^ ^^-^% _2 11 I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | ^ Princeton, N. J. ~ $ I -2^^ I, BS 413 .B58 V. 27 Rosenmeuller , E. F. C. 1768- 1835. The Mineralogy and botany of the Bible < j'' THE BIBLICAL CABINET; HERMENEUTICAL, EXEGETICAL, PHILOLOGICAL LIBRARY. VOL. XXVIL KOSENMULLER ON THE MINERALOGY AND BOTANY OF THE BIBLE. EDINBURGH; THOMAS CLARK, 38. GEORGE STRta^T HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO. LONDON: AND W. CURRY, JTJN. & CO. DUBLIN. MDCCCXL. THE MINERALOGY AND BOTANY THE BIBLE E. F. C. ROSENMULLER, D. D. TRANSLATE© FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES T. G. REPP AND THE REV. N. MORREN. EDINBURGH : THOMAS CLARK, 38. GEORGE STREET. MDCCCXL. .T. THOMSON, PRINTER, MIl.XE SQLARE. l.\y TRIE thbologig&l/ CONTENTS. BIBLICAL MmERALOGY. Page Section First — Earth, Earths, and other Mmeral Sub- stances, ........ 1 Section Second. — Stones and Rocks, ... 14 Section Third Precious Stones, .... 26 Section Fourth. — Metals, ..... 46 BIBLICAL BOTANY. Section First. — Of Plants in General, their Consti- tuent Parts, their Life, and their Classification, GO Section Second. — Grain and Leguminous Plants, 75 Section Third. — Kitchen Vegetables and Garden Plants used for human food, . . . . .91 Section Fourth. — Plants growing wild, Flowers and Shrubs, 106 b CONTENTS. Section Fifth. — Plants from which Odorous Resins and Oils are prepared, .... Section Sixth. — Flax and Cotton, . Section Seventh. — Marsh Plants, Section Eighth. — Thorns and Thistles, Section Ninth. — The Vine, Section Tenth. — Trees, Section Eleventh — Manna, Index to the Mineraeogv, Index to the Botany, Index to the Greek, Index to the Latin, Page 147 173 182 198 220 232 320 332 334 339 340 PREFATORY NOTE BY ONE OF THE TRANSLATORS. The translation of the present volume having been begun by Mr. Repp^ was earned by him through the press, do"vvn to the two hundred and twenty -fourth page, but was there left unfinished, in consequence of his departure from Scotland. At the Publisher's re- quest, I undertook to complete the volume, and am therefore accountable for all that follows from p. 225 to the end. The original forms part of Rosenmiiller's " Biblische Naturgeschichte," being the first half of the fourth volume of his '* Handbuch der Biblischen Alterthums- kunde," a work, of which a portion has already ap- peared in the Biblical Cabinet, under the title of the " Biblical Geography of Central Asia." Like all the Author's "svritings, it will be found to contain manifest traces of erudite research and discriminating judg- ment. It may be well, however, to forewarn the younger student, of the great obscurity in which many of the points here discussed are involved, and of the PREFACE. consequent uncertainty of the results. Perhaps no branch of sacred philology presents greater difficulties than the Natural History of Scripture. The Hebrew terilis for not a few of the productions of nature be- long to the class of the d-rrat, X^yo/Mva, occurring only once ; and when the cognate languages, the ancient versions, the Jewish commentaries, and other exege- tical helps, either fail us altogether, or perplex by their contradictions, we are left very much to remote con- jecture, founded on the supposed meaning of the root, or, on what is deemed suitable to the context. In many cases also, though the generic description of a mineral or plant may have been ascertained with tolerable accuracy, the particular species may remain unknown, either from the want of sufficient data^ or because no minuter specification than that of a tribe or family, was intended by the original writer. Thus as to the "" Burning Bush" of Moses, it may be ad- mitted that Se?ieh, in all probability, denotes some thorny shrub ; but that it is the Riibus Sanclus is a gratuitous assumption, unsupported by any proof, for indeed the case admits of none. Now if this holds true even of those products that were indigenous to Palestine and the adjacent region, still more difficult must be the precise identification of those objects of natural history, which were brought to Judea as articles of trade, or were known there only by name. PREFACE. Vll If it be still matter of doubt as to what particular species of trees yield the cassia and cinna7non of com- merce, (and even what is the true rhubarb plant of the dispensatory,) it is in vain to expect that the kelziath and hinnamon of the Hebrews, should be identified with any greater certainty. There may seem to be some omissions in the work, but they are only apparent, being occasioned by the different interpretations here given to various Hebrew and Greek words, from what they bear in our autho- rized version. The indices at the end have been so framed as so supply these seeming defects. In a few cases, the omission arises from the circumstance, that the original word was not supposed by the author to denote any mineral or vegetable production w^hatever, e.g. *iy"iy in Jer. xvii. 6: xlviii. 6, rendered in the English translation by " heath." The Bdolach or Bdellium of Gen. ii. 12, which is by some held to be a precious stone, was by Rosenmiiller considered to be the pearl, and therefore finds a place in his Biblical Zoology, along with the Ramoth or Coral. As for the terms 'A/xagaiTOC, ' AiJ^aoavrtvoc, 'A/x/wiroc, '/.. r. X, which have been introduced into some works on the Natural History of Scripture, they are mere allusive epithets, employed figuratively ; and nowhere in the Bible are the productions mentioned, to which these adjectives are supposed to have a reference. Vlll PREFACE. Some additional matter has been inserted, both in the body of the work and in the notes. The word capri- ficailon is sometimes incorrectly used, to describe the manner in which the palm tree is fructified, and hence the author seems to have taken for granted, that the caprification of the fig-tree is effected by a similar process ; but that error, and others of less moment, I have taken occasion to correct. N. MORREN. Greenock, July^ 1840. THE BIBLE. SECTION FIRST. EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 1. Earth. — The element Earth is, in the Hebrew language, expressed by these three vocables, Adam- ah, ^ Erez, ^ and Aphar. ^ The two first of these words also denote the orbis terrarum, the earth's ivhole body. Adamah also signifies the cultivated or culti- vable soil, or arable land, Gen. iv. 2. Isa. i. 7 ; xxx. 23. Aphar is dry earth converted into dust,^ as for example, Numb, xxiii. 1 0, where it is applied' as a figurative expression to a numerous people. Earth 1 n/tj^Ib^' '^his word seems more properly to signify red T -r--. earth, for the root Q~lK (denotes, to he red. * The word has the same meaning in the Arabic. Reiske in his additions to the Hist, of the lloyal French Acad, of Pol. Lit. Vol. xi. p. 171, has given an explanation of this word, from Dsheuhari's Arabic Dictionary. B 2 EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER and dust is the element from which man was formed by the Creator, (Gen. ii. 7), and unto which he dying returns, Gen. iii. 19. Job x. 9. A clod of earth, is in Job. vii. 5, called Gush : ^ it is the emblem of the dusty earthen hue and crusted appearance of the skin of a leprous man. There are two other vocables denoting clods of earth : Regahim, ^ and Megrephot. ^ Fine Dust set in motion by the walk of men or ani- mals, is called Abak,^ and a dust-particle, or atom Shachak.^ 2. Clay, that tough and unctuous earth, from which earthenware is made — potter's clay, is in Hebrew called Chomer, and in Chaldee, Tin,^^ Isa. xxix. 16. xlv. 9. Jerem. xviii. 4, 6. This appellation is also used of Mud, i. e. potter's clay mixed with sand, of which houses are built, in countries where stones are not to be found. Job iv. 19, it is said of mankind, that they dwell in huts of clay, "(a) Besides Chomer, Nahum iii. 14, also makes use of the expression, Tit,^^ (of which the ordinary acceptation, how ever, ^ V^^' ^ tD^i;i*1 Jo^ xxi. 33 ; xxxviii. 38. ' r)l£)>lD. Joeli. 17. ^ pHi^ Deut. xxviii. 24. Nah. i. 3. Song of Sol. iii. G. ' T T ' pri^y Isa. xi. 15. ^« nph, T^p- (a) We meet with an interesting parallel among the Brahmiiis of India. — When a person dies, they never make use of the ex- pression, " he is dead." Their phrase is, " Such an one has left his clayey tenement this morning." MINERAL SUBSTANCES. -i is Dirt, (/3) for clay or mud employed for building, and Isa. xli. 25, uses the word Tit in the sense of potter's clay. The fields of Jericho, as far as the Dead Sea, consist of a grey sandy loam, which Hasselqnisi^^ found to be so loose that the horses sunk in it up to their knees. 3. Sand. — Alluvial sand, quick sand, in Hebrew, Choi, ^^ frequently occurs as a typical expression for an innumerable multitude, as for example, in Gen. xxii. 17; xxxi. 12; xli. 49. According to Siebei^'s account, '^ the winds blowing from the seaward, have heaped up large hills of sand at Jaffa. Every year the quick-sand advances further east ; it has covered and laid waste the most fertile parts of the country, and the sandfield is now so extensive, that no less than half an hour's walk across it, takes you to the beach. 4. Salt. — There is abundance of salt in Palestine, which in the Hebrew language is called Melach.^^ The water of the Dead Sea is extremely salt like a very strong brine, and remarkably good kitchen salt is made of it, on the eastern shore of this lake ; the salt is found in lumps, frequently exceeding a foot in thickness, in places where the lake had overflowed its banks during the rainy season. The stones on the shore are, as in salt-pits, covered with an incrus- (/S) The English word seems to have even an etymological affinity with the Hebrew, cfr. Isl. and Scot. Drit. ^5 Journey to Palestine, p. 152. — Germ. Transl. ^"* /In* ^^ Journey from Kahira to Jerusalem, p. 19. 4 EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER tation of lime and gypsum. Bows and branches of trees and bushes, which fall into the lake, are covered with a kind of petrefaction consisting of salt, and if wood is thrown into it, it soon gets a crust of saline particles.^'' From this phenomenon it has been at- tempted to" explain that Lot's wife, according to the record of Gen. xix. 26, was converted into a pillar of salt.* At the southwest corner of this lake, there is a plain, which is several miles in length, entirely covered with salt, and without the slightest trace of vegetation. This, no doubt, is the salt-valley where David's army slew the Edomites, Ps. Ix. 2, sqq. cfr. 2 Sam. viii. 13. 1 Chron. xviii. 12. The Salt-pits^^ mentioned in Zephaniah ii. 9, probably do not denote mines of rock-salt, but rather pits like those which the Arabs still use to dig on the shore of this lake, and which are filled by its inundation in spring, when the melted snow so increases the lake that it over- flows its banks. When the water in these pits after- wards evaporates, it leaves behind a salt crust, which is about an inch thick ; this is the salt commonly in use in the whole country. ^^ Ezek. xlvii. 11, seems ^' Seetzen in the Monthly Correspondence, Vol. xviii. p. 432. * Cfr. " Das Alte und Neue Morgenland," i. e. The Orient, in Ancient and Modern Times, Vol. i. p. 84. '■' '^!??^"^:'?'?- ^^ Pococke's Description of the Oriental Countries, Vol. ii. p. 54, (jerm. Transl. Ina similar mannersalt is obtained, accord- ing to Maundrell's account, (See Paulus' Coll. of Travels, vol. i. p. 188) in the salt valley, eight miles from Flhaleb. Some brooks run through the valley, which during the rainy season inundate MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 5 to have a reference to such salt water-pits. A salt city 20 not far from the Dead Sea, is mentioned, Josh. XV. 62. The use and utiUty of salt is well known, Sirach. xxxix. 31, reckons it, as well as water, fire, iron, milk, honey, wine, oil, and clothes, among things indispensable for the life of man. Therefore, Job vi. 6, puts the question : Can that which is un- savoury be eaten without salt ? Because salt is indispensable for the enjoyment of food, the payment or aliment received by one in the service of a superior, was called Salt, Thus we read Ezra iv. 14, in the Persian Chancellor's letter to the king : We who salt with the salt of the palace, «". e. we who are in the king's pay. And even in our days, in Persia and the East Indies, the phrase, to eat one^s salt, signifies, to receive support from him — be in his pay.^^ In con- formity with the commandment, Levit. ii. 13, salt was used in all sacrifices, they being considered as meals set before the deity. New born babies were rubbed with salt, as may be seen from Ezek. xvi. 4. St. Jerome says,^'^ that this was done with the view of drying up the superfluous humidity from the body, the whole plain ; in snmmer the water is dried ixp, and there remains on the surface of the ground, a salt crust, which is gathered into heaps and sorted according to its different quality. ''*■ See " Das Alte und Neue Morgenland." The Oriental Countries in ancient and modern times, Vol. iii. p. 276. Hence the Latin Salarium for a soldier's pay. Pliny's Nat. Hist. Lib. xxxi. cap. 7- Honoribus etiam militiisque sa/ interponitur ; salariis inde dictis. ^'^ In the commentary on the passage. 6 EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER and on purpose to contract the pores which were sup- posed to be too open. Galen too observes,^^ that salt makes children's skin more hard and fast. Salt is a remedy against corruption and dissolution, and accordingly, when solemn contracts were ratified, a dish of salt, as a symbol of their permanency, was in readiness, that each of the contracting parties might eat a few grains.^'^ For this reason, an irrevocably everlastingly permanent covenant, is Numb, xviii. 19. 2 Chron. xiii. 5, called a Covenant of Salt. No plant can grow in a soil covered with salt, therefore, a salt land,'^^{h) means sterile waste land, Job xxxix. 6 ; Ps. cvii. 34 ; Jerem. xvii. 6 ; Zephan. ii. 9, and salt was considered as the emblem of barrenness. When Abimelech had conquered, and entirely destroyed the city of Sichem, he strewed salt over the place where it had stood, Judg. xix. 45, as a sign that it should remain barren. After a similar manner, the Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa, when he had destroyed Milan in the year 1162, strewed salt on the place, and made the plough pass over it. On the other hand, because salt seasons meat and makes it savoury, it is used as an emblem of just discernment and apposite discourse. Let your discourse always be seasoned with Salt, says 23 De sanit. L. T. Cap. 7- 24 See Erasmus on the Adage : " Salem et mensam ne prae- tereas," Adag. p. 193, the Edit, of 1558. Cfr. Schulz's " Lei- tungen des Hochsten," i. e. Guidances of the Most High, Vol. v. p. 247. . (y) nrhi2 Tr, MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 7 St Paul, Coloss. iv. 6, and Jesus, Mark ix. 49.(5) Have always salt loith you.'^^ His disciples he calls, Matth. V. 13, the salt of the earth, i. e. of mankind, because mankind by their teaching is to be instructed and improved. 5. Nitre or Natrum [Soda,] in Hebrew Neter^"? is an alkaline mineral salt, which occurs sometimes as the grounds of salt waters, sometimes as an efflores- cence of rocks, lavas, and even of black earth. The Egyptian natrum is found in a native state in two lakes described by Pliny, ^^ which are situate between the two cities ; Naukratis and Memphis. The region where the larger of these soda-lakes is found, is in modern times called the desert of Seete. It lies a good day's journey from the western bank of the Nile, not far from the monastery of St. Makarius. The lesser soda lake is also situate westward from the Nile, in the province of Bahheira, a day's journey from Alexandria. In both these lakes the water is Q) The passage quoted we find not in v. 49, but in v. 50. Here is a slight deviation from the words of the text : £;^£t£ b laureis clkx; accurately translated in the English Bible, " Have salt in yourselves.'''' 26 The Romans too had this meaning of the word Sal, Ter- entius Eun. Act. iii. Sc. 1. Vs. 1. Qui habet salem qui in te est. Catidl. Carm. Ixxxvi. ^'s. 4. Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis. 28 Hist. Nat. Lib. xxxi. cap. 10, § 46. Hlustrative re- marks on Pliny's description are contained in J. D. Michaelisj (lommentat. de Nitro Plinii. Commentatt. in Societ. Keg. Scientiar. Goetting. per annos 1758—1762, praelectt. p. 136, sqq. 8 EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER one or two feet deep above the natrum, which lies in the bottom in a layer, four or five feet thick. It is cut out with iron shovels, having a sharp edge be- low, it issues quite pure and perfect from its mine, re- quiring no further preparation. The mineral salt which has been taken away, is, after some time, restored by a new supply spontaneously produced in the earth. ^^ Natrum is not only used as a medicine, and for glass- making and bleaching, but also as a soap.^" There- fore Jeremiah says : ii. 22. " Even wert thou to wash thyself in nitre, and rub thyself in lie^ the defilement of thine iniquity is clearly seen by me. Prov. xxv. 20, it is said that :" taking away a garment in cold weather^ and singing a song to a person in distress is like vinegar on nitre, i. e. unsuitable, ill-timed, and ^"^ Sicard in his Nouv. Meraoires des Missions de la Com- pagnie de Jesus dans le Levant, T. i. p. 62. sqq. and in Pau- lus's Coll. of Travels in the East, Vol. v. p. 182, sqq. Andros- sy's Memoire sur la vallee des lacs de Natron in his Memoires sur I'Egypte, T. ii. p. 27fi, sqq. Berthollet's Observations .sur le natron, ibid. p. 310, sqq. Cfr. Description de I'Egypte T. xxi. p. 205, sqq. ^^ Hasselquist's Journey to Palestine, p. 548, in the Germ, transl. Natron in Aegypto hodie vocatur sal e fodina prope Mansuram extractunn, lapidi calcareo mixtum, aceto efferves- cens, coloris albidorufescentis. Usus e}\x% est apud Aegyptios (1) quod pani immittant fermenti loco ; (2) ad lintea lavanda, saponis loco. Forsk'dl Flora Aegypt' Arab. p. xlvi. Usus lotorius nitri ^ y^^AaS (atrun) et , ^ x^vIaJ (natrun) ap- pellant, adhuc Aegyptiis vulgaris est. Cfr. Beckmann's His- tory of Inventions, vol. iv. p. 15, sqq. and the same author's notes on Aristotle's book, de mirabilibus auscultatt. Cap. 54. MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 9 hurtful, for iiatrum is disolved by vinegar, and looses its purifying power. ^^ 6. Brimstone, in Hebrew gophrith ^^, is a mineral which has no metallic basis (s) and accordingly is com- bustible, easily fusible and inflammable ; burns with a bluish or a white flame, and a peculiar suffocating smell ; but evaporates if the air is excluded while it is subjected to an increased temperature ; it is soluble in oil and in alkaline solutions. The natural or native brimstone is found in pulverized or crystallized masses, and also in a stalaktide or nephroide form, chiefly in layers of gypsum, in the galleries of several minerals, — and near volcanoes and mineral wells, more particularly near hot wells. The common sul- phur is made by art from the markasit : '^ It occurs in many crystals — in rock formations of almost every kind, and it is spread nearly over the whole earth. ^* ^^ Others suppose that this simile alludes to the disagreeable smell arising from natrum when vinegar is poured upon it. • : ' («) In the present state of chemistry, it is at least unnecessary to say thus much ; besides we know that Dr. Hans Christian Oersted would undertake to prove the contrary, and establish that sulphur is a metallic mineral. Here all depends on a strict philosophical definition of the word metal, and we scarcely need mention here, that the ancient characteristics of metal are now quite unavailing, since in reality even hydrogen and oxygen, are quite as much metals as quicksilver or gold. More- over, the combustibility of sulphur is certainly not owing to the absence of a metallic basis, since all metals, gold and platina inclusive, are combustible when heat of a suitable in- tensity is applied to them. '^ Pyrites. ^* Perleb's Compend of Nat. Hist. p. 58. 111. 10 EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER The prophet Isa xxx. 33, in describing the destruc- tion of the foes of the Hebrews, makes use of the figure of a pile of wood which Jehovah's breath would kindle like a stream of brimstone. Describing the destruction of Edom, xxxiv. 9, he says : Its brooks shallbe turned into pitchy and its dust(^) into brimstone. Revel, xiv. 10; xix. 20; xx. 10; xxi. 8; hell is de- scribed as a pool QJ/J^vyj) of brimstone. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were, according to Gen. xix. 24, 25, destroyed by rain of fire and brimstone. It is not contrary to the laws of nature, in a country which has abundance of brimston e and naphtha, that a great quantity of inflammable particles may be at- tracted by thunder clouds, and drawn into the upper regions of the atmosphere, that they may be kindled by an electric spark, and fall to the earth again in the form of a rain of fire ; and examples are not wanting, of brimstone and other burning bituminous substances having fallen on the earth. ^^ Rain of brimstone is frequently mentioned as a kind of punishment by which the ungodly are destroyed. Thus in Job (^) Its dust, i. e. ground, soil. ^ S}^^ Aphar properly denotes • T T dust ; in the tropical countries, where the soil is often parched, it also denotes the ground in general. It is proper to observe, that as to the word Aphar we have here a parallel to Job xix. 25, and that it is incorrectly translated in the English Bible by earth. It means there as well as here dust ; there, how- ever, in a special sense of lists, a field of strife and contention, arena, as has been rightly observed by Eichborn in his version of Job. ^^ See " Das Alte und Neue Morgenland," Vol. i. p. 7^) sqq. MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 11 xviii. 15, we read, " that brimstone shall be scattered on the habitation of the ungodly !" And Ps. xi. 6, that " the portion of the ungodly shall h^Jire, brimstone and tempests." Ez. xx xviii. 22, announces that plague, blood, hail, fire and brimstone, shall fall on Gog's army. 7. Bitumen or Asphaltos, in Hebrew Chemar,^^ is an earth-resin, containing more or less of earthy admixture, of a dusky black colour, and strong greasy lustre, fusible in a moderately increased tem- perature. It is to be found partly in mountains, and partly floating on the surface of wells and lakes, par- ticularly on the Dead Sea in Palestine, (and for this reason the Germans call it Juden pech — Jews pitchy) where it floats on the surface like melted pitch, and is gradually condensed through the heat of the sun, and the salt which mingles with it.^'' There were Asphaltos pits in the valley of Siddim, before the Dead Sea was formed there, Gen. xiv. 10. Mariti* found, westward from the Dead Sea, such pits, or rather chasms. According to Gen. xi. 3, asphaltos was used instead of lime or cement, for the building of the tower of Babel ; and the inhabitants of the country of Babylon have in all ages made use of the asphaltos for similar purposes. Describing a lake in the desert near Bagdad, (which was full of as- phaltos, frequently overflowing the banks of the lake,) ' 1,t5n» Arabic ^^ Chommar. Rosenm. Bihl. Geogr. Vol. ii. Pt. 1. p. 188. Journey through Cyprus, Palestine, and Syria, p. 427- Iz EARTH, EARTHS AND OTHER Balbi^s states, that if the inhabitants in the neigh- bourhood did not make use of this bitumen for their buildings, employing it as a cement for the making of their bricks, mountains would be formed of this sub- stance. In the island of Zante too, bitumen harden- ed in the sun is an almost insoluble and indestruc- tible cement. This appears on the stone-wall with which the inhabitants have surrounded their reser- voir ; the pressure of the water- mass has caused the bitumen to enter between the stones, and so firmly to cement them together, that they can be sooner broken than separated. ^^ The Egj^tians, accord- ing to Pliny, '^o made use of asphaltos for pitching and making water-tight the small boats of plated papyrus reed which are commonly used on the Nile. The little reed boat in which the mother of Moses exposed her child on the Nile, Exod. ii. 3, was made tight with pitch and asphaltos. 8. Naphtha is a thin-liquid, yellow, earth-oil, fre- quently clear and transparent like water : it is used for lamps. It issues from the bosom of the earth in many places in the isle of Naphtonia, in the Cas- pian Sea, and near Baku on the west coast of the same sea ; ^* likewise at Karkhuk in lower Kurdis- ^^ In Piirchas's Collect, of Voyages, Vol, ii. p. 17'22. •'^ Christ. MuUer's Journey through Greece and the Ionian Isles, (Leipz. 1822,) p. UG. ^0 Nat. Hist. Lib. XIII. cap. 11. ^' Copious descriptions of the Naphtha pits in this region are to he found in Kampfer's Aracenitt. exott. p. 273, sqq. ; Hanvvay's Journey through Persia, Vol. i. p. 278, sqq. ; S. (i. (imelin's Journey through Russia, Vol. iii. p. 43, sqq. ; and Ker Porter's Travels, Vols. i. ii. p. 515, 517- MINERAL SUBSTANCES. la tan. *- The soil through which the naphtha issues, is a kind of clay or mixed marl ; for mineral acids bring it into effervescence, it hardens in the fire, and it can be moulded when softened in water. This earth is thoroughly impregnated with the naphtha. If it is stirred up to the depth of two inches, and touched with a burning coal, it immediately kindles. The flame is bluish-j'ellow, and although it does not con- sume the earth, it so heats it that it cannot be touch- ed with the hands near the burning place. Such earth impregnated with naphtha, is no doubt meant in Theodotion's Greek version of Daniel, (Asarya's prayer, v. 46,) where it is related that the burning oven in which the three men who refused to adore Nebuchadnezzar's statue were to be burnt, Mas heated with naphtha^ pitch, and dry twigs. *2 Ker Porter, 1. c. p, 440. SECTION SECOND. STONES AND ROCKS. 1. Eben^ is, in the Hebrew tongue, the common appellative for a stone in general. Fossils found in mines are, in Job xxviii. 3, called the stone of dark- ness and of the shadow of death. Pebbles and gra- vel are denoted by the vocables : Chazaz, ' Meoth, ^ and Zeror.'^ 2. Zur^ is the common and general name for Hock, Less frequently rock is denoted by the word Challamish.^ This word at the same time seems to signify a particular kind of rock. For, Deut. viii. 15, we read, that when the Israelites were journey- ing through the Arabic desert, God made water to flow for them out of the Challamish-rockP The hills of the peninsula of Mount Sinai, for the most part consist of granite, porphj^ry, and greenstone ' V V ' T T ^ ti^'D^n, ex. gr. Isa. 1. 7- Ps. cxiv. 8. Job xxviii. 9. • T — phrass i.:vorted, ^V\^ mJ^ntZ' STONES AND ROCKS. 15 rocks ;^ but, J. D. Michaelis' supposition,^ that the Hebrew word precisely denotes that reddish granite of which Mount Sinai and neighbouring mountains consist, ^° can not be positively affirmed. Sela^^ is another Hebrew word, denoting a rock. It applies to high precipitous rocks, on which the chamois goats dwell, and the eagles build their nests, Job xxxix. 1, 28, and which serve to man as places of refuge, Judg. xv. 8, 11. 1 Sam. xiv. 4. Ps. xviii. 3. The corresponding Chaldaic and Syriac word is Kepha.i2 3. The Hebrew word Gir^^ denotes lime-roch. In Isa. xxvii. 9, broken Gir-stones, i. e. lime-stones^ (to be burnt into lime or mortar,) are mentioned. The mountains of Syria and Palestine consist of hard whitish lime-stone, which sounds like quartz, and which is to be found in beds that lie sometimes in a higher, sometimes in a lower situation.^* In the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, the hills consist of a lime- stone almost resembling flint, of a white or pale yellow colour. Further off, and near to the Dead Sea, they consist of a loose lime-stone, which « Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. Vol. iii. p. 102. ■^ Pococke's Descr. of the Or. Vol. i. p. 213, 215, sqq — Germ. Transl. ^° Supplenim. ad Lexx. Hebrr. p. 782, sqq. Cfr. Pareau's Comment, on Job, chap, xxviii. in his Commentat. de immor- talitatis notiis cet. p. 287. " n^il, Arabic ^A^. *■* Vohiey's Journey through Syria and Egypt, Vol. i. p. 232. 16 STONES AND ROCKS. is partly white, and partly of a greyish colour, and between these is found a reddish glimmer-stone^^ in alternate layers. The sepulchres of the Kings of Jerusalem are excavated in a lime-rock, and the doors of these were made of a hard lime-stone.^* 4. Sid^'^ is the Hebrew vocable for gypsum. This is apparent from Deut. xxvii. 2, 3, where Moses commands that the stones to be erected on the other side of Jordan, and on which the law is to be engraven, shall be plastered over with Sid. Lime cannot be meant in this place ; for, as lime is soft and brittle, so stone plastered over with it would have been less suitable for receiving a durable in- scription than the bare stone itself. A completely hardened incrustation of gypsum is much better suited for such a purpose. ^^ It has been supposed that the stones were to be plastered over after the letters had been engraven, in order to secure them against corrosion, and the decomposing effects of the atmosphere, and also with the view, that when in course of time, the incrustation should have moulder- ed away, the inscription might appear in perfect pre- servation ; but the circumstance, that in the passage here alluded to, Deut. xxvii. 2, 3, the plastering over of the stones with gypsum is first mentioned, and then the engraving of the inscription, is adverse to this opinion. It appears, however, from Dan. v, 5, and Acts xxv. 3, that, even in ancient times, walls were plastered over with gypsum or lime. ^^ Hasselquist's Journey to Palestine, p. 148. ^5 Ibid. p. 163. 1- '^^•^. i» J. E. Faber's Hebr. Archseol. p. 390. STONES AND ROCKS. 17 5. Marble, which is a limestone of close texture and fine grain, receives a fine polish, and is found of various colours, is several times mentioned in the Bible. The Greek translator of Alexandria, being the most ancient, and the Latin, A.rabic, and Chaldee translators, following his example, render the Hebrew word Shesh^^ (sometimes written S/iaisk, as, for example, 1 Chron. xxix. 2 ; Song of Sol. v. 15,) by marble generally ; but the signification of the He- brew root Shush,^^ denoting (o be white, as well as also the circumstance, that, in the above quoted pas- sage of the Song of Sol. the legs of the Bridegroom(y}) are compared with it, shews that white marble is de- signated by this appellation. The columns^ of the King of Persia's garden-saloon were, according to Esth. i. 6, made of such marble. ^^ The Greek trans- lator of Alexandina in this place puts Parian mar- hle,^'^ This marble, which is found on three islands of the Greek Archipelago, viz. on Paros, Naxos, and Tinos, was held in high "esteem by the ancients, on account of its brilliant whiteness ; and the greatest artists of ancient Greece made use of it for those monuments of the statuary art, which still are pre- ^ t^^tl}^ Therefore, ^^ also denotes the white Egyp- tian cotton, and the stuffs which are made of it. {n) By. a mere slip, Bride (Braut) is put in the original in- stead of Bridegroom. — Tr. G 18 STONES AND ROCKS. served as objects of our highest admiration. But tlie very great distance makes it improbable that this marble was used in Persia. And, besides, Persia stands in no need of foreign marble, as the country possesses marble of its own. Chardin says,^^ " There are in Persia several kinds of marble, white, black, red, and white with red veins. The black is found near a hamlet, called Sary, in Susiana ; it breaks in- to flakes like slate. The most beautiful marble is tliat which is found near Tabris : it is transparent, almost like pure crj^stal, and the light shines through flakes which are more than an inch in thickness. This marble is white, with an admixture of green, and almost as pale as an agate. It is so soft, that it may be cut with a knife, and many do, on that ac count, consider it as no real mineral, since it has not the hardness of an ordinary stone." Ker Porter'^^ visited the place at the hamlet of Deygurgan, not far from Tabris or Tauris^ where there is a quarry of this marble. He found this fossil to be a kind of petrefaction, effected by the water falling from the rocks above, and that this petrefaction, gradually sinking below the surface of the earth, formed a layer of considerable depth. A kind of incrustation covers the whole extent of the mass, which, from the declivity of the hill, spreads itself in a consider- able quantity over the whole plain of the valley. The marble, in its perfect consolidated state, is found a few feet below the crust in thin layers, from ^^ Voyages en Perse, Vol. iii. p. 358, ed. Langles. 2* Travels, Vol. ii. p. 527. STONES AND ROCKS. 