ἀσύφη <Unspecified origin; Roman period>
👉 ἀσύφη (v.l. in Dsc. 1.13: ἀσυφήμων) f. – ‘a kind of cassia’ (PME 12; Dsc. 1.13).
⚠ PME 12: [...] γίνεται δὲ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ [scil. τῷ ᾿Αρωμάτων ἐμπορίῳ] κασία καὶ γίζειρ καὶ ἀσύφη καὶ ἄρωμα καὶ μάγλα καὶ μοτὼ καὶ λίβανος. – “The port of trade [scil. the Spice Port situated near the Cape Guardafui in Somalia] likewise offers a market for the aforementioned. Its products are: cassia, gizeir, asyphe, arōma, magla, motō, frankincense.” (trans. L. Casson); see also Dsc. 1.13.
🅔 The origin is unclear. According to one view, ἀσύφη is connected with Old South Arabian ṭyb ‘kind of incense’, Mehri ṭayf ‘aloes, myrrh; bitterness’, etc.
📖 Ref.: cf. Bukharin 2012: 186.