thumb|Illustration of a plow being driven over the site of [[Carthage]]
Salting the earth, or sowing with salt, is the ritual of spreading salt on the sites of cities razed by conquerors.<!-- DO NOT ADD the claim that this is related to killing plants or soil fertility -- see Talk and the Gevirtz quote in the next paragraph -->
Portugal
This was done in Portugal as well. The last known event of this sort was the destruction of the Duke of Aveiro's palace in Lisbon in 1759, due to his participation in the Távora affair (a conspiracy against King Joseph I of Portugal). His palace was demolished and his land was salted.</blockquote>
Brazil
In the Portuguese colony of Brazil, the leader of the Inconfidência Mineira, Tiradentes, was sentenced to death and his house was "razed and salted, so that never again be built up on the floor, ... and even the floor will rise up a standard by which the memory is preserved (preserving) the infamy of this heinous offender ..."
Legends
An ancient legend recounts that Odysseus feigned madness by yoking a horse and an ox to his plow and sowing salt.