If a woman has difficulty in giving birth, thae the plant we call pasticanna sivatica, simmer it in water, and give it so that she can bathe herself with it. She will be healed.

February 5, 2012 11:10 AM

Illustrations of Carrots in Ancient Manuscripts

Note the Carrot Museum does not endorse or agree with the assumptions and assignment of carrot to any of the images or text, but provides the information given below as a matter of interest only.

posted by timshel (36 comments total)

For some reason, I've been eating a lot of carrots lately and am looking into growing some this year.

If someone could find Old Master paintings of hummus, that would be perfect, thanks.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:13 AM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is this some kind of "Rule 34" thing?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:14 AM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

I read that as "Illusions of Carrots" and was very confused when all the pictures and accompanying text were plainly just actual carrots.
posted by jinjo at 11:23 AM on February 5, 2012

Looks like they left one out. Add a caret.
posted by Bromius at 11:26 AM on February 5, 2012

Carrots are interesting plants. When I grow carrots, I like to let a couple alone the first season. If you don't dig up and eat that big orange tap root that forms the first year, it blasts a long sturdy stem up out of the ground the second year and tops it with a burst of white flowers.
posted by pracowity at 11:30 AM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Great stuff, but the only MS that could conceivably be called "ancient" is the first one (ca. 512 AD), and even that's pushing it. I know the poster is just quoting the linked site, but I think it's a point worth making.
posted by languagehat at 11:35 AM on February 5, 2012

It amuses me that the internet is so very capable of hosting niche obsessions that pre modern renderings of root vegetables can have enough of a following to warrant a website.
posted by Jilder at 11:38 AM on February 5, 2012 [7 favorites]

The Carrot Museum has 7000 words on the history of the colour of carrots, should you be interested. No, really, it's kind of interesting, although maybe more like 700 words worth of interest than 7000 words.
posted by Nelson at 11:43 AM on February 5, 2012

No, really, it's kind of interesting, although maybe more like 700 words worth of interest than 7000 words.

Or seven pictures.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 11:46 AM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Monks laughing alone with carrots.
posted by Beardman at 11:50 AM on February 5, 2012 [6 favorites]

Carrots are interesting plants. When I grow carrots, I like to let a couple alone the first season. If you don't dig up and eat that big orange tap root that forms the first year, it blasts a long sturdy stem up out of the ground the second year and tops it with a burst of white flowers.

It's a biennial, like many root crops, which will do the same thing. Queen Anne's Lace is a variety of wild carrot, and will cross with domesticated carrots and make the seeds not good for food production. But QAL is pretty as a wildflower.
posted by OmieWise at 11:56 AM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

I learned about vintage carrots via MeFi a few days ago.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:04 PM on February 5, 2012

Pastinaca Sativus Rubens

Latin, literally meaning "to get high and then eat a plate of spaghetti and a Reuben".
posted by eddydamascene at 12:04 PM on February 5, 2012 [6 favorites]

I especially love the clip-art-esque image of a man working a carrot field next to a tree that appears in separate texts. This is the canonical method for digging carrots!
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 12:15 PM on February 5, 2012

Awesome web site. I'm finding the black carrots intriguing.
posted by XMLicious at 12:19 PM on February 5, 2012

I'm pleased to see that this includes the Voynich Manuscript illustrations of carrots, or whatever passes for carrots in the universe from which the VM originates.
posted by hippybear at 12:27 PM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sure are a lot of copyright notices for images from 500AD.
posted by zippy at 12:34 PM on February 5, 2012 [3 favorites]

Ah the noble carrot. Marvellous when juiced with apple and ginger root.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:34 PM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

So I visit Metafilter for the first time in a week or two and the top post, I swear to god, is titled "Illustrations of Carrots in Ancient Manuscripts". Sheesh.
posted by squalor at 12:44 PM on February 5, 2012 [3 favorites]

I had carrots for dinner.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:02 PM on February 5, 2012

Carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime, it's MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGIC....
posted by briank at 1:05 PM on February 5, 2012

Nothing else in my browser history looks so suspicious.
posted by bonobothegreat at 1:13 PM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love that there is a carrot museum! I grow purple carrots in my garden. When I cook with them people either think it's AWESOME or they get so freaked out by not-orange carrots that they can't eat the food.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:50 PM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

A relative of the carrot and Queen Anne's lace is the Giant Hogweed. This thing hits 12 to 15 feet high, and it is Queen Anne with a bad attitude. Its sap is toxic and can cause lesions if you get it on your skin and blindness if you get the stuff in your eyes. It is considered invasive In the UK and several other countries and is classified as a noxious weed US. It is illegal to propagate in New York, Pennsylvania and several other states.
posted by tommyD at 1:55 PM on February 5, 2012

I've always wanted to post this video and this thread is close enough an excuse.
posted by Taft at 2:13 PM on February 5, 2012

taft: I watched that whole video, waiting for the content to start. Now I'm excited for whatever it was promoting! Also, the dancers in the sweaters looked like muppits because of how baggy their clothes were.
posted by rebent at 2:20 PM on February 5, 2012

Somewhere years ago I read that carrots were orange as something of a fluke and cultivated in honor of William of Orange.

So much for that story.
posted by IndigoJones at 2:36 PM on February 5, 2012

A relative of the carrot and Queen Anne's lace is the Giant Hogweed.

And now you have forced me, only marginally against my will, to post this video of Genesis playing their song "Return Of The Giant Hogweed".
posted by hippybear at 2:47 PM on February 5, 2012

I wish there was more information like this in Wikipedia. I often get curious about how often we've known about various things, early depictions of them, the first time they were written about, and so on.
posted by empath at 3:30 PM on February 5, 2012

The image (left) appears with the kind permission of the Bodleian Library and is copyright and any use is restricted by law. Any unauthorised copying or reproduction will constitute an infringement of copyright.

The script is held by the Bodleian Library of Oxford University as part of its collection of illuminated mediaeval manuscripts.

Unbelievable. It's a 900 year old document. Oh but they own the copyright to the scan.
posted by delmoi at 4:07 PM on February 5, 2012 [2 favorites]

For some reason, I've been eating a lot of carrots lately and am looking into growing some this year.

Oh man do it. Homegrown carrots are like 100x better than anything you'll find in a store. Unless you go to a really good store that sells homegrown carrots or something.
posted by Hoopo at 5:01 PM on February 5, 2012 [1 favorite]

No-one has mentioned that today is the biggest day in the world for carrot sales: the Superbowl.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:54 PM on February 5, 2012

I read that as "Illusions of Carrots" and was very confused when all the pictures and accompanying text were plainly just actual carrots.

Huh. I read that as 'Illustrations of Castles' and the title had me wondering. Illustrations of carrots are better by far though.
posted by ersatz at 4:38 AM on February 6, 2012

So where are the amusingly shaped ones? Huh?
posted by Omnomnom at 7:24 AM on February 6, 2012

Wow. After years of hearing "Period* carrots weren't orange; they were purple!", I have proof in the form of a (photo of a) 5th-c botanical that they were orange, too. Neat!

*Period for the SCA: 600-1600 CE.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:54 AM on February 6, 2012

This really is one of those 'this is why I keep coming back to MetaFilter' posts. Plus, now I know about the orange-brick road... er, the Carrot Highway. (Although I am at a loss to figure out why, in the sidebar of carrot- and highway-related YouTube videos, #2 is the National Anthem of Saudi Arabia.)
posted by LeLiLo at 1:26 PM on February 6, 2012