Rock Talk By Larry Larason

Salt of the Earth

I hadn't heard the phrase "salt of the earth" for a long time, but then I noticed it while reading something and a few days later heard someone on TV say it. That started me thinking about it. I've always been rather puzzled about what it means.

We don't want salt of the earth of our garden – it inhibits plants taking up moisture from the soil, or if enough is present, it reverses osmotic pressure and kills them by sucking moisture from the plants. But, obviously, "salt of the earth" does not mean "unwanted" since it seems to be a compliment.

Humans need some salt in our diets – about a teaspoon and a half per day. Salt is an essential nutrient; however it has been so demonized of late by what Michael Pollan refers to as "the ideology of nutritionism" that to call someone "the salt of the Earth" might suggest a person obnoxious enough to raise your blood pressure. [For more about nutritionism see Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food.]

These days salt is ubiquitous and easily obtained; fast food eateries pass out paper packets of salt – we probably discard more of these than we use. So if the phrase was of recent vintage it might mean "cheap and common."

Once however, salt was a valuable commodity. During biblical times it was scooped up from dry playas in western Africa and hauled by camel caravans across the Sahara to Egypt and the Middle East. Roman soldiers were often paid in salt, from which practice we get the word "salary." Whole books have been written about the role played by salt in ancient civilizations, so I won't belabor the point that salt was valuable. Is that what the phrase "salt of the earth" refers to – it's value?

The earliest recorded use of the phrase, according to Wikipedia, was in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus told those who had gathered to hear him preach, "You are the salt of the earth." But I'm not the only one uncertain of the meaning: scholars still debate what Jesus intended. Some have pointed out that "salt" was often used as a metaphor for wisdom in the vernacular of the time. I don't think that applies to Lot's wife who was turned into a pillar of salt. Still, it might be argued that the phrase implied great value.

However, I think the next sentence in the sermon possibly indicates what Jesus was thinking. He went on, "But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?" This indicates to me that he was saying something like, "You are the ones who provide the savor to life." But that leads to more befuddlement: how could salt lose its flavor? On the Internet I found several commentaries that addressed this issue. But I'm not in the business of biblical exegesis! You can search for the conflicting opinions on your own.

Most dictionaries say the modern meaning of the phrase is "humble" or "unpretentious." However, one said that it refers to a person of great worth. Maybe several of the possible meanings discussed above come to play in the phrase "salt of the earth."

We have some interesting salt deposits in the American Southwest. I'll mention a few of them. You may recall that I wrote about the salt in the Paradox Basin of Colorado and Utah in an earlier column [GJ: August, 2006]. I'll recap that story briefly. In the Pennsylvanian Period, which ended 386 million years ago, the west coast of North America was where eastern Nevada is today, and the western terrain was mostly flat. The Pennsylvanian was an ice age with polar ice caps forming, melting, and re-forming in a cycle that repeated nearly thirty times. When the ice caps melted, sea level rose and flooded the West and the Paradox Basin. Then, as sea level dropped again, the water in the basin sat in the sun and evaporated. Minerals precipitated out of the water in a sequence of limestone, gypsum, salt, and potash. By the end of the period there was a basin filled with nearly 15,000 feet of evaporites, shale and sandstone. Since salt flows under pressure it began to well up toward the surface creating domes and anticlines, which were eroded into the fantastic landscape we see today at Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Potash [potassium chloride] is mined near Moab.

In the 1920s until 1933 a salt mine was operated near Camp Verde, Arizona. This used to be a popular area for rock hounds to collect small gypsum crystals and some uncommon minerals, such as glauberite. I understand that now most of the mine has been fenced off. Early miners at the site found prehistoric artifacts in the salt beds. Then the body of an ancient miner was found encased in the salt where he had been trapped when the tunnel he was working in collapsed on him. The archaeologist Earl Morris was called in to examine the area. The artifacts included sandals, mats, torches, and what Morris called "picks". I think "mauls" might be a better term to describe the wood hafted, shaped stone implements that were used to break out the salt. As for the ancient miner, the body deteriorated rapidly when it was exposed to the air, and, strangely, his head was never found. Morris attempted to date the prehistoric mining activity, but there was no pottery at the site, so he had to guess that it was during the Pueblo Period. There was evidence of at least four tunnels in the salt, so mining by local Native Americans probably took place over decades, if not centuries. The salt at Camp Verde seems to have been deposited in a lake that dried up long ago.

In Europe, the bodies of Celtic salt miners, similarly trapped by cave-ins were found in the 1500s and 1600s. Dating those remains was problematical, as well. It is estimated that they died between 400 and 1300 BCE. The mines they worked were near Salzburg, which means "salt-town", and Hallstatt, also meaning "salt-town".

Closer to home is Zuni Salt Lake. About 90 thousand years ago a diatreme erupted on a fault here, leaving a maar [crater] two kilometers in diameter. After the initial explosive eruption two small cinder cones built in the center of the maar. Now saline water feeds upward into the crater creating the salt lake. As the water evaporates, it leaves a crust of salt. When Coronado's expedition came through this area, they were greatly impressed by the quality of the salt. The lake occupies only a small part of the maar and its salt has never been harvested commercially, although it is prized by several tribes in the region. The Zuni consider this a sacred place, and it was added to their trust lands in 1985.

Salinas National Monument, three pueblos that were once important trade centers between the plains and pueblos, is located in the Estancia Basin east of Mountainair. During the Pleistocene the basin held a large lake, but now only salt playas remain. Most continental salt deposits were formed similarly to those in the Paradox Basin: an incursion of marine water became stranded and evaporated. Ground water often dissolves some of the salt and takes it to the surface in saline springs, as is the case in the Estancia Basin. The crusts at the surface on top of gypsum beds are 76 per cent salt. The Spanish built churches at Abo, Quarai, and Gran Quivira. These settlements were abandoned after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and never reoccupied. During Spanish times salt harvested from the playas was traded south into Mexico.

In the Old World camels have been used as beasts of burden, hauling salt, among other things, for centuries. Camels were imported to the U.S. several times. The best known example is Lt. Beale's Camel Corps, which explored a wagon route from St. Louis to California. The Civil War interrupted the military's experiment with these animals, but a few more were imported over the years. When the Comstock Lode was discovered in western Nevada in 1859, the method of separating silver from the ore required tons of salt. Salt produced by evaporation of sea water in San Francisco was generally considered of low quality for the table, but it suddenly became important to the mines, and production shot up. A man named Otto Esche brought some Bactrian [two-humped] camels from Mongolia in 1863 to haul salt from San Francisco to the mines at Virginia City, Nevada. Esche expected to make his fortune, but his first problem was that only half of the animals he bought survived the trip from Mongolia. The remainder needed months of care to be nursed back to health. Camels can haul heavier loads and move faster than horses, but they spit, bite, and kick. In addition, they smell bad and frighten horses and donkeys. When they arrived at Virginia City, the street erupted into a melee of scared animals. After several such incidents, Virginia City passed an ordinance prohibiting camels from entering town except between midnight and dawn. Esche soon gave up on the beasts and turned them loose in the desert.

Salt is the most popular condiment world wide. Pliny the Elder remarked that "a civilized life is impossible without salt." People, and most mammals, crave it. Indeed, it is considered one of the four basic tastes. It is essential to our health, if we don't overindulge in it. No one has ever called me the salt of the earth, but I can hope.