SC - Coffee-History

[David Friedman]

>In a message dated 98-01-02 11:30:07 EST, you write:
>
><< Coffee comes into the Islamic world in late period >>
>
>FWIW, coffee seems to have been drunk in Persia in the 9th century. Mentioned
>by the prince of physicians Abu ibn Sina around 1000 c.e. Rare drink made of
>seeds brought from Egypt,Libya and Abyssinia. Only used by very high Arab
>dignitaries. This places the use of coffee by the arab world pre-Crusades
>which is not late period.

How do you know that what Avicenna describes is coffee? My main source is
the Hattox book (full reference in the Miscellany article on what
ingredients came into use when), and his claim is that it started being
used outside of Abyssinia (where it is native) pretty late, I think c.
1400. That permits the possibility that it was drunk earlier as an
exotic--but how clear is it that it is true?

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


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