Dill Seed

Dill originated within an area around the Meditteranean and the South of Russia. Zohary and Hopf remark that “wild and weedy types of dill are widespread in the Mediterranean basin and in West Asia.”

Although several twigs of dill were found in the tomb of Amenhotep II, they report that the earliest archeological evidence for its cultivation comes from late Neolithic lake shore settlements in Switzerland. Traces have been found in Roman ruins in Great Britain.

In Semitic languages it is known by the name of Shubit. The Talmud requires that tithes shall be paid on the seeds, leaves, and stem of dill.

Nomenclature and taxonomy
The name dill comes from Old English dile, thought to have originated from a Norse or Anglo-Saxon word dylle meaning to soothe or lull, the plant having the carminative property of relieving gas. In Romania it is called Mărar.