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The humble salt crystal originated with the creation of our planet, the metal sodium (chemical symbol Na) and the gas chlorine (Cl2) combining to form sodium chloride (NaCl) or, as we know it, common salt. Back in those dim dark days of the earth's early history when the first rains started to cool our planet, sodium chloride, along with other soluble minerals, was washed from the ground into the depressions that gradually filled with water to become seas.
Thousands of years ago it is likely that trade in salt was the earliest form of commercial enterprise with caravans from the Sahara basin carrying salt across the desert to the trading centres of Karta, Bambara, Cairo and Timbuktu.
Very early in the history of mankind, salt was found to improve the taste of foods. Ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians, Ethiopians and Phoenicians used salt to preserve food. Salt was often used in lieu of currency - the payment of Roman soldiers with salt is a well known example. In fact it is from the Latin "Sal" that the modern words "soldier" (sal-dare) and "salary" are derived.
Throughout the world salt is obtained either from vast salt beds or by evaporating sea water or other salt brines. Europe, Asia and the Americas are famous for their salt mines. Salt can also be recovered by evaporating purified brine by artificial heat.
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