السليط

The shine of sesame oil delights the eye, and its scent penetrates the mind; its history is intertwined with the beauty of life. If you go to the light of sesame oil in the lamp of Imru' al-Qais, it is from the vastness of longing. If you go to the taste and food, it is from a love of life. Thus, as much as the words fluctuate, so much is the hand of the beloved taken to walk in the shade of joy!

Before entering the realm of sesame oil, we will start with its seeds known as sesame, which the Sumerians called (SHE_GISH_NI), a name close to the commonly known (جلجلان) in Jazan!

About sesame, Ali al-Shawk says: "The mention of sesame has been around since the Third Dynasty of Ur, and it was cultivated in China and India since ancient times. Its origin may be from Asia or East Africa, as stated in the British Encyclopedia. Sesame seeds were used as currency in the sixth century BC, and the sweetness of sesame has been known since the days of Sumer and Babylon (sesame sweets), as well as in ancient Greece. The Chinese used it five thousand years ago, burning its oil to obtain the best types of Chinese ink from its soot (smoke residues). The Romans used it with cumin as a seasoning with bread, believing it had magical properties, hence the phrase (Open, Sesame) in One Thousand and One Nights."

Ali al-Shawk's words open horizons about sesame in terms of its origin and value in ancient civilizations, but if someone were to ask about its magical properties and its relation to "Open, Sesame" in One Thousand and One Nights, would they come away with anything?

What I remember—from my childhood in Jazan—is the sweetness of sesame made at home, called (المَسْبُوكَة), and eating sesame with dates. I would hear the elders refer to sesame seeds for patients with ulcers (stomach ulcers)!

The role of sesame seeds was limited in the lives of people in Jazan, and no matter how much the imagination might try to connect sesame seeds with "Open, Sesame" in One Thousand and One Nights, I believe the imagination will not go far unless "Open, Sesame" refers to the oil called sesame oil!

In Jazan, sesame oil is called (سليط), and some call it (سليطو) by adding the letter 'waw', which is used in names in several regions of the southern part of the kingdom and in the Tihamah of Yemen, where meat is called (لحمو), flour (دقيقو), and ghee (سمنو). This 'waw', as researcher Ali al-Shawk mentions, goes back to the Akkadian language, citing "line... in Syriac: سراط, line, drawing, but the word in Akkadian: شطرو." He adds that the 'waw' is also used with the verb "to pick" in Arabic, similar to Hebrew, Aramaic, and Akkadian (لاقتو).

So, was Akkadian a language in Jazan and its surroundings, and did it migrate with the tribes that moved to the Euphrates and the Levant? Or did the language move from the Euphrates and the Levant to the Arabian Peninsula, including the Jazan region?

This matter is left to those interested in linguistic affairs; I am concerned with sesame oil!

Therefore, I will place several bottles of sesame oil from Jazan, from Yemen, from Sudan, and from India on the table in front of me. Before I examine the bottles, I will take a sip from each bottle as Al-A'sha would sip from his palm, to know the differences between the bottles!

Of course, I won't talk about the differences in taste between one sesame oil and another, because taste is subjective, and what I find good in this sesame oil may not be good to another taster. So, I will leave the matter of taste and will discuss the differences in the colors of the sesame oil!

This difference in colors is due to the nature of the land, climate, and water. If you observe the bottles, you will find one bottle of sesame oil is golden like the sun at sunrise, another is yellow like the sun before sunset, and another is saffron-colored like the star of Venus. But if you see a bottle of sesame oil that is silver like the moon on white nights, will you believe your eyes?

You must believe. The Arabs before Islam called the moon (سليطيط), and it was a deity worshipped. Why did this deity come in a diminutive form, unlike other lunar deities like (ود, هبل) which had great fame and reputation?

I think the deity (سليطيط) is specific to joy and dancing on white nights, and because the time of the white nights is short (three nights), they called the moon (سليطيط), or perhaps (سليطيط) is related to travel and wandering at night... perhaps, for those concerned have a deity called (ذات نشق) who is responsible for safeguarding wealth and the souls of caravan men, and most trade routes in the past were at night. Thus, the deity (ذات نشق) would be lunar, and since its light changes throughout the month, they named it (سليطيط)!

Another point is that the verb (نشق) means to light a fire or to ignite light, and the act of igniting sesame oil is associated with the night, as the poet Imru' al-Qais says:

Its light shines like the lamps of a monk

It tilts the sesame oil with the twisted wick

So, does linking sesame oil with light as a substitute for the moon (سليطيط) have significance in naming sesame oil as (سليط)?

This question has no answer from me; what I know is that sesame oil was present in most of the Arabian Peninsula, even in its northern parts famous for olive cultivation. Strabo says about the Nabataeans: "Most of the land is supplied with various fruits except for olives, and instead, sesame oil is used."

The presence of sesame oil as a light oil indicates its importance in the lives of people in ancient times; its use remains as cooking oil and in the making of sweets, and sesame oil is also used as a remedy for some ailments like bone and nerve pains.

Notably—in ancient Jazan—its extensive use in women's lives. After childbirth, a mother would regularly rub her child's head with sesame oil for several days, and the child would be anointed with sesame oil and myrrh. Women also make what is called (المُرْخَة), which consists of perfume mixed with sesame oil, and they apply it to their bodies as well as their husbands. All these matters take place at night.

The presence of sesame oil at night in women's lives is closely related to the connection between sesame oil, the moon, femininity, and fertility.