19 which the labourers break loose, long, and broad flags, which are ten or twelve inches in thickness. These are further wrought and prepared to become ornaments in the saloons of great people : the lower part of the walls round about nearest the floor is lined with them." Among the materials which Da- vid had collected for the building of the temple, marble (Shaish, which is the same as Shesh) is also mentioned, 1 Chron. xxix. 2. David may have ob- tained marble from Arabia, where, according to the testimony of the ancients, marble was found, whose brilliant whiteness, hardness, and fine polish, was not equalled, either by the Parian or any other marble.* Joseph relates, f that the second temple, as well as also the royal palace of Jerusalem, were built of white marble. In the description of the floor of the Persian king's saloon mentioned above, the stones (beside the marble species Shesh already mentioned) with which it was inlaid, are called Bahat, Dar, and So- chareth or Sechereth^'^ Probably these names also denote different kinds of marble ; but it cannot now be determined what kind of marble these were. The Greek translator of Alexandria puts Emerald for the Hebrew noun Bahat. J. E. Faber's conjec- ture is, 2 6 that the translator does not here mean the • J. E". Faber's Archaologie, p, 381, note. t Ant. Jud. L. VIII. cap. iii. 1, 5. '' rr;r\\2\ nni ti;m 'oro. 22 L. c. p. 380, note. 20 STONES AND ROCKS. precious stone bearing this name,^^ hut green marble. Rabbi Jona, or Abuhvalid, who, in the twelfth cen- tury, composed a Hebrew dictionary, explains Ba- hat by the Arabic words Rucham and Balant^^ of which the former denotes white marble, and the lat- ter a stone resembling marble, used for floors. It is obvious that R. Jona merely states his own conjec- tures. The Arabic language has, indeed, a name for a stone (viz. Baht^^) resembling the Hebrew ; but the Arabic dictionary, Kamus, merely states that this word denotes " a known stone." ^^ The Hebrew word Dar, which appears, Esth. i. 6, immediately after Shesh, as the name of one of the stones in the floor, denotes a large pearl in the Ara- bic language.^^ Indeed, the ancients made use even of pearls to decorate the walls of apartments in their palaces i^^ but that pearls were used also for the -^ Seneca's Epist. 8G. Eo deliciarum pervenimus, ut nisi gemmas, &c, shews that the ancients employed even precious stones in the ornaments of their floors, which resembled Mo- saic. And Apuleius says of the floors in the chambers of Psyche, Metamorph. L. VI. Pavimenta ipsa lapide pretioso caesim diminuto in varia picturae genera discriminabantur. '^^ (•^/•' ^saXj * in Gesenius Thesaur. Ling. Hebr. p. 182. o- 20 •• ^ 3'^ P. 17C in the Calcutt. Edit. ^ ^-^^ * 32 Bochait's Hieroz. P. II. L. V. Cap. 8. T. Hi. p. C49, setj. Leipz, Edit. STONES AND ROCKS. 21 floors of dining-rooms is improbable in itself, and quite unsupported by any known example. The Greek translator of Alexandria explains the Hebrew word by a stone resembling pearls,^^ by which de- signation probably, as J. D. Michaelis conjectures,^"* is meant Plinius's ^^ Alabastrit, which is a kind of alabaster, having the gloss of the mother-of-pearls. The signification of the word Sochereth, which is the last of the stones mentioned in Esth. i. 6, is quite uncertain. Here the ancient translators forsake us. The conjectures of modern authors merely rest on etymological, i. e. very insecure foundations. J. E. Faber^s jg of opinion, that sochereth denotes a par- ty-coloured., spotted marble, chiefly of a red and white colour, because the Arabic word Ashar^'f being si- milar in sound, signifies red, mixed with white. Others, from the analogy of the Aramaic shohiirto?'^ a hla^k stone, used for dying, suppose that black marble is meant. Because the Hebrew sochereth^ •'^ Tlmivav xi^ov. Boohart has 1. c. p. 647, shewn that these words are a translation of the Hebrew '^'7. ^* Supplemm. ad. Lexx. Hebrr. p. 460. 35 Hist. Nat. Lib. XXXVI. cap. 7, 8. ■56 L. c. p. 380. - o t ^^ ^r**^ ) the same as y*-^' , red mLved with white. It is well known that for the Hebrew ^ frequently ^ is put in the Arabic. 3^ ]Z.jQm>.M' "^'he root nPfti^j i^ the sense of being black, and words derived from it are also used in the Hebrew lan- guage. 22 STONES AND ROCKS. according to its derivation, denotes a circular body, with serpentine ivindings, and thence socherah^^ sig- nifies a round shield; A. T. Hartmann'^^ conjectu- red, that, in the book of Esther, tortoise-shell was al - luded to. But to us it appears improbable that tor- toise-shells among stones were used for the decoration of floors. 6. Modern mineralogists give the name of Ala- baster to a kind of compact solid gyjjsiim,^^ which is splintering and tine-grained in the fracture, pellu- cid at the edges, opaque, white with a shade of grey, red or brown, and often spotted or striped. But, with the ancients, the name alabaster denoted a box or vessel in which ointments were kept, and which were made of a mineral called alabastritesA'^ This stone, which also was called Onyx, and which chiefly was imported from Egypt, Akarnania, and Syria, was employed in finer works of art, for making feet of b eds, of chairs, and other furniture, but specially for ointment boxes. ^^ Such an one is mentioned, ■*" " Die Hebraerin am Putztische." The Hebrew woman at her toilette, Vol. iii. p. 354. ^^ " Perleb's Lehrhuch der Naturgeschichte." Compen- dium of Natural History, p. 90. The name seems to be of o - ^ o -. Arabic origin. Bassr i r^^->) and Bassrah \J& /a.j\ with the article before it, Al-hassrah signifies a whitish stone. From this the Greeks formed uXifhairr^oi. *■- Pliny, Hist. Nat. L. XIII. Cap. 2. Unguenta optime servantur in alabasiris, odores in oleo. Martial, L. XI. Epifr. 0. Quod Cosmi redolent alabastra, focique deorum. <^ Pliny, Lib. XXXVI. Cap. 1. p. 8. Hunc (onychen) ali- qui lapidem alabastritem vocant, quem cavant ad vasa unguen- STONES AND ROCKS. 23 Matth. xxvi. 7 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; Luke vii. 37. Even in our days the perfumers of Egypt keep their oint- ments and perfumes in alabaster boxes. Herodotus mentions among the presents which the King of ^Ethiopia sent to Cambyses, an alabaster box with ointment ;'** and Theocritus speaks of " gilt alabas- ters, with Syrian ointment."'^^ In 2 Kings xxi. 13, the Greek translator of Alexandria puts aXa/SatrrPoy for a, Hebrew word^^ denoting 2, flat dish. Probably such dishes were made of alabaster. 7. In common parlance, we apply the name of Crystal to a glass-like transparent stone, commonly of a hexagonal form, which, being found in rocks, is on that account, by mineralogists, called Rock-crys- tal. It is a stone of the flint family ; the most re- fined kind of quartz. The Hebrew language desig- nates it by two names, which properly denote Ice^ viz. Kerach^"^ and Gabish.^^ The Greek name Kry- taria, qiioniam optirne ea incorrupta servare dicitur. And L. XXXVII. 10. Alabastritis etiam gemma est, nascens in Alabastro Aegypti, et in Syriae Damasco, candore interstincto variis coloribus. The city of Alabastrum, mentioned by Pli- ny, was situated eastward from the Nile^ near the Arabic Gulph. Some considered it as belonging to Middle Egypt; others to Upper Egypt. Irwin, in his Journey through the Desert of Tliebes, found mountains consisting of alabaster, porphyry, and granite. ** III. 20. Mv^ov aXd^dtTrgo'i. ** Idyll. XV. 114. "Zvpicf) Ti f^vpeo ^^vffu oiXd[ia(rr^ei. *^ nnSy. Zalachath. *' rrip, Ezek. i. 22. ^'^ tJ/^Hil. Job xxviii. 18. 24 STONES AXD ROCKS. stallos, in its most proper sense, also signifies ice; and it was very natural to transfer that name to this colourless stone, which is as clear as water. The an- cients also considered the crystal as a mass congeal- ed from the purest water, and hardened by fire.^^ The prophet, Ezek. i. 22, in his vision of upper hea- ven, compares its upper vault with a magnificent crystal. Rev. iv. 6, the floor on which the throne of God was placed, and, xxii. 1, the stream of pure water which issued out of the throne, are compared with crystal. 8. jRed Bohis, or Ruddle, a brownish red clay-iron stone, which communicates its colour by friction, and consequently can be used for writing, and is employ- ed for red pencils and paint, is, according to the opi- nion of some interpreters, mentioned in Isa. xliv. 13. The manufacturing of an idol being here described, the prophet says among other things : That the car- penter measures it out with a line, and makes a draio- ing of it with ruddle ; and thus Luther has also trans- lated. But this explanation of the Hebrew word Sered^^ is merely founded on a faint resemblance to the word Sardon, which denotes a precious stone of a bloody red colour. The cognate Arabic word Se- rad^^ signifies an awl, like that which is used by shoemakers and saddlers. The Hebrew word Sered « Diod. Sic. Lib. II. cap. 52. Pliny, Lib. XXXVIL cap. 2. -^'r- STONES AND ROCKS. 25 accordingly, in all probability, denotes a pointed in- strument of a similar description, with which the artist delineated on the wood, which he intended to carve, the form and outline of the image.^* (^) ^2 Cfr. Bochart's Hieroz. P. II. Lib. V. cap. 7- Tom. iii. p. 623. Leipz. Edit. (S) For "Tnti^ (^ered), the Ei)glish version puts line, which is merely conjectural. Dr. Rosenmtiller's Arabic analogy of \ \ ^^ seems quite satisfactory to indicate the meaning of the Hebrew word, and we should accordingly correct line^ and put instead, aid, or piercer, or pricker Tr. SECTION THIRD. PRECIOUS STONES. Even in the earliest ages, certain stones which were distinguished for the beauty of their peculiar colour, for their brilliant lustre, and for their hardness and solidity, were held in higher estimation than other stones, and when their lustre and the vividness of their colours was enhanced by polish, they were con- sidered as the most precious ornaments. In Hebrew they are called Eben yekarah^ i.e. precious stones, also Ebenchen, ^ i. e. stones of gracefulness, and some- times Eben simply, that is stones, ^ zar %oyj]v. The Hebrews doubtless received them through the Phoeni- cians from Arabia, Ethiopia, and India ; for, as far as we know, no precious stones are found in Palestine. The earliest notice of certain precious stones known by the ancient Hebrews occurs in Exod. xxviii. 17 — 20, in the description of the breastplate belonging to the official dress of the high-priest. It contained twelve precious stones, on which the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were engraven. These then ^ n"ip^ !!1K 2 Sam. xii. 30. 1 Kings x. 2. Ezek. xxvii. t't; ' :• •; 22. The Greek expression xiB^os rifnos 1 Cor. iii. 12. ReveK xvii. 4, is entirely analogous. ■ ]n"T!2J^ Prov. xvii. 8. ■' For example Exod. xxv. 7; xxviii. 12, 17; xxxi. 5. PRECIOUS STONES. 27 are the most ancient gems or cut stones known in history. Here we consider them, not as works of art, nor with any reference to their symbolical mean- ing, but merely as minerals, We shall treat of them in that order in which we find them with Moses.* Be- sides the passage quoted above, they are enumerated together in three other places : viz. in Exod. xxxix. 10 — 13, where the execution of the plan proposed in the former passage is described. Next in Ezek. ■* In determining the meaning of the Hebrew names of the precious stones contained in the breast-plate, our principal guides must be ; the most ancient Jewish translator, the Greek translator of Alexandria, and Joseph, who being himself a priest, must from autopsy have known the ornaments of the high priest. Both of them do also agree in almost every particular. Epiphanius, who in the year 368 was made Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, commented on the Greek version in a separate treatise Us^) ," Martini's Lectures, p. 88. ^^ The Alexandrian Translators put the Greek name '%a.'r(pu^oi in all places where the above stated Hebrew name occurs. ^° See Beckmann's " Geschichte der Erfindungen," i. e. History of Inventions, Vol. iii. p. 182, sqq. Cfr. Ran in his Specim. Teif. p. 17, note ; and Pareau, 1. c. p. 313. 34 PRECIOUS STONES. value, being opaque, and of no great lustre, not at all radiant, and even not very durable, as the spots of pyrites moulder away. No doubt, there- fore, the real sapphire is meant, which is very hard, and in that quality, inferior only to the diamond and the zirkon. The ancients used much to engrave this stone. ^^ Its prevailing colour is that of Prussian blue. There exist many varieties of this, which pass over into the colour of the lapislazuli, indigo, vio- let, and the blue bottle-colour. Many sapphires present a six-radiated star at two opposite corners, and are on that account called star-sapphires ; these are of very great value. Commonly the sapphire has a double refraction. 6. Yahnlom^^ is, according to the Alexandrian Translator 33 and Joseph, the Onyx, a kind of "^ ]\Iartini's Excurs. p. 102. 33 'Oyl;;^;(,) the boundaries of which were laved by the circumfluous river Pishon, one of the streams of which the sources lay in Paradise, cfr. Rosenm. Bibl. Geography, vol. i. Pt. I, p. 202, sqq. Among the materials which David collected for the building of the temple, there also were, according to 1 Chron. xxix. 2, shoham-stones, Job in xxviii. 16, mentions the shoham as a stone of great value, placing it in (*) Not Havila, (Gen. ii. 11), but with the guttural ch. Chavi- la : otherwise no distinction is made between the two Hebrew letters H and H? of which the sound in reality is so very dif- ferent; the former being a pure aspirate, the latter an aspirate with a perfect guttural articulation, which is formed deep down in the tliroat. The aspiration is altogether secondary in this element ; its essence is the guttural bar by which the voice is articulated — Tr. PRECIOUS STONES. 4i the same rank as the sapphire and the gold of Ophir.58 12. Yashpeh, ^^ the Jasper, according to the Greek Translator of Alexandria, with whom most of the other translators agree. The correctness of this interpre- tation is even guaranteed by the resemblance of the names. The jasper is of the flint family of minerals, and is sometimes found in formless masses, and some- times in round lumps. It is opaque, and has a wax lustre. The prevailing colour is dusky-red, fre- quently with cloudy or flammeous shades. The Egyptian jasper is yellow, red and brown, ^'^ Epi- phanius sajs that there are several species of jasper. *' The colour of some has a greenish shady, these are more soft and imperfectly transparent. The internal mass is green, it resembles the rust of the nobler metals, and has several rows of strata. Another species is of a light sea-green colour with a paler lustre. A third kind of jasper is found in the caves of mount Ida in Phrygia ; its bluish red is somewhat diaphanous, and has also a wine and amethyst colour. It is found in Iberia, Hyrcania, and near the Caspian °^ Several modern authors, as Brauii De Vestitu Sacerdot. Hebr. L. II. cap. 17, p. 574, 2d edit. J. D. Michaelis in his Supplemm. ad Lex. Hebr. p. 2290, and Pareau Commentat. de immortalitatis notitiis, p. 311, are of opinion that ^HSi^ is the onyx ; but to such an opinion, they are led by iinsatis- factory etymological reasons. The most ancient, and the most important authorities are for the beryl, cfr. Bellermann, 1. c. p. 64. ^^ nDt!/^- ^° Perleb's Compend. p. 67. 42 PRECIOUS STONES. Sea. There is also a green jasper having no lustre, and another still resembling snow and lithomarge, which is called the old jasper." That is considered as the most beautiful species of jasper which, on a bluish-green ground, has spots of a vivid blood-co- lour.(p/) On account of the facility with which it is cut and polished, and its beautiful delineations, the jasper was, by the artists of ancient times, frequently cut into gems, cameos, and other ornaments. Besides these twelve precious stones on the high- priest's breast-plate, there are found in the books of the Old Test, three other names by which it is, with more or less probability, believed that certain pre- cious stones are designated. I. Shamir, ^^ which is mentioned, Jerem. xvii. 1. Ezech. iii. 9. Zech. vii. 12. is, on the authority of the ancient Greek ^^ and Latin versions, supposed to denote the diamond. The circumstance that, in the two last mentioned passages, a hardened mind and an ob- stinate temper are compared to the shamir, seems, indeed, to render this name appropriate for the hardest of all mineral bodies. Jerem. also xvii. 1. says, that *' the sin of Judah is engraven on the tablet of their hearts with an iron stile, and with a shamir point, (;^) The Bloodstone. » ^^ Only in Jerem* xvii. 1, however, where the Alexandrian version is completed out of another version. * In the two remaining passages no equivalent whatever is given in the Greek for the Hebrew word. * " Completed out of another version," because in the Septuagint there is a lacuna in Jerem. xvii. from v. 1 to 4, inclusive.— Tr. PRECIOUS STONES. 43 and with these words tlie opinion is compatible that the diamond is meant, since, according to Pliny, 6' artists who engraved on stones, made use of small pieces of diamond set in iron for the purpose. Yet, since nowhere in the Old Test, where precious stones are under consideration, the shamir is mentioned, but everywhere spoken of as a very hard stone, it seems, as even Bochart conjectured,®* that by this name the emeril (in German Schmergel, or more cor- rectly Smirgel,^^) is denoted. This is no precious stone, but granulous corundum, which is found in formless pieces, pellucid only at the edges, has very little lustre, and is of a bluish-green colour. It is very hard, and it is used for cutting glass, and for pohshing iron and precious stones. The emeril, which is found at Niris in Persia, is very hard, but loses the more of its hardness, in the smaller pieces ^^ Hist. Nat. Lii). XXXVII, cap. 4, § 15. Expetuntur (cru- stae adamantit>) a «sculptoribus ferroque iucluduntur, nuUam lion duritiera ex facili cavantes. ^^ Hieroz. P. II. L. VI. cap. 11. T. III. p. 843 of the Leipz. edit. ''^ Tlie German word [like the French and English Emeril] is probably derived from the Greek a-fii^ts or fffiv^if. The re- semblance to the Hebrew Shamir is manifest, and likewise to the Arabic ^^L*». Samur, which word indeed, in Golius Lexic. p. 1213, is, on the authority of an Arabic- Persian and an Arabic- Turkish Dictionary, translated ariamas,and yet probably is in no respect different from the Greek a-fii^is. The Arabic name for the Diamond is ^^.^ Mas, and with the article ai- mas (from which in all likelihood adamas has been formed) see Kamus, p. 804, Calcutta Edition. 44 PRECIOUS STONES. it is broken ; the Indian emeril, on the contrary, cuts so much the better the smaller the pieces are, and on that account it is considered as more valuable.^® 2. 3. In the poetic description of the new Jerusalem we read, Isa. liv. 12, that the battlements of its walls should be of Cadcod,^'' and the gates of Ekdach^ stones. For the former of these two Hebrew words the Alexandrian Translator puts jasper, and for the latter Carbuncle. But these stones had, as we have seen above, p. 32 and 41, other names in the Hebrew language. The Greek translator of Isaiah, whose interpretations, generally speaking, are less to be relied on than those of the translator of the Pentateuch, seems to have put quite at ran- dom, the names of certain glittering stones. The former of these Hebrew words, cadcod occurs once more in another place, viz. Ezech. xxvii. 16, among the articles with which the Tyrians traded. Here the Greek translator retains the Hebrew word of the text,^^ probably because he did not know its meaning. An Arabic word, "^^ which is similar in sound to the Hebrew, signifies vivid redness. '^^ The ''•^ Cliardin Voyages en Perse T. III. p. 357, in the Edit, by Latigles. ^^ In his 3IS. however, he read 1D*1D "'Jth a Resh both in tlie 2d and 4th place, which he pronounced x^iX/'Z- ^^^' Dr. Rosenm. Commentary on the passage. 70 ^jj'jj' Cadscadsat. 71 .. . ,. .. \\ is the explanation given by Firu- sabadi in the Kamus, p. 444. PRECIOUS STONES. 45 oriental ruby, which has a vivid red colour, and is the most valuable of precious stones next after the diamond, might, from a similar root, have obtained its appellation. '^^ The other word Ekdach belongs to a root denoting to kindle or to be kindled. ''^ This justifies the conjecture that the expression denotes a precious stone of a fiery lustre. But as this is a quality common to several precious stones, it cannot be determined, while other available testimonies are awanting, to what particular precious stone the name belongs. ''2 More far fetched would be a derivation from *TJ*1*3 a spark, making the word to denote a radiant precious stone. ''^ Pr\p Arabic J^i? toslrihefire. SECTION FOURTH. METALS. 1. Gold, in Hebrew Zahah^ has by all nations ever been considered as the noblest of metals, partly on account of its peculiar beautiful yellow colour and brilliant lustre, and partly because, in respect of weight and solidity, and, at the same time, of dila- tability and ductility, it is superior to every other metal. It is found in nature only in a native state, partly pure, and partly in combination with silver or iron. In the book of Job, chap, xxviii. 15, 16, 17, 19, gold is five times mentioned, and expressed by four different Hebrew words: 1. Segor^'^ which pro- perly denotes shutting up, custody. When applied to gold, it probably denotes a thing which is kept in careful custody, a treasure, precious gold.(X) In other passages, ex. gr. 1 Kings vi. 20, 21 ; vii. 49, 30 ; X. 21. 2 Chron. iv. 20, the phrase is more com- plete : Zahab sagur,^ i. e. treasured gold. In gene- ^n?5 Arabic i-^i Dsahab, Aramaic ^Hl Dehab. (x) Quite analogous is the notion in the Greek word xufA'/t- Xiet, and in the Danish expression Liggende Fee. — Tr. ' ni:D nnr- METALS. 47 ral, treasures and precious things are expressed in Hebrew, by words whose roots signify to conceal^ The gold which, in the above quoted passages of the first book of Kings, is called sagur, i. e. locked vp^ is, in 2 Chron. iii. 4, 3, called good gold.^ 2. Ke- them^ is almost equivalent to segor, denoting that which is concealed,'^ something precious. 3. Zahab, the abovementioned usual and common name for gold. 4. Paz,^ native gold,^ produced by nature in a pure state, and not mixed with any other metal. Charuz^^ is also an Hebrew name for gold, but it is ^ Such as ni^'•',^?, pop/?. 115'f T T V V " The Arabic root ^X^d denotes to conceal. ' T3. ^ Gesenius (Manual Dictionary, p. G71, 3d edit.) explains it by purified gold, taking the Heb. root in the same sense as the similarly sounding Arabic /vai , which, according to his statement, denotes to cleanse (of metals). The Arabic word signifies to separate generally. The Syriac |1_»13j hard, heavy, would be less remote (cfr. Gen. xlix. 24, ^^^T 1TD*1 y"T% the power of his hand is strong) ; accordingly, it would TT be solid, massy gold. The German word Gediegen, too, with miners, signifies compact, solid. See Adelung's Diction, vol. ii. p. 466, 2d edit. Instead of TD^/tD ^HT) 1 Kings x. 18, the T T I parallel passage, 2 Chron. ix. 17, has "^"iHtO IinTj P"*"^ gold. 10 •pn. 48 METALS. not so much in frequent use as Zahab, and it occurs chiefly in combination with silver ; for example, Ps. Ixviii. 14. Prov. iii. 14; viii. 10; xvi. 16. Zechar. i^. 3. The name seems properly to indicate the glittering yellow colour of this metal." The ancient Hebrews obtained their gold chiefly from Arabia. This even appears from the mention made of the gold of Sheba, and of Ophir, two dis- tricts of Arabia. (See Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. vol. iii.) 1 Kings ix. 28; x. 1, 4; x. 11. 2 Chron. viii. 18 ; ix. 1, 10. The gold of Ophir is also men- tioned, Job xxviii. 16. Ps. xlv. 10. Isa. xiii. 12. 1 Chron. xxix. 4 ; and Job xxii. 24, the word Ophir alone is put instead of the gold of Ophir. At pre- sent, indeed, no gold is found in Arabia, neither in rivers nor in mines.^^ Yet that, in former ages, many parts of Arabia had abundance of gold, is in the clearest manner attested by credible statements of ancient authors. Artemidorus of Ephesus, who lived a hundred years before the beginning of our Chris- tian era, says,^^ that a river in the country of the Debes,^* an Arabic JVomade (fj[>) tribe, carries gold ^^ For VTin denotes sharpened, pointed, and hence it was used of a strong lustre, perceptibly affecting the eyes, and piercing as it were. 12 Niebuhr's Description of Arabia, p. 141. 13 In Strabo, Lib. XVI. cap. 3, § 18. 1"* Ae/3a/. This word seems to be contracted from DehehcB, of c^i Dsahab or Dahab, gold. {/x) This French word, which is of Greek origin, is techni- cal, and, although not recognized in Enghsh, has become al- most indispensable — Tr. METALS. 49 sand in its stream ; but the natives do not understand to work the gold out of it.^^ Further, he says, that in a country bordering on the last mentioned, there is gold which requires little purification ; and that it is found in small round pieces, the smallest of which ¥/ere of the size oi a grain of wheat, the middling as bit^ as a medlar, and the lari^est like a nut.*^ Diod. Sicul. says,^'' that there is found in Arabia pure native gold ^^ of the size of a chestnut, and of radiant lustre. The same author, in another pas- sage,^^ mentions tlie above alluded to river in the country of the Debes, and that it conveys gold sand in such an abundance, that the silt thrown up on the banks is quite radiant with it.^° To this may be added the testimony of an Arabic author,^^ who lived in the eleventli century of our era. He states, that in the country of Yemen (?. e. in Southern Arabia), there are places where gold is found ; that after heavy showers of rain the gold comes to light, being cleared from the dust, and that it glitters so as to be seen at a great distance, and that it thus is easily collected. Further, Jerem. x. 9. Dan. x. 5, gold from U- '^ '?£? ^£ Tarocfjcos ^/ ccvtuv -^nyfAX ^ou7ov x-arxipi^uv, ova laa-iri S' avTo KCtTS^'yuZ,iirB^cn. ^'^ Xouiro; Ti Q^VKTOi yivirai 5ra^' avroT; oh •^nyfJ^KTO?, aAXa /3«- Xa^iuv ^^v(rou xaB-d^ffiu; oh ctoXXjjj oiofx.%vuv f/Ayi^o; V l^ovruv iXd- ^itrrov /jiXv Tv^nvog. fjt,'ia'ov o\ f/t,i(j'7nXov, fjc-yiffTcv oi xxovov ^^ Book II. chap. 93. '^ "A-rv^ov. " Book III. chap. 125. 2^ See also Agatharcliides in Phodus C.^d. 250, and Pliny's Nat. Hist. liib. VI. cap. 28, 32. ^^ Tehrisi in his Commentary on the Ilharaasa, p. 106. Freytag's edition. £ 50 METALS. phas^^ is mentioned, and 2 Chron. iii. 6, gold from Parr aim P It has been a subject of many fruitless conjectures, * what countries were designated by these names ? It is uncertain, too, what kind of gold is meant by Zahab Shachut,^^ (1 Kings x. 16, 17. 2 Chron. ix. 15, 16.), of which Solomon caused two hundred shields to be made. Gesenius''^ is of opi- nion, that mixed ov alloyed gold'^^ is thus designated. The old Greek translator puts, beaten gold,^"^ i. e. gold stretched out by the hammer, which might seem more probable, since, at all events, it is uncertain whether the artificial amalgamation of gold with other metals was known in Solomon's age. The pu- rification of gold by fire is mentioned Ps. Ixvi. 10. Prov. xvii. 3 ; xxvii. 21. Lead and antimony are "' m^r2 ann and Dan. x. 5. rp^s^ cnp. '^ Dpjs nnr- * Mons. lu Marcus's conjecture in Nouv. Journal Asia' tique, Tom. III.. (Mai, 1829), p. 364: " that Ophir, Pas, Uphas and Parvaim, were districts in the gold country Sasu, in the interior of Africa, mentioned by Cosmas," is quite des- titute of any foundation. T TT « Hel.r. Manual Dictionary, p. 830. 3d Edit. ^s For the Arabic root, which corresponds with the Hebr. tOnSi^) is, like the Hebr. /HO) ^ circumcise, used of a si- — T — T niilar fraud, viz. the aduheration of wine. '-' 'Ekaros. D^nti^j Avould accordingly, through a meta- T tluesis of the consonants, be equivalent to H'lLDti^j expanded. METALS. 51 commonly used for this purpose, but the ancients also made use of salt, of tin, and of barley-bran. * Gold was, in the earliest antiquity, manufactured into utensils, trinkets, and ornaments. Abraham's steward Eliezer, presented to Rebekkah, a nose-ring of gold and a pair of gold bracelets. Gen. xxiv. 22. Joseph received from Pharaoh a gold necklace, Gen. xli. 42. Several utensils of the tabernacle, and many ornaments of the mercy-seat and the ark of the covenant, and subsequently many implements of the temple of Jerusalem, ex. gr. vessels for incense, and candlesticks were made of gold ; and the table on which the shew-bread lay, and also the sides of the incense altar, were covered with plates of gold, Exod. XXV. 35. (o) The first record of gold being used as money, we find in the age of David, when he bought the thrashing-floor of Oman, 1 Chron. xxi. 25. 2. Silver, in Hebrew Keseph,^^ is white, ^^ it has a strong lustre, it is elastic, its sound very clear, its dilatability and ductility great, and it is smelted with- out much difficulty. It is found native, and in com- * See Scheucher's Physica; S. Jobi, p. 147. («) Here a quotation should be supplied, viz. 1 Kings vi. 22.— Tr. *" This metal has its Hebrew name from its white colour, [cfr. Love's Labour is Lost — '" Lady-smocks all siloer-tchite.'"] For the root ^D3 denotes, to be pale ; and, consequently, paleness, whiteness. Similarly, the Greek a^yi^isv. (and thence the Latin argentum,) is derived from uoylf ivhiie. €fr. A. Schultens' Clavis Dialector, p. 2G0. 32 METALS. binaiion with other metals, with brimstone, and with acids. In respect of value, it is nearest to gold ; and, for this reason, it is frequently mentioned in juxtaposition with gold in the Bible. Silver has, as it is expressed in Job xxviii. 1, its galleries,^^ i.e. its veins, layers, and pits, in which it lies, and out of which it is brought to light ; for this metal is sel- dom found in entire pieces, but in all manner of stones, and as it were in veins, which, from a com- mon source, spread out in many branches. Silver is purified by fire, by which it is separated from alloy, or drawn off by the lead in the crucible ; such a com- bination is called silver- dross or silver-leaf, Ps. xii. 6; [xvi. 10.] Prov. xvii. 3; xxvii. 21. Ezech. xxii. 22. Zechar. xiii. 2. The separated silver is called purified silver. ^^ 1 Chron. xxx. 4. Ps. xii. 6. Prov. X. 20. Silver was brought from Spain to Tyre, according to Ezech. xxvii. 12 ; and silver beaten out into plates was also brought from Spain, '^ Jerem. x. 9. That silver was, even in the earliest ages, manufactured into all kinds of utensils, appears from Gen. xliv. 2, 8, where Joseph's silver cup is mention- ed ; and from Exod. xii. 35, where the silver uten- sils of the Egj'^ptians are spoken of. Among the contributions made by the princes of the Hebrew tribes to the building of the tabernacle, there were, ° ?*?^i/!D? properly a place out of which something issues, as ex. gr. a well. Isa. Iviii. 11. METAL,S. 53 according to Num. vii. 13, silver chargers of consi- derable weight. The trumpets, at the sound of which the people were assembled, were made of sil- ver, Num. X. 2. The earliest record in the Bible of silver being used as money, occurs in Gen. xx. 16, where it is stated, that Abimelech, king of Gerar, paid to Abraham, a thousand shekels of silver. These were not a coin, but pieces of silver, which were weighed out to the receiver of payment. Thus Ab- raham, (Gen. xxiii. 16,) weighs out the purchase money for a field ; and we do nowhere find mention made of silver counted out, but alwaj^s weighed. Even shortly before the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah buys a field, and weighs the purchase money which was agreed upon, to the vendor, .Jerem. xxxii. 16. 3. Bezer^^ (Job. xxii. 24, 25.) denotes a piece of gold or silcer-ore in its raw state. Its proper signi- fication is abscission or breaking off, and from thence something that is broken off- In a similar manner, the Arabic word Tebr,^^ which has the same origi- nal signification, also denotes a piece of a gold or silver- ore, and also a rough unpolished precious stone. 4. Copper or Brass^ in Hebrew Nechoshelh^^^ is 50 ^"^ -AJ ^t3S Gesenius's Preface to his Hebrew Manual Diction, p. xiii. .3(1 Edit, note, and the same author's Thesaur. Liiij^-. Hehr. p. 230. 54 METALS. seldom found native, like gold or silver, or in pieces like iron ; but most commonly in pyrites, quartz, or spar. It has a peculiar red colour, with a strong lustre, and is remarkably hard, elastic, clear-sound- ing, very dilatable and ductile, difficult to smelt, but easily oxydized, and soluble in most acids.^^ In the earliest ages, copper was employed for all those pur- poses for which iron was subsequently used. Arms, instruments of agriculture and of mechanical arts ; and domestic and temple-furniture were made of copper. The discovery of manufacturing iron was made last. Therefore, Hesiod^'^ says of the men of the copper age : Their weapons were of brass, and also their dwelling-, And they worked in brass ; and the dark iron did not exist. The Homeric poems, too, put it beyond a doubt that, at the time of the Trojan war, iron was little or not at all in use.^' The ancient Hebrews had arms, armour, shields, and helmets of copper, 1 Sam. xvii. 5, 6, 38. 