Open Writing

The novelist Anne Tyler once noted that, “While armchair travelers dream of going places, traveling armchairs dream of staying put.” We usually seem to constantly crave greener pastures, but that probably drives much of our species’ development, for good and bad. The recent cold snap makes travel to anywhere mildly equatorial awfully appealing, but winter remains Alaskans’ best time for armchair traveling. Reading’s often the best way, and always the most comfortable to experience remote and dangerous places.

Lately, I’ve been exploring the ancient spice trade routes by reading “When Asia was the World” by Stewart Gordon, who, according to the jacket flap, “brings to life this world of lively exchange and travel by recounting the fascinating stories of an array of explorers and travels.” During the European Middle Ages, Asian cultural and intellectual traditions were linked by merchants, monks, scholars, and warriors who plied the ancient caravan routes.

One was Abraham bin Yiju from Tunisia, a trader born around 1100 CE who relocated to Magalore, on the western coast of India. Abraham was backed by Madmun ibn Bandar, the most important Jewish trader between India and Egypt. Consequently, Abraham regularly figured in Madmun’s correspondence with his family and agents back in Cairo, particularly when he lost a large cardamom shipment. Abraham also corresponded with his own relatives in Cairo about being bilked by the Indian cardamom merchant.

A Jewish tradition forbids destroying the written word “God”, yet many letters between Middle Eastern peoples contain copious references to the deity. Gordon explaines, “One solution was a room, called a ‘geniza’, generally built next to a synagogue, It had no door and no windows, merely a ladder leading up to a large slot in one wall.” The geniza in Cairo used by Madmun and Abraham’s daughter was looted by Western archeologists in the late 1800s, who found the Egyptian climate had perfectly preserved the papers. “Several libraries bought large lots of the papers, by the pound … the horde is now divided between Russia, England, and the United States.”

The “Cairo Geniza Papers” were studied mainly for their religious content until the 1950s, when the translators started unraveling details of ancient lives, like Abraham’s efforts to reclaim his lost cardamom. I prize that spice, too, and included it in the garam masala spice blend I roasted, ground, and bottled for friends last month. A sprinkle livens up steamed vegetables considerably, as well as the jillions of Indian and Persian dishes that call for it. Everyone’s mama in India makes garam masala, and they’re all different (and best), but mine (also the best) contains cloves, bay leaves, coriander, pepper, and all sorts of secret fragrant spices, but not allspice.

Allspice smells like a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, but comes from dried, unripe berries of Caribbean bayberry trees, principally from Jamaica. Allspice was used by Mayans for embalming, and Arawak Indians in Jamaica used it to cure meats, known in Arawakian as “boucan.” The Europeans who followed also used allspice for meat curing and they became known as “boucaniers”, and after they diversified into piracy, “buccaneers”. And since allspice contains eugenol, the essential oil in cloves that has warming and anti-microbial qualities, Russian soldiers sprinkled it in their boots during wintertime fighting with Napoleon. Perhaps there’s potential in allspice for Alaskan boots.

Speaking of potential, that’s the essence of the library’s interlibrary loan (ILL) program. Most Americans know that their public library will borrow potentially any book, DVD, and other items from other libraries. This makes possible the opening of limitless “windows to the world.” It’s taken for granted, but only the US, Canada, and Australia have nation-wide ILL systems, and budget cutbacks across the country have forced some libraries to charge fees, or even drop the service altogether, as is happening in Ohio.

In Fairbanks you’re limited to three active ILL requests at a time, but it remains a free library service. Making information freely available is a hallmark of American public libraries, who believe that an informed citizenry ensures a stronger nation. Like that great armchair traveler, Dr. Seuss, wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”