Spicy Prune Cake

The prune was a valued fruit in ancient Mesopotamia. In The Assyrian Herbal, a monograph on Assyrian plant medicines, it was mentioned as a kind of conserve, which should be eaten with butter and honey (Thompson). In Akkadian, it was called ‘antahsum’ (cf. Arabic ‘injas), and was used in cooking as a souring agent (see Introduction). The ancients’ belief in the medicinal power of ‘antahsum’ has been scientifically confirmed in recent stu