argānu (giš.šimAR₂.GAN.NU, giš.šimMAR.GAN.NU) "conifer": the word, with the by-form argannu which loans itself into Sumerian as giš.šimAR₂.GAN.NU or giš.šimMAR.GAN.NU, probably refers to a type of conifer and its resin often listed in therapeutic texts alongside sīḫu and barīrātu. In support of this identification, one may consider a passage from a literary text found at the Neo-Assyrian administrative centre Sultantepe, which depicts the argānu plant as having cones (Akk. terinnu), hence possibly designating a type of conifer (STT 36: 22). While in the medical literature the leaves, root and seeds of the plant are also occasionally mentioned, most therapeutic recipes do not specify the part of argānu that was involved in the treatments. The argānu plant could be used as a drug to treat, among others, medical conditions of the head (hurting temples, headache, tearing or blood-shot eyes, as well as rashes on the skin of head), the respiratory tract (hurting breast and shoulder blades), the gastro-intestinal tract (gastric constriction, upset stomach and flatulence) and the legs (sores on the ankles or shins that feel heavy and have a stinging pain). Moreover, a surprising reference is found in a passage that deals with skin diseases in connection with the head and seems to make a specific mention of the argānu plant being the natural habitat of one of the plants used in the corresponding recipe: see Cranium 4, BAM 494 i 39′ with the formulation "very fresh white plant when it grows on argānu-conifer".
[1] Cranium 1, BAM 480+ ii 23: you take one-third litre of saḫlû-cress, one-third litre of cedar powder, one-third litre of burāšu-juniper, one-third litre of suādu-aromatic, one-third litre of sīḫu-wormwood, one-third litre of argānu-conifer
[2] Cranium 1, BAM 480+ iv 13: old cedar, sīḫu-wormwood, argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum (and) sweet reed
[3] Cranium 2, BAM 482+ ii 56′: argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum
[4] Cranium 2, BAM 482+ ii 63′: in order to heal him, you mix sīḫu-wormwood, argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum, one shekel of ru'tītu-sulphur, maštakal-plant
[5] Cranium 2, BAM 482+ iv 44′–45′, AMT 19/1+ iv 27′–28′: if a man has a headache, and the tendons of his neck hurt him constantly: Hand of Ghost, you crush (and) sieve sīḫu-wormwood, argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum
[6] Cranium 4, BAM 494 i 39′: very fresh white plant when it grows on argānu-conifer
[7] Eyes 1, BAM 513+ i 4′: you knead sīhu-wormwood, argānu-conifer (and) barīrātu-sagapenum in milk
[8] Stomach 1, BAM 574+ i 35: alternatively, you fill a tangussu-vessel with water and beer, and then you put sīḫu-wormwood, argannu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum
[9] Stomach 2, BAM 575 iii 44–45: if a man takes (lit. drinks) a drug, he does not throw up, (and) he does not have a bowel movement, that man suffers from zēzēnu-disease: in order to heal him, [. . .] sīḫu-wormwood, argannu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum
[10] Stomach 2, BAM 575 iv 50–51: you fill (a vessel) with water and beer, you put sīḫu-wormwood, argannu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum,
[11] Hamstring 4, AMT 73/1+ i 41: suādu-aromatic, sīḫu-wormwood, argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum (and) kupsu
[12] Hamstring 4, AMT 73/1+ i 50: if DITTO, you crush sīḫu-wormwood, argānu-conifer, barīrātu-sagapenum, kamkadu-plant, horned alkali (and) azallu-plant