Calamus Root and Kyphi Recipe

Calamus Root, (Acorus calamus) is also known as Calmus, Sedge, and Sweet Myrtle.  It is a wonderfully spicy, aromatic, and very cinnamon-like fragrance that has been enjoyed since at least The Epic of Gilgamesh where it is mentioned as an incense ingredient. It is also referenced in the Bible as one of the ingredients of the anointing oil in Exodus 30:23.  The Egyptians used it for the Kyphi recipes as well.

When reading a book about Medieval times I discovered that it was also called a "strewing herb" because people in those times, well, "strewed" it on their floors along with pennyroyal, and lavender to help with insect problems.  I thought that was great and would be a terrific thing in modern times except for the fact that your floor would resemble that of a roadhouse.  Still, the next time I go camping I think I will toss a little of it on the floor of the tent.  It might not control mosquitoes, but it will smell wonderful.

Given that the scent is warm, spicy, woody and very much reminiscent of cinnamon, it works very well with the following ingredients. Cedar, Myrrh, Patchouli, Borneol Camphor and Benzoin.

Although complicated, here is a wonderful Kyphi recipe where Calmus is featured.

4 parts Frankincense

2 parts Mastic

1/2 part Juniper berries

1/4 part Calmus

1/4 part Galangal

1/2 part Cardamom

1 part Cinnamon bark

1 part Myrrh

1 part Lemon Grass

1/2 part Rose leaves (dried rose buds)

1 part Benzoin of Siam

1 1/2 part Sandalwood

Pinch of Aquillaria wood

1/2 part Honey

Tablespoon at a time of rich red wine

8 parts Sultana raisins, unsulfured.

Soak the raisins overnight in red wine and pulverize the frankincense, myrrh, mastic and benzoin with a mortar and pestle.  Pulverize individually the cinnamon, juniper berries, calmus, galangal, cardamom and sandalwood.  Mix all the ingredients together and cut the lemongrass and crumble the rose buds.  Use 1/2 teaspoon of aquillaria wood to 1 cup of this mixture.  You can do without the aquillaria wood if it is not available to you.

Remove the raisins from the wine and blend everything together with a blender so that it is pulverized then use the honey to add to the mixture so that you get a dough-like substance that you can knead well and easily.  You can either crumble it in your palms and allow it to dry (turning it often over 7 to 14 days) or you can roll it into pea-sized pellets as the Egyptians preferred and allow to dry as above.

Congratulations, it is one of the more complex and difficult recipes from antiquity but one that is well worth the effort.