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
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“In days gone by, we were afraid of dying in dishonor or a state of sin. Nowadays, we are afraid of dying fools. Now the fact is that there is no Extreme Unction to absolve us of foolishness. We endure it here on earth as subjective eternity.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)