The ancient Babylonians and Egyptians were known to use sesame oil as a medicine. Sesame seeds may have originated in India and sesame oil was the main oil in Ancient southern and northern India. The seeds are known as Til in Hindi and oil is called Tel, which suggests that the sesame name was transferred to the word “oil”. The botanical name of sesame is also sesamum indicum. You can find a great read about this humble seed in the book called “a historical dictionary of Indian Food” by K. T. Achaya. The crop finds mention across history, ranging from the 5th Century B.C to the modern times. Greek and Roman literature is dotted with usage of sesame seeds and oil. Ground sesame seeds were also used as flour by the Egyptians. It was and is still vastly used by the Indians, Chinese, and the Japanese routinely, in their everyday cooking.