first in the word HAH) is mostly not pronounced in Russian, the sign of its vowel is pronounced (in this case, there is the sign Yat (;), which could express the letters both A and E), see st. Comparative alphabet, EEBE. XAX \u003d AX, OP + A (e) X \u003d OPA (e) X

* The Hebrew term OPAH skin, skin, is used only once in the Westminster Leningrad Codex of the Bible (Numbers 19:5), in other texts of the OP; the oldest Masoretic text of the Tanakh, dated 1008.

* In Russian, the term "skin" also has the following meanings: shell, peel, peel, shell. "Skin" meanings: the outer shell of a plant, fruit, seed; peel, peel, skin, husk.

C) Biblical images

* Numbers 19:5: "And they shall burn the heifer before his eyes; let them burn her skin (OPAH) and her flesh and her blood with her uncleanness."

* Lamentations of Jeremiah 4:8: “And now their faces are darker than all black; do not recognize them on the streets; their skin (OR) stuck to their bones, became dry like wood.”

* Amos 9:1: “I saw the Lord standing over the altar, and He said: strike (HAH) on the lintel above the gate, so that the jambs will shake, and bring them down on the heads of all of them, and I will strike the rest of them with the sword.”

* Zechariah 13:7: “O sword! rise up against my shepherd and against my neighbor, says the Lord of hosts: strike (HAH strike, strike) the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered!”

Which of the word-formation options, OR + HAH or just ORAH, should we choose? Probably no one will give an answer to this question, we are people of a different time and it is often impossible to trace the nuances of the composition of antiquity, but the connection with biblical terminology and images is obvious.

The term "nut" is a transliteration (transfer of a word by another alphabet) into Russian of one or two Hebrew terms. It has nothing to do with the "proto-Slavic, Slavic" language, because. at that time, the walnut did not grow in the region of the Dnieper basin, Wiktionary's opinion about the "Slavic" language is not justified.