2 Sam. xvi. 21. (g) 1 Kings xiv. 27. 3<5 Perleb's Compend. p. 120. ^ Opera et Dies, v. U9, sq. Lucret. de rer. nat. L. V. vs. 1285, seq. Posterius ferri vis est, aerisque reperta, Et prior aeris erat, quam ferri cngnitus usus. ^^ Cfr. Frith's Antiqq. Homer, p. 482, Stober's Edit.; and Croguet on the Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences, Vol. I. p. 158, Germ. Transl. (I) The English version has how of steel, both in this place, and also in Ps. xviii. 34, (which is 35 in the Hebrew Bible), but that translation is incorrect : — tbere is the same mistake in Job XX. 24. The original undoubtedly says bow of brass in all these places. The Hebrew name for steel is rTl/S' METALS. 55 Job, in XX. 24, speaks of a copper bow ; and when the Phihstines made Samson captive, they bound him with chains of copper, Judg. xvi. 21. The two cokimns in the vestibule of the Temple of Solomon, (1 Kings vii. 13 — 21,) and the large bath which was placed in the sacerdotal vestibule of the temple, and which was called the molten^ or the copper-sea^ (2 Kings XXV. 13. 1 Chron. xviii. 8,) were made of copper ; and, according to 2 Chron. iv. 16, the pots, shovels, and forks used at sacrifices, were made of polished copper.^^ and likewise the mirrors which the women offered as contributions to the copper- bath in the tabernacle, Exod. xxxviii. 8. cfr. Job xxxvii. 18. Amongst the presents which the King of Persia made to the temple, and which were to be employed for its restoration, Ezra, in viii. 27, men- tions two vessels of copper shining like gold, and as precious as gold.^^ This appears to l)e the same me- tal as that which the Greeks and Romans called Ori- chalkon and Aurichalcum.^ There were two kinds Pa'dah, or ^i^V/tD '^T'^Il' Barzel mizapo7i, i. e. North- ern iron — Tr. ' T V : '' Dillon D^p_^> niiD n^>^;: nm: '>b:^ UntS* The word ^n"i>LD ™ost probably denotes golden, i. e. shining like gold, being equivalent to ^HTD? ^^-" 1^^" ¥ J \ ters r* and ]" being interchanged : the case is similar with the words p^T and p^ i ? to cry, which are equivalent. * The Greek word o^ux»^>^of literally denotes mountain- 56 METALS. of it, one natural, and the other artificial.'*' The latter probably was copper changed into brass, by smelting it with calamine or zink-ore. But it is un- certain what kind of metal the natural orichalkon was. It is stated, that it had gold lustre, and the hard- ness of copper.^' This has given rise to the conjec- ture, that it was Plafinn,^^ which has a silver-white colour, a pretty strong lustre, very great solidity, con- siderable hardness, and, next after gold, the greatest dilatability. But hitherto this metal has only been found in South America.^-) Amianus relates'*'^ that aurichalcum is brought for sale into the harbour of Adule, on the east coast of Africa (modern-Arkiko, brass, and accordingly indicates a niineral to be found in a natural state. In the Latin aurichalcum, which is derived from the Greek, the first syllable au stands for the original o, these being frequently interchanged in pronunciation, [cfr. Lat. anla=^oUa ; Lat. aurici/la=^Fr. oreille ; Lat. ausim=¥r. oser.] The word is, therefore, not composed of aurum and chalcurn, which would i\enoxe gold-brass. *^ See Martini's Vllth Excursus joined to Ernesti's Ar- chaaol. p. 182. ^^ Servius on Mx\. XII. 87. Splendorem auri et aeris du- rltiem possidet. Some other passages from tbe ancient au- thors see collectively in Bochart's Hieroz. T. III. p. S92, sqq. Leipz. Edit. « fliartini, 1. c. p. 188. («•) Martini's conjecture seems in some degree supported by Virgil's expression in the verse above quoted, " Alboque Ori- chalco ; for the poet would never have characterized as white, a metal, whose colour resembled gold or copper. If tbe trans- lator is not much mistaken, platina is found in Russia in great abundance, perhaps also in Spain.— Tr. ^^ Periplus, p. 45. MLTALS. 57 N. L. 15°), in the Arabic Gulph : and that it is used for ornaments, and also instead of money. Inas- much as several articles of Indian goods, such as ivory, rhinoceros horns, tortoise-shell and slaves, were pro- bably in Arabic ships brought into this l:arbour ; *^ the aurichalcum, too, may in all likelihood have been an East India article. In a treatise ascribed to Aris- totle,'^^ it is stated, that there is found in India a metal, which, in pure lustre and colour, is equal to gold : that vessels of this metal had l^oen found among the treasures of Darius ; and that their sub- stance Avas recognized only by the smell v^hich is pe- culiar to brass. Probably this is the same metal as that of which Chai'din'^^ relates, that it "s found in Sumatra and in the Macassar Isles, that it is held in higher esteem than gold, and that only kings and princes could acquire possession of it. " This me- tal," he adds, '* is called Calmbac, and it is interme- diate betwixt copper and gold. Its colour is pale rose red, the substance of a line grain, receiving a beautiful polish. Gold has not such a strong and vivid lustre as this metal has." Perhaps this metal is expressed, Ezek. i. 4, 27 ; viii. 2, by t]ie Hebrew word Chasmal^^^ which, according to etymology, de- notes a metal composed of copper and gold.^^ The ■''' Plin. Hist. Nat. VI. 34. "* De mirahilibns auscultatt. ■*7 In Haimer's Observations, &c. Vol. II. p. 490, 4th Edit. *^ It seems, as Bochart conjectures (Hieroz. T. III. p. 885), that the word may be formed bv contraction Irjm two Chal- 58 METALS. Greek Alexandrian and the old Latin translators put Elektrum for the Hebrew word, and this expression denotes not only amber, but also a shining metal, composed of gold and silver, which was held in high esteem by the ancients.^^ The prophet Ezekiel, in the passages here quoted, compares with this metal the dazzling splendour of light, in which he beheld the heavenly apparition, by which he was initiated in his prophet's office. In the description of a simi- lar manifestation, John, Rev. i. 15, puts for the He- brew word Chashmal, the Greek Chalkolibanos,^^ a bright shining brass.-^^ The old Latin translator in- terprets the Greek word by anrichalcum, of which we have spoken above. The prophet Ezekiel, chap, xxvii. 13, states, that the merchants of Meshech and Thubal brought cop- per vessels to the markets of Tyre. See Bibl. Geogr. Vol. I. p. 249. Bibl. Cab. Vol. p. 5. Iron, in Hebrew Barzel,^^ which is mentioned by Syrach xxxi. 39, among the things most indis- daic words J^^H) instead of J^H^? copper, and 77/tO, gold ore. It is possible, however, that it may signify polished cop' per, (from /yf^, to rub,) which would make it equivalent to hh p n^h^' Ezech. i. 7. Dan. x. 6. ^ Pliny. Hist. Nat. XXXIII. cap. 3. sect. 23. Omni auro inest argentum vario pondere, ubicunque quinta argenti portio est, electrum vocatur. •'^ According to Bochart's explanation, 1. c. p. 894. METALS. 59 pensable for ttie life of man, is the hardest of metals, elastic, sounding, very ductile in a wire, but less di- latable in plates, very difficult to smelt, when made glowing hot capable of being forged [Fr. corroyable], easily oxydized, and soluble in all acids ; its colour is light-grey, its lustre strong, and its fracture fibrous- chopped. It is to be found native, but much more frequently in ores, in the form of pyrites, oxyds, or salts. This metal is still to be found in many places in Syria, The mountains in Casruan, and in the country of the Druses, have abundance of it. Every year the inhabitants discover new pits, where the iron is found in an ochreous state.^'^ It appears that in ancient times the mountains of Judea also yielded iron, since Moses (Deut. viii. 9.) says of it, that it is a land whose stones are iron. Iron from Spain and Arabia was brought to the markets of Tyre, Ezek. xxvii. 12, 19. Thubal-Cain, a descendant of Cain, is mentioned as the first who manufactured iron and copper,^^ Gen. iv. 22. However, neither in the state- ments respecting the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness, nor in the records of the building of the Temple of Solomon, do we discover that iron was at all employed. Still, in Egypt iron was known and in use before the age of Moses ; this appears from the circumstance, that he draws similes from its hard- ness, Levit. xxvi. 19. Deut. xxviii. 23, 48; and from his comparing, Deut. iv. 20, the severe thraldom which the Israelites sufl^ered in Egypt with the glow- ■** Voliiey's Journey to Syria, Vol. i. p, 233. Germ. Tran. ^5 Cfr. Das Alte und Neue Morgenland, Vol. i. p. 18. 60 METALS. ing fire of an oven in which iron is smelted. The bed-stead of Og, king of Bashan, was, according to Deut. iii. 11, made of iron. Moreover, instruments, (Num. XXXV. 16.) axes, (Deut. xix. 15.) and tools for cutting stones (Deut. xxvii. 5.) made of iron, are mentiongd by Moses. Subsequently, arms, instru- ments and tools for domestic use, for agriculture and horticulture, and carpentry, &c. are frequently men- tioned in almost every book of the Old Test. It is related, 2 Kings vi. 1 — 6, that a disciple of the prophet Elisha, while cutting wood on the banks of the river Jordan, lost the head of his axe into the water. This loss was the more painful to the man, because he had borrowed the axe. He com- plained of his misfortune to the prophet, who cut a piece of wood, and cast it into the water. Imme- diatel}^ the iron floated on the surface, and the dis- ciple lifted it up from thence. Eichhorrv'^ is of opi- nion, that in the fact itself there is nothing miracu- lous ; and that the miracle altogether owes its origin to the manner in which the fact had been understood and represented : that Elisha only cut a piece of wood with a slender point, in order to spit up the axe-head by its opening, and bring it up to the sur- face after such a manner that it seemed to swim. This explanation seems scarcel}^ satisfactory ; for as the iron, the moment it fell into the stream, must immediately have sunk to the bottom of the bed of ^^ In his treatise " On the prophetical traditions in the kinp;dom of Israel," in the Allgem, Biblioth. der Bibl. Literat. Vol. iv. p. 209. METAJ.S. 61 the river, quite other means were required to bring it up again than a pointed piece of wood, by which it could not possibly be removed from the surface of the water. We leave to others the attempts of ex- plaining the recorded fact by natural causes. By northern iroti^^'^ which, Jereni. xv. 12, is men- tioned, along \\\i\\ plain iron and copper, steel is meant, M'hich is iron purified by smelting and forg- ing, and thereby hardened, refined, and made more clastic. The Chalybes, who d\velt near the Black Sea, and accordingly in a northern direction from the Hebrews, were renowned for their manufactur- ing of steel ;^^ and its Greek name is Chalyhs. Paldalv'^ is the proper Hebrew name for steel, Nali. ii. 4, (e) where steel sllhes on the war-chariots are mentioned. 6. Tin, in Hebrew^ Bcdil,^^ a bluish white metal, with a strong lustre, very soft and fusible, is first mentioned, Num. xxxi. 22, amongst the metals which were to be purified by fire, being found amongst the prey taken from the Midianites, an Arabic tribe. Amongst the articles of commerce which the Tyrians '' pD-ifo ^n^- 35 See Bochart's Geogr. S. P. Lib. III. cap. 12, p. 208. n'^'/S, Arabic ^j\^ • (^) The verse quoted is indeed the fourth in the original Hebrew text ; but the third in the Septuagint, and in the English version. In this passage these two versions greatly disagree, both with the text, and also mutually — Tr. CO Lj,^3, 62 METALS. received from Tharshish, i. e. Tartessus, the south- ern part of Spain, there was also tin, according to Ezek. xxvii. 12. A levelling instrument of tin used by builders is mentioned, Zechar. iv. 10. The Hebrew word bedil also denotes that which, in German foundries, is called werkbley, or simply werk (worklead-work), i. e. that lead which, in the smelting of the ores, has been saturated with silver, and, through resmelting, is again separated from it.^' Thus, the prophet Isaiah i. 25, makes Jehovah ex- press himself figuratively of the Jewish people : / will smelt away thy dross, and take atvay all thy tin, \\, e. leaden particles.^ 7. Lead, in Hebrew Ophcreth,^^ a bluish-grey, shining, very soft and fusible metal, which rarely is found native, but frequently in combination with sul- phur, and with other metals. The first mention made of it in the Bible occurs in Moses's song of praise, Exod. xv. 10, in which he celebrates the pas- sage of the Hebrews through the Arabic Gulph. He isays, that Pharaoh's host ((t) sank as lead in the mighty waters. ''' The Romans, too, used their Stannum in this sense, Plin. Hist. Nat. Lib. XXIV. 16. Plumbi nigri origo duplex est : aut enim jam provenit vena, nee quicquam aliud ex se parit, aut cum argento nascitur raixtisque venis conflatur. Ejus qui primus fluit in fornacibus liquor stannum appellatur. Cfr. Beckmann's Hist, of Inventions, B. IV. p. 321, sqq. and his Comm. on Aristot. de mirabill. auscultatt. p. 102. (00 years before Christ, mentions the use of lead for the pu- rification of gold. Tvcoy,ai, v. llOL X^vffos uTsipB-o; lajv, xccXos £cTci calling into life. See Analecta Arabica, Part I. p. 12. No. 40. '^ piv. '^\^V;^ <^hald. npj;. Dan. iv. 12, 20. ytil Job. xiv. 8. The root VTil> being equivalent to J^lil? f;*^ 6/^ denotes ^0 CMf 0^. 72 PLANTS. gr. Isa. xl. 24. 3. The houghs are called Badim,^ also Kezirim,^^ srnd Sarapotk,^^^ along with the branches, Anaphim,^^ and also Kippothy^'^ Daliyoth}^ Seiphim^* and Poroth. ^-^ Branches with leaves are called Ophaim}^ 4. The leaves, Alim,^'^ and Teraphim}^ TYiQ foliage of the tree generally is expressed by the word Zamtnereth}^ 5. The top or crown of the tree is called Amir.^^ 6. The blossom PerachimP 7. The Fruit, Peri,'^^ with the Seed, SeraP 5. In the description of creation, Gen. i. 11, 12, plants are comprehended under three grand classes, 1. Young short grass, Deshe,^^ which in ancient times were supposed to bear no seed.^^ 2. J^er^s yielding '°' nisno Ezek. xxxi. 5. " D^D:y. '^ nlix5. '^ D*^^Qv ps. civ. 12. ^ n*^^ V* The proper signification of this word, is wool or covering of hair. The Jewish interpreters take it for the tree top. See Dr. Rosenm. Notes on Ezech. xvii. 3. Theophrastus on the plants, B. 1. cap. 5. A/ Ss avro- (/.uroi fih Tuv IkarrovuVy xa.) [ji.a.'kurra rut Ivtruuv xtci -ffooohuvy spontaneously, i. e. not produced by seed, of the smaller plants, particularly the annual and graminaceous. PLANTS. 73 seed, Eseby'^^ and 3. Fruit trees, Ez-peri.'^'^ In a subsequent passage, where the formation of the earth is spoken of, we read Gen. ii. 5, that before it rained, there grew neither Bush, Siach,^^ nor Herb, Eseb, on the earth. Grass is expressed by the Hebrew word Chazir,^^ The grass on the roofs, which grows on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East, is used, Ps. cxxix. 6. Isa. xxxvii. 27, as an emblem of speedy destruction, because these straws of grass are small and weak, and, being in an elevated part, exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, they soon wither away.^^ Aftergrass or fog, is, Amos vii. 1, called Lekesh?^ Dry grass or Hay is Chashash?'^ Green Vegetables are called Oroth,^^ and also Yarak.^^ Rather Chaldaic is the name Seroim and Seronim.^'^ *^ ^I'^n 5 from ^Vn ) r*^^ ? to become green. ^^ Cfr. Das Alte und Neue Morgenland, B. iv. p. 113. ^^ t^p /» from t^py^ in the Syriac, to be late in the ^^ ti^i^Tli ^s ^jl^A^iii:* from jji^k to be dried up, to wither. ^^ r)1")1n 2 Kings iv. 39. ^* pi*- A dish of vegetables is in Prov. xv. 17, called ' » T plfl nmj^, ^^d a vegetable garden Deut. xi. 10. p^-^H lil* ' T » - ••.- : ' TT - ' - 35 D^ynn D^^ynr i>an. i. 12, le. 74 PLANTS. Corn is called Dagan,^^ also JBar,^^^ and Sheber.^'^ The two last words are used of thrashed and ware- housed corn. Bar, however, is sometimes also used of corn still standing in the straw, Ps. Ixv. 14. Zizim,^^ are Flowers. Weed is expressed by the word BashaP 36a "^^i" Used in this signification the word is analogous to the Greek cTros, and the Latin frumentum. See Celsius Hierobot. P. II. p. 120, sqq. V J • • • • SECTION SECOND. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1. Chittah,^ Wheat, {a) The Wheat is in Syria and in Egypt, the most com- mon kind of grain, as the Rye is in colder climates ; - o ^ nt^Dn^ instead of nt^^Hj as the Arabic Xkl-* from the reddish colour. Respecting this word, cfr. Celsius Herodot. P. II. p. 112. In Egypt and in Barbary Kamich 5 o^ ^^^ i{fi) istheusual name for wheat. See Descrip. de I'Egypte, T. xix. p. 45. Host's Account of Maroko and Fez, p. 300. In the Hebrew, Kemach PfOp denotes the flour of ivheat, Gen. sviii. C. Num. v. 15. (a) The similarity in sound between the Hebrew word Chiitah, and the English Wheat is obvious. Be it remember- ed that the ch here is identical in sound with the Gaelic gut- tural, or the Spanish X. It is further remarkable, that the Hebrew terra is Etymologically cognate with the words for wheat used by every one of the Teutonic and Scandinavian nations ; (thus we have in Islandic Hveiti, Dan. Hvede, Swed. Hvete. Moesogoth. Hwaiti, Germ. Weizen ;) and that in this instance there is no resemblance between the Scandinavian or Teutonic terms, and the Greek, Latin, or Slavonic ; (for the Greek word is ^a^of, the Lat./^rwme^^Mmor Tridcum, the Russ. (A) It seems possible that the Gaelic Cruithncachd may be cognate with this Arabic, and the subsequent Hebrew term Kemach, for several rs in the Gaelic seem to owe their origin merely to a guttural pronunciation. —Tr. 76 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. in southern countries, the rye is not at all cultivated.^ Palestine is mentioned, Deut. viii. 8 ; xxxii. 14, as a country fertile in wheat, as well as in other produce. According to 1 Kings iv. 22, (y) the household of king Solomon required daily thirty Car of fine flour, and sixty Cor of ordinary meal. Solomon gave to king Hiram, of Tyre, twenty thousand Cor of wheat annually, (1 Kings v. 11,) and equally much to the workmen on Mount Lebanon, 2 Chron. ii. 9, (by the Engl. Bible, v. 10.^) In the age of the prophet Eze- Pshienitsa, Pol. pszenica,) and yet the general resemblance be- tween the Slavonic, the Thracian, and Gothic languages, is so strong, that no philologist does now doubt their identity of ori- gin. From this circumstance, it seems fair to infer, that in very early ages, some kind of corn trade must have been carried on between the Hebrews and the Gothic tribes, when the latter resided near the Black Sea, or that the cultivation of wheat was introduced from Western Asia among the Goths. This is not an only instance of philology furnishing data for the culture history of mankind. — Tr. ^ Even in Italy no rye is cultivated. Korte declares, (Travels, p. 168,) that no rye grows in Egypt, and Shaw states, (p. 351,) that rye is little known in Barbary and Egypt. (y) According to the Hebrew Bible, this quotation should be, 1 Kings v. 2. Buxtorf says that Cor is nearly the same as chomer, which is said to be about seventy-five Avine gallons. ^ In this passage we read DlS/tD D^tOrT) literally, tvheat of blows, which commonly is supposed to mean beaten or Ihrashed wheat. In this case LD^tOH would have been put in- stead of 't^n? the status constructus. But, since in the paral- lel passage, 1 Kings v. 25, (v. 11, in the Engl. Bible,) we find GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 77 chiel, (xxvii. 17,) the Jews brought to the markets of Tyre, wheat from Minnith, a place situate in the for- mer domain of the Ammonites, (see Bibl. Geogr. B. III. p. 47.) It is evident that this was a fertile corn country, since the king of the Ammonites had to pay to Jotham, king of Juda, a yearly tribute of ten thousand Cor of wheat, 2 Chron. xxvii. 5. The most excellent kind of wheat, or also the finest wheaten flour is, Ps. Ixxxi. 17. (Engl. Bib. v. 16 ;) cxlvii. 14, called theya^ of the wheat^^ and Deut xxxii. 14, the kidney fai of the wheat.^ While Isaac resided in Gerar, he commenced cul- tivating the land. " He soiced in that land, and reaped an hundredfold,'' Gen. xxvi. 12. Since there rh'2'0 instead of DtD^iDK/p) food, (" wheat for food to his household,") it is not impossible that in the 2d Book of Chronicles, by a transcriber's slip, a ^ may have been dropped, (^) and that we accordingly ought to translate : Wheat for food to thtf servants. ' rr^V} nvbs iSn. T • • : ;• V (o) This conjecture is very happy indeed, it appears nearly to amount ta a certainty ; for, in the first place, the ^ is not entirely dropped, but a •] is substituted for it, because, in all probability, the upper part of the / had become obliterated ; and in the second place, the Septuagint has» in 2 Chron. ii. 10, no word corresponding with J^ "^3^, nor any word which renders it probable that the Alexandrian translator had such an ex- pression in his text, on the contrary, his version agrees much better with nSi)^.. Tr. 78 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. is not stated what he sowed, ivheat no doubt is meant, wheat being the kind of grain from which bread was most commonly made in Palestine. In the neigh- bourhood of Alexandria in Egypt, where the soil is extremely fertile, it was stated to Niebuhr* by some merchants resident in that city, that the wheat produced an hundred fold. However, according to accurate accounts obtained by Forskal, -f the wheat liarvest yields in that country onlj'^ thirty fold, and when there is much rain, about seventy fold. An Alexandrian peasant said, that he commonly reaped seven fold to fifteen fold ; and that, only once, he had reaped four and twenty fold. But the same peasant asserted, that he had heard of another who once had received nine and forty fold produce. From the additional clause : '■'■for the Lord Messed him^' in the passage above quoted, it appears that Isaac's hundred fold harvest v/as to be considered as some- thing extraordinary. Some additional remarks on this passage will be made below, (No. 4,) in the sec- tion on Barley. The prophet Isaiah xxviii. 25, says, that the hus- bandman puts the wheat in rows.^ These words al- lude to the ancient custom of not sowing but plant- ing the wheat, which caused a more abundant fer- tility, as the straws in this way did not stand too closely together. Niebuhr saw in Yemen, i. e. Southern Arabia, fields where the maize plants ap- * Description of Arabia, p. 154. -f- Niebuhr, 1. c. note. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 79 peared to be set in a row, like cabbage in Europe. He adds : " These were also the most excellent fields I ever saw. All the straws seemed to be of equal height, and no kind of weeds was to be seen amongst them.'"^ In the narrative of the plagues by which Egypt was visited, in order to compel the king to grant permission of departure to the Israelites, it is men- tioned, Exod. ix. 32, that by the hail, all fruits of the field, V. 23, and even barley and flax, were smitten by the hail.^ For in Egypt, as well as in Palestine, it is not as with us, where wheat is sown in autumn, but barley and flax in the spring ; but all these are sown in the beginning of winter, and the winter being short and mild, but the spring early, the barley commences to shoot already in the end of February, or the beginning of March, and the flax is then in the bud ; but wheat, which is commonly not reaped before the month of April, is at this time very low, like short grass, without any straw.^ An ear of corn is in Hebrew called Shibboleth}^ The Ephraimites, who could not pronounce sh m ' Descr. of Arabia, p. 157. Cfr. Jahn's Bibl. Archaeolog. Vol. I. B. I. p. 335. ^ T\'^'r\ Dw*'^^ ^3> Luther has translated " denn e.s war spat Geireide,'*'' i. e. For it was a late growing corn. ^ See JNordmeyer's Calendar ^gypti Oeconomic. p. 2!?, '60. In many seasons, the wheat is reaped even in the latter end of March. Forskal, Flora iEgypt. p. 43: Hordeum cum mense Februario maturatur, triticum ad finem Martii persistit. , — o J ^^ rh'llt^^ Arabic XXaXm. Sombalath. 80 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. their dialect, substituted Sibboleth}^ After a defeat which the Ephraimites had suffered from the Gilea- dites, the conquerors occupied the ford of Jordan, in order to prevent the flying Ephraimites from passing over the river. The Gileadites demanded of every one who wished to pass over, that he should pro- nounce the word Shibboleth. If he said Sibboleth, he was recognized as an Ephraimite and cut down, Judg. xii. 1, 6. Abib is another Hebrew word, de- noting an ear of cor7i^^^ Exod. ix. 31. Levit. ii. 14. Ears of corn cut off before they are ripe, dried and slightly roasted in an oven, then mashed and boiled along with meat, is a common and a savoury dish in lower Egypt." This, no doubt, is the same dish as that which the Hebrews called Geres Car- mel^^ (i. e. mashed green ears, Levit. ii. 14,) or .... . T ^"^ Sonnini's Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt, Vol. ii. p. 19, Germ. Trans. The Arabic name of this dish is, as is there stated, Ferik <^J j^ which GoUus in his Lexic. Arab, p. 1793, thus explains : fricabilis spica, cujus grana confrictu exeunt, comedi idonea. ^^ 7^^3 ti^lil- The most ancient Chaldee translator, Onkelos, explains this expression by tO^DI tDllQ' mashed tender, viz. ears. The former of these two words, ( Perauchan,) is identical with the Arabic Ferik mentioned in the preceding note. As it appears from the thing itself that 7^*13 denotes, a green tender ear ; Kimchi's explana- tion of this word, ^^11 HDi t^^HJi^D nSicr^H ^*)*|J/ nn / ^^ thereby confirmed. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 81 simply Carmel, and which was not only offered amongst other offerings of field-fruits, (Levit. ii. 14; xxiii. 14,) but a,lso used for ordinary food, as appears from 2 Kings iv. 42, where it is related, that a man from Baal-Shalisha brought to the prophet Elisha twenty barley loaves, and Carmel, i. e. green ears of wheat, in his pocket, in order to prepare them for food after the manner above mentioned. The Hebrew word Kali}'^ which properly signifies any thing roasted, in a special sense denotes roasted ears of corn, (cfr. Levit. ii. 14,)^^ by the Germans called Sangen, also used by Eastern nations for food. Such the Israelites did eat at the time they entered the land of Canaan, Josh. v. 11 ; such Boaz served up for Ruth; some of these Jesse sent to the camp, 1 Sam, xvii. 17 ; and these were brought to David and his people along with other articles of food when he encamped at Mahanaim, 2 Sam. xvii. 28. Amongst the offerings of the first fruits of every year, there were also parched ears of corn, Levit. ii. 14 ; xxiii. 14, and it was forbidden to eat them, ere an oflTering of them had been made to God. Numa ordered that corn should be roasted, as he conceived it was more wholesome when so prepared ; in order to see this precept fulfilled, he determined that only what was roasted should be considered as 15 Here is expressly out, t^^'2 ^I^P 1^1^% ears roasted •• T V . T on the fire. 82 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. pure for a sacrifice.'^ Hasselquist,^'^ on his journey from Acre to Sardes, found a herdsman at his din- ner, consisting of half-ripe ears of corn, which he roasted on the fire. 2. Cussemeth^ Spelt, in German also called Dinkel.^ The Spelt is a kind of wheat with truncated and prickled husks, and a triangular and pointed fruit ; in Exod. ix. 32, it is mentioned along with wheat, and like it, it was sown in winter, and on that account the hail alluded to in the passage above quoted, fall- ing in the beginning of spring, did not hurt it. From Ezech. iv. 9, it appears that the Hebrews used the meal of this grain for bread-making. Dioscorides says, (II. 3,) that spelt is more nutritious than bar- ley, and of a pleasant taste. With the Romans, this 16 Pliny Nat. Hist. Lib. XVIII. cap. 2. Numa instituit Deos fruge colere, et mola salsa supplicare, atque, ut auctor est Heraina; far torrere, quoniam tostum cibo salubrius esset. Id uno modo consequutura, statuendo, iion esse purum ad rem divinam nisi tostiim, '" Journey to Palestine, p. 91. 1 n)^ti)3, Haawj«£E3. See Celsius, p. II. p. 98, sqq., and the explanation of the Hebrew word quoted from Abulwalid's Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary, by Gesenius in his Commentary on Isaiah, p. 848. J. E. Faber's Conjecture, (Analect. 1 B. p. 19,) that nDD3 in Exod. ix. 32. Isa. xxviii. 25, de- notes Spelt, but in Ezech. iv. 9, Leguminous fruits, and more especially Chick-peas, is iintenabk*. ^ 'j'riticum Spt'Ita, ?£«. GRAIN AISD LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 8o was the most common grain. Even in the earliest ages, they used it as their principal food, in moises and puddings, under the name of Adoreum. Isa. xxviii. 25, says, that this grain is sown on the ex- treme border of the fields, as a kind of frame for other kinds of corn. S. Dochcm,^ Millet. The millet is mentioned by the Prophet Ezechiel, iv. 9, amongst the kinds of corn from which he was to make bread for himself. This plant has still the same name with the Arabs, as it liad with the He- brews ; it is that kind of holciis, which, in many parts of Germany, bears the name of Moor-hirsen.^ The straw is often five ells in height. The grains are oval, and flattened, of a brown colour, and as large as a grain of rice. In Arabia, this kind of millet is frequent, and it is cultivated for food by the inhabitants of the countr3^ Forskal saw it in Egypt at Rosetta, where it was used as food for birds. Chardin^ observes, that in Persia, and parti- cularly in Kurdistan, bread is made of millet, when the corn of the season has been consumed. Accord- ing to Tournefort,'* the inhabitants of the Isle of Sa- mos, in making their bread, knead together one-half 1 rp*^, (j^^-^ • Cfr. Celsius, P. II. p. 453, sqq. ^ Forskal Flora Arab. Mg. p. 174. Cfr. Oedmami's Samm- lungen aus der Naturkunde, Part V. p. 92. Germ. Traiisl. ^ Voyages de Perse, Tom. IV. p. 50. Langlcs^ Edit. 4 Travels, Vol. I. p. 158. 84 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. of wheat, and the other half barley and millet mixed together. Another kind of millet is in Arabic called Durra ; ^ from its meal kneaded together with butter, oil, fat, and camel's milk, the Arabs use to make a bad kind of bread, according to Niebuhr's^ statement, who at the same time remarks, that he always found tliis bread to be a very disagreeable kind of food. 4. Seorah,^ Barley. This is a well known kind of grain, which is to be found in many countries. According to Pliny,^ it is one of the most ancient articles of human food. In Deut. viii. 8, it is stated that Palestine was fertile, also, in barley ; and this likewise appears from 2 Chron. ii. 10, 15, where it is related, that Solomon gave to the workmen of the King of Tyre, twenty thousand cors of barley. The King of the Ammo- nites had to pay to Jotham, King of Juda, a yearly tribute of ten thousand cors of barley, 2 Chron. xxvii. 5. The most ancient Greek version of the books of Moses states in Gen. xxvi. 12, that Isaac in Gerar ^ Descr. of Arab. p. 51. In another place (p. 151) he calls small maize, Holcus Durra, ^ n"iy^5 from rr^l^/^, hair, thus called from the ear r ; T - — resembling a brush. Cfr. Celsius, V. iJ. p. 239, sqq. - Hist. Nat. Lib. XVIII. c-ip. 7- Antiquissimum in cibis hordeum. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 85 reaped an hundredfold of barley.* Such an increase is no doubt quite extraordinary ; for that reason it is also added : " for the Lord blessed him" At the same time, attempts have been made to prove that such a very great increase of barley is not impos- sible, because, it is said, that a kind of black barley, very common in many countries of the East, and which for feeding cattle is even thought preferable, brings forth fruit, fifty fold and upwards.f It is in itself not improbable that Isaac, who had such an abundance of cattle, might prefer to sow this black barley rather than the common. But the Hebrew text of the passage here alluded to say§ nothing at all about barley ; on the contrary, there, in all pro- bability, wheat is spoken of. See above, p. 75, sq. Barley -bread is mentioned, Judg. vii. 13. 2 Kings iv. 42. John vi. 9—13. Cfr. Ezech. iv. 9. This bread is made in Palestine of the size and thickness of a round plate, (s) and baked in hot ashes; they * Instead of D^'^VJi^ HK/^) hundred measure^, i. e. hundred fold, the Greek translator, read, HD^'lij/Ji^ HKD? and translated, iKarovTrXivovffav x^<3-»)v, hundredfold barley. Thus also the Syriac translator. -f- Niebuhr's Descr. of Arabia, p. 152. (e) These cakes are evidently like those which the Hindoos use to make for themselves of wheaten flour, and of which ]\Iajor Skinner states, that they so=netimes consume a dozen at a meal. This mode of preparing f()od undoubtedly is very ancient. In Iceland, cakes of rye-meal, some.vhat smaller than those here mentioned, are made exactly after the man- ner here described. There, too, they are baked sometimes in 86 GRAIN AND I.EGUMINOUS PLANTS. are savoury only as long as they are warm ; when they are cold they are dry and hard.