Salt Through the Ages   

• Early human hunters discovered salt by following animals that instinctively tracked down salt licks for essential mineral nutrients. These trails became roads, and humans began to settle down near them. As humans turned to agriculture and their salt-rich game diet shifted to cereals, they required more salt to supplement their diet. Due to its scarcity, salt became one of the world’s principal trading commodities. Trading routes for salt popped up across the globe, such as the one connecting Morocco to Timbuktu. Boats laden with salt traversed from Egypt to Greece across the Mediterranean. Salt was the best-known food preservative, a valuable seasoning, a religious offering and symbol, and even a form of currency. It was a pivotal part of religious rituals across many cultures, from ancient Egypt to the Jews. In Rome, a soldier’s pay partly consisted of salt. These special salt rations were called salarium argentum, the origin of the English word “salary.” Hannah Kim For The Junior Times junior/1737072915/1613367831