Hyssopus officinalis (hyssop, zupu, zufa, çördük) is a versatile pediatric herb. It is known that it has been used for treatment in Anatolia since prehistoric times. It has been used as a raw material for different compositions in healing from the Hittite Empire to the Western Roman Empire (Yurdakök, 2005: 94). This plant, which is referred to as "Zupu" in Hittite texts, was used both in sacrificial rituals and in the manufacture of pickles as a scent and flavoring agent (Baytop, 2007: 77). An Anatolian Roman citizen, Dioscorides from Cilicia, noted that the best hyssop wine is made with Cilicia hyssop, so three ounces of hyssop should be added to one and a half gallons of wine (Dioscorides, 2000:769). This wine is good for pneumonia, asthma, cough, mucus and shortness of breath, removes bruises, removes edema in the spleen, is a laxative and kills worms, is an excellent mouthwash, relieves toothache, when the smoke is inhaled, it is good for ringing in the ears. (Dioscorides, 2000:399; Canevello, 2013:227). Even in the Torah, how to use this plant in the explanation of a ritual is explained in detail (Torah, Numbers, 19/1-10; Köse, 2014: 25).
As can be seen, the characteristics of this local plant originating from Cilicia combined with both Anatolian flora and geography, and affected fields such as mythology and medicine. It seemed a great negligence not to use an ordinary and even insignificant plant, which lays the foundation of such a great wealth, as a source of inspiration in designs. That's exactly why I decided to use the hyssop plant in a card game design based on Anatolian mythology and came up with a design. The image of the hyssop plant used in this card was created entirely with CGD. As a template, Magic the Gathering the ready-made design of the Wizards company was chosen for trial non-commercial purposes. This card, which I call "Giszupu Growth", is designed with a combination that can be very effective when used with Typhon, one of the most important characters from the mythology of Cilicia. In the naming of the card, the Hittite language was chosen and a direct link was tried to be established with the ancient roots of the plant. The support of our important artist friends was realized in the illustration of the cards related to Typhon to be used in the game. The design of the game mechanics is still ongoing. We believe that when the studies are completed, we will have provided a new opening in the name of Anatolian mythology.
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| Giszupu Growth design by Fatih Karagül |
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