^ Because barley-bread was more lightly esteemed than bread made of other kinds of grain, it is in the dream of Gideon, Judg. vii. 13, a typical emblem of the small and insignificant troop of Israelites, which attacked the Midianites. Ezechiel says, xiii. 19, that the fklse prophets seduce the people for a handful of barley and a morsel of bread. The prophet Hosea, iii. 2, gave to the adulteress, with whom he connect- ed himself, (and who was to be an emblem of the na- tion courting foreign gods,) fifteen pieces of silver, as purchase-money, and a chomer and a half of bar- ley. Thus, also, the Muhammedans in Persia, in the contracts which they make with women whom they take only for a certain time, (which contracts are ratified before the Kadi,) pledge themselves, be- sides the stipulated sum of money, to pay in addition a certain measure of corn."^ Solomon's horses were fed on barley, 1 Kings iv. 28, and even yet barley is the common food for liorses everywhere in the East.^ Barley was used for the offering, which was com- bined with the purgation oath, to be taken by a wo- man suspected of adultery. Num. v. 15. As the ordinary meal-offering consisted of wheaten flour hot ashes, and sometimes in a pan. The former are a better kind of food than the latter — Tr. ~' Sal. Schiceigger''s Travels, p. 283. * Chardin^s MS. notes in Hnrmer''s Observations, P. II. p. 573. ^ vSonnini's Travels, B. II. p. 29. Germ. Tiansl. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 87 (Levit. iii. 1), this less esteemed kind of grain, ^ which was employed in the purgation-offering, pro- bably indicated in a typical manner the equivocal re- putation, or the lower estimation of the person in whose behalf it was presented. For the same rea- son, neither oil nor frankincense was used on this occasion. A barley fields in which a chomer was sown, was in the case of vows valued at fifty shekels of silver, Levit. xxvii. 16. The barley harvest is mentioned, Ruth. i. 22 ; ii. 13. 2 Sam. xxi. 9, 10 : it takes place in Palestine in the end of March, and in the beginning of April.7 On the plain of Jericho, Mariti found the barley in April not only in the ear, but already getting yellow and ri- pening.* In Egypt the barley ripens almost a month earlier than the wheat. ^ Therefore, the barley, al- ready in the straw, was destroyed by the hail-storm, which fell in the beginning of spring, shortly before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, Exod. ix. 31. *• Phaednis says : " Negligunt fifehordeum." Pliny, Hist. Nat. Lib. XVIII. cap. 7 : Panem ex hordeo antiquis usitatum vita damnavit, quadrupedumque tiadidit refectibus. The Ro- man Cohorts, which had given way in battle, or lost their standards, by way of punishment, received barley instead of wheat. See Liv. XXVII. 13. Suetou. August, cap. 24. Dio Cassius, Book XLIX. p. 408. ^ Buhle's Palfestinse Calendar. Oeconom. p. 14, 23. • Travels, p. 416. * Sonnini 1. c. Itaffencau Delile in the Descr. de VEgypte, T. XIX. p. 47. 88 GRAIN ANB LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 5. Adashim^ Lentils, Lentils are mentioned as an article of food, Gen. XXV. 29 — 34, where it is related that Esau sold his birth-right to Jacob for a dish of lentils. It is there called a red dish, because the Eastern nations call red even that which is yellow-brown, as we speak of red hares, and red kine. The Egyptian lentils are reddish and very small.^ The GreekS; too, considered the colour of lentils as reddish.^ Pliny compares the colour of the red sand around the Egyptian pyra- mids with the colour of lentils.* Maimonides {Q describes bugs^ as insects of a reddish lentil colour. On the spot, where, according to a tradition pre- served among the Muhammedans, the above alluded to transaction betwixt Jacob and Esau is said to have taken place, (viz. near the cave of Hebron, the sup- ' O^i^iy. see Celsius, P. II. p. 103. The Arabs in T— ; Syria still call lentils Addas, y^iXc . Russel's Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, Vol. I. p. 96. Germ. Transl. 2 Raffeneau Delile in theDescr. deVEgypte, T. XIX. p. 65. Bodaeus a Stapel in his Comment, on Theophrast's work " Of Plants," p. 965, thus describes lentils : Siliquae parvae, latae, semina in his parva, rotunda, plana, compressaque colore sub- rufa. ^ Celsius, P. II. p. 105. * Hist. Nat. Lib. XXXVI. cap. 12. (?) This admirable Crichton of the Jews they usually call R A:\iBAiM, which name they say is a punishment for his hete- rodoxy — Tr. ^ In his notes on the Tract Trumoth, Cap. 8, § 2. GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 89 posed hereditary sepulchre of Abraham and his kin- dred, and where the Empress Helen caused a church to be erected, Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. Vol. II. P. I. p. 144, note 3), Arvieux* found a large edifice, in Avhose entrance there was a kitchen, where soup of lentils, and other leguminous plants, was daily pre- pared, which the Dervishes distributed amongst tra- vellers and the poor. When David was flying from Absalom, lentils, amongst other victuals, were brought to him, 2 Sam. xvii. 28. Shammah, one of David's heroes, protected quite alone his field, which was sown with lentils and barley, against the marauding bands of the Philistines, 2 Sam. xxiii. 11. 1 Chron. xii. 13. (75) That lentils were also used for bread appears from Ezech. iv. 9. When corn rises to a very high price in Egypt, the poorer classes of the people eat bread made of lentils, amongst which there is mixed some barley-meal. It has a gold yel- low colour, and is not unsavoury, but heavy .^ * Merkw. Nachrichten, i. e. Remarkable Accounts, Vol. ii. p. 196. (n) Either Dr. Rosenmiiller has had before him a text quite differently divided from ours, (which is very possible, for there are great variations in the chapter division of the Chronicles,) or here is a misquotation; for instead of 1 Chron. xii. 13, we find this passage in 1 Chron. xi. 27, according to Hahn's He- brew Bible, the Septuagint of Lamb. Bos, and the Eng. Bible, for here all these three authorities agree. We may at tlie same time observe, that in 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, we find, accord- ing to the same authorities, lentils only, and no barley. — Tr. ^ Sonnini's Travels, Vol. II. p. 390. 90 GRAIN AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 6. Pol^^ Beans. Beans, as well as lentils, are a common article of food in the East. They are mentioned, 2 Sam. xvii. 28, amongst other victuals, which were brought to David when flying from Absalom. Ezechiel used beans, also, for bread making, iv. 9. Pliny likewise mentions that they were employed for such a pur- pose. ~ Maillet ^ found in Egypt large fields sown with beans, whose blossoms exhaled an aromatic fra- grance. They are chiefly used as food for mules, asses, and camels. In northern Africa, beans boiled and stewed with oil and garlic are the principal dish with people of all classes.'* ^ biD- Arab. J^i . Fol. Russel, 1. c. * Hist. Nat. Lib. XVIII. c. 12. Inter legumina masdmus honosfabae; quippe ex qua tentatiis etiam sit panis. Fzu- raento etiam miscetur apud plerasque natioiies. ' Description de I'Egypte, T. ii. p. 102. * Shaw's Travels, p. 125. SECTION THIRD. KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND GARDEN PLANTS USED FOR HUMAN FOOD. 1. OrotJi,^ Greens. It is evident from 2 Kings iv. 38, 39, that the He- brew word particularly denotes such green plants as are used for human food. It is there related, that the prophet Elisha ordered a pot to be put on the fire, for the purpose of preparing a dish, and that one of the disciples of the prophets went out into the field to gather Oroth. Here clearly plants are meant, which were to be boiled as a dish of vege- tables : but it cannot be determined, whether eatable kitchen vegetables in general, or a particular species of vegetables are alluded to. The Syriac and Ara- bic translators put mallows^ for the Hebrew word.(^) The Greeks and Romans, particularly the poorer people, frequently made use of mallows for a vege- ^ n1*llK. Celsius, P. I. p. 459. Cfr. Gesenius, The- saur. Ling. Hebr. p. 55. (S') The Septuagiiit puts nothing at all, but only write* down the Hebrew word in Greek characters thus: k^iu^ — Tt. 92 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND table dish ;^ and they are very suitable for that pur- pose, being mucilaginous and wholesome for food. The Bedouin Arabs eat them along with other wild vegetables.'* In Lower Egypt, the mallows, there called Hebeze (see the Arabic word, note 2), are boiled along with meat, and they are there much in use for culinary purposes.^ Oroth occurs, Isa. xxvi. 1 9, in its original and general signification, viz. greeji plants. The future restoration of the Hebrew people is there announced under the type and figure of a revival of the dead. " Thy dew is a dew of green herbs^^^ says the prophet, i. e. as by the dew, green herbs are revived, so shalt thou, being revived by God's strengthening power, flourish again. 2. 3Ierorim,^ Bitter Herbs. According to the command of Moses, Exod. xii. 8. Num. ix. 11, the Hebrews were to eat the lamb of the passover with bitter herbs. It is not only in itself pro- bable, that certain kinds of herbs, which in that age were usually eaten as salad with meat, were meant ; but this is also confirmed by the ancient versions, and by the tradition. The most ancient Greek A- ^ Horace says: Caim. Lib. I. Od. 31. v. 15, 16. Me pascant olivae. Me cichorea levesque malvae. ?>ev^eral additional quotations, see in Celsius, 1. c. p. 4G0, sqq. ■* Eugen Roger La Terre Sainte, p. 235. ^ Sonnini's Travels, B. I. p. 263. GARDEN PLANTS. 93 lexandrian translator put Endives ^ for the Hebrew word : St. Jerome translates it by wild lettuce ; ^ the Chaldee translator, Jonathan, by two words which probably denote Endives, or some species of cicho- rium.'* In the Talmud, two other names of herbs are added, the signification of which, however, is uncertain.^ Modern Jews of Egypt and Arabia eat the lamb of the passover with lettuce. ^ Aben-Ezra observes, that the Egyptians used bitter herbs in every meal, and that they did eat them along with every morsel of bread or meat. 3. Chazir,^ Leek.^ The Hebrew word properly denotes greens or grass in general ; and the word is used in that sense in several passages of the O. Test. But in Num. xi. 5, Chazir is mentioned as one of those Egyptian luxuries, for the enjoyment of which the Israelites ' Hix^ilif. ^ Lactucae agrestis. '" D'^^n. N*^On"in. and ninp, m the Talmudic Tt'acX. Pesachimy cap. 2, § G. Learned inquiries concerning these words, as well as also on those mentioned in the pre- ceding note, see in Bochart's Hieroz. P. I. L. II. cap. 50. T. I. p. 692. Leipz. Edit. ^ According to ForskaFs statement in Niebuhr's Preface to the Descript. of Arabia, P. XLIV. "^ Linnets Allium Porrtim. Cfr. Ceisius, P. I. p. 203, sqq. 94 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND longed in their journey through the Arabic desert. The most ancient Greek and the Chaldee translators unanimously interpret the Hebrew word by leeks (r^atra in Greek) : and the Hebrew name above- mentioned, which properly denotes grass, is very ap- propriate for this plant, on account of its resemblance to grass.^ Leek was used for the purpose of season- ing meat, even in the earliest ages, and for that rea- son it was also employed in sacrifices.^ In Egypt, this plant is, in winter and spring, particularly nou- rishing and savoury, and it is eaten as salad to roast meat, and poor people eat it raw, with dry bread.^ Leek and onions were so highly esteemed by the an- cient Egyptians, that Juvenal, deriding their super- stition, accuses them of adoring these plants as gods.^* ^ n^oiffa, 'rr^l^j and with tliis word agrees jZ^Oj which •• T J is used by the Svriac translator, and the Arabic ^11-^:^2. , whicb latter word, according to Hasselquist (p. 562) in l'>gyj)t, still denotes the leeh. * Athenffiiis Deipnos. B. IV. cap. G. •' Hasselquist, 1. c e Sat. XV. V. 9. Porrum et cepe nefas violare, ac frangcre morsu. () sanctas gentes, quibus liaec nascuntur in hortis Numina. Pliny however says, Hist. Nat. Lib. XIX. cap. C, § 82, that the Egyptians revered garlic and onions as gods, and swore by them. .See also rdiiiuciiis Felix, c:!p. 2?5. GAllDEN PLANTS. 95 4. Shumim,^ Garlic.'^ The Garlic is mentioned along with the preceding plant, Num. xi. 5, as one of those, on account of which the Israelites in the wilderness wished them- selves back to Egypt again. jShum, of which we find the plural number in the passage above quoted, is also in Chaldee and in Arabic the name of garlic* According to the testimony of the ancients, it was much cultivated in Egypt.^ When Hasselquist says,^ that the garlic which is to be had in Egypt is import- ed from the isles of the Archipelago, that assertion probably applies only to a certain species of the plant. The Talmud sa^'s, that the Jews season many kinds of meat with garlic ; ^ and it is notorious that they, like many other southern nations, are still very fond of it. 5. Bezaliw,^ Onions.- 0///o?25 are also mentioned amongst Egyptian luxu- ries, Num. xi. 5 ; and that the Egyptian onions are - Allium sativum Linn. Cfr. Celsius, P. II. p. 52. < Celsius, 1. c. p. 53, sq. ^ P. 5G2. ** ^"ee the ouotations in Celsius', p. 56". ' Allium Cepa. Celsius, P. II. p. 83, sqq. yb KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND in reality most excellent, is avouched by many who have tasted them. " They are," says Hasselquist,^ " sweet in this country, whereas in other countries they are sharp and biting : here they are soft, but in the southern countries they are hard, and not easily digested. They are cut into four pieces and baked, and thus eaten, along with some pieces of roast meat. Such a meal the Egyptian Turks call Kobab. In Egypt, the}^ also make soups of onions, cut into small pieces. Even in modern times, onions are almost the only and exclusive food of the poorest classes of the people. In the streets and markets, boiled and raw onions are sold for a very low price. ^ 6. KisJishuim,^ Cucumber or Gherkin.^ Cucumbers were, like the preceding plants, amongst the Egyptian delicacies, for which the Israelites long- ed. Num. xi. 5. The Egyptian cucumber, which is called Katha,^ differs from ours, as Prosper Alpinus ^ Travels, p. 5C2. * Sonnini's Travels, Vol. II. p. 821, Germ. Transl. Cfr. Das Aite und Xeue Morgenl. Vol. ii. p. 244, sqq. ^ Cucumis sativus. Celsius, P. II. p. 241, sqq. ^ ^\J3 ■ Hasselquist (p. S30) pronounces the word Chate, ■which comes very near to the Syriac name for the cucumber, . « "h ^^. The consonants of the Arabic and the Hebrew name are the same.{ ) (<) There is here a slight mistake, owing no doubt to mere oversight or haste. The consonants of the Hebr. and Arabic word are not the same ; GARDEN PLA^"TS. Vi remarks,* by its size, colour, and softness ; it lias smaller, whiter, softer, and rounder leaves ; and the fruit is longer, greener, smoother, softer, sweeter, and more easily digested than ours. Hasselquist^ gives the very same description of this kind of cu- cumber. He adds, that it grows in Kahira, after the inundation of the Nile ; that it is not cultivated in ajiy other part of EgA^t ; and that in no other soil it is produced of equally good quality : that it is not watery, but its pulp solid, almost like me- lons, of a sweet and racy taste, not, however, so cold as the water-melon ; and that, in summer, it is put on the tables of the rich and of Em'opeans, as the most excellent and agreeable refreshment, from which no evil consequences are to be dreaded. It is evident that cucumbers were cultivated by the He- brews ill Palestine, since the prophet Isaiah, i. 8, mentions a cucumber field,^ with a watchman's lodge. 7. Ahattichim,^ Melons.^ These, too, ai*e mentioned among Egyptian fruits in the passage above frequently quoted, Num. xi. 5. * De plantis Aegypti, Cap. 38, p. o4. 5 L. c. - Cucumis Melo. Celsius, P. I. p. 356, sqq. for, at all events, W is not the same letter as Jj ; but as * and t are of- ten permutable letters, it might have been said that the elements of the Hebrew and the Arabic word were cssentiaUv tlie same. — Tr. H 98 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND No doubt, these are the fruit called water-melons;^ in French, Pasteques; and in Arabic, Batech,'^ a name \yhich, in its elements, is not different from the He- brew word. Hasselquist states,^ that these melons are in Egypt cultivated in that fat loamy soil which remains behind after the inundation of the Nile. The very best come from the Delta, particularly from the promontory of Burlos. They attain a very great size : there are some of them that are three feet in length, and two feet in diameter. Under their green and smooth coat, they contain a very cold watery juice, of which a single fruit sometimes yields seve- ral pounds. In some the pulp is red, particularly near the heart ; the seeds are flat, and their shell black or reddish. This seed contains a white, ten- der, and delicious almond, which is oily ; and from the same an oil is extracted, which, contrary to the nature of other oils, is cold and very efficacious as a remedy against diseases of the skin, and against inflammations.^ This fruit serves the Egyptians for meat, drink, and medicine. During the season in which it is ripe, the poor eat scarcely any thing else : commonly they eat it with bread, and often quite un- ripe. Sonnini, however, remarks,^ that none of the Egyptian melons are as pleasant to the taste as the ^ Cucumis Citrullus, also Anguria. * ;^^j . ' Travels, p. 528. ^ Arvieux's Accounts, Vol. ii. p. 237. Germ. Tiansl. " Travels, Vol. ii. p. 328. GARDEN PLANTS. 99 choice ones of Europe, and that, to make them pa- latable, they require a good deal of sugar.* 8. Cammon,^ Ciimin,^ The Cumin is a very common plant in every part of Europe, and its seeds have even from the earliest ages, on account of their aromatic flavour, by many nations, been used as seasoning for bread and other victuals.^ With the Hebrews it was cultivated in ploughed fields, with the same care as barley and wheat, Isa. xxviii. 25, 27. In our Saviour's age, the Pharisees paid tithes to the priests and levites from the cumin which they had reaped (Matth. xxiii. 23), although they were not bound to do so by the law of Moses. ^ Sonnini speaks of a kind of melon said to bear the name of Abdollavi. This name he interprets Slave of Siveetness. But De Saci/, in his notes on the French translation of Ab- dollatif 's Memoirs, p. 28, has shewn that this word is an ad- jective formed from Abdullah, which is the name of a Gover- nor of Egypt under the Khalif P.1 amum, in the second De- cennium of the ninth century of our era, of whom it is said that he introduced into Egypt tlie melon above alluded to, which AbdollatiJ has also mentioned. Cfr. Das Alte und Neue Morgenl. Vol. vi. p. 242, sqq. 2 Curoinum, or Carum Carvi, Celsius, P. I. p. 516. 3 Pliny, Lib. XIX. cap. 8. Condimentorum omnium sto- machi fastidiis cuminum amicissimum. 100 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND 9. Kezach,^ Nutmeg -flower ; Germ, Sckwarzkilmmel,^ (i. e. Slack Cumin.) The Nigella is a garden plant, which commonly attains the height of an ell, with narrow leaves, like the leaves of fennel., a blue flower, out of which is formed on the very top of the plant an oblong muri- cate capsule, the interior of which is, by means of thin membranes, divided into cells containing a seed of a very black colour, not unlike the poppy, but of a pleasant smell, and a sharp taste, not unlike pepper,^ for which reason the Romans used to mix it with bread as a kind of spice.* The Hebrews seem to ' Nigella, Celsius, P. II. p. 70, sqq. Luther translates the Hebrew word Wicke ( Vetch), probably from mere conjecture. The Greek Alexandrian translator interprets H^p^ by (nXut- ^lav, which the Arabic translator in the Polyglotts renders •5.0*.^ , i. e. Black Cumin, or the Nutmeg-flower. Saadias and Abulwalid also explain the Hebrew word by this same Arabic word. The ancient Latin version has Git, which de- notes the same plant. The Rabbinical interpretations also agree with this ; the passages are quoted by Celsius, 1. c. 5 Ausonius says : Idyll. XII. Technopaegn. Monosyll. de cil>is : Est inter fruges morsu piper aequiparans git. * Pliny, Hist. Nat. Lib. XIX. cap. 8. Inferiorem.crustam (panis) apium gitque cereali sapore condiunt. And Lib. XX. cap. 17 : Melanthii, vel melanspenni semen gratissime panes condit. Dioscorides, Book in. cap. 03. 2^jg^a/t*eXa», V^i, ivui^it, Kxra'Tkxra'oyAvov '.1; aorovi. GARDEN PLANTS. 101 have used it for the same purpose : for they culti- vated it like cumin in ploughed fields. In Isa. xxviii. 25, 27, it is mentioned along with cumin. 10. Gad,^ Coriander.^ The appearance of the manna is in Exod. xvi. 31. Num. xi. 7, compared to the seed of this plant, which was much cultivated in the gardens of Egypt. The coriander-seed is round, of the size of a pepper corn, green at first, afterwards pale-yellow or whitish . The leaves of this plant the Egyptians eat for bye- meat.^ It is well known that with us the seed is a favourite kind of spice. 11. HoRdyosmon^ Mint.^ The mint is mentioned, Matth. xxiii. 23. Luke xi. 42, as one of those herbs, of which the Pharisees, from an overstrained zeal in things not touching the n^ 2 Coriandrum sativum. Celsius, P. II. p. 78, sqq. The ancient translators and the Rabbins agree as to this significa- tion. In an ancient supplement to Dioscorides, B. III. cap. 71. fol. 364. Par. edit, of 1549, 8vo. it is stated, that the Africans, i. e. the Carthaginians, whose language, the Punic, was cognate with the Hebrew, called the coriander To!b\ which word is not at all different from the Hebrew Gad. ^ Prosper Alpinus de Plantis ^g. Cap. 42, p. 61. ^ 'H^tJafT^ov, i. e. having a sweet smell. 2 Mentha, Celsius, P. I. p. 543. 102 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND essence of religion, paid tithes, without being bound to do so by the law. From this very circumstance, that tithe was paid of this herb (which is also very well known amongst us), it appears that the Jews in the age of Christ cultivated it as a garden plant. On account of its aromatic scent and flavour, the mint was used by the ancients in the preparation of many dishes ;^ and in the cookery book of the Ro- man Apicius, the green, as well as the dried and preserved mint, is alluded to almost on every page. Dioscorides says that this plant is a stomachic.^ 12. Anefhon,^ Dill.^ This plant is also mentioned, Matth. xxiii. 23, along with the preceding, as one of the garden plants of which the Pharisees used to pay tithe ; it is also ex- pressly mentioned in the Talmud amongst things of which tithe ought to be paid.^ The seeds of this plant, which with us, too, is indigenous, were, like the cumin, the coriander, and the mint, used for spicing ^ Plin. Hist. Nat. Lib. XIX. cap. 8. Grato mentha men- sas odore percurrit in rusticis dapibus. And Lib. XX. cap. 14. Menthae ipsius odor animum excitat, et sapor aviditatem in cibis ; ideo embammatum misturae familiaris. ^ Book III. cap. 4\. Kcc) hkBoXov iarh ihffTaf^a^o; xa.) a.^ro- fJt,a,VTUdi5. 1 "Avn^ov. 2 Anethum graveolens : Celsius, P. I. p. 494. 3 In the Tract. Massroth (of Tithes), we read (Cap. IV. § 5.) : " The seed, the leaves, and the stem of Dill, (DIlS!^) Shabath, are, according to Rabbi Eliezer, subject to tithe." GARDEX PLANTS. 103 many kinds of meat, in order to give them an agree- able flavonr. 13. Peganon,^ Rue.^ Tliis is also with us a common garden plant, of which the strong-scented and bitter leaves are used as medicine and also as a spice for meat ; in Luke xi. 22, it is put instead of the dill, in the parallel place, Matt, xxiii. 25, among the plants of which the Pharisees used to pay tithe. In the Talmud, the rue is indeed mentioned amongst kitchen herbs,^ but, at the same time, it is there expressly stated, that it is tithe free, it being one of those herbs which are not cultivated in gardens, according to the ge- neral rule established in the Talmud.^ " Every -thing eatable, and which is taken care of, cultivated and nursed (in gardens or in ploughed fields,) and which has its growth from the earth, is subject to tithe." It is, however, possible that in the age of Christ, some superior species of rue may have been cultivated in gardens, and thus have become subject to tithe. 14. Sinapi,^ Mustard.^ The mustard is a shrub plant, bearing a pod, ^ U^yavov. ^ Ruta graveolens. Celsius, P. II. p. 251. ^ The Tract. Shebiith, cap. ix. § 1. ^ The Tract. Massroih, cap. i. § I. 2 Sinapis. Celsius, P. II. p. 253. 104 KITCHEN VEGETABLES AND which contains a round seed. The mustard plant grows indeed wild in several places ; but that it was, at least by the later Hebrews, cultivated as a garden plant, is evident from this, that in the Talmud,^ its buds are mentioned amongst things which are subject to tithe, (see the next preceding article.) This plant is also cultivated with us on account of its seed, which is made use of, partly as a spice, partly for extracting oil from it, and partly as an external medicine. The later Hebrews used proverbially to compare to a mustard seed,* any thing very small and insignificant. In conformity with this custom, Jesus, prophesying of the propagation of his saving doctrine, which at first gained only a small number of adherents, but afterwards would spread far and wide, thus typically •expresses himself, (Matt. xiii. IS. Luke xiii. 18, 19 ;) the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, but being sown in a good land, grows up and becomes a tree, in the branches of which the birds build their nests. In a proverbial simile, no literal accuracy or strictness is to be expect- ed. And we ought, therefore, not to be surprised that the mustard seed is spoken of as being " smaller than all other seeds,"^ although it is well-known that ' Massroth, cap. iv. § 6. Russel {\n his Nat. Hist, of Al- leppo) observes, that mustard is, in Syria, not much in use except with the Franks ; that abundance of it is found in a wild state; but that it is not cultivated. ''■ /innn *n^^1il' GargMr hachardal. As to the pro- verbial use of this expression, see Buxtorf's Lex, CliJild. Tij!- mn6. p. 8'22. ■' "O fAiK^oTt^ov IffTi Gesenius has confuted in his Comm. on Isa. V. 3. ' nnin- * Salsola Kali. Celsius, P. I. p. 449, sqq. ^ From the root 1121? to cleanse. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 113 for washing linen, and also the plant itself.* This plant is by the Arabs called Ushtmn,^ and belongs to the order of Chenopodece (the goose-foot tribe), which pos- sess a considerable quantity of alkaline salts. There are, as Rauwolf observes, two species of this plant ^ in Syria and in Palestine : the one, resembling our small saltwort, he says, is a bushy stout plant, with many slender branches, having on the top full glomes, and below these narrow pointed leaves, which are white below, and ash-coloured above. The other species, according to the same author, resembles the Scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale)^ having many glomes, and a thick ash-coloured woody root. Both species frequently grow wild ^ in Egypt and Pales - ^ Maimonides on the Talmud Tract Niddah, cap. 9, § 6, says, ^iDJiWi D^DD Kin n^y Kin nmn. Borith is a plant, which is interpreted in Arabic el-Ghesul, (^^M^J^S , i' e. Washing herb.) On this Arabic word, by which Hariri, Mekame VII. p. 74, de Sacy's edition, has de- signated the Kalisoap, see de Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, T. iii. p. 209, 2d edit. Other passages from Rabbinical writings, see in Celsius, p. 450. St. Jerome, too, in his Comm. on Jerem. ii. 22, says, that Borith is an herb, which in Palestine grows in humid places, and which is made use of for washing. ^ , '^\Sm^\ , /, ■^U^w.^ , also / . *j AcKi^ /, ^U^\ Ush- nan the Fuller, or Washer. Golius Lexic Arab. p. 114, ^ Travels, Vol. i. cap. 2, p. 37. He calls the plant Shinan, instead oi Ishnan. (See the next preceding note.) "' Sonnini, Vol. i. p. 32, Germ. Transl. Belon in Paulus' Collection, Vol. iv. p. 151. Arvieux^s Accounts, Vol. ii. p. 163, Germ. Transl. Hasselquist, p. 225. This author calls I 114 PLANTS GROWING WILD, tine : and the Arabs, particularly in the district of Belka, on the eastern bank of the river Jordan, pre- pare from it, not only artitieial salt, but also a^he.s for soap-maAing. with which a considerable traffic is carried on.^ The Borith is alluded to as a purifyinij substance, Jereni. ii. ^IH, and Malach. iii. '2 ; and in the former place it is mentioned along with nitre (see above, p. 8). The same vegetable alkali is also mentioned under the name of Bor,^ Isa. i. 26, as a purifying substance in the smelting of metals ; and in Job ix. 30, for washing the hands,^*^ the plant from which the kali is prepared, Mesembryanthe- mum, (Germ. Zojfi^rblume.) Cfr. ForskaFs Flora .Egypt. Arab. P. LXIII. LXVII 54,55,98. Prosper Alpjnus (Hist- Nat. -Egypti, T. II. p. 58) describes, under the name Kali, three plants, the ashes of which are used for soap. The Ara- bic word Jj denotes something roasted. ' The manner in which salt and soap are prepared from thi> plant is described by Rauwolf, p. 38. Cfr. Burckhardi's Tra- vels in Syria, p. GW8. Germ. Transl. ^•^ As to borith and other plants, from which vegetable al- kali is obtained, see also Bochart's Hieroz. P. II. L. I. Cap. I. T. II. p. 680, Leipz. Edit- together with the Editor's notes. Job. 3Iich. Lange's two Dissertations de Herba Borith^ Alt- dorf. 1705. Christ. Bened. Michaelis Epistola ad Gr. Huff- mauuum de Herba Borith, Halle, 17-i)' Beckmann's History of Inventions, VdI. IV'. p 10, sqq. ; and A. Th. Ilartmann's Hebrew ^\'oman at her Toilet, Vol. I. p, 1G3, sqq. FLOWERS AKD SHRUBS. 115 o. M(dluach^ Orcich ; Gtrm. Melde ;* (Ft. Arroche,) Job complains in chap. xxx. 4, that he is exposed to the scorn of the lowest and most contemptible people, who, from indigence, were obliged to seek among wild herbs their miserable sustenance. He mentions as one of these the Malluach, growing on the nhrvih? i. e, ntar hedges. The most ancient Greek translator interprets this Hebrew word, which occurs only once in the Old Test., by Halinv^s^^ i. e. (Jrage, which agrees very well with the context of the above passage. Dioscorides-^ says, it is a shrub resembling the Rhamnus, but without thorns, with leaves like those of the olive tree, only Vjroader ; it _rows near hedges, and on the sea coast. The leaves are boiled as vegetables, and the young shoots are used for salad ; they are also pickled and preserved for future use.* ^ Ilalimug Atriplex. Bochart's Hieroz. Part I. L. J II. Cap. IC. T. II. p. 223, sqq. Leipz. Edit. * "/iXift.ei. This Greek name, like the Hebrew, denotes salt ^nalaus^, in allufsion U) the taste of the plant. Its Arabic and Syriac name c/>rrespcmds with the Hebrew, see Aben-Beitar in Bochart, 1. c 5 B. I. cap. 121. ** Conceriiin;^ J. D. Jlicbaelis's and Oedmann's opinion* about MaJluadi, see Dr. Rosenmiiller's Conim. on Job xxx. 4. With the alKjve plant must not be confounded the Melocftie -5 - }(.a.^aXc ' '° Greek Mx/.a^n (Dioscorides, B. II. cap. 144) 116 PLANTS GROWING WILD, 6. Laanah^ Wormwood; Germ. Wermuth ;'^ Fr. Absynthe. The wormwood is also in our part of the Avorld a frequent species of the genus Artemisia : it has hoary and woolly leaves, and roundish, peduncled, and nodding flowers. The stem attains the height of two feet, and is hard, angular, panicled, and erect. It is well known that this plant contains much of a bitter element, and because the Hebrews considered bitter plants as pernicious, and even poisonous,^ the authors of the Bible often typically express by worm- wood that which is disagreeable, hurtful, and delete- i. e. garden mallow, {Corchorus olitorius, Forskal, Flora .'E- gypt. Arab. p. CXIV. and 141), which is reared in the gar- dens of Egypt, and boiled with meat. See Abdollatif^s Me- morabiha of Egypt, B. I. cap. 2. p. 14, White's Edit., and de Sacy's notes to the French translation, p. 40. See also Son- nini's Travels, Vol. I. p. 264, Germ. Trans). , — . — ^ Absinthium, Celsius, P. I. p. 481. The Chaldee, as well as the other Oi'iental translators and the Rabbins, unani- mouslv interpret the Hel»rew word by wormwood ; and this signification does also completely agree with the context in every passage. But the Greek translators of Alexandria ne- ver put the name of the plant u^iv^tov, but the thing figura- tively expressed by it, such as i;rix^iav, Deut. xxxiv. 18, avdy. xa^, Jerem. ix. l4, oIvvt^v, Jerem. xxiii. 15. "' For this reason, it is said in Revel, viii. 10, 11, that Ifv the star, wormwood, which fell into streams and wells, the waters were made bitter, and that many people died from drinking of them. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. H7 rious.* Thus, in Deut. xxix. 18,(>.) he, among the Israelites who should devote himself to the service of foreign gods, and seduce others to the same, is called a root bearing wormwood. The enticements of a loose woman are, in Prov. v. 3, 4, compared with honey, which in the beginning is sweet, but at last has the taste of wormwood. Of unrighteous judges it is said, Amos v. 7; vi. 12, that they turn justice into ioorriiwood.