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natron (NAY-tron, NAY-truhn) - n., crystalline mixture of hydrous sodium carbonate (hydrated soda ash, Na2CO3·10H2O) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, NaHCO3), used as a desiccant and cleanser.
Or that's the historical meaning -- in modern minerology, it's just the hydrated soda ash part. Its best-known use in ancient times was as a desiccant (short shameful confession: I habitually spell that as dessicant) while preparing mummies, which would be rubbed down with natron and let sit to dry out, but it was also used as a toothpaste and, blended with oil, a soap. It's found as a natural deposit on dry lake beds in the deserts around the Nile, one of which was named Nṯrj (
), commonly transliterated as Netjeri, which was applied to the mineral, which in Ancient Greek was then called nítron, then in Arabic naṭrūn, then in Spanish natrón, then in English natron. (The Ancient Greek word also went into Latin as nitrum, which via Old French became English niter, another name for potassium nitrate or saltpetre, used in making gunpowder).
---L.
Or that's the historical meaning -- in modern minerology, it's just the hydrated soda ash part. Its best-known use in ancient times was as a desiccant (short shameful confession: I habitually spell that as dessicant) while preparing mummies, which would be rubbed down with natron and let sit to dry out, but it was also used as a toothpaste and, blended with oil, a soap. It's found as a natural deposit on dry lake beds in the deserts around the Nile, one of which was named Nṯrj (
), commonly transliterated as Netjeri, which was applied to the mineral, which in Ancient Greek was then called nítron, then in Arabic naṭrūn, then in Spanish natrón, then in English natron. (The Ancient Greek word also went into Latin as nitrum, which via Old French became English niter, another name for potassium nitrate or saltpetre, used in making gunpowder).---L.
