Aloe Vera Uses in History

Aloe Vera Uses in History

Sometimes we think we are the first to discover aloe vera. However, stories of aloe vera uses in history can be found over a number of centuries. I've only saved the first few I've found. I'm sure more can be found if we dig.

Napoleon used aloe vera in his field hospitals when at war

Aloe Vera Uses in Napoleonic Wars
One of the first things I learned some years ago about historic aloe vera uses, is that Napoleon, who was an emporer of France in the 1800s, and liked to go to war, had nothing for a field hospital to care for his wounded soldiers except a big horse-drawn wagon laden with large aloe vera plants. About the only resource his medics had to work with was aloe vera gel, fresh from a live plant.

Aloe Vera Uses in Egypt
More recently I read that Cleopatra, (68 - 30 B.C.), a queen of Egypt, liked to use aloe vera for cosmetic reasons. She was famous as the most beautiful woman of her era. (Some even think the Egyptians used aloe vera in embalming bodies). The cosmetic industry of the 19th century finally caught on and have been making millionaries with their creams and lotions, sprays and potions ever since. That has multiplied aloe vera uses many times.

Aloe Vera Uses in Middle Ages Medicine
The Romans and Greeks used aloe vera already in the Middle Ages. A Greek physician by the name of Dioscordes, around 6 B.C. beganto discover how effective aloe vera was against many ailments. He prescribed it for kidney problems, constipation and severe burns. Today, 2000+ years later, many scientific studies have proved that aloe vera REALLY DOES speed up healing - including from radiation burns. Present-day dermatologists use it after doing a facial dermabrasion, which sands scars away from the skin's upper layers.

Aloe Vera Uses in Bible Times
The Bible makes reference to aloes too. This may be from the wider genus family of plants, as some quote 200 and some up to 400 and 500 varieties of aloes. The context of the Bible verses mentioning aloes seems to imply they were used as spices. See Psalm 45:8, Proverbs 7:17, and Song of Solomon 4:14. The one verse from the New Testament that mentions aloes says it was used in embalming the body of Jesus. John 19:39 says that Nicodemus brought 75 lbs. of the stuff to help Joseph of Arimithea to embalm Jesus in the tomb after His cruxifixion.

I don't know of any more uses for it in those days, but it would seem to me that if the rich have it in quanitites like 75 pounds, there must have been enough of a demand so that some people were growoing it it as a commercial crop. In that case, people would be bound to discover it's other healing properties. (This just needs more research).