Salting the earth

[Danny McG]

I've seen this mentioned in several books over my years of reading.(maybe even biblical)

After laying waste to somewhere and slaughtering all life the attackers then salt the earth so nothing can ever grow.

Would this actually work?
Would you need to plough it in or just pile it onto the ground?
Is there a ratio of how much salt to earth ?

 

[Ursa major]

I think it was more about cursing the place that was ceremonially being "salted" than something practical to prevent, say, crops from growing.

Today it's used as a metaphor... although we do now have various means of making land barren (for various lengths of time) that were not available in those ancient times.

 

[-K2-]

Though I'm not a historical expert, salting the Earth does not necessarily mean literally, though can. The mineral salt (sodium chloride) was always prized and I suspect expensive. Not all salts are the same, potassium chloride promotes growth. In the few texts I've read, they often say, 'Plow and salt.' If you turn ground enough, it kills off the underlying biomass and results in sterile ground (e.g., the US Dustbowl), yet that much plowing takes a LOT of work. Herbicides could also be used--any mineral, compound, or disease/fungus which prevents or hinders growth of specific local crops. E.g., potato famine/blight if used as a weapon. There is also a note about sowing weeds which would out-compete with certain crops.

That said, in some cases it might also be symbolic. Salt was always considered pure/purifying. So if say you raze a city and culture, you might then cast salt over the area to ritually purify it of the last remnants of a people. IOW, raze a city, kill the people, plow it under, and salt the Earth.

As to an exact amount and how, plowing would help it reach the underlying biological system, but I suspect, just dumping it on top and allowing the rain to wash it down. I'm not sure if there are texts where they document amounts used and intent.

K2

 

[THX1138]

An old friend of mine son does salt sculptures out of large blocks of salt. He did this in their front lawn and after a few weeks, all of the lawn, shrubs and the tree died. It's been 15 years since then and the lawn is just starting to grow back.

And my father was a superintendent for the city greenhouse here in town and there would be times when they would use salt to kill off a plot that was infested with an evasive plant that was either uneffaced by poison or other legal issues like the plot's location to a residential area. It would not take long, and the soil was dead. They did not use a little amount of salt but not a lot either.

 

[Danny McG]

area

they would use salt to kill off a plot that was infested with an evasive plant that was either uneffaced by poison or other legal issues like the plot's location to a residential area. It would not take long, and the soil was dead

So did they dig it in or just heap it up onto the selected area?

 

[Venusian Broon]

I think whenever 'salting a city' was stated in ancient texts it meant a symbolic curse or ritual: which could mean they were attempting to purify the city, pacify vengeful shades of the dead, or just ensure eternal desecration. Normally they would take out the god/goddess of the city (carefully, all gods were dangerous, even ones that you're god had just defeated) and take them hostage back to their cities temple to be held captive.

I guess they probably did the salting rituals at the cities most sacred sites, like said temple after it was empty.

There was no way they could really have enough salt or ocean water to actually physically salt an entire city or its productive land. Well, I suppose they could try, but if they had already killed most of the people and taken the rest into slavery, all this busy work in the ruins afterwards seems unnecessary.

The famous case of the Romans salting Carthage seems to be a Victorian invention, Rome did completely destroy the place, but then the site was re-used later on as a new Carthage.

 

[Ursa major]

There was no way they could really have enough salt

There was that place in the Levant where they had a Lot of salt (well, a Lot's wife of salt...).

 

[THX1138]

So did they dig it in or just heap it up onto the selected area?

They put down a covering of about 1/4in (5-6mm).

 

[THX1138]

I think whenever 'salting a city' was stated in ancient texts it meant a symbolic curse or ritual

It also can mean Total Destruction or Sterilized of all life, thus Salted.

 

[Parson]

Salt will indeed kill vegetation for a long time. Years ago we had a particularly stubborn patch of thistles. Finally in desperation we put a layer of salt on them. They died quite nicely, but so did everything else. We had a bare spot in our field for years. Eventually things began to grow .... including the thistles. (Sigh!)