Salting the earth, or sowing with salt, is the ritual of spreading salt on conquered cities to symbolize a curse on their re-inhabitation. It originated as a symbolic practice in the ancient Near East and became a well-established folkloric motif in the Middle Ages. Since high levels of soil salinity damage most crops, there is a common misconception that salt was used to poison farmland, but the required amounts would be unfeasible for herbicidal warfare.
Read more about Salting The Earth: Destroying Cities, Punishing Traitors, Legends
Famous quotes containing the word earth:
“True, that true beauty virtue is indeed,
Whereof this beauty can be but a shade,
Which elements with mortal mixture breed.
True, that on earth we are but pilgrims made,
And should in soul up to our country move.
True, and yet true that I must Stella love.”
—Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)