mastic mastiha μαστιχα

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mastic mastiha μαστιχα

The earliest mention of mastic resin used for chewing is found in a fragment of an ancient Greek Comedy dating back to the 5th Century B.C.

The ancient Greeks chewed mastic for fresh breath and to clean their teeth, a practice that was picked up by the Romans and Byzantine Greeks, along with later medieval Europeans including the Venetians, Genoese, and the Ottoman Turks in their turn.

Mastic was also reputed to have a salutary effect on gum disease, stomach distempers and other gastrointestinal ailments, and was thus considered a medicine by ancient medical practitioners; evidence for this can be found in the writings of Hippocrates, Dioscorides and Galen.  

Thus, it is hardly surprising that the island of Chios was a much sought after commercial prize by occupiers from both East and West. After the Romans came the Byzantines, after them the Venetians, then the Genoese, and after them came the Ottoman Turks; and finally, a return to full Greek control again in 1923.

Yet, the importance of the mastic harvest was such that, even under Ottoman rule, the Mastic-Villages were allowed a form of self-government under their own parliament.
Today, mastic cultivation, harvest and production continue on the island of Chios pretty much unchanged in practice and tools since antiquity. Some 2 million mastic trees are cultivated and harvested by members of the Mastic Association, which is comprised of some 5,000 persons from the 24 mastiha mastic villages Masti ho horia.  ( must tea ho ho re ya )
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