Ancient Egyptian plants: Tamarisks

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Tamarisks

The tamarisk or salt cedar is a shrub or small tree, resistant to aridity and soil salinity. It has thin branches and very small leaves. It is indigenous to the Mediterranean region.
In the Harris Papyrus 3,270 bundles of tamarisk are mentioned as part of the offerings to Amen-Re and 390 bundles to the gods and goddesses, the lords of South and North.

As a sacred tree it was associated with Osiris. In the Book of the Dead, pTurin Museo Egizio 1791, the deceased identifies himself with a number of deities, among them Re:

I am the great god inside the tamarisk.
Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website: Totenbuchprojekt, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften => pTurin Museo Egizio 1791 Tb 1-113 => Tb 042

According to the Book of the Dead (Yuya papyrus) soot from the tamarisk was used to make the ink for writing an amulet inscription:

To speak over a ribbon of royal linen, inscribed with ink from the soot of the tamarisk and myrrh, being put around the neck of the glorified one on the day of his burial.
Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website: Totenbuchprojekt, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften => pKairo CG 51189 (pJuja) => Tb 101

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