{j£) With the prophet Jere- miah ix. 15; xxiii. 15. Lament, iii. 15, 19, worm- wood is a figurative expression, denoting great cala- mities.^ ■* The root of the Hebrew H^ V?-> as appears from the Arabic /• . •.xJ j signifies to curse, and accordingly the name .denotes something accursed. (X) Hebr. Bible, v. Xl.— Tr. (fi) The prophet, indeed, uses the same Hebrew word, Laa- nah, in both places ; in the former the English Bible has worihwood, but in the latter hemlock. According to Buxtorf and other lexicographers, Laanah has no other signification than wormwood. The Septuagint has ^rix^iec, Bitterness, in Amos vi. 13, (for verse 12 of the text is v. 13 in that version), but in V. 7, the Greek translator seems to have had a quite different text before hira. The English translator has, in vi. 12, probably been led astray by some old version — Tr. 5 Celsius (1. c. p. 48*^) and J. E. Faber (in his MS. papers on Biblical Botany) believe that the Hebrew H^^ 7' does not denote our wormwood, but a plant resembling it, viz. the Absinthium santonicum (Germ. Wurmkraut), called by the Arabs Shiha (^^.^J, which, as Rauwolf observes (Tra- vels, 45C), in Palestine grows wild in many places, and is by 118 PLANTS GROWING WILD, 7. Rash} Rye-grasSf Madwort ; Germ. Lolchy Toll- kraut ; (Fr. Coquiole, Cigue ?) The Hebrew word, properly denoting poison in general,^ occurs in five places, (Deut. xxix. 17. Je- rem. ix. 14; xxiii. 15. Lament, iii. 19. Amos vi. 12), in juxtaposition with the wormwood (Laanah), as an equally bitter and deleterious plant. From Hos. X. 4, it may be inferred, that this plant grows in corn-fields ;* and from Deut. xxxii. 32, that it pro- duces grapes or berries ;* but from Ps. Ixix. 22. JereAi. viii. 14; ix. 14 ; (v) xxiii. 15, it appears to be him thus described : "Its leaves are small and ash-coloured, pretty much resembling the leaves of our wormwood, and it has many slender little stems full of small yellowish seeds; its scent is unpleasant, the plant is very bitter, with a saltish sharpness : our worth seeds (vermifuge seeds) are gathered from it." Hasselquist (p. 511) designates a similar Egyptian plant by the words : Dubia planta Shihe. The same author, however, remarks (p. 184), that wormwood, too, is a frequent plant in Palestine. ^ t^i^n^ and also Ct^l*!? in several MSS. in almost all the passages in which the word occurs : see J. D. Miehaeiis's Supplem. ad Lexica Hebrr. p. 2223. * D^^DQ ti^X'lj in Deut. xxxii. 33, (Job Ix. 16.) (|) • T ; denotes the poison of asps. ' There it is said, that *' injustice springeth up*'' among the Israelites, " like Rosh in the furrows of the field,** (») Chap. ix. V. 14, is a right quotation by the Hebrew Bible: in the Engl, it is v. 15, — Tr. (I) That this last quotation is wrong is obvious ; it is probable that Job XX. 16, is the passage meant.— Tr. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 119 a plant of an extremely unpleasant taste, since in these passages Rosh-water^ is a typical expression for great sufferings. It is very questionable, whether all these characteristics are to be found united in a single plant. It seems that the name Rosh has been given to several pernicious plants, which we, how- ever, cannot determine with certainty. The ancient translators disagree so very much, and are so incon- sistent, that it is apparent they only were guessing.^ It seems that rye-grass,'^ corncockle, or madwort, the only poisonous kind of grass which grows amongst the corn, and of which the seed is narcotic,^ best agrees with the passage, Hos. x. 4. But in Deut. xxxii. 32, it would appear that there is meant a plant of the order Solanece, to which belong several strongly narcotic poisonous plants, producing ber- ries, such as the Belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade, ^ Their interpretations, see in Celsius (P. II. p. 47), cfr. Michaelis, 1. c. p. 2223. ^ Lolium temulentum. ' The Greek Alexandrian translator, in Hos. x. 4, puts ay^uffru for ^X1« St. Jerome thus describes this plant in his comm. on the passage : Est genus herbae calamo simile, quae per singula genicula, fruticem sursum et radicem mittit deorsura, rursusque ipsi frutices et virgulta alterius herbae seminaria sunt, atque ita in brevi tempore, si non imis radi- cibus effodiatur, totos agros veprium similis facit. Cfr. Dios- corides, B. IV. cap. 30. From the description of both authors it appears that ay^ufris is the couch-ffvass, which puts forth straws in the earth, spreading themselves by means of branch- es. This weed increases very rapidly, and is very trouble- 120 PLANTS GROWING WILD, (Germ. Tollkirsche, Teufelsbeeren), the Black Hen- bane, or Hyoscyamus (Germ. Schwarzes Bilsen- kraut\ several species of the Nightshade, &e. If the henbane, which grows in Arabia and Egypt, is pulverized, and the powder stirred about in water, it has the power of effecting something like madness for several days,^ and this would in some measure agree with the above quoted passages of Jeremiah, in which Rosh-ivater is mentioned.^^ In Matth. xiii. 24, 26, we read as follows, accord- ing to Luther's version : " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while the "people slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds amongst the wheats The Greek word^^ which Luther translated by iveed, denotes, however, a par- ticular species of weed, viz. the rye-grass, or corn- ^ Forskal (in the Flora ^Egypt. Arab. p. 45) describes the Arabic hyoscyamus, which also grows in desert places round about Kahira, and he adds : Si pulvis plantae hujus a maligna manu propinatur alicui, earn quasi insanum reddit ; et non- nisi elapsis aliquot diebus rationis usum recuperat. "^ J. D. Michaelis, in his Supplemen. p. 2220, has satisfac- torily shewn, that i!^t^1 cannot be the hemlock ( Cicuta), as Celsius (P. II. p. 47, sqq.) and several others have believed. And we can as little agree with Oedmann, who (Sammlungen aus der Naturkunde IV. cap. 10,) took the Coloquinteda, a wild, bitter cucumber, for ^^^'^■ For of that plant it cannot be said, as we read in Deut. xxxii. 32, that it produces grapes or berries. Moreover, the Hebrew name for the Coloquinteda is l3/pD, as will appear hereafter. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 121 cockle^ by the later Hebrews called Zonin,^^ and by the Arabs ZawdnP It is said, that in the begin- ning, when it first appears above the ground, it scarcely can be distinguished from the good wheat, but that as it grows up it ever more and more chan- ges its form and quality. That this weed is also frequent in Palestine and in Syria appears from this observation of Vobiey '^^ that the peasants of these countries, lest they should lose a single grain of the corn, do not cleanse away the seeds of the weed from it, and even leave the rye-grass^, in Arabic called Siwan, amongst it, which stuns people, and makes them giddy for some hours, as he found to be the case by his own experience. 8. Rothem^ Spanish Broom i Germ. Ginster ;'^ (Fr. Spargelle.) The Arabic word Ratam,^ corresponding with the Hebrew Rothem, denotes that plant which the Ger- ^* ]^JiT» See Buxtorf's Lexic. Chald. Talmud, p. 680. 13 , i*y3r ' ^" ^^''^ word, see the extracts from the Ra- mus and Ibn Sina by Aurivillius, in J. D. Michaelis's Lite- rary Correspondence, Vol. I. p. 43. 1* Travels, Vol. II. p. 306, Germ. Transl. 2 Genista, Celsius, P. I. p. 246. Linn».us's Spartium jun- ceum, ForsMVs Genista Rahtem, Flora .Egypt. Arab. p. 214. 3 „' r. ' 7 122 PLANTS GROWING WILD, mans call Geniste or Ginster (Engl, broom), a shrub which puts forth a multitude of long thin stems like rods, from whence it also has its other German name Pfriemenkraut.{o) This shrub attains the height of four or five ells. The twigs, which are so pliant, and so strong, that they are made use of for the sup- port of the vine, which is bound up to them,* have only a few leaves, which soon fall off. The flowers are dirty white, of a sweet taste, and from them are formed brown pods, containing seeds like lentils, on- ly smaller, which in taste resemble ordinary peas.^ The broom is three times mentioned in the Old Test. First, in I Kings xix. 4, 5, where it is re- lated, that the prophet £'/za,s,(':r) in order to escape from the persecutions of Jezebel, fled into the de- sert of Beersheba, sat down under a broom shrub, and fell asleep. Although the broom affords but a slight shade, it still is welcome to the exhausted wan- («) From Pfrieme an awl^ piercer, and Kraut a plant Tr. "* Hence the plant has its Hebrew and Aral)ic names, for the root signifies to tie up to (alligare). ■' Dioscorides, B. IV. cap. 158. (t) This undoubtedly is the most eligible way of spelling J;his prophet's name in English, not only because this spelling is adopted by every European version, except the English, but for this still stronger reason, that it is grammatically justifi- able to substitute a terminative s in the Gotho- Teutonic lan- guages for the Hebrew A ; for, in terminations, this element clearly is a kind of Sanscrit Visarga. (See Colebrook's and Bopp's Sanscrit Grammars on the Visarga.) Elijah is a mode of spelling, which, pronounced in the English man- ner, renders the recognition of the name quite impossible. — Tr. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 123 derer in the wilderness.*^ With Virgil 7 the herds- men, and with Calpurnius^ the cows, take their rest under the shade of a broom. The acute pain caused by slanderous tongues, is, in Ps. cxx. 4, compared with the embers of broom coals. The broom is a usual fuel in the deserts of the East,^ and probably the coals of it continue a long time to glimmer, as, according to the observa- tion of Talmud ic writers, the coals of the juniper, which they believe to be Rothem}^ The coals of an- other tree, called Gadha, which grows in Arabia, have the same property ; and hence the proverbial phrase amongst the Arabians : " ZTe has laid Gadha ''' In PhuIus's Collection of Travels, Vol. I. p, 213. ' Georgics, II. 434. Salices, humilesque genistae, Aut illae pecori frondem aut pastoribus unabras Sufficiunt. « Eclog. I. 5. ^ The caravan; with which Thevenot travelled from Suez to Tor, pitched its tents in a place where some broom shrubs were growing, on purpose to make use of them for fuel. Voyages, P. I. Liv. II. chap. 25. '^ And St. Jerome is of the same opinion in his letter to Fa- biola, the 78th in Vallarsi's Edition, Vol. I. p. 482. Forskal, indeed, thinks (J. c), that the figurative expression of the psalm has reference to the rattling noise with which broom blazes up wlien kindled ; and that this is an appropriate type of an angry and unkind temper. But in the passage of the psalm such a temper is not alluded to, but slanderous abuse giving pain to him who is subject tu it : neither does the pas- sage speak of a flame, but of coals. 124 PLA^'TS GROWIXG WILD, coals in ray heart, i. e. he causes me corroding grief." Job complains, xxx. 4, that he is exposed to the scorn of the lowest and the most contemptible class of men, whom he characterizes as being, by indi- gence, compelled to gather their sustenance from the orach near the hedges, and from broom roots. But of the latter the taste is so bitter, that only those who are expelled from human society, and wander about in deserts, can have recourse to such a nou- rishment, in order to preserve themselves from starv- ing.*^ 1* Hariri's Concess. V. p. 174. A. Schulten's Edit. ^^ Forskal, 1. c. does rightly observe: Vitae pauperrimae symbolum est Job xxx. 4, et hominis in deserto palantis, cui nullum superest alimentum, nisi hujus radicis, quam Arabum nemo gustare cupit propter amaritiem. Oedmann (Samml. aus der Naturk. Pt. I. cap. 8. p. 169, sqq.) thinks that Job's words, D/t^n? D'DDH t^'ltl^, should be translated: " They make use of broom roots to warm themselves.''^ For Fe- lix Fabri, in the account of his journey through the desert between Gaza and Mount Sinai, relates that the caravan with which he travelled, found no other fuel than some withered bushes, which they tore up by the roots and burnt. But it cannot be considered as a description of extreme poverty and misery, that travellers in the desert, where other fuel is lack- ing, tear up shrubs by the roots to make fire, by which they cook their victuals and warm themselves. The above inter- pretation, therefore, undoubtedly is the correct one. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 125 9. Kikayon,^ Castor -oil Plant; Germ. Wunderbaum;^ (Ft. Palma Ckristi, Ricin, Catapuie.) The bower in which the prophet Jonah sat down before the city of Niniveh, while awaiting its fate, was, as is related in the book which bears his name, chap. iv. 5, overshadowed by a plant, called Kikayon. which had grown up in one night. St. Jerome, in his Commentary on the book of Jonah, says that, in in the Syriac and the Punic language, this plant is called el-Keroa ;^ and that it is a shrub which is to be found in manj^ sandy places of Palestine, grow- ing with such rapidity, that in a few days it attains a considerable height. " Its leaves," he adds, " are broad, resembling vine leaves ; its stem straight, re- quiring no support, and its broad leaves afford an agreeable shadow." This description, as well as the name given to the plant by St. Jerome, makes us without any difficulty recognize the Ricinus (by the Germans called Wunderbaum)^ which often is cul- tivated in our gardens. This shrub has a thick hol- low stem, full of knots and joints, and out of each of these spring forth the broad, peltate, palmate, and serrate leaves, which are six or seven lobated, or di- ' •'?;?• ^ Ricinus. Celsius, P. II. p. 273, sqq. Bochart's Hieroz. P. II. L. 11. Cap. 24. T. III. p. 41 and 523. Leipz. Edit. J. D. Michaelis Supplemm. p. 2185. ForskaPs Flora iEgypv. Arab. p. 164. ^ In Arabic ^^.^ ' 126 PLANTS GROWING WILD, vided into a still greater number of lobes. Between these and the stem the yellow mossy flowers appear, from which are formed triangular pods, with red fibres, each of which contains three variegated ob- long seeds, with a white oily kernel. Niebuhr'* saw at Basra an el-Keroa shrub, which had the form and appearance of a tree. " The stem," he observes, " appeared to me to consist more of leaves than wood, yet it is harder than the plant which produces what is called the Adam's-fig. Every branch has only one big leaf, of six, seven, or eight angles. The plant stood near a water channel, where it was well watered. In five months (about the latter end of October), it had grown to the height of eight feet, or thereabout ; and it both had flowers, and also green and ripe fruit. Another tree of the same spe- cies, which had not had so much water, was in twelve months not grown to a greater height. Some leaves and flowers, which I broke off, faded away in a few minutes, as all herbs of a very rapid growth com- monly do." Thus, the Palma Christi,(^) under whose shade Jonah sat, being at day -break struck by an in- sect, faded away so suddenly, that at sunrise the shrub was quite withered, chap. iv. 7, 8. Rauwolf found, near Tripoli in Sj^ria, the Ricinus, which, as he observes, the Arabs call el-Kerua, in such an abundance, that it nearly blocked up the road, and rendered it very difficult to proceed.^ ■* Description of Arabia, p. 148. (^) The margin of the English Bible had the woi'd Palm- crist, which seems to be a mere imitation of Palma Christi — Tr. ^ Travels, p. 52, The most ancient Greek Alexaiidrian FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 127 10. Packuoih^ Wild Cucumbers;^ Germ. Wilde Gurken ; Fr. Concomhres Sauvages. In the second book of Kings, chap. iv. 39, 40, it is related that the prophet Elisha at Galgala, where translator interprets the Hebrew word Kikayon by xoXokw^k, a kind of wild gourd ; and accordingly, several other transla- tors, and Luther too, have put gourd. Germ. Kilrbis. And Niebuhr observes (1. c). that the Christians and Jews at Mo- sul and Hhaleb maintained, that el-Keroa is not the plant which afforded a shade to Jonah, but a kind oi gourd, Elkerra, o r Xs VjM which produces not only very large leaves, but al- so a very large fruit, and lives not longer than about four months. J. E. Faber, in his Notes on " Harmer*s Beobach' tungen iiber den Orient, i. e. Observations concerning the Ori- ental countries, Vol. i. p. 145, has also defended this opinion. But the opinion of the Palestinian Jews mentioned by St. Je- rome, that Kikayon denotes the Palma Christi, is not only sup- ported by the circumstance, that what is said in the book of Jonah of the rapid growth, and the rapid decay of the Kikayon, completely agrees with the Ricinus or Palma Christi ; but al- so by this, that the Hebrew name evidently is derived from the Egyptian name of this plant, which is Kiki, (see Herodot. Book II. chap. 94, and Jablonsky's Opusc. P. I. p. 110), to which the Hebrew termination has been added ; and also that the Kik-Oil, p'^p \^t^y mentioned by the Talraudists, is prepared from tlie seeds of the Ricinus, see Buxt. Lexic. Cliald. Talmud, p. 2029. Dioscor ides, too, (Book IV. chap. 104) de- scribes the Palma Christi [x^orofv), under the name of xim- and calls the oil made from its seeds aixivov Ikuiov. "'^ Cucumeres Agrestes. Celsiu.s, P. 1. p. 393, sqq. 128 PLANTS GROWING WILD, many disciples of the prophets gathered around him, ordered one of them to prepare for them a dish of vegetables. One of them went into the field, found wild tendrils,^ took their fruit, which was unknown to him, and sliced them into the pot. When the disciples of the prophets saw the boiled fruits, they cried : " Man of God ! There is death in the pot !" and they would not eat the pottage. Elisha asked for some flour, cast it into the pot, and this rendered the dish eatable. The fruits which were boiled, are in Hebrew called Packuoth. Because they grew on wild tendrils, several interpreters believed them to be Coloquintedas^^ which belong to the cucumber tribe of plants, by their tendrils creeping along the ground, and produce round j^ellow fruits, which be- come as large as oranges, and even larger. They are extremely bitter, laxative, griping, and hurtful to the nerves. This plant is indigenous in Palestine, in Syria, in Arabia, and several other Eastern countries. It is probable, however, that the Hebrew name denotes another plant, viz. the wild Cucumber, by the Arabs and the Persians, called Ass Cucumber,^ which also belongs to the cucumber tribe, bears an oval fruit of a very bitter taste, and grows in desert and sandy places. When the ripe cucumber is " Thus, Luther has rightly translated the Hebrew expres- sion, n"ttt^ ]£3il' For *5i) does not here, as elsewhere, denote the vine, but a kind of wild tendrils. ^ Taus, the most ancient Greek translator: ToXv-rn uy^ioc, i. e. according to Suidas's interpretation, ay^toi xoXoxvv^t]. ^l^l\ Uis^A^^. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 129 a little pressed by the finger, it bursts with an ex- plosion, spritting out the seeds and the juice ; from which it has its Hebrew name ; for the root^ signi- fies to crush. As this cucumber has very much the same appearance as that which is cultivated in gar- dens, but only is somewhat smaller, and as even its leaves and tendrils are similar,^ it might easily hap- pen, that the man sent out by the disciples of the prophets took wild cucumbers for a harmless fruit, and prepared a meal of them. But the bitter taste of the boiled cucumbers made those who tasted them fear that they were poisonous. See above, No. 6, p. 116. 11. Dvdaim^ Mandrake; Germ. Alraun ;* Fr. Mandragore, Circee. In Genesis, chap. xxx. 14, sqq. we read as follows : " Reuben went out in the days of ivheat-harvest^ and found Dudaim in the field, and brought them home to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, give me of thy son's Dudaim. She answered : Hast thou not enough, having taken my husband ? and wilt thou also take my sons Dudaim 9 Rachel said : Well, let him lie with thee this night for thy son's Dudaim. And as Jacob in the evening came from the field, Leah ^ yp9- 7 Dioscorides, B. IV. cap. 154. • T ' Atropa Mandragora; J. D. Michaelis Supplemm. ad Lexicc. Hebrr. p. 412, sq. Celsius, P. I. p. 3. Oedmann's Vermischte Sammlungen aus der Naturk. P. I. c. V. p. 94, sq. K 130 PLANTS GROWING WILD, ivent out to meet him, and said : Thou shall lie with me, for I have bought thee with my sorCs Dudaim. And he lay with her that night, and God heard Leah's prayer, and she became pregnant,^' 8^c. Besides this passage, the Dudaim are once more mentioned, as a sweet-scented plant, in the Song of Solomon, vii. 13. The most ancient Greek translator interprets the He- brew name, in Gen. xxx. 14, by Mandrake-apples ;^ and in the Song of Solomon, by Mandrakes."^ This ■* 0/ fiav'^^ayo^en. Saadias, Onkelos, and the Syriac version agree with the Greek translators. The first of these puts ^liJ J Loffach, the two latter V^^*m^ ^cibruchin ; which names denote the same plant. Mariti says (Travels, p. 5G4), that the Arabs called the Mandrake plant Yabrochak, and this word evidently is the same as Yabruach, which is used by the Chaldee and Syriac translators. The ancient translators ac- cordingly entertained no doubt as to the plant denoted by the Hebrew word, and we deem it safest to follow them. Oedmann has (1. c.) started well-founded objections against Celsius's opinion : that the Hebrew word denotes a species of lotus ; and also against Ludolf 's conjecture : that the Dudaim were the fruit of the Musa paradisiaca ; cfr. Joh. Simonis' Trea- tise on the Dudaim, in his Arcan. Format. Hebraic. J. E. Faber (see Das Alte und Neue Morgenl. T. I. p. 144) be- lieved, that the Dudaim were a small fragrant melon, which grows in Syria^ in Egypt, and in Persia, called by Vesling Cucumis jEgyptius reticulatus, and by the Persians Destem- buyeh \^j(.jyj^MslJ , i.e. Fragrance in the hand. But this, too, is a mere conjecture which falls to the ground, be- ing opposed to the unanimous testimony of the ancients. I shall not here notice other quite improbable conjectures, ex. gr. Steiger's (in the Bibl. Exeget. Repertory, Vol. ii. p. 45) : FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 131 is a plant which frequently grows wild in Palestine, and in the neighbouring countries. It is low, like lettuce, and also has similar, but dark-green, smooth - edged leaves, which are pointed at the ends, have no peduncles, but spring out immediately from the root From the blossoms, which are blue or reddish, are formed small yellow fragrant apples, which the Arabs eat with great relish. The root, which is thick, and resembling a rape, greyish-brown on the outside, but internally red, is often forked in its lower part, which gives it an appearance resembling a human body, without arms, and with crossed legs. Reuben found, according to the above quoted pas- sage of Genesis, the Dudaim in the days of wheat- harvest ; which, in Palestine, and doubtless also in Mesopotamia, where Jacob at that time resided, takes place in the month of May ; and in the beginning of this month, Hasselquist* saw in the neighbourhood of Nazareth, a great abundance of mandrake fruits already ripe on their stalk, which lay withered on the ground. On the fifteenth of May, Stephen Schuh^ also found mandrakes on Mount Tabor, which, as he says, " have a delightful scent, and whose taste is equally agreeable, although not to every body. They are almost globular, and yellow like oranges, about two and a-quarter inches in diameter. This fruit that the Dudaim denote Flower baskets, or Floiver pots. Cfr. Donat's Auszug. aus Scheuckzer''s Physica Sacra, i. e. Abstrart of Scheuchzer's Phys. Sacra, Vol. i. p. 301, sqq. • Travels, p. 103. ^ Leitungen des Ilochten, i. e. Guidances of the Most High, Vol. V. p. 107. 132 PLANTS GROWING WILD, grows on a shrub resembling the mallow ; and the fruit lies about the stem, as it were about the root, after such a manner, that a single shrub may have six to ten fruits, of which the colour is so beautiful, that no orange equals its brilliancy. This fruit is, on ac- count of its power to excite voluptuousness, by the Arabs called Tuphach elsheitan,^ i. e. The Devil's apple." Mariti found, on the seventh of May, a mile from the hamlet of St. John, in Mount Juda, mandrake plants, which the Arabs call Yabrvach. " The greatest number of them," he observes, " al- ready had ripe fruits, which are apple-formed and sweet-scented. An Arab, intending to be particu- larly civil, dismounted, and fetched some of these fruits, which he offered us to eat ; but we Europeans felt no inclination to avail ourselves of his kindness, being of opinion that they might possess a soporife- rous power, and be hurtful to health. The Arab, however, ate six or seven of them, quite delighted with their taste. Our dragomans afterwards told us, that the Arabs greatly relished this fruit, because, after eating it, they felt themselves animated with a certain cheerfulness and vivacity, and they believed it aided the procreation of offspring." A Samaritan priest at Naplusa, whom MaundreW questioned con- cerning the Dudaim, informed him that they were a plant with large leaves, bearing a fruit whose form resembled that of an apple, which was unwholesome, yet possessing the power of promoting conception ' In Paulus' Collection of Travels, Vol. I. p. 80. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 133 when laid below the nuptial-bed. The married wo- men of modern times still made this use of it, in the hope thus to obtain offspring. This also, no doubt, was the reason why Rachel, who had not as yet been in childbed, was so desirous of obtaining from her sister the fruit, through which she hoped to become a mother, and, by the short delay of one night, secure to herself an happiness, which she had long wished for in vain. The Eastern nations relate many more fables concerning the properties and powers of the mandrake plant, which perhaps have been occasioned by the above-mentioned peculiar form of its root.^ 12. Gopher^ Cypress Shrub ; Germ. Cyper Strauck ;* (Fr. Cypres.) In the Song of Solomon, the Copher is twice (i. 14; iv. 13) mentioned, as a plant much esteemed for the fragrance of its flowers. The most ancient Greek translators, and the Rabbins, unanimously de- clare, that by this Hebrew name is denoted that plant ^ Herbelot's Bibl. Orient, under Abru-Sanam and Asterenk. ^ Cyprus. Cehius, P. I. p. 222. Linnaeus's Lawsonia In- ermis. Hasselquist, p. .'>02. Forskal Flora Mg. Arab. P. LV. Oedmann's Samnalungen, Pt. I. cap. 7- J- !>• Mi- chaelis in his Supplemra. p. 1335, thinks that *l53> which he compares with ^iL^D , denotes Palm flowers, or Date grapes. But his objections to the common acceptation of the Hebrew- word are not of any importance, and they are satisfactorily confuted by Oedmann, 1. c. 134 PLANTS GROWING WILD, which the Greeks call Kypros,* and the Arabs -4/- henna^ This plant, which grows in many places both in Palestine and in Egypt, is a tall shrub, some- times six feet in height. The bark of the stem and the branches is dark-grey, and the wood internally of a yellowish hue. The leaves grow on the branches upwards, opposite to each other, and they do not fall off in winter. They resemble myrtle leaves, but are smaller and thinner, and also less dark-green. The flowers open on the ends of the branches ; before they open, they have the appearance of small green and red globules, smaller than the head of a pin. They open almost all at once, and then make a very pleasant nosegay, which Mariti * thinks cannot bet- ter be compared to any thing than to a large cluster of grapes turned upwards, on which the berries are not so numerous and closely clustered, and where they are a little removed from their common peduncle. For this reason, the cypress-blossom is, in the Song of Solomon, i. 14, called a cluster. The corolla consists of four leaves, which are, as it were, rolled together, or curled, and have a yellowish hue. Between each leaf there are two white filaments, with yellow tops ; only one white stigma is to be seen. The style is ori- ginally of a rusty colour, and subsequently takes a light-green hue. The cup is divided into four parts, ^ KuT^af. This word is not essentially diflFerent from the Hebrew ; it only has the Greek pronunciation and termina- tion. Dioscorides furnishes a description of this plant, B. I. cap. 125. t fr J^ . ^ Travels, p. 540. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 135 which are of a soft green colour to the edge, but the ^dge itself is of a rusty colour. The fruit or the berry, before it is ripe, is a green pod ; but when it ripens, it takes a red colour, and when it is dry, it becomes brown. They are divided into four receptacles, in which the triangular brown seeds are enclosed.^ The cypress plant is held in particularly high esteem by the Greeks, the Arabs, and the Turks ; and they think that they make an agreeable present when they offer to a person a posy of its flowers. In reality, this plant is, as Sonnini observes, one of those which are particularly agreeable, both to the eye and the olfactory organs. " The somewhat dark colour of its bark, the light-green hue of its leaves ; the soft mingling of white and yellow with which the flowers, hanging together in long clusters, are coloured ; the red dye of the branches which bear them — make a whole of which the effect is very pleasing. These flowers, of which the colouring is so soft; spread the most delightful fragrance to a great distance, and fill with balsamic odour the gardens and rooms which they adorn. Of them is also commonly made the posy with which beauty decks herself. The women are fond of decorating themselves, as well as their parlours, with them ; they take them into the baths, hold them in their hand, and perfume their bosoms 6 Sonnini's Travels, Vol. I. p. I(i9, Germ. Transl. Oli- vier's Voyages, T. III. p. 300. Cfr. Prosper AlpinusDe Plan- tis iEgypti, cap. 13. The engraving of the Alheuna plant, which accompanies that work, is, according to IMariti's judg- ment, not bad, and it very much resembles the shrub, except that the leaves have been drawn too small in proportion, and more slender than they are in reality. 136 PLANTS GROWING WILD, with them. This enjoyment, which the mild cli- mate, as the plant is easily cultivated, so abundantly affords them, they hold in such a high esteem, that they wish to appropriate it to themselves exclusively, and they are displeased to see Christian or Jewish women share it with them," These observations render the .bride's speech, in the Song of Sol. i. 14, very intelligible : " My beloved is to me a cypress grape in my vineyard (or garden '^) at Engedir * Probably the warm climate of this district was par- ticularly favourable to the cultivation of the alhenna shrub. For although this plant is indigenous in Sy- ria, in Palestine, and in Egypt, it still requires a par- ticular care and attention from those who wish to have it in good condition. As long as it is a ten- der plant, it is kept in pots ; but when it becomes stronger, it is planted in the open ground. In sum- mer it loves the shade, and in winter the sun, and in both seasons it must be diligently watered. More- over, in winter, the stem is protected by sheep-dung and horse-dung mixed together. The leaves of the cypress or alhenna plant being, either green or dry, sodden down and then pulver- ized, make a beautiful orange dye, with which the '' For the Hebrew word D*13 does not only denote a vine- yard, but, in general, a carefully cultivated piece of land, which is planted with valuable plants of any kind. Thus, in Judg. XV. 5, n T D (3 signifies an Olive garden. * As to Engedi, see Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. Vol. II. Pt. II. p. 162.(0 (#) Part of this work has already been published in the Biblical Cabinet, and it is intended that the remainder shall appear with as little delay as possible. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 137 women of the East dye their nails, the palms of their hands, and their hair.^ 13. Carcom^^ Saffron; Germ. Safran ; (Fr. Sa- fran, Saflor, Cartome, Concourme.) In the Song of Solomon, Carcom is also mention- ed, iv. 14, along with several other fragrant plants. It is undoubted, that by this name the Saffron plant is designated, since the similar Arabic name^ de- notes the Indian Saffron.^ The Greek word Kooxog, by which the most ancient Greek translator inter- prets the Hebrew word, denotes this same plant.* The genuine Saffron, as it is called, is an herb which grows wild in every Eastern country, and also in Greece, but is cultivated in many places in South- ern Europe, having erect linear leaves, with revolute margins, a two-leaved spatha, and a bulbous root. The purple- coloured fragrant flower has small aro- matic deeply coloured fibres, which are the ends of ^ Maritij p. 541. Sonnini, I. 171. 