Natural medicine has never been more popular, nor has the timeless craft of herbalism. This remarkable book traces the history of herbs far back into antiquity and shows that the gods themselves were believed to be the original healers, not only by revealing the knowledge of their healing properties of mankind but by creating the sustaining herbs out of their own bodies. Illustrated with examples of the original texts and written by the doyen of orientalists with an unrivaled knowledge of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian herbal literature and traditions, this key volume deals with the old gods as herbalists and their divine medicine, water as a divine element, ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Assyrian herbals, divine plants, the Greek and Latin herbals, herbals in Syriac and Arabic, Coptic lists of plants, and the Ethiopian or Abyssinian herbal. Proving conclusively both the antiquity and worth of herbal medicine, this work is indispensable for modern practitioners who want to know about the true roots of their work, as well as for all those interested in the history of medicine.