Asbestos use in human culture dates back at least 4,500 years, when evidence shows that inhabitants of the Lake Juojärvi region in East Finland strengthened earthenware pots and cooking utensils with the asbestos mineral anthophyllite.[12] Asbestos was named by the ancient Greeks. One of the first careful descriptions of the material is attributed to Theophrastus in his text On Stones, around 300 BC, although the naming of minerals was not very consistent at that time (the modern Greek word ἀσβεστος stands for lime, not for the material known as asbestos in English). The term asbestos is traceable to Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder's manuscript Natural History, and his use of the term asbestinon, meaning "unquenchable".[1][2][12] While Pliny is popularly attributed with recognising the detrimental effects of asbestos on slaves,[13] examination of primary sources shows that this is not so.[14] Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, is said to have had a tablecloth made of asbestos.[15]
Wealthy Persians, who bought asbestos imported over the Hindu Kush, amazed guests by cleaning the cloth by simply exposing it to fire. According to Biruni in his book of Gems, any cloths made of asbestos (Persian: آذرشست, āzarshast or Persian: آذرشب, āzarshab) were called (Persian: شستكه) shastakeh.[16] Some of the Persians believed the fiber was fur from an animal (named samandar, Persian: سمندر) that lived in fire and died when exposed to water,[17][18] hence the old mistaken myth that the salamander tolerated fire.
While traveling to China, Marco Polo described observing miraculous garments that were cleaned by being placed in fires. These garments were likely made from asbestos[citation needed].
Some archeologists believe that ancients made shrouds of asbestos, wherein they burned the bodies of their kings, in order to preserve only their ashes, and prevent their being mixed with those of wood or other combustible materials commonly used in funeral pyres.[19] Others assert that the ancients used asbestos to make perpetual wicks for sepulchral or other lamps.[17] In more recent centuries, asbestos was indeed used for this purpose. Although asbestos causes skin to itch upon contact, ancient literature indicates that it was prescribed for diseases of the skin, and particularly for the itch. It is possible that they used the term asbestos for soapstone, because the two terms have often been confused throughout history.[19]
FROM WIKIPEDIA
Wealthy Persians, who bought asbestos imported over the Hindu Kush, amazed guests by cleaning the cloth by simply exposing it to fire. According to Biruni in his book of Gems, any cloths made of asbestos (Persian: آذرشست, āzarshast or Persian: آذرشب, āzarshab) were called (Persian: شستكه) shastakeh.[16] Some of the Persians believed the fiber was fur from an animal (named samandar, Persian: سمندر) that lived in fire and died when exposed to water,[17][18] hence the old mistaken myth that the salamander tolerated fire.
While traveling to China, Marco Polo described observing miraculous garments that were cleaned by being placed in fires. These garments were likely made from asbestos[citation needed].
Some archeologists believe that ancients made shrouds of asbestos, wherein they burned the bodies of their kings, in order to preserve only their ashes, and prevent their being mixed with those of wood or other combustible materials commonly used in funeral pyres.[19] Others assert that the ancients used asbestos to make perpetual wicks for sepulchral or other lamps.[17] In more recent centuries, asbestos was indeed used for this purpose. Although asbestos causes skin to itch upon contact, ancient literature indicates that it was prescribed for diseases of the skin, and particularly for the itch. It is possible that they used the term asbestos for soapstone, because the two terms have often been confused throughout history.[19]
FROM WIKIPEDIA
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