175. Hdst''s Accounts of Fez and Marroko, p. 307. Cfr. Hartmann's Hebrew Woman at her Toilet, Vol. II. p. 356, sqq. * Crocus Sativus. Celsius, P . p. 11. ^g^ «~, . See Ibn Sina, p. 16 of the Arabic text. * Saffron is the Arabic, , , \i J»-*^ ? Yellow ; this plant is also (by the Germans) called Gilbwurz, i. e. Yelloiu-root. * Dioscorides describes the different species of Crocus, B. I. cap. 25. 138 PLANTS GROWING WILD, the triply divided pistil. Virgil, in his instructions concerning the cultivation of bees, advises the hus- bandman to spread the fragrance of crocus flowers through the gardens which are to invite the bee- swarms.^ The ancients frequently made use of this flower in perfumes. Not only saloons, theatres, and places which were to be filled with a pleasant fra - grance were strewed with saflron, but all sorts of vinous tinctures retaining the scent were made of it, and this costly perfume was poured into small foun- tains, spreading the odour which was so highly esteemed. Even fruit and comfitures placed before guests were spread over with it, and other things with which the rooms were ornamented. It was used for the same purposes as the modern pot-pourri.7 14. Shushan, and also Shushannah,^ The Lily ; Germ. Lilie ;^ Fr. Lis, Fleur de lis. It is unquestionable, that the above Hebrew words denote the Lily. This appears from the similarly sounding Arabic name,''' which also was known to ^ Georgics IV. Vs. 109. Invitent croceis halantes floribus hortL ^ Proofs of this, see in Beckuftnn's History of Inventions, B. II. p. 81, sq. 2 Lilium. Celsius, P. I. p. 383. / , WMA.AM > "iSuM^AH » cfr. Ibn Sina, p. 220 of the Arabic FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 139 tlie Greeks.* The lily is indigenous in the countries of the East, and grows wild in the fields. There- fore, Jesus says, Matth. vi. 28, sqq. : " Behold the lilies in the fields^ hoio they grow ; they wm^k not^ neither do they spin ; I say unto you^ that even So- lomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God does thus clothe the grass of the field, which remains standing to-day, hut is cast into the oven to-morrow, should he not much more clothe you f From this it appears, that the lilies, when faded, were, like other common field flowers, used along with other things as fuel. In the Song of Solomon, the bride compares her- self with a lily of the valleys, ii. 1, because in these, they being well watered, flowers thrive better than in the plains, which, in Eastern countries, commonly are dry and parched by the heat of the sun. The lilies, which are cultivated in our gardens, are com- monly white. But they are also to be found of other colours, such as red, orange-coloured, and yellow. One of the most beautiful species of lilies is that which is called Crown Imperial, (Germ. Kaiser- krone,y which grows wild in the East, and with us text. The Arabic name of the lily has been preserved in the Spaniah A^ucena^r) * AthencBus, B. XII. Cap. 1. 'Souffav uvcti rp 'EXk^fuv iputvt TO x^ivov. Dioscorides, B. III. cap. 116*. OlTs ffovw the H of the Hebrew word has been -J exchan;^ed for the Syriac la? a frequent exchange in Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic words. 6 In German Herbstzeitlose. Cfr. the passage from Bar Bahlalin Gesenius's Commentary on Is?, p. 924. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 14I3 quently grows in meadows ;7 and Chateaubriand^ ex- pressly mentions the narcissus^ amongst the flowers of the beautiful plain of Saron, which is mentioned as the domicile of the Cliabazzeleth in the above quoted passage. 16. The Rose} Jesiis Syrach in xxiv. 18, makes Wisdom personi- fied say, that she has taken root among the Jewish "^ Thus Tavernier (Voyages, T. I. p. 387) observes on the neighbourhood of Firusabad in Persia : Son terroir porte quantite de dattes et de fleurs de Narcisse, dont ceux du lieu font une huile de senteur, que les Dames recherchent fort. And about Nisibis in Mesopotamia, he says (p. 190) : On y voit aussi quantite de fleurs jaunes, rouges et violettes, des tulipes de diflferentes couleurs, et anemones et narcisses. ^ Itineraire de Paris a Jerusalem, T. II. p. 130. ^ Sonnini (Travels, Vol. II. p. 27) mentions an Egyptian plant, whose Aral)ic name, Hableziss, somewhat resembles the Hebrew Chabazzeleth. But the Arabic name, as Sonnini himself oh^erves, denotes a kertiel, pleasant to the taste; accordingly, Ave here have the Arabic words ^sjJO 4-^£> • Hhabb laziz con- tracted, and the name is essentially different from the He- brew. This Egyptian plant is a species of Santolina. It is taken out of the earth in the beginning of November, and from its thin roots fleshy knobs of the size of a hazel-nut are torn off. These have an agreeable taste. Accordingly, this is a kind of Cyperus escule?itiis. ^ In the other books of the Old Test, which are written in Hebrew, the rose is not mentioned ; but only in those which are called apocryphal or deuterocanonical, and which aie com- posed in the Greek language. The Greek name for the rose 144 PLANTS GROWING WILD, nation, (ver. 16,) and grown up like a cedar of Leba- non, like a palm-tree on a water-bank, and as a rose- plant in Jericho.^ From these words, it has been concluded, that these rose-stalks must have been dis- tinguished for their beauty. But none of the many travellers who have visited Jericho and the neighbour- hood of that city, have found any roses there. Still it is possible that, in former ages, while these regions were as yet populous and cultivated, ro^e-stalks of singular beauty may have been reared in the gardens of Jericho. But that plant which now is called the rose of Jericho, and which, however, does not grow near that city, but in the deserts of Arabia, and in other sandy places, is a small insignificant shrub, growmg from a thick and hard root, not exceeding the length of a middle finger. This shrub has no particular stem, but a multitude of branches or rods, which all at once shoot from the earth. These are subsequent- is fctoit and a rose-plant is ^'a^«. In the Arabic language, the expression ^ ,^ Uard, denotes every species of roses. Cfr. Hasselquist, p. 508, who observes, that this flower is much cultivated in Egypt on account of the rose-water which is pre- pared from it. In Palestine, Mariti (p. 558,) found the greatest quantity of roses in the hamlet of St. John, in the Desert of the same name. (See Rosenmiiller's Bibl. Geogr. Vol. II. Pt. I. p. 125, forming part of the Biblical Cabinet.) In this place the rose-plants form small forests in the gardens. The greatest part of the roses reared there is brought to Jerusalem, where rose-water is prepared from them, of which the scent is so very exquisite, that in every part of Syria, and also in Cyprus, it is in request above all other rose-waters. FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 145 ly decked with a few straggling leaves, but a multi- tude of small flowers. Their first colour is reddish, but by and bye they become paler, and at last quite white. When this shrub is in blossom, it much re- sembles the elder flower, but it has no smell, and is only four or five inches high above the ground. When it has shed its flowers and becomes dry, the few leaves and all the flowers fall oflT, and nothing remains on the shrub but some small seed corns. The ripe fruit fascicle turns all its branches inwards, and arches them so that they form a ball or a globe, at the bottom of which the root is. After this manner they close themselves when the very hot season commen- ces, and thus remain as long as the drought con- tinues ; but when it rains, and the soil is sufficiently moistened, they open again. When the shrub has become dry, and has stood longer than a year, the colour of its stems becomes dark ; but as long as they are less than a year old they remain white. This plant is never subject to corruption and rotten- ness, however long it remains standing in the ground ; and it keeps in preservation equally well though never so old, if it is plucked up or broken from the stem and carried away. If, in its dry and close state, it is put with its root into water, it by and bye commences to open ; but it closes again when it is taken out of the water.^ If Sirach alluded to this ^ Mariti, p. 410. Arvieux (Remarkable Accounts, Vol. II. p. 156. Germ. Transl.) says, that it is difficult to conceive why this plant is called a rose, since it is nothing else but a small shrub, four or five inches in height, woody, branched andash-coloured, but its leaves and flowers uncommonly small. L 146 PLANTS GROOVING WILD. plant, he probably compared wisdom to it, because it is not easily subject to corruption. Sirach in l. 8, compares the High Priest's orna- ments witli a rose in the days of Spring^ and in xl. 1 7, lie wishes, in regard to the pious, that they may groio like a rose near a brook. It appears from the Book of Wisd. ii. 8, that it was a custom with the Hebrews, as well as with the Greeks, to deck one's self with roses in convivial parties ; for, in this passage, revellers encouraging each other to a merry enjoyment of life, say to each other : " Let us crown ourselves with roses ere they fader i?ee also Maundrell in Paulus' Collection, Vol. I. p. 265, and the note by an author skilled in Natural Philosophy, Vol. II. p. 268. SECTION FIFTH. PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS AND OILS ARE PREPARED. I. Basam, also Bosem,^ Balm. Germ. Balsam- strauchP- (French Bamne.) The above Hebrew words properly denote frag- rance in general, and odorous production of the ve- getable kingdom, Spices, (as in Exod. xxxv. 28. 1 Kings X. 10 ;) but in some passages of the Song of Solomon, these names most probably denote a parti- cular plant. Thus we read, v. 1, / gathered my myrrh with my Ba^am, and in verse 13, and also in vi. l,(ij) Basam beds are mentioned. The Arabic name,^ which is similar in sound, leaves no room for a doubt, that here the Balsam shrub is meant. " This shrub," Abdollatif^ says, " is about an ell high. It has a double bark ; the outer is red and thin, the in- T T ^ Amyris. It is not to lie found in Celsius, (w) Chap. vi. ver. 2, in the English Bible. — Tr. ■* Memorabilia of Egypt, p. 24 of the Arabic original. See Rosemiiller's Bibl. Geogr. Vol. T. Pt. V. p. 45 in the origi- nal ; see also the translation in the Biblical Cabinet. 148 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS ner green and strong. Chewing these, produces an oily taste in the mouth, and an aromatic smell. The leaves resemble those of the rue. The balsam is gathered about the dog days after the following manner : the shrub having been deprived of its leaves, incisions are made in the stem with a sharp- pointed stone. This must be done with caution, in such a way, that the double bark is cut through with- out hurting the wood ; for if the wood is cut, no balm is obtained. After the incision has been made in the manner here mentioned, they wait till the juice drops out of the wood, then wipe it off with the linger, and what they thus gather, they rub off on the brim of a horn. When the horn is full, the con- tents are poured into glass bottles, and this is con- tinued without intermission, as long as any juice flows from the shrub. The bottles are buried in the earth, until the arrival of a particularly hot day ; they are then taken out and exposed to the heat of the sun. They are every day examined, and then oil is discovered floating on the top of a watery substance, which is mingled with earthen particles. The oil is removed, and the bottles again exposed to the sun, and this is continued until no more oil appears. Then all the oil that has been gathered is boiled and brought to the warehouses." Abdollatif adds, that he has read in Galenus, that the best balsam is pro- duced in Palestine ; but now, (in Abdollatif 's age,) he says, that no more balsam is found in that coun- try. Burckhardt^ however, was informed at Tibe- ^ Travels in Syria, p. 564. Germ. Transl. AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 149 lias, that the balsam-shrub was there in a very thriv- ing state, and that several people had it in their gar- dens. It was described to him as a low shrub, whose leaves resembled those of the vine, bearing a fruit three-inches long, of a cucumber form, which, when ripe, is of a green colour, with a yellow shade. This fruit is gathered in the month of June ; then oil is poured over it, and it remains thus for some time exposed to the sun. After that, the fluid yielding the balsam is expressed. It is apparent that this is a different plant from the one described by AbdoUa- tif, which, in his time, was carefully reared only at Ain-Shames in Egypt, in an enclosed piece of ground. JBeloiis^ description of the balsam shrubs which he saw (in the earlier part of the sixteenth century,) in the Balsam gardens of Matarea, a village near Ka- hira, agrees with Abdollatifs description. These shrubs were only a foot high, and of about a thumb's thickness, although, at other times, they reach an height of two or three ells. When they have attain- ed the height of about one foot, they put forth a multitude of branches, which commonly are not much thicker than a goose-quill. The balsam shrubs of Matarea had shortly befofe been pruned; for this plant is, in this respect, similarly conditioned with the vine, that it must be pruned every year in order to prevent it from growing wild. The shoots of the balsam shrub had a bark, the upper part of which had a reddish appearance ; their leaves were green, ^ Observations, fol. 168 vera, in the edition of 1554, and Paulus' Collection, Vol. IV. p. 188, sqq. 150 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS and arranged after the same manner as on the mas- tick tree, so that the one was placed on this, and the corresponding on the opposite side, as on the rose- stalk, on the ash, and on the nut-tree. The leaves M ere not larger than on peas in the husks, and they resembled the leaves of the rue, as has been correct- ly observed by Pliny, Theophrast, and Dioscorides. Belon tasted the branches and the leaves, and found that the taste of both was somewhat astringent and oily, and at the same time aromatic. Besides the aforementioned bark of reddish colour, the branches have within it a second, which has a green appear- ance, immediately touching the wood, and covering it as it were, with a lining of vellum. The taste of this bark is intermediate betwixt that of frankincense and the taste of the leaves of the turpentine-tree. Rubbed between the fingers, it smelled like cardamo- mum. The wood within this bark is white, and has neither taste nor smell. The Balsam-tree, from which is obtained the Bal- sam of Mehkah, and which grows only in Yemen, i.e. Southern Arabia,'' is different from the balsam shrub above described. It attains the height of a pome- granate-tree, which it pretty much resembles, by its long and supple boughs and branches, which are but scantily furnished with small leafets similar to those of the rue, but of a beautiful green colour ; the wood ' Amyris opobalsaraum, Forskal, Flora Aegypt. Arb. p. 76, Arbor mediocris. Rami valde divaricati : cortex laevis, cine- reus, ruptus odore et succo opobalsamum prodens, cet. CfV. Linnaeus' Dissertat. Opobalsamum Declar.ilum iu liis Amceni- tatt. Acaderam. T. VII. 55, sqq. AND OLLS ARE PREPARED. 151 is reddish and resinous, and the small white flower possesses the most delightful fragrance. The fruit is a small, brown nut, merely covered with a dry membrane, and within the nut there is an almond; sometimes the almond is awanting, and in its place there is found a yellowish, sharp, and bitter juice. ^ Burckhardl^ observes, that the tree from which the genuine balsam of Mekkah is obtained, grows on the mountains about Szafra and Beder in Hedshas, and that it is called Beshem}^ It is said to be ten to fifteen feet high, the stem smooth, and the bark thin. About the middle of summer, small incisions are made in the bark, and the sap which immediately flows out, is scraped off with the thumb-nail and put into a vessel. From all these varjdng accounts, it appears that the balsam is not obtained only from one plant. Even Dioscorides^^ and Pliny^^ distinguish three species of balsam plants, which differ as to height, strength, bark, and foliage.* Pliny says, that Judaea is the only country in which balsam is pro- s Mariti, p. 403. Cfr. Bruce's Travels, Vol. V. p. 38. Germ. Transl. together with an engraving, Tab. 2. ^ Travels in Arabia, p. 309. ^^ ^_,. ^^ B. I. cap. 18; otto; icm vk^^hxs; iv 'Sv^'tct yivof^.'ivo^, »!v hioi fAiru'Tiov xuXauffiv, ^2 Hist. Nat. Lib. LXII. cap. 25, § 54, • Forskal, 1. c. describes the same number of species. The first, ( Amyris Opobalsamum,) which he first saw in Yemen, is of a middle size; the second, (Amyris Kataf,) is white in the wood ; the third, (Amyris Kafal,) is a tall tree, of which the wood is red. 1 52 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS duced.^^*' Accordingly, the Arabic balsam was as yet unknown to him. Strabo^^ mentions a balsam garden near Jericho. The balsam plant alluded to in the above quoted passage of the Song of Solomon, probably is the same as that which was mentioned to Burckhardt at Tiberias. (See above, p. 148.y* 2. Chelhenah} Galbanum?- Chelbenah is mentioned, Exod. xxx. 34, as one of the ingredients from which the perfume for the sanctuary was to be prepared. This name has been preserved in the Greek word Chalbane,* which denotes a gum, obtained by means of an inci- sion in the bark from a species of Fennel (Ferula) ;* '''"' L. c. : Omnibus odorihus praefertur balsamum, uni terrarum Judaeae concessum, quondam in duobus tantum hortis utroque regio, altero jugerum XX. non amplius, altero pauciorum. ^ '5 Book XVI. cap. 2, § 41. ** As to ^^^^ or ^1^^, (which many consider as the pro- . . . ^. per and genuine Balsam of 3Iekkah, or Opobalsamum,) see below the last article of this section. ' Bubon Galbannm. Celsius, P. I. p. 2G7. Cfr. .J. D. Michaelis' Supplemm. p. 7^3, sqq. ' Xa/./3a»«, says Dioscorides, B. Ill, cap. 97- ^ Pliny (Hist. xNat. Lib. XII. cap. 25) calls the shrub Sia- gonitis. According to Moryson's description (in Scheuchzer'8 Phys. S. II. p. 36 of the Abst. by Donat), the Galbanum •shrub belongs to the UmbelHfereB family of plants. The root is long, and of an arm's thickness, and there flow* out of it a AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 153 (Germ. Gertenkraut), which is a shrub growing on Mount Amanus in Syria. This resin is fat, tough, granulous, white at first, but, when it gets old, yel- low with white spots ; its taste and scent is sharp and bitter.^ By the disagreeable stench which this gum emitted when kindled, snakes were driven away from stables.^ But, mixed with other fragrant sub- stances, as was the case in the holy perfume, it strengthened the perfume, and made its effect more lasting.7 fat, thick, and resinous milk. The leaves are placed on long hollow petioles, of a finger's thickness : they are broad, but di- vide themselves into many thin leaves, almost resembling the fennel : on the under side they are whitish blue. The stem is five or six ells high, thick, and knotted ; it has a spongy pith, and is divided at the top. On the uppermost peduncles, which are divided like an umbrella, there are yellow florets, with revolute leaves, to which succeed, in due season, broad, leafy, round, blackish, striped seeds. An engraving of this plant is to be seen in Jacquin's Hort. Vindobon. T. III. Tab. 36. ^ The Hebrew name D^H /PT is derived from ^ /H* Cheleb, fat. 6 Virg. Georg. III. 415. Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum, Galbaneoque agitare gravi nidore chelydros. Calpurnius, Eel. V. 90. Lurida conveniet accendere Galbana septis ; Obfuit iste malis odor anguibus. ■ Pliny, Hist. Nat. Lib. XIII. Cap. 1. ^ 2. Resina aut gummi adjiciuntur (hedysmatis) ad continendum odorem in corpore : celerrime is evanescit atque defluit, si non sunt haec addita. J. D. Michaelis (1. c. p. 755) gives an account of some 154 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS 3. Lehonah^ Frankincense? As with all known nations of antiquity, so with the Hebrews too, incense was used in sacrifices for fumigations ;^ and it also was one of the ingredi- ents in the perfume which was to be prepared for the sanctuary, Exod. xxx. 34. Accordingly, it is frequently mentioned in the Old Test, in passages alluding to sacrifices ; ex. gr. Levit. ii. 1, 2, 15, 16 ; V. 1 1 ; vi. 8. Isa. xliii. 23 ; Ixvi. 3. Frankincense is a vegetable resin, which is glittering, and of a pale yellow colour. Its taste is bitter and resinous, but when it is burned its scent is delightful. The He- brews obtained their frankincense from Arabia, and, indeed, particularly from Saba (Isa. Ix. 6. Jerem. vi. 20) ; and this district of Arabia is also mention- experiments relative to this subject which he made, with the assistance of an apothecary : Omnes species suffitus sacri a Mose commemoratae quum haberi non possent, primo tribus partihus thuris et rayrrhae addidimus unara gal ban i ; gratior etiam, et ad nostra suffimenta proxime accedens, nee tamen duicis. T .• * Arbor thuris ^ thus. Celsius, P. I. p. 231. =^ Tibull. Lib. I. Eleg. 2. Uruntur pia thura foois, . largoque referti Thure vaporatis lucent altaribus ignes. Ovid. Trist. Lib. V. Eleg. 5, IL Da mihi thura, puer, pingues facientia flamrnas, Quodque pio fusum stridat in igne merum. AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 135 ed by Strabo,* as one in which frankincense is pro- duced. The ancients possessed no authentic infor- mation respecting the plant from which this resin is procured. Theoplirastus says,^ that the frankincense- tree is not large ; that it attains the height of about five ells ; that it has many branches, and leaves like those of the pear-tree,^^ but smaller and of a grass co- lour ; that the bark is smooth like the bark of the laurel. He says, that, according to other accounts, it resembles the mastick-tree, and that its leaves are of a reddish colour.(f ) Diodorus Siculus^ describes it as a small tree, resembling the Egyptian hawthorn, with gold- yellow leaves, resembling those of the w oad. Pliny'' again has other descriptions different from these, adding, that the ambassadors, who in his time ar- rived from Arabia, had made every thing still more uncertain, nvA that this was the more surprising, since they had brought along with them rods of the * B. XVI. Cap. 4. § 19. •5 Kist. of Plants, B. IX. Cap. 4. ■^' Chardin {Vot/ages, T. III. p. 295, Langles' Edit.) says, that the frankincense-tree, which grows on the desert moun- tains of Caramania, resembles a large pear-tree. (^) In an American work on botany, written by Mrs. Al- mira Hn. Lincoln, a female pi'ofessor of Troy, and published at Hartford 1835, I find the Thuia occidentalis, the Ameri- can Arbor Vitae, or frankincense-tree, thus described : — " Branches ancipetal; leaves imbricated in four rows, ovate- rhomboidal; strobile ovate. [It grows in] mountains. A small tree with very tough branches, leaves resembling scales."— Tr. 6 B. V. Cap. 41. ' Hist. Nat. Lib. XII. Cap. 31. 156 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS frankincense-tree. According to the information collected by Niebuhr^^ that species of frankincense, which the Arabs call Liban,^ or Oliban^ is now cul- tivated only on the south-east coast of Arabia, par- ticularly in the province of Shdr ; and this species is very bad. In Arabia, however, many other kinds of frankincense are to be obtained from Habesh ( A- byssinia), from Sumatra, from Siam, and from Java, and amongst these there is a species which resembles the English, and which greatly resembles the Oliban. Of this a great quantity is sent across the Arabic and Persian Gulf to Turkey ; and the most inferior of the three sorts, into which merchants use to di- vide the Benzoin, is considered as preferable to the Oliban of Arabia. From this it almost would ap- pear that Europeans call Habesinian and Indian frankincense Arabic, because it is brought from Ara- bia. The Arabs call the most excellent species of frankincense Cundur^^ and that this is an Indian 8 Descript. of Arabia, p. 143, cfr. pp. 282, 283, 284, 296. ^ / , \LxJ . The Arabic botanist, Abul-Fadli, observes (in Celsius, P. I. p. 231), that the plant has obtained this name from the Greek word X//3aya;, and that the Arabs them- selves call it A l<=^ , Condor. But the Hebrew name n^lH /5 which so much resembles the Arabic, , I A ie surely not derived from the Greek ; hut this rather is, in both languages, the indigenous name of a produce, with which the (ireeks first became acquainted, through intercourse with the Eastern countries. Neither is the word Condor, as we shall see immediately, an indigenous Arabic word. ^° See the next preceding note. AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 157 production appears from Colebrooke's^^ observation : that in Hindu writings on medicaments, an odorous gum is called Cunduru^ which, according to the In- dian grammarians, is a Sanscrit word. They una- nimously state it to be the produce of a tree called Sallaci^ and in the vulgar language Salai. The tree grows in the Indian mountains, and is one of a con- siderable size.^- By incisions in the bark a very odorous gum is obtained, which the spice-merchants of London recognized as Olihanum, although it had been sent to England as an entirely different species of perfume. 4. Lot^^ Lada7ium.^ Amongst the spices, which, according to Gen. xxvii. 25, the Caravan of Israelite or Arabic mer- chants, to whom Joseph was sold, conveyed from Gilead to Egypt, Lot is also mentioned ;(;>/) and this " In a Treatise on Olibannm or Frankincense, in the Asia- tic Researches, T. IX. p. 377, sqq. 8vo. Edit. ^'^ Dr. Roxburgh, in the treatise quoted in the preceding note, furnishes a complete scientific botanical description of this tree, and he gives to it the name of Boswellia serrata : his description is accompanied by a coloured engraving. to /• ^ Cistus Ladani/era. Celsius, P. I. (;^) Instead of Gen. xxvii. 25, we should read Gen. xxxvii. 25. Israelite merchants seems also to be a slip, and we ought to read, as in the English Bible, Ishmaelites : the text has C /KV/tOSi^^ ( Ishmeelim). As to the goods or spices of these merchants, the English version is very erroneous ; for, 158 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS same article was also amongst the costly productions of Palestine, which Jacob, according to Gen. xliii. 11, sent as presents to his son Joseph in Egypt. The resemblance of the Hebrew word to the Greek Ledos and Ladanon^ leaves no room for a doubt, that it denotes the odorous, greenish, soft, and fat resin which is known under these latter names. This re- sin is found on the branches of the Cistus, a plant much resembling the sage, whose blossom has a very similar appearance to that of our diminutive wild hedge-rose. Early in the morning, ere the sun dries up the moisture, which many consider as the dew fallen on the plant, the herdsmen drive their goats to their pastures, and, as the ladanum at that time is soft and adhesive, it sticks to their beards ; and that which is thus gathered from the beards of the goats is the most pure. While the goats are feeding, the instead of " spicery, and balm, and myrrhs'''' the correct trans- lation would be " Tragacanth Gum, and Balm of Gilead, and Ladanum, — Tr. ^ AJj^flj, Xci^avov, from the ' Arabic / , .ilJ^ . The proper root and substance of these names is Led. It cannot be con- sidered as an objection against the identity of these names, that the Hebrew has the hard consonant (;), instead of the softer [d), since many instances of the permutation of d and i are to be found in these as well as in other languages ; efr. Gesenius, Hebr. Germ. Manual Dictionary, p. I7I, 3d Edit. J. D. Michaelis has, in his Supplemm. p 1424, satisfactorily confuted the opinion of some authors, who believed that D 7 was the Lotos plant, which is indigenous in Egypt. But equally untenable is JWichaelis's own opinion, viz. that th« Hebrew name denotes the Fistaihio-nut. AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 159 herdsmen themselves are also busy gathering. They fasten a goat-skin bundled together on a small stick, with this they go from one plant to another, and re- move the ladanum. On account of the wind during the day scattering dust on the plants, the ladanum col- lected from these is always more or less mixed with earth ; it is therefore purified by fire and oil ; it thus becomes tougher and softer, and still more odorous.'* The ladanum used in Europe is gathered in the Greek Isles, particularly on the Isle of Cyprus. But it is also, according to Herodotus^ and Pliny,** found in many parts of Arabia, and both these au- thors agreeing in their description of the manner in which the ladanum is obtained, furnish that account of it which has here been given. It is well known ^ Mariti's Travels, p. 153. Pocock (Descr. of the Or. Vol, II. p. 334), however, observes that the above stated method of procuring and purifying ladanum is very troublesome, and that it still never is rendered perfectly pure and sweet-scented. He says, that, for this reason, both in Cyprus and in the other Greek Isles, they make use of a curved bow, on which they tie woollen threads about three feet in length. In the month of May they draw this wool over the leaves, and when the balmy substance has stuck to it, it is exposed to the sun, and being heated, it is separated from the wool. Almost in the same manner, Belon (Observations, L. I. ch. 7- p. 15) de- scribes the method of procuring ladanum. In order to in- crease the weight of this gum, it is frequently mixed with sand, and this the druggists call labdanum en tortis. But when the sand is cleansed away, it becomes like soft bees-wax, and is called labdanum liqnidum, ^ Thai. cap. 112. ^ Hist. Nat. Lib. XII. cap. 17- See also Dioscorides, Lil. I. cap. 129. 160 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS that ladanum is used both externally and internally as an efficacious medicine, and the smoke of it is said to be good for the eyes. 5. Mor^ Myrrh, Amongst the ingredients, from which the oil destined for religious anointings, was to be prepared, Mor is also mentioned Exod. xxx. 23, and from it is derived the word Myrrh, which has been received in almost all European languages, ancient as well as modern. An Arabic botanist, Abulfadli,^ says that morr^ is the Arabic name for a tree re- sembling the acacia, which is provided with thorns, and out of which, flows a white sap, which coagulates and becomes a gum. Pliny describes the myrrh tree,^ as a diminutive one, about five ells in height ; he says that the stem is crooked{^) and twisted, and that, according to some authors, its bark is smooth, and according to others, rough and thorny ; that the leaf resembles that of the olive, but is curled and prick- led ; that the bark is ripped up twice every year, from the root to the branches, and that then the 2 Myrrha, Celsius P. I. p. 520. ^ Celsius I. a, p. 521. 4 5 Hist. Nat. Lib. XII. cap. 15, (§34.) {•^) Rosenmiiller seems to have had a copy which read, candice curvo et intorto ; but the right reading, no doubt is, candice duro et intorto, and accordingly, Pliny said, that '' the stem of the myrrh tree was hard and twisted. — Tr. \ AND OILS ARE TREPARED. 161 purest myrrh, which he calls Stacte, exudes from it. According to Dioscorides,^ the myrrh tree resembles the Egyptian Acacia. He mentions three species of gum, exuding from it, and the best he also calls Stacte, Diodorus Siculus says,'' " that the myrrh tree resembles the mastick tree, but has a smaller and closer leaf. When the earth is dug up about its roots, a sap issues from it. If the tree is planted in a good soil, this is done twice a year, in spring, and in autumn. The myrrh collected in spring, is reddish, on account of the dew, but other myrrh is white." The tree grows, according to Pliny, in many parts of Arabia; and, if Belon's^ observation is accurate, it also grows in Palestine. For he says, that near Rama, there grows a thorny shrub, of which he believes that it produces myrrh ; that it is crooked, has many branches, and is armed with sharp prickled thorns ; that the leaves resembled Acacia leaves, only that they were somewhat larger.