Humanity has always sought to find an effective cure for various ailments. The fear of poisoning became a topical issue in Antiquity. Thus, the miraculous medicine teriak was created in antiquity.
Ilian Petrakiev, an archaeologist from the local history museum in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, has made a thorough study of the drugs that have been used for millennia to neutralize toxic substances, Joinfo.ua reports.
“The ancient remedy teriak is a kind of universal antidote. Not surprisingly, medicine, horticulture and botany were studied at one of the most luxurious royal courts in the ancient world of King Pergamum. But as the father of this type of medicine, however, can be called the Pontic king Mithridates VI with his obsession with finding antidotes. Thus, he created the first recipe for a universal antidote,”says Ilian Petrakiev.
The archaeologist added that ancient scientists created an antidote by mixing opium, myrrh, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, castor oil and 40 other ingredients. An interesting fact is that the long-term use of this drug did not allow King Mithridates to commit suicide with poison after the capture of the kingdom by the Romans.
“The recipe fell into the hands of the conquerors. In the 1st century, the doctor of the emperor Nero, Andromache the Elder, improved the drug by increasing the number of components to 64. He included viper meat in the recipe, as it was believed to be effective against all types of poison,”says Petrakiev.
This type of antidote quickly gained popularity. In medieval medicine, it was changed several times, but the main ingredients in the recipe are preserved.
“There are different opinions about the origin of the name of the drug“teriak”. It is believed to be an Arabic term for a drug that was well known in Europe and Asia. The names in various languages, derived from the ancient Greek θηριακή (teriak), comes from the word θήρ (beast),”explains Petrakiev.
The archaeologist stresses that the formula became extremely popular in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century Venice became a major producer of terriac, pharmacies in the city offer high quality of the drug.
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In 1545, the Venetian Senate even founded a botanical garden that collected rare plants and minerals from all over the world.
But at the same time, counterfeits of this antidote appeared. The researcher explained that counterfeiting appeared, probably due to the high cost of drugs. A German physician in 1596 offered 4 doses of teriak for 1 German thaler, while a cow cost 5 thalers. Meanwhile, the ingredients purchased from the market for the preparation of the product cost 3-4 pfennigs. And 1 thaler consisted of 288 pfennigs.
