Paper Title
Materia Medica in the Early Medieval Middle East: The Case of C. Gileadensis

Abstract
There was a flourishing use and trade of medicinal products from plants and other substances (materia medica), one of which was balsam obtained from the shrub Commiphora gileadensis. An important medicinal component in Roman and late antique health care, the availability of balsam changed through time, becoming rarer after a series of environmental and political changes affected the main region of its production near the Dead Sea. Keywords - Ancient Medicine, Commiphora Gileadensis, Balsam, Materia Medica, Environmental Change