^ According to Exod. xxx. 23, the most genuine myrrh, was to be used for the oil of holy ointment. Thus Luther correctly translates the Hebrew ex- pression, which properly denotes spontaneously pro- 6 B. I. cap. 78. " Biblioth. B. V. cap. 41. ^ Observations, L. II. chap. 80. ^ Bruce describes a tree yielding an abundance of very sweet scented myrrh, (Travels, B. V. p. 43, 44, Germ. Transl. by Volkmanii), which, however, does not grow in Arabia, but in the Habessinian province Taltal, wliere it is indigenous. It attains a great height, and equals the English elms. The gum bursts in such a quantity out of every part of the stem, that it covers it every where, in the shape of large balls ; iu the same manner it also covers the principal branches. M 162 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS fluent myrrhj^^ viz. myrrh, which without any pre- vious incision, bursts out through the bark, and is considered as being of the best quality. The same kind of myrrh is in the Song of Solomon, v. 5, 13, called Stilicidious or projiuent myrrh}^ Myrrh oil was used as a perfume. Tlie wives of the kings of Persia were, according to Esth. ii. 2, per- fumed with myrrh oil,^^ ere they were brought be- fore the king. Royal garments were also perfumed with myrrh, Ps. xlv. 9. The harlot introduced in Prov. vii. says ver. 17, that she has perfumed her couch with myrrh. From Joh. xix. 39, it appears that myrrh was used for embalming dead bodies. (w) It was considered as one of the most costly of spices, and on that account it was also amongst the presents ^^ li^l'n'^l/tD- The Greek Translator of Alexandria, ; T renders it o-fAv^v/i IkXiktyi, choice myrrh. Cfr. A. Th. Hart- mann's Hebrew Woman at her Toilet, Vol. I. p. 303. *1^1j^ liD* " It is remarkable that Dioscorides calls the most beautifiil, {XiTru^uTaTYi) species of myrrh, yafii^ix, which probably is identical with the Arabic ^Aj^flens, or ».x£ lacrymae.'''* Dopke in his Comment, on the Song of Solomon, p. 165. (u) See also Herodot. Euterpe, chap. 86. t^nirex, -rhv vyiTv* fffiv^vus KKri^ei'Tou TiT^tfjt.f/.ivTis, xk) xttiriyis, xai ruv k^Xuv Bvu- fiaruvy vrXhv Xifiecvurov, irXJia-avrs?, ffvppx^Tovtrt ovlau* This mode of embalming, the Jews probably adopted from the Egyptians, like so many other customs.— Tr. AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 163 which the wise men of the East offered to Jesus, as the new-1)orn king of the Jews, Matth. ii. 11. St. Mark the Evangelist, relates xv. 23, that the Roman soldiers presented to the crucified Jesus, wine mixed tvith myrrh^^ and it is commonly be- lieved that they did so, for the purpose of depriving tlie sufferer of sensation, and of rendering him in some degree less sensitive of pain. Certainly it is stated, in the Talmud,^"^ that those who are led to execution, receive a cup of wine with frankincense, for the purpose of depriving them of the sense of pain. But since, according to St. Mark, not frank- incense, but myrrh, was mixed in the wine offered to Jesus, it is more probable that the soldiers pre- sented it to him as a strengthening remedy, lest he should be overpowered by weakness, ere the punish- ment was completed. The ancients ascribed such a strengthening power to myrrh, that they believed that, after using it, man could endure even the great- est pain. For this reason, Apuleius says, of a priest of the Syrian goddess : " he disfigured himself with a nmltitude of blows, having previously strengthen- ed himself by taking myrrh."' ^ And, in another j)lace, " having previously strengthened himself by taking myrrh, he was not overpowered either by the many blows, nay, nor even by the fire I^^ '■^ oTvov itr/u.v^vifff£ivov. * The Treatise Sanhedrin. cap. G. ''' i\let:imorph. L. VIII, Indidem sesemultimodis commacu- lat ictibus nnrrhae praesumtione praemunitus. ''^ L. X. (Jbfirmatus myrrliae praesumtioxiemultis verberi- Itus, ac ne ipsi quidem succubuit igni. 164 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS 6. Nataf,^ Storax Gum.^ One of the ingredients from which the per- fume, which was destined for fmnigations in the temple, was prepared, is in Exod. xxx. 34, called Nataf, This Hebrew word, which properly denotes a drop, is by the most ancient Greek translator, ren- dered Stakte^ by which, according to Dioscorides,-^ in the first place is denoted, the resin of fresh myrrh, mixed with a little water, and squeezed out through a press. It is," he adds, " very odorous and pre- cious, and of it alone consists that ointment which is called Stakte." This, however, would not be suited for the preparation of the perfume, and it also has another Hebrew name, for it is called Mor Deror.^ But the Greeks also called Stakte,^ a species of Storax gum, which Dioscorides describes,* as transparent like a tear, and resembling myrrh. This agrees well with the Hebrew name. Storax gum also, like frankincense, was roasted, and used for fumigations." The tree yielding this gum is in '^^\- ^ SraxT^j, Celsius, P. I. p. 529. •" B. I. cap. 7-^- ^ See Note 10 of next precef]. Art. ^ B, I. cap. 8. (^Ti^i (TTV^cx.KOi) Evoiffxirat ^t xa) ^eix^vov xofifii ioixoSf %tav Sunbul Hindi, i. e. Indian ear, see Abulfadli in Celsius, P. II. p. 3. ^ Sir W. Jones, 1. c. Vol. II. p. 396, Germ. Trans. 168 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS ed by way of Arabia to southern Asia, and thus it reached the Hebrews.^ The ointment prepared from the oil of the spikenard root was, even by the Ro- mans, considered so precious, that Horace promises to Virgil a whole Cadus(a) of wine for a small onyx- box full of spikenard.7 Judas, who afterwards be- trayed his master, valued at three hundred denarii, i. e. about fifty rix-doUars, the box of genuine spike- nard,^ with which Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoint- ed the Saviour at a feast, Mark xiv. 3, 4, 5. John xii. 3, 4, 5. It was also a Roman custom in festive banquets, not only to crown the guests with flowers, but also to anoint them with spikenard.^ ^ The word Nard, according to Anderson (see Sir W. Jones, ]. c. p. 405), is derived from the Tamulic language, in which words commencing with Nar convey the notion oi fragrance^ or agreeable scent, as for example, Nartum pilla, the Melissa, Nartei, a citron ; and Nartu is put in the Tamulic version of the Bible for Nard. (a) The Cadus contained twelve Congii, and the Congius six Sextarii ; but the Sextarius is about a pint ; thus Horace of- fered about 36 quart bottles of wine. — Tr. 7 Carm. L. IV. Carm. 12. Vs. 10, I?. Nai'do vinum merebere, Nardi pai-vus onyx eliciet cadum. ® Na^5ay -TiffTtxiis' as to this expression see Celsius, 1. c. p. 6. ^ Horace, Carm. L. II. Od. 11. Cur non sub alta vel platano, vel hac Pinu jacentes sic temere, et rosa Canos odorati capillos, Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo Potamus uncti ? AND OILS ARE PREPARED. 169 9. Zeriy also Zori^^ Zackum-oil^ Balm of Gilead. Zeri is also mentioned among the spices which the Arabic merchants, to whom Joseph was sold, con- veyed from Gilead to Egypt, Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; and Jacob likewise sent the same, among the costly pro- duce of Palestine, as a present to his son in Egypt, Gen. xUii. 11. Ezechiel, in xxvii. 17, mentions it among the goods Avhich Judea brought to the mar- kets of Tyre ; and Jeremiah, in viii. 22 ; xlvi. 1 1 ; li. 8, speaks of it as a remed}' for healing wounds, brought from Gilead. Palestine has such a remedy in the oil, which is pressed out of the fruit of the Zackum tree.* This tree very much resembles the plum tree, and it has many thorns, four or five in- ches long, which it puts forth below each of its branches. The bark of the tree is grated ; it re- mains green as long as the tree stands in the ground, Tibull. L. III. Eleg. 7. Jamdudum Syrio madefactus tempora Nardo Debueram sertis implicuisse comas. ' ny, nv, n\^ (tf-y^r ' This tree is the Eljeagmis angustifolius of Liu- naeus, the narrow-leaved Oleaster, or wild olive-tree, the 31 y- robalanus of the ancients, descril*ed by Pliny, Hist. Nat. Lib. XII. cap. 21. § 46. Cfr. Oedmann's Sammlungen aus der Naturkunde, Pt. II L cap. 16. 170 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS but when it is cut down, it becomes in a short time pale and yellowish, first on the outside, and then in- ternally. The interior is yellow, and almost like the box-tree, and although it is not quite as hard, it re- ceives a beautiful polish and lustre. The leaves re- semble olive leaves, but are somewhat more narrow ; they are acuminate, almost prickled, and also greener than the leaf of the olive. The flowers are white ; the fruit may suitably be compared to acorns with- out a cup. Immediately under the shell there is a kind of pulp, or fleshy substance, which, when it is dried, shrinks almost into nothing ; it lies round a nut, much resembling an olive kernel, but thicker, which contains a very fat and oily almond, covered with thin membranes. The oil which is pressed out of it, the Arabs hold in such a high esteem, that, amongst articles considered by them as most indispensable, they even prefer it to the balm of Meccah, because they find it very efficacious against contusions and wounds.^ The Arabs pound the kernel of the fruit in a mortar, cast the pounded mass into hot water, and collect the oil, which then remains floating on ■^ This is supported by the experience of Maundrell (see Paulus' Collect. Vol. I. p. 110) and Mariti (p. 415). The lat- ter states, that a Venetian, having fallen from his horse in his journey from Jericho to Jerusalem, hurt his chest dangerous- ly, which caused to him anxiety and pain, and that he five days successively took every morning a spoonful of Zackum oil, and felt such a relief from it, that on the third day the anxiety had ceased, and on the fifth he was totally free from pain. AND OILS ARE TRErARED. 171 the top.* While it is fresh it has, both in taste and colour, a great resemblance to sweet almond-oil ; but it requires some days to become clear. The Arabs sell it in skins, but often adulterated with olive-oil, and purchasers therefore insist on its being pressed in their presence. Many travellers have found the Zackum-tree in great abundance in the country about Jericho.^ Pliny relates, that it also grows in Stony Arabia (Arabia Petraea), and that the oil prepared from it is called the Syrian oil.(/3) There is no reason to doubt, that, in former times, the Zackum-tree was to be found in abundance in Gilead (modern Dshelad), on the eastern bank of * This is also supported by Pliny's testimony, 1, c. : Ungu- entarii tantum corticem premunt ; medici nucleos, tundentes affusa eis paulatim calida aqua. '' Ex. gv. Miuindrell, Mariti (see above, note 3), Pococke (Descr* of the Or. Vol. II. p. 47), Hasselquist (Travels, p. 150) ; see also Arvieux's Remark. Accounts, Vol. II. p. 155. (j8) Pliny (Lib. XII. cap. 21. § 46) does not say that the oil is called the Syrian oil, but that " the nut of the Myroba- lanum, which grows in Arabia, is called the Syrian ;" a cir- cumstance seeming to indicate that the IVIyrobalanum had been introduced from Syria into Arabia. These are the words of Pliny : " The Myrobalanum is common to the Troglodytes, the Thebais, and Arabia, which divides Judaea from Egypt (i. e. Stony Arabia) : it grows for the purpose of producing ointment, as appears from its very name. And this also in- dicates that this tree (whose leaf is like the heliotrope, of which I shall speak amongst the plants) produces a nut. The fruit is of the size of an hazel-nut (Avellanaemicis). Of these the one which grows in Arabia is called the Syrian." The context, both before and after, clearly shews that the gram- matical subject of the last clause is Glans — Tr. 172 PLANTS FROM WHICH ODOROUS RESINS, &C. the river Jordan,^ and that the oil obtained from it was held in very high esteem.7 6 See RosenmuUer's Bibl. Geogr. Vol. II. Pt. I. p. 127, 130. (of which, see the Translation in the Biblical Cabinet.) ^ Celsius (P. II. p. 180) is of opinion, that ^"^V is the Mastick shrub, which is denoted by a similar Arabic name o » >^ . But Firusabadi says in Kamus (p. 1908, Calcutta Edit.), that this word denotes the tree called Camcam, ^1 ^ ^^^ , and its green berry, and not, as incorrectly as- serted by Dshauhari, its resin. Ibu Sina observes (p. 277 of o the Arabic text, that ^ a^ is well known, that its gum is brought to Meccah ; that it has the power of laudanum ; that it is odorous, and much in request with the women of Hhaleb. Camcam {x,ayKoi[jt,ov) is, according to Dioscorides (B. 1. cap. 23), the resin of an Arabic shrub resembling myrrh, which, in combination with styrax and myrrh, is used for fumigating clothes. Accordingly, neither Dherw nor Camcam is a medi- cine, and neither of them is a produce of Palestine. J. D. Michaelis, in his Supplemm. p. 2144, sqq., Warnekros (in Eichhorn's Reperto.r. Vol. XV. p. 227), Jahn (Archaeol. Vol. I. § 83), and others, declare that ^**i^ is the Opobalsamum ; but this is more a perfume than a remedy for healing wounds ; and it also is an Arabic produce. And its Hebrew name is Ba- sam or Bosam, see above, p. 147 and 150, note 7. The H ebrew word ^1^5 as appears from the Arabic root ts tO > Fluid, or liquid in general, which equally applies to oil of every kind. As to the greatly varying interpretations of the ancient translators, see Michaelis, 1. c. SECTION SIXTH. FLAX AND COTTON. I. Pishtah} Flax,'' Flax we find first mentioned in the Bible in Exod. ix. 31, where it is related, that by the hail storm which took place before the emigration of the He- brews from Egypt, the flax, amongst other plants, being then in blossom,^ v. as destroyed. Flax was, even in the earliest ages, one of the most important objects of agricultm^e and trade in Egypt, '^ and is so still. It is amongst the principal produce of the pro- vince of Fayum and of the Delta. Ilie climate and the soil so greatly favour its growth^ that the plant there attains a size which it never reaches in Europe. Egyptian linen affords clothing, not only to the en- tire population of that country, but also to the inha- bitants of the whole of nothern Africa and a part of the interior, and to the entire Levant ; it is even ex- ^ T\y\t^^^ and also T\r\WB^ Hos. ii. 7, H- T \ ■ V ; • - Linum usitatissimum, s. sativum, Celsius P. TI. p. 283. The Greek Translators of Alexandria, almost in every pas- sage, render the Hebrew word Xlvev. , ^ Geseniushas shewn, Thesaur. p. 2C1, that /'>'*^.i! does not, as many have supposed, denote the hud but \X\(? floicer-cup. * Celsius, 1. c. p. 285, sqq. 174 FLAX AND COTTON. ported to Italy and France.-^ Amongst the calami- ties that were to befal Egypt, the prophet Isaiah xix. 9, also mentions, that the linen-weavers^ should be distressed on account of the failing crop of the flax. That flax was cultivated in Palestine as early as the time when the Hebrews conquered the coun- try, appears from the circumstance mentioned in Josh. ii. 6, that Joshua's spies were concealed by Rachab on the roof of her house, below some stalks of flax* And Prov. xxxi. 13, a careful housewife is ■'' Hasselquist's Journey, p. 500. Olivier's Voyage, T. III. p. 297. Cfr. Sonnini, Vol. II. p. 21. Paul Lucas, Voyages, P. II. p. 47, also says, that in the province of Fayum, both the greatest quantity of flax, and also the most excellent qua- lity, is cultivated and manufactured. In Silv. de Sacy's Notes, accompanying his French translation of AbdoUatif^ Memorabilia of Egypt, p. 149, we find an account of the treat- ment and preparation of flax, extracted from Ebn Awwam\s work on Agriculture. As to the cultivation of this plant in Egypt, see Girard's Observations in the Description de I'Egypte, T. XVII. (etat moderne,) p. 98. * The expression T^VH ^nt^D? literally denotes, flax of the loood. The Alexandrian translates kitoxaXd/ucn. Gesenius translates the Hebrew expression hy Baumflachs (Tree-flax,) i. e. cotton, (Manual-Diction, p. 697, third edit.) observing that the names of linen and cotton were frequently exchanged, the one for the other. But here no good reason appears for deviating from the ordinary signification of the word DTlCi^Q- The flax stalks were spread on the flat roof in open air, in or- der to roast them in the sun, which, in subsequent times, was PLAX AND COTTON. 175' commended for occupying herself with flax. The official garments of Hebrew as well as of Egyptian priests,'' were made of linen, in Hebrew Bad.^ See Exod. xxviii. 42 ; xxxix. 28. Levit. vi. 3. 2 Sam. vi. 14. and Ezechiel requires, that in the future new temple, the plan of which he describes, the priests shall enter the inner vestibule dressed in linen gar- ments,^ Ezek. xliv. 17. Moreover, we find mention- ed linen girdles, (Jerem. xiii. 1.) lines, (Ezek. xl. 3,) and cords, (Judges xv. 13, 14.) Coarse linen, woven of raw flax,^° served as clotJiing for poor people. Sir. xl. 4. Tow, in Hebrew Neoreth^^ is mentioned in Judges xvi. 9. Isa. i. 31, as a substance easily kindled by fire. 2. Sheshy and also Buz,^ Cotton.^ The Hebrew word Shesh, which occurs thirty done in ovens. Joseph. Antiquities, B. V. cap. 1, § 2, sa)> expressly, Xlvov ya,^ uyxaXi^as l^t rouriyevs i^v^i'{y) '^ 12' ^ Celsius, 1. c. p. 289. '^ Gossypium herbaceum, s. Celsius, P. II. p. 259, I(J9. (y) Dr. Rosenrauller's translation, which, in tliis instance, coincides with the English bible, would require a Hebrew text, the very reverse of what we find in the Hebrew bible, otherwise it could scarcely be right. Instead of Pishtah in the status constructus of the pi. n., we would have had E:: in the status constr. pi. with the defin. art. ha joined to Pishtah ; the text would have been Aze ha pishtah: TM^ti^BH ^V}/, then indeed, we could have translated tioods or trees of the flax, and understood by that expression /ax 5/aft5 ; but, considering the actual state of the text, it i* impossible not to give preference to Dr. Gesenius' translation Tr. 176 FLAX AND COTTON. times in the two first books of the Pentateuch,^ is in these places as well as in Prov. xxxi. 22, by the Greek Alexandrian Translators interpreted Byssus, which denotes Egyptian cotton, and also the cotton* cloth made from it.'* In the later writings of the Old Test., as, for example, in the Chronicles, the ^ The passages are quoted in Celsius, p. 259. * This is the Arabic word ^ , ytai'j ^^so ^ As-Si and ■* See J. Reinh. Forster's Liber singularis de bysso antiquo- rum, Lend. 1776, 8vo. He is of opinion, (p. 47, sqq.) that the Hebrew tVt^ is contracted from the Egyptian Shenes, a compound v^ord, of She, a tree, and Es, which (only according to his conjecture however,) denotes the fruit of the cotton shrub, and an epenthetic n, expressive of the status construc- tus or genitive case. It is certain, that in the modern-Egyp- tian or Coptic version of the Pentateuch, which is made from the Greek version, the Greek word (hixriro? is always rendered Shensh in the Coptic. P. E. JaUonsky, (Opuscula, T. I. p, 290,) and his editor Te Water, consider it as certain, that ^^ is derived from this Egyptian word. Gesenius, how ever, (Hebr. Germ. Manual-Diet. p. 873,) derives the Heb rew name from t^^tt^^ to be white, at the same time admit ting, that the Hebrews may have borrowed it from the Egyp tian language, without losing sight of the Hebrew etymology The Arabs, according to IS'iebulir, (Descr. of Arabia, p. 62,) call Sash that large fine piece of muslin which they wrap around their head-gear. And Prosper Alpinus (De Plantis Aegypti, p. 38,) says^ that in Arabia, a stuff called Sassa is made of cotton. These names are, in all probability, not essentially different from Shesh or Shensh. FLAX AND COTTON. 177 book of Esther and Ezecliiel,^ buz^ is commonly used instead of shesh^ as an expression for cotton cloth. The shrub from whose fruit cotton is obtained, grows in many parts of Egypt and of Palestine. It is planted like cabbage or potatoes, each plant a foot or two distant from the next ; it must be planted in autumn, when the rainy season begins. During that season, and as long as the plant is young, it re- sembles our buck wheat, having a beautiful red stem and a green leaf. In May it blossoms, having a yel- low flower, which produces a green nut attaining the size of a walnut, in which the cotton is contained. In the summer months, the capsule gradually opens, and the cotton makes its appearance. In August and September it is gathered. The shrub reaches the height of about three feet, and spreads in branches. The stem attains about a finger's thickness, and be- comes as hard as wood in the hot season. The seed is frequently found in the cotton which is brought to us. When it is cut asunder, an oily kernel, as in hemp-seep,'' is found in it. The prophet Ezechiel ^ Celsius, 1. c. p. 169. ^ J. E. Faber, (Remarks on the East, Vol. II. p. 383,) con- siders it as certain, that Buz is the very same word as Byssus. But Celsius and Gesenius derive it from '^'^'2.^> ncij (instead of ijiiAj ) to be u-hite. This latter opinion is sup- ported by the circumstance, that the word "n^H? *in5 which denotes Jine tvhile linen or cotton coth, (Esth. i. G ; viii. 15,) also is derived from "liM to be white. ^ Korte's Travels, p. 67(>. Cfr. Prosper Alpinus de Plau- N 178 FLAX AND COTTON. xxvii. 16, mentions cotton fbuzj amongst the pro- ductions of Syria, which were brought to the markets of Tyre. Pausanias states, that cotton is produced in Judea.^ Among the descendants of Judah, a fa- mily which established a cotton manufactory^ is men- tioned, 1 Chron. iv. 21. The circumstance that Joseph, when raised to the dignity of a Grand Vizier, Gen. xli. 42, was honoured with a cotton dress by Pharaoh, shews that cotton stuifs were among the Egyptians considered as most costly. Plmy^^ also says, that the official robes of the Egyptian priests were made of byssus, and of cotton cloth. In the description of the rich man in the parable, Luke xvi. 19, it is stated, that he daily tes Aegypti, p. 18. Cotwyk's /^in^r. p. 93. Pococke's Descr. of the East, Vol. II. p. 88. Mariti (on the Cultivation of the Cotton shrub in the Isle of Cyprus,) Travels, p. 142. Oli- vier's Voyage, T. III. p. 2.'j8 ; T. IV. p. 138. The Wool-tree ( Gossypium arborescens,) which is yet cultivated in Egypt, is different from the cotton shrub. As to the Gossypium ar- horescens, see Girard in the Description de I'Egypte, T. XVII. p. 104. Cfr. Voss on Virgil's Georgics, Lib. II. v. 120. Faber conjectures, that stuffs made of the wool of the wool-tree are called t^^? but those made of the wool of the cotton shrub, Y']'2,7 ^"^ ''^'^ conjecture he founds on the circum- stance, that in Ezech. xxvii. 7) t^tl^ is mentioned as an Egyptian production, but, in v. 16 of the same chapter, t*^^ as a Syrian article. ^ Eliac. Posterior, towards the end. 10 Hist. Nat. Lib! XIX. cap. 1. FLAX AND COTTON. 179 arrayed himself in byssus. The clothes made of this material were white^^ this appears from Revel, xix. 8, 14, where it is said of the inhabitants of heaven, that they were ai*rayed in pure white byssus gar- ments. The reason no doubt was, that white is the colour of innocence. Carpas^^ is also considered as the name of a line cotton or linen stuff; it is mentioned, Esth. i. 6, in the description of the tapestries, with which the inner court of the royal palace of Susa was hung. The Hebrew word will recal to the recollection of every one the Carbasus^^ of the Greek and Roman authors, which occurs very frequently with them, and by which is denoted a kind of fine flax, and also the stuff made of it, which, according to Pliny, ^* was first invented in Spain. The name, how- ever, the Greeks doubtless received from the East. For, in the Sanscrit, Karpasam denotes a linen ^^ However, as Pausanias 1. c» states that the byssus pro- duced in Elis is, in respect of its fine quality, not at all infe- rior to the Hebrew, and that it only is less yellow. Voss (1. c.) believes that the rich man in the parable strutted in a gorgeous yellov/ array of the Hebrew byssus, and in purple, as the two most magnificent colours known in ancient times. But cotton stuffs may have been bleached white by the He- brews, as linen is with us, ^^ DB*13- Celsius Hierobot. P. II. p. 157- Gesenius' Manual-Dicr. p. 399, 3d edition. ^* Hist. Nat. XIX. cap. 1, § 2, 3. Et Hispania citerior habet splendorem lini praecipium .... Et tenuitas mira, ibi primum carbasis repertis. 180 FLAX AND COTTON. cloth,^^ from which the Persic Kirbas and Korfas^^ are derived. Now, appropriate and suitable as the sig- nification ^we cotton or linen cloth is in itself, for the above mentioned passage of the book of Esther, the circumstance, that the word carpas is placed between two other words, which undoubtedly denote colours, viz. the white and the purple hlue^'^ is adverse to the reception of such a signification. The intermediate carpas, accordingly, most probably also denotes a colour. An Arabic word, consisting of the same consonants as the Hebrew, but of which the vowels only ai'e differently placed, and which is pronounced caraphs,^^ denotes garden parsley .^^ It is there- fore probable that the Hebrew word alludes to the green colour of this plant.^o This conjecture is sup- ^^ See the Glossary in Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo Vyaca- rana, p. 212. o ^o - 1' The Hebrew words are n'^^ril DB^I^ *V\T\' (Ckur Carpas uthecheleth . ) The first and third of these words also occur in juxtaposition, viii. 15, where it is stated, that Mordechai went out from the presence of the king in royal array, l^m Jl /^n> (te cheleth vachur,) purple blue and white. '3 Apium Petroselinum. Cfr. Ibn. Sina, p. 195 of the Arabic text. 2^ DS*13» is stated in J. J. Rambach's Notis uberiorib. iu liber. Esther ex recens. J. H. Michaelis (in the Uberiorr. FLAX AND COTTON. 181 ported by the Chaldee paraphrase, where carpas is interpreted leek-green.^^ Annotatt. in Hagiograph. T. II. p. 1057,) to be : velum ex lino factum, viridis, ut videtur, coloris. Arabes petroselinum, quod summe viride est, Carfs vocant. Thus J. D. Faher in his posthumous MS. on Biblical Botany, also explains it. ** ]*jn*l3. Ckerathnin. SECTION SEVENTH. MARSH PLANTS. 1. Agmon} Reed, Rush; Germ. Sckilfrohr, BinseP- From the Hebrew word Agam^ which, like the cor- responding Arabic,^ denotes a pool, or stagnant water, and also a pond, is derived Agmon, the name of a plant growing in such waters, which is equivalent to the English reed or rush. Although, systematically speaking, these two plants belong to different families,* it is not at all improbable, that, on account of their resemblance to each other, they were comprehended under the common appellation ofAg- mo?i. The passages of the Old Test., in which the Hebrew word occurs, are reconcileable to both of them. The prophet Isaiah says, ix. 13 :(d) " There- fore Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and Agmon, in one day^ Here, in the second figure, which is taken from the vegetable '^ A rundo vulgaris, s. palustris; scirpus palustris. Celsius, P. I. p. 465, seqq. ^ The rush belongs to the family of Cyperaceae, Reed- grasses, but the reed to the family of Gramineaf?. See Per- leb's Comp. of Nat. Hist. B. I. p. 302 and 306. (S) Ver. 13 in the Hebrew, but 14 in the English Bible — Tr. MARSH PLANTS. 183 kingdom, and by which persons of high and low- rank are typically expressed, the reed and the rush^ both -being low marsh plants, may with equal pro- priety be contrasted with the lofty palm-branch. We have the same case in chap. xix. 15, " No work will he accomplished hy Egypt, neither by head nor tail, neither hy palm-hranch nor Agmon, i. e. hy reed or rush. Isa. Iviii. 5. Jehovah says : " Is that a fast to my liking : a day in, which a man affiicts his soul, hanging his head down like reed or rush ? The top, and the upper part of the one of the plants, as well as of the other, is always bent down on account of the length and weakness of the culm on which it is placed. In Job xl. 21 (others 26),(s) where the crocodile is described, we read : " Canst thou put Ag7non into his nose T As the impossibilit}^ of taming the crocodile is spoken of in the preced- ing passage, the Hebrew word here denotes a plaited cord of rushes or reeds.^ (Q In the se- quel of this description of the crocodile, xl. 11, (i) The former of these quotations (Jol) xl. 21) is from the Septuagint, and the latter (xl. 2G) from the Hebrew text. Iii the English version there is again another division, and there the words alhided to are to he found in Job xh'. 2. In other respects the English version of this passage greatly differs both from the Septuagint^ and also from Dr. Rosenmiiller's interpretation. — Tr. e Sonnini (Travels, Vol. I. p. 423, and Vol. II. p. 41G) says, that the reed is frequently used in Egypt for making cords. (^) " Canst thou put a reed into his nose.'''' I rather think these words imply no more than this: Canst thou play with him, or irritate him for juke's sake. Cfr. Ver. 5, (Engl, vers.) " 'W'lXi ihovi Y>^a.Y with him as with a bird.^^ — Tr. 184 ~ MARSH PLANTS. (others 12), (/;) it is stated, that " Out of his nostrils a vapour issues^ like the vapour of a seething pot and Agmony Here the greatest number of interpreters are of opinion, that the Hebrew word denotes a boil- ing cauldron? Agmon may here, however, denote a pond, in which reeds and rushes grow, and out of (*j) In the Engl, version, xli. 20. A comparison between Buifon's description of the Crocodile, and Job xli. 7? 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 1^ (Engl- version), seems greatly to support Dr. Rosenmiiller's interpretation, as to the identity of the Levia- than and the Crocodile, nay almost to place it beyond a doubt. BuflFon says : " The skin is defended by a suit of armour, which a mus- ket-ball cannot penetrate. The ci'ocodile has no lips; so that, when either walking or swimming with the utmost tranquil- lity, the teeth are bare, and the aspect seems animated by rage. Another circumstance that contributes to increase the terrific appearance of its countenance, is the fiery glare of its eyes ; and these, being situated near each other, have also a malig- nant aspect. The armour with which the crocodile is clad may be accounted among the most elal)orate pieces of nature's mechanism. On the lower parts it is much thinner, and more pliable than on the upper. The whole animal appears as if covered with the most regular and curious carved work. The mouth is of immense width," &c. This agrees well with the description in Job, even according to the English version : '^ Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish-spears ? Who can discover the face of his garment ? Who can open the doors of his face ? His teeth are terrible round about. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal ; one is so near to another, that no air can come between them : they are joined one to another : they stick together, that they cannot be sundered," &c — Tr. "^ From the signification, to be hot, to be boiling, which the root D^.^s has in the Arabic language. MARSH PLANTS. 185 which a dense mist and vapour arises.^ Such ponds are expressed by the word Agammim,^ ex. gr. Isa. XXXV. 7 ; xhi. 15, which is derived from the same root as Agmon. And in Jerem. li. 32, the reeds or rushes of such ponds having been burnt down by hostile armies, are called Agammim. From these observations, it appears that Agmon may denote reeds as well as rushes, and that Celsius excludes the latter without any good reason. It is even more probabe, that since the Hebrew language has a peculiar word (Kaneh) for reeds in general, Ag- mon is the word which properly denotes rushes, 2. Kaneh^ Reed,''- or Cane. The reed, as is well known, is a shrub plant, out of whose knotty root, many long hollow stems are put forth, which by knots are divided into several limbs. The leaves are sharp-edged and cutting ; in- stead of blossoms, there appear outspread ears of the form of ostrich feathers. It grows in humid marshy places, in ponds, and on the banks of rivers, ex. gr. on the banks of the Nile, Exod. ii. 3. 1 Kings xiv. 15. Isa. xix. 6 ; xxxv. 7. Job viii. 11. Several travellers have observed, that the banks of the Jor- ' Thus Ahen-Ezra, in the passage of Job here quoted, ex- plains pD:)}^ by n^^^^^H tDDnD' ^t^^KS D:!NN a pond when the air is heated, and from which, of course, a vapour rises. Arundo, canna, Celsius, P. II. p. 312. 186 MARSH PLANTS. dan are covered with various species of reed.^ Be- cause reed, on account of the length and weakness of its cuhu, is shaken to and fro by the slightest blast ; it is used as an image of a fickle unsteady man, Matth. xi. 7. Luke vii. 24.(^) In 1 Kings xiv. 15, ~ Ex. gr. Belon Observations, Livre II. ch. 80. (^) This, no doubt, is a very common, and very ancient in- terpretation of the words, xoiXa,iJt.ov iivo ci)iif/,ov ffee.Xiv'of/.tvor yet a more attentive examination of the context will at once shew its untenableness. Why should the Saviour suppose a suspi- cion of the Baptist's inconstancy and fickleness to have arisen in any mind ? This was the very suspicion by which, of all others, the Baptist was least likely to be assailed. All exter- nal circumstances, and his whole mode of life, bespoke a man, whom not even foolishness nor malice could accuse of fickle- ness. The Saviour, too, in ver. 18, states the existing pre- judice against John ; and this prejudice does not in any manner allude to fickleness. Moreover, the Saviour in proposing the question, " A reed shaken by the windV does not subjoin to it any negative answer as he does to the subsequent questions ; which plainly indicates, that, however superficial may be the opinion expressed by the words, " a reed shaken by the wind,'''' he does not consider it as utterly false or absurd. I quite agree with Schleusner, who says : '" Non audiendi sunt, qui in utro- que loco {i. e. Matth. xi. 7, and Luke vii, 24), arundinem sym- bolura hominis inconstantis, levis et fide dubii esse arbitran- tur." Still I cannot either adopt Schleusner's interpretation. The context of this sententious and enthymematical speech clearly shews, that the Saviour here proposes an opinion which might be expected to be common, an obvious and natural opi- nion ; but, at the same time, one far from being satisfactory or exhaustive. The weather-beaten reed, no doubt, is a type of the weather-beaten anchorite, leading a life of abstinence and seclusion. The meaning which is latent in the passage accordingly is : What did you go out to see in the wilderness ? A reed shaken in the wind, i. e. a mere weather-beaten anchorite MARSH PLANTS. 