Witnessed by: Unani

Sealed earth (terra sigillata), of the clay/earth family. A fine, pale grey to reddish clay, made up into small stamped cakes or lozenges; native range: classically the one hill on Lemnos whose earth was dug on a single appointed day of the year; later imitated from clay beds at Silesia, Malta and elsewhere, and sold under the same seal. Globally recognized as gil-e-makhtoom, tin makhtum in Arabic/Urdu, terra sigillata, terra lemnia in Latin, and sealed earth, Lemnian earth in English. The part used is the washed, levigated earth, made into sealed cakes. Pale grey, yellowish or reddish according to the bed; fine, smooth and soapy, adhering strongly to the tongue and dissolving in the mouth without grit; nearly tasteless.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

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