187 it is an emblem of a tottering kingdom, shaken to its very foundations. A man bent down by misfortune and sorrow, is, in Isa. xlii. 3, figuratively called a broken reed. The Roman soldiers, who, in scorn and derision, called the Saviour " King of the Jeivs^'^ gave him, according to Matth. xxvii. 29, instead of a sceptre, a reed into his right hand, in order to in- dicate that his sovereignty was as frail and futile as a reed. A species of a strong and tall reed^ was used as a stick, for support both in standing and walking. But if such a stick broke, the point or the splinter of the broken reed wounded the hand leaning on it for support. Therefore, the Assyrian General Rab- shakeh, 2 Kings xviii. 21. Isa. xxxvi. 6, sent this message to the King /Te^e/'m/^ [correctly^ ChizJiiali]: " Behold thou didst rely on that broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man lean^ it icill go into his hand, and pierce it. The same figure, and also of Egypt, is used by the prophet Ezechiel, xxix. 6. He thus ad- or recluse'? And since the Saviour does not confute this opi- nion, his silence amounts to this : A recluse no doubt he is ; but he who has seen no more in John the Baptist than the re- cluse, is far from having rightly estimated his character. A solitary reed in the desert, battered by the winds, utterly ne- glected and disregarded, and yet subsisting, is a suitable em- blem of an hermit, and of the many hardships and privations which he must suffer. This is not the place for interpreting the subsequent parts of the Saviour's speech respecting John the Baptist ; but it would be easy to shew, that the subsequent members of it far better agree with this interpretation than with any other hitherto proposed Tr. * Arundo Donax, Broad-leaved reed. Celsius, P. II. p. 317- 188 MARSH PLANTS. dresses the Egyptian nation : " Because thou wast a staff of reed to the house of Israel, lohen they took thee in their hand, thou didst break, and entirely pierce their shoulder ; and when they leaned on thee, thou brakest, and didst pass through both their loins. Therefore saith the Lord,'' &c. The splinter of a broken reed inflicts a painful wound. In one of Theokrit's Idyls, a maiden complains of pain in her finger, caused by a hurt received from a broken reed.^ And Theodoretus mentions this also as one of the tortures which the primitive Christians had to suffer :6 that broken and pointed sticks of reed were driven in under the nails of their hands and feet, and into other parts of their body. From Ezech. xl. 3, sqq. and Revel, xi. 1 ; xxi. 15, 16, it appears that the Hebrews used the reed as a measuring-rod for buildings. The length of such a measuring-rod was six ells, Ezech. xl. 5 ; and this is said to be the natural length of the strong broad- leaved reed.' A certain species of reed has, from the earliest ages to the present time, been, with the Eastern nations, a substitute for our writing quills. And thus we read in the conclusion of the third epistle of St. John (ver. 13): " / had much to write, but I would not write to thee with ink and reedP^ The reed,^ which ^ Idyl. VIII. 24. "Et; x.eCi rov tuKTvXov a,Xyu fi Hist. Eccl. B. V. p. 39. ' Celsius, 1. c p. 321. * Aix y.i\a.voi ku) KaXa.//,ev. s In Arabic ^j* , Kalam. *liJ MARSH PLANTS. 189 is used for this purpose, grows in the marshes be- tween the Euphrates and the Tigris, near Hellah, in the Babylonian Irak. When the reed has attained ripeness, and has been cut off, it is laid down in the marshes, in order to be softened, and this gives to it a dark yellow or brownish colour. When they are dried and prepared, these reeds retain a certain de- gree of hardness, which renders them fit for being used for writing pens. Although they are thicker than our writing quills, they become less thick when they are cut. For, as the interior marrow is then taken out, only a kind of thin bark remains, which, however, is sufficiently strong for writing.^^ 3. Keneh Bosem} and also Kaneh Hattoh^ Calamus,^ (Sweet-flag.) The common Calamus is a plant, with a very long leafy peduncle, frequently growing near ditches and rivers in every part of Europe. The whole plant, but particularly the root, contains an aroma, on ac- count of which the latter is well known as a heating, ^0 Tavernier's Voyages, T. I. p. 396. Cfr. Genz in Sadis^ Rosar. p. 595. Herbin's Developpemens des principes de la langue Arabe moderne, p. 226. ^ Oi^il T\l\^-> literally Reed of Fragrance. Exod. XXX. 23. * niton '\\yp') »• e. Good or Fragrant Reed. Jerem. vi. 20. ^ Acorus verus. Calamus aromaticus officinarum Asiaticus, radice teuuiore. Celsius, P. II. p. 355, sqq. 190 MARSH PLANTS. strengthening, and digestive medicine. These pro- perties are to be found in the Oriental calamus in a still higher degree. The best, which, according to Pliny,* grows in Arabia, spreads its scent to a great distance, and is soft to the touch. It is still better when it does not easily break, and when it is more splintery and fibrous in the fracture than a radish. In the middle of the hollow reed there is a web, which is called the flower. The more there is of it, the better is the quality of the plant. The shorter, thicker, and tougher in the fracture it is, the better it is considered to be. Ezechiel, in xxvii. 19, men- tions the calamus, too, amongst the goods imported from Arabia to Tyre. From the knotty root of this reed an oil was obtained, which, according to the precept of Exod. xxx. 23, was to be an ingredient in the holy oil of ointment. It may be inferred from Isa. xliii. 24, that the pulverized root was employed in the perfume, which was destined for divine ser- vice, for in that passage Jehovah thus addresses the Jewish nation: " Thou hast not bought with money any calamus for me; thou hast not re- freshed me ivith the fat of thy sacrifices.^* And Jer. vi. 20, " For what purpose is the incense of Theha brought to me ? and the calamus of a distant coun- try ? The calamus is, however, not mentioned amongst the ingredients prescribed in Exod. xxx. 34, from which the perfume for the Temple was to be prepared. * Hist. Nat. Lib. XII. cap. 22. MARSH PLANTS. 191 4. Gome^ The Papyrus Plant.^ From the words in Job viii. 11, " Can Gome grow anywhere hut in a marsh ?" it appears that the word gome denotes a marsh-plant. And in Isa. XXXV. 7, gome is mentioned along with kaneh, a reed, as a plant growing in humid places.^ The plant is still more precisely characterized by the cir- cumstance, that, according to Exod. ii. 3, and Isa. xviii. 2, river boats were made of it in Egypt. This applies only to the papyrus shrub, from which small boats were plaited, which Mere used on the river Nile. Moses was exposed, Exod. ii. 3, amongst the flags of the Nile, in such a plaited and pitched pa- pyrus case."* " The Papyrus reed," Pliny says,^ " grows in Egypt in marshy places, or in the stag- nant pools, remaining after the inundation of the Nile, where the water is not more than two ells deep ; its oblique root is of about an arm's thickness ; the plant is triangular ; its height does not exceed ten cubits, and it tapers towards the top, terminating above with a tassel, or flower capsula, which can be used for no other purpose, than for making of it gar- ^ ^i^ih- - Papyrus. Celsius, P. II. p. 137, scjq. ^ From K/tDi!? to sip, K/tD^ denotes a plant, sucking or absorbing ivater. Thus Lucan, Pharsal. IV. 130, gives to the Papyrus shrub the epithet bibula. ^ Hist. Nat. L. XIII. cap. 11, § 22. 192 MARSH PLANTS. lands for the statues of the gods.^(/) The inhabi- tants use the root instead of wood ; not only as fuel, but also for making vessels of it. From the plant it- self tliey weave boats : but from the bark they make sails, roof-shinglesj clothes, mattresses, and also ropes. They chew it raw, and also boiled, and merely swal- low the juice of it."7 Theophrastus also asserts, that « Bruce (Travels, Vol. V. p. 28, Volkmann's Translation) says, " that the triangular culm of the papyrus has a vivid green colour; that it is stout below, but tapers at the top. The lower part of the culm is about two feet high^ surround- ed with long, hollow, lanceolate leaves, covering each other like scales, and rendering more firm the lower part of the plant. Their colour is dark-brown or yellow. The upper part, or the top consists of many small grass-like stalks (fila- ments), one foot in length. About the middle each of these stalks subdivides itself into four, and from this point of divi- sion is put forth the same number of leaves. The top some- what resembles an ear of wheat, but it is in reality a soft ten- der chalFy husk. The flowers grow alternately on the culm, not opposite to each other, nor below on the culm." The best botanical description of the papyrus plant is to be found in Christ. Fridr. Rottboll's Descript. novar. plantar. Lib. I. Hafn. 1773, fol. p. 32, sqq. In Egypt this plant is, according s to Bruce, (p. 27) called \ j , Berde. Gollus, Lexlc Arab. p. 252. (<) Although this appears to be a more correct description of the plant, it is not Pliny's text, for he says : " Thyrsi raodo cacumen includens semine nullo, aut usu ejus alio, quam floris ad Decs coronandos," i. e. it closes its top like a Bac- chus-wand, having no seed, and being of no use, excepting the flower, which may be used for crowning the gods. — Tr. ~ " The root was chewed like liquorice, because much sweet juice was contained in it. Of this we are informed by Dios- MARSHY PLANTS. 193 the Nile wherries were made of papyrus.^ But they were, as Achilles Tatius^ observes, so small, that they could carry only one person, and those who used such a conveyance, when they came into shal- low water, took the wherry on their back, and car- ried it further. Plutarch says,^^ that Isis circumna- vigated the marshes in a papyrus wherry, for the purpose of collecting the pieces of Osiris's body. From Heliodorus's account,^ ^ it appears that the Ethiopians made use of similar boats ; for he relates that the Ethiopians passed in reed-wherries over the Astaboras ; and he adds, that these wherries were swift-sailing, being made of a light material, and not capable of carrjnng more than two or three men. According to Bruce^'^ the only kind of boats that is found in Abyssinia, and which they call Tancoa, is, even in modern times, made in the following man- ner : the keel is made of acacia-wood, and the papy- rus plants, being first sewed together, are fastened to it, gathered up before and behind, and the ends of the plants thus tied together. These observations corides. The sugar-cane is also chewed. In Abyssinia, they still are in the habit of chewing the root of the maize, as well as also the roots of every species of Cyperus.^^ Bruce, 1. c. p. If). ^ Hist. Plantar. Lib. IV. cap. 0. Avtos %\ o ttu-^v^os ttcos vrXiidta, ^^yitrifAOs , Ka) ya^ 'XXolat, voiouffiv l| eclroZ. 9 Lib. IV. p. 248. Cfr. Celsius, 1. c. p. 147. ^^ De Iside et Osiride, p. 358. 1* Aethiopica, Lib. X. p. 460, Bourdalou's Edit. ''-* L. c. p. 18. Cfr. Ludolf's Hist. Aethiop. Lib. I. cap. 8. No. 112. Solum lacum Tzaniciim, quern et mare Dembeae vocant, monoxylis lintribus, ex typha praecrassa confertis, magno suo periculo navigant. O 194 MARSHY PLANTS. illustrate the passage in Isaiah viii. 2, Avhere Ethiopia is spoken of as a country, which sends its messengers in reed-vessels^^ across the water. Job complains, ix. 26, that his days pass away like Ebeh-ships}^ Several interpreters believe that these denote the very swift reed-boats above described ; because an Arabic word,^* resembling the Hebrew, signifies reed. But as the material from which these wherries were made is called goine in two other pas- sages, Exod. ii. 3, and Isa. xviii. 2, it appears im- probable, that, in the passage of Job, another word should be used. Moreover, the expression Oniyoili^^ which signifies larger ships, would scarcely have been applied to these diminutive wherries. For these rea- sons, we agree with those, who interpret Oniyoth- Ebeh, pirate-ships ;^7 for these also commonly are swift sailing, and this interpretation harmonizes with the figure of an eagle darting upon its prey, whicli is used in the second member of the verse. 5. Achu,^ Sedge."^ Job asks, viii. 11 : " Can Achu grow without wa- ter f Immediately before he says ; " Can the pa- .. ; . V •• . T. ^' Literally: Ships of hostility. For more than forty MSS. read HH^K (instead of ^^^?)> which probably is to be pro- nounced n^i^K' T ^ ^nS*- ^ Carex. Celsius, P. I. p. 340, sqq. MARSHY PLANTS. 195 pyrus-reed grow anywhere but in a marsh ?" The seven fat cows, which, in Pharaoh's dream, foreboded as many fertile years, according to Gen. xli. 2, 18, came up out of the Nile, and fed in the Achu. From these passages, it appears that this word denotes a species of grass growing in humid and marshy places, which is further confirmed by St. .Jerome's statement, who says that learned men have given him certain information, that, in the Egyptian language, every green herb growing in marshes is called Achi.^ The word is still actually found retaining tliis significa- tion in the Coptic language, in which remnants of the ancient Egyptian tongue are preserved.'^ 6. Suph,^ Seaweed, (Seatangle?) Germ. Seegras, Meertang.^ The Arabic Gulf, which the Hebrews called the Siiph-Sea,^ is, in the Coptic version of the Pentateuch ^ In the Commentary on Isa. xix. 7- For here the Greek translator of Alexandria has explained the Hebrew words, ^1K /y n I ly by TO m^t TO x^Xa^oy •!ra,v ro xuxXm tov tto- Tafiov. Now, St. Jerome thus interprets the word a;^/: Quura ab eruditis quaererem, quid hie sermo significaret, audivi, ab Aegyptiis hoc nomine lingua eorum omneguod in pahide vinns nascitur, appellari. In Sirach xl. 16, the Egyptian word a^t has been retained. ^ gee Jablonsky's Opuscula, P. I. p. 45. P. II. p. 160. ^ P|^D' ^ *S»»f. Alga. Celsius, P. II. p. 64. ^ ^^D " D^- Rosenmullei's Bibl. Geogr. Vol. III. p. 100. 196 MARSHY PLANTS. and the Psalms (Exod. x. 19 ; xiii. 18 ; xv. 4. Ps. cvi. 7, 9, 22), called by its old Egyptian name the Shari-sea. But Sharif or as the Greeks pronounced it, Sari, is the Egyptian name for tangles or sea- weeds,^ of which there is such an abundance on the coasts of the Arabic Gulf, that, according to the statement of Diodorus Siculus and Agatharchides, it gives a green colour to the water, and the waves cast such a quantity up on the coast, that heaps moun- tain-high are accumulated of it.-^ Shmv observes,^ that probably no place exhibits so great an abun- dance of sea vegetation as the haven of Tor, on the \vest coast of the Arabic Gulf. " As we," he thus continues, " rowed along in smooth water, we ob- served such a variety of madrepores, fucuses, and other sea vegetation, that we could only consider it, as Pliny once did, as a submarine forest. The branch- ed madrepores in particular justified the comparison ; for we passed over the tops of some of the height of eight or ten feet, being of a pyramidal form like a cypress ; some had open and expanded boughs like oaks, not to mention many others, which, like creep- ing plants, were spread over the bottom of the sea." These observations, at the same time, illustrate the words of the prophet Jonah, ii. 6, " Sea-weed was wrapped around my headJ"^ * Jablonsky's Opuscula, P. I. p. 2GG, and P. II. p. 164, sqq. Cfr. J. D. Michaelis' Supplemra. p. I72G. ^ See the quotations in Bochan's Geogr. S. P. I. L. IV. cap. 29, p. 320. 6 Travels, p. 384, Germ. Transl. r, ,*^^*,L, Si^nn ^j^D. Suph chabush leroshi. The MARSHY PLANTS. 197 In Exod. ii. 3, 5, it is mentioned that the mother of Moses put the papyrus box, in which he was ex- posed in the snph, on the banks of the Nile. And Isaiah xix. 6, says, tliat reed and suph withers on the banks of that river. In these passages, no doubt, that species of sari is denoted by suph^ which, ac- cording to Pliny, grows on the banks of the Nile, being a shrub about two ells in height, of a thumb's thickness, whose leaves resemble the papyrus, and which likewise is chewed after the same manner.® beauty and force of these Hebrew words is obvious to every one who is at all acquainted with Hebrew diction. They at the same time clearly shew, that the prayer of the prophet Jonah must be connected with a history, different from that with which it is now associated, since these words would (even poetically) be inapplicable to the situation of a man inclosed in. the belly of a sea-monster. The prayer is appropriate only for a man in a drowning condition, who has already, once at least, sunk to the bottom of the sea. The quotation, Jonah ii. G, is right according to the Hebrew Bible ; in the English version these words are found in ver, 5 — Tr. ^ Hist. Nat. Lib. XIII. cap. 23. Fruticosi est generis .yari, circa Niium nascens, duorum ferme cubitorura altitudine, pol- licari crassitudine ; coma papyri, similique mandilur modo. Cfr. Theoph. Hist. Plant. Lib. IV. cap. 9. SECTION EIGHTH. THORNS AND THISTLES. 1. Koz,^ Thorns.'^ The Hebrew word probably is the common name, generally applicable to thorny plants, both great and small. When we read, Gen. iii. 18, that in future, the earth shall bring forth for man, Koz and Dar- dar ;^ this expression undoubtedly, is equivalent to the English Thorns and Thistles. The same ex- pression is used Hos. x. 8, Koz and Dardar^ i. e. Thorns and Thistles grow on the dilapidated altars of the idols. It is also used of weeds in corn-fields, Exod. xxii. 6. If fire break out and catch the thorns^ (Kozim.,) and hum the corn heaps. Isa. xxxii. 13, V*lp« Jewish philologists derive this name from V^p' which denotes, to be disgusted^ to feel indignation, because the sting of a thorn is disagreeable. Gesenius' conjecture, that the word is derived from VI p» corresponding in its significa- tion with V Vp to cut, and consequently also to sting, wound ; is more probable. 2 Spina, sentis, vepres. Celsius, P. II. p. 223. The Greek Translators of Alexandria, put everywhere «x«vSa< and ecKav^a for 1*1 p* ^ iS rymp\ n-in^i pp. THORNS AND THISTLES. 199 Iti the land of my people thorns groiv. Jerem. iv. 3, Break up your fallow ground^ and sow not among thorns.^ In Judges viii. 7, 16, thorns are mentioned as plants growing in deserts. Thorns cut up were, according to Isa. xxxiii. 12, used as fuel.^ 2. Afad,^ Buckthorn, Germ. Stechdorn.^ The Arabic word^ which, in sound is similar to the Hebrew, denotes a species of that thorn-bush which the Arabs call Ausadsh or Usedsh^ This shrub, ^ Ononis spinosa, says Hasselquist, p. 501, spinosissima ilia et perniciosa planta, campos integi'os tegit Aegypti et Palaes- tinae. Non dubitandiim, quin banc indicaverint in aliquo loco scriptores sacri. Pensitent phiiologi, quaenam Scripturae spina sit, quae in Aegypto Arabice hodie dicitur Akol. An ilia, quam in maledictione terrae nominat Moses ? cum carduis maximis, in Aegypti incultis, promiscueet copiosissimecrescit. ^ Jarchi on Ezech. ii. 6, observes, that in the Old Test. there are twenty vocables denoting thorny plants. But among these there are many of which it is at least doubtful, whether they denote thorns, e. g. D^llDs uD^S^j D^!3£i^» T T • • • ■•. uD^^p*!^' Hasselquist says, moi-eover, 1. c. : Ex plurimis illis spinarum speciebus, quaruni in sacris libris fit mentio, minima pars cognoscitur, et quaenam fuerint plantae definiri potest. T T - Rhamus spinis oblongis. Celsius, P. I. p. 199. ^^"^>^5 according to Ihn Beitar, in Golius Lexic. Arab. 200 THORNS AND THISTLES. Prosper Alpinus^ says, has an abundance of branches, which attain the height of three ells and upwards, on which are found many long and very acute thorns, partly covered with small florets. The leaves of this shrub resemble the leaves of the olive, but are whiter and narrower. The flowers are small and white, and resemble in form and size those of the Oriental hyacinth. The fruit is a small, black, bitter berry. Belon^ and Rauwolf found this thorn-bush very common in Palestine, particularly in the neighbour- hood of Jerusalem. The former observes, that it is used for hedges and inclosures. In the fable of Jotham, Judges ix. 8, sqq. this thorn-bush is, in ver. 14, 15, the emblem of a tyrant. From Ps. Iviii. 10, it appears that it was used for fuel. There we read of the destruction of the unrighteous, and the op- p. 120. In the Kamus, (p. 340, Calcutta edit.) j^^ ^ O - Ow3 J - is explahied by ^^VA(w&,3t!\ / , A^iX^-c ^^^ wood of the shrub El~ atad. The Carthaginians too, whose language, the Punic, was closely related to the Hebrew, called the buckthorn Ata- din, according to the Supplements to Dioscorides : 'Pa^vaj. 'AJij. ^^ *^^ "^^P °^ ^^^ ^'^y? furnished by Burckhardt, (Travels in Arabia, p. 320,) it is marked No. 17, and there it is called el-Bekya. " Sic a rhamnorum multitudine nomen acoepit Rhanmus, pagus Atticae ; a spinis, Acanthus, oppidum Thraciae, Cretae, et Aegypti; a rubis, Rubi, oppidum Campaniae. Simonis Onomastic. V. T. p. 98. ^^ Ex. gr. Rauicolfy 1. C. '^ "AxavSas/. 202 THORNS AND THISTLES. on this subject must remain uncertain, and they can never lead to any satisfactory result.^''' 3. Dardar^ Thistles."^ The Hebrew word, which, in the passages, Gen. iii. 18. Hos. X. 8, quoted above in No. 1, is com- bined with another Hebrew vocable denoting thorns, receives from the ancient Translators, the appellation Tribolos ;^ this name denotes a plant with a prickly flower, by the Germans called Burzeldor?i.^ (k) 4. Chedeh^ a Thornhush, Brier? This Hebrew word occurs only twice in the Old ^* Hasselquist (Travels, p. 560, Germ. Transl.) believes, that ihe thorn used by the soldiers was that thorny plant grow- ing in many parts of Palestine, which the Arabs call Nabeke. '' It was," he says, " very suitable for their purpose, as it has many sharp thorns, which inflict painful wounds; and its flexible, pliant, and round branches, might easily be plaited in the form of a crown. What still more strengthens my opinion, is, that the leaves of this plant much resemble the ivy, and, like it, have a rich dark green colour. Probably the soldiers, by way of scorn and derision, chose a plant resembling that with which their emperors and generals were usually crowned, in order thus more fully to express their mockery. ^ Tribulus veterum, Tribulus terrestris Linn. Celsius, P. II. p. 128. ^ T^i^oXasy tribulus. * Fagonia Arabica, longissimis aculeis arraata. («) French, Tribule — Tr. ^ plil' ^ Paliurus. THORNS AND THISTLES. 203 Test.: First, Prov. xv. 19, The way of the slothful resembles a Chedek-h&dge^ which Symmachus trans- lates, a hedge of thorns.^ And, in the second place, Mich. vii. 4, we read : The best among them is as Chedek, and the most righteous like a hedge.^ From both passages it appears, that the Hebrew word de- notes a species of thorn slirubs which were used for enclosures or hedges. But this characteristic is much too general to determine from it with any pre- cision, what particular species of thorny plants is de- noted by the Hebrew word.^ ^ "Off'Xi^ (ps^ayf/,oi i^aKiiv^ni. The Alexandrian Translator, o^o) ai^yuv iffT^mjuivcci ecKoivBoci?, the tvays of the slothful are strewed with thorns. * Sicut paliurus, says the old Latin version. J. H. Voss observes on Virgil's Eel. V. 39, that the paliurus of the an- cients was a prickly shrubby plant, used for quick hedges, having deciduous leaves, and above the leaves, in a kind of husk, three or four oily seeds, like the linen seeds. The southern buckthorn, which still, with the Greeks, bears the corrupted name paliru, (Rhamnus Paliurus Linn.) pos- sesses these characteristics. The Greek Alexandrian Trans- lator probably read a different word in his MS. See Bo- chart's Hieroz. P. JI. L. IV. cap. 25, T. III. p. 618. Leipz. edit. * Because the Arabic word ^Jj js^*^. Chadak, which entirely corresponds with the Hebrew, denotes the love-apple (IMelon- gena,) whose stem and leaves are prickly. Celsius (P. II. p. 43, sqq.) gives the same signification to the Hebrew word. But the plant, whose fruit is the love-apple (a species of small melon,) is of the family of night-shades (Solaneae,) and not at all suitable for making a hedge. 204 THORNS AND THISTLES. 5. Cfioach} a Thorny Shrub."^ The prophet Isaiah xxxiv. 13, mentions Choach among other thorny plants, springing up in desert places, and in Hos. ix. 6, this vocable is found in a similar context. In the Prov. xxvi. 9, it is said, that a wise saying in the mouth of a fool is like choach in the hand of a drunken man. And, in his Song, Solomon says, ii. 2, that his beloved is among the daughters of Jerusalem like a lily amongst chochim. In these four places, the Alexandrian translators put for the Hebrew, that Greek word which denotes thorny plants generally.^ The Alexandrian transla- tor uses a similar Greek word,^ 2 Kings xvi. 9, where we read, that the choach of Lebanon sent to the cedar of Lebanon, saying. Give thy daughter to my son to wife, but a wild beast trod down the choach. Job xxxi. 39, 40, makes use of this protestation ; that, if he ever had oppressed the poor, choach might grow in his field instead of wheat, and weed instead of bar- ley. Here the Greek translator puts nettles^ for the Hebrew word. But the thornbush is here as suitable as in the other passages quoted. A precise deter- mination is here as impossible as it was in the word chedek, which was the subject of the preceding num- ber.^ '^ Prunus sylvestris, Celsius P. I. p. 477- ^ " A.KXv^ut. * "Axav. ^ Kt'tdri. ^ Celsius, 1. c. believes that nlH denotes the sloe or black- THORNS AND THISTLES. 205 In Job xl. 21, (according to others 26,) (X) the word choach does not denote the plant, but a hook or a ring, which it was usual to put through the nose o ^ thorn (Prunns sylvestris,) like the Arabic T'y^, which tlie Arabic translator puts for the Hebrew word, 2 Kings xiv. 9. o- £? a; J But ^>-=^ signifies Peach, being equivalent to CvT-^'r-^ '^eo^dxtoy, which, by GoHus, p. 770, is, according to Giggeius and Meidani, called malum Persicum ; and he adds, ita et a vulgo Orientis majoris generis sen cereum prunum vocatur. Firusabadi merely says, (in the Kamus, p. 320, Calcutta edit.) that A^j.-^, Collectiv. ^^^ is the name of a known fruit, (x) Here is some confusion ; It seems that Dr. Rosenmiil- ler has been thinking of the former part of the verse, 1£)?^1 \D:^H LD'Si^nn ; instead of the latter, nlnil yn / iLpDf foi' certainly Job does not speak of boring through the Q^, the nose, of the crocodile with a choach ; but his *'X\/i his jaw, or his jaw-bone ; it would also be diffi- cult to establish, that it was customary to bore through loith hooks or rings, the nose of large fish when caught, for what purpose could that serve ? It is much more probable that Job, alluding to the manner in which smaller fish is usually caught with hooks, when he says, " or bore his jaw through ti'ith a choach,'''' means no more than this, Canst thou catch him like a small fish, with a common fishing hook ? Every body who has caught fish on a hook in the deep, knows that the hook commonly pierces the jaw. The passage which is quoted, according to the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, is chap. xli. ver. 2, in the English Bible, see above sect. 7th, No. 206 THORNS AND THISTLES. of large fish when caught. Something analogous is to be understood, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, where it is stated, that the Jewish king Manasseh was, by the Assyrians, caught with chochim, i. e. fettersy and brought in chains to Babylon. Once, in the reign of Saul, the Israelites having been brought into great jeopardy by a mighty host of Philistines marching against them ; they concealed themselves, according to 1 Sam. xiii. 6, in caves, in chavachim^ in rocks, in towers, and in pits. Here many interpreters are of opinion, that chavachim means thorn-bushes or thickets. But, had such been meant, the expression would have been chochim. Here the Hebrew word surely denotes concealed places, hiding places in general.^ I. Translator's note. It seems probable, that before the in- vention of iron, primitive hooks were made of the hard thorns of some trees which were bent into a proper shape; such would be in no degree inferior to tlie Pa, made of tortoise- shell and mother of pearl, used by the Tonga Islanders. See Dr. Martin's Dictionary of the Tonga language, sub voce Pa in Vol. II. of his " Account of the Tonga Islands." If the signification of hook, of the word choach, were founded on more passages than Job xl. 26, one would be tempted to conjecture, that choach was even etymologically connected with the Eng- lish word hook ; the variation in the elements of these words, is no other than what naturally follows from the genius, i. e. the physical laws of these languages. — Tr. • T . ^ The Arabic ^^^^ amongst other things, denotes inter- stitium inter duas demos janua non clausum, and the verb «.LsL in the fourth conjugation, signi&es delituit. The Greek THORNS AND THISTLES. 207 6. Charul,^ a Thorn?/ Plants In the Proverbs xxiv. 30, 31, the following words are written : " Iivent hy the field of the slothful, and hy the vineyard of the man void of understanding ; and, to ! it was all grown over with nettles, and cha- ridlim covered its surface." Job, in xxx. 7, portrays a rude mob or people, who lead a miserable life in the wilderness, by saying, that they howl among the bushes, and gather themselves together under charul. And the prophet Zephaniah threatens, ii. 9, that the land of the Moabites and of the Ammonites shall be- come overgrown wdth charul. The Greek translator of Alexandria, in the first and last of these three places, (the only places in which the Hebrew word occurs,) entirely deviates from our present Hebrew text ; but, in the passage of Job, he translates charul by wild shrubs? The languages which are cognate with the Hebrew, have not this word. From the above quoted passage of the Proverbs, it may with probability be inferred, that charul denotes some thistle or thorn, which, like the nettle, is a productive Translator of Alexandria has interpreted CmP!^ h toTh . f --. /ji.d,y\aii, by which he, no doubt, has meant caves which were used as stables. ^nn. - Celsius, P. II. p. 163. Rhamnus floribus trigynis, acu- leis geminatis, altero inferiore reflexo, Paliurus. 208 THORNS AND THISTLES. weed in neglected fields ; and from Job xxx. 7, that it is a shrub of such a size, as to afford a resting-place beneath its shade. 7. Naazuz^ A Hedge of Thorns.^ When the prophet Isaiah threatens Judea with being inundated, and laid waste by hostile armies from Egypt and Assyria, he, in chap. vii. and verses 18 and 19, thus expresses himself; he says, that Jehovah shall allure the flies from the extremest parts of the rivers of Egypt, and the bees from the land of Assur, and that they should come and rest in the desolate valleys, and in the crevices of the rocks, and in all Naazuzim, and in all pastures. Here some interpreters have believed, that the Hebrew w^ord, crevices or Jissures.^ But from the other pas- sage (Isa. Iv. 13), in which the Hebrew word occurs, it appears that it denotes a plant ; for there we read, instead oi Naazuz^ fir-trees shall grow. These words indicate, that Naazuz denotes a mean and insignifi- cant shrub. An Arabic word,^ which in its elements somewhat resembles the Hebrew, is the name of a thorny-tree or shrub, whose bark is used as a dentri- 1 p^^y^. 2 Celsius, P. II. p. 189. ^ iiuasi loca perforata, from the Chaldee t*J^J infigere, hence the Chaldee 1**^^5 a hole, a pit. Thus the Greek ' • T translator of Alexandria : xu) \vr) ^aff»v payaha. THORNS AND THISTLES. 209 fice, and also for tanning.-^ The signification of the root : to stick into, to fix, which has been preserved in the Chaldee, leads to the inference, that the He- brew word generally denotes a prickly shrub, or a hedge of thorns.^ 8. Sirim^ Thorns? Amongst other thorns and thistles which were to grow in the ruined palaces of the foes of the Jewish nation Sirim are also mentioned, Isa. xxxiv. 13. In Hos. ii. 6, Jehovah threatens the Israelites to block up their way with sirim, that they may find no passage. Na- hum, i. 10, compares the foes of the Hebrew people with closely entangled siriin, which shall be snatch- ed away like dry stubble. In Eccles. vii. 6, sirim crackling under pots are mentioned. The Greek translator of Alexandria puts Greek names of thorny or prickly plants for the Hebrew word,^ and such ^ The passage from the Kamus, Gesenius has quoted in his Commentary on Isaiah, p. 317- The prickly lotus shrub is o similar : it is in Arabic called ^X-w , and this is the word which Saadias has put in both places for the Hebrew, ^ Sprengel (History of Botany, Vol. I. p. 12) conjectures, that ^^Syj is the Zizyphus vulgaris, which grows in many parts of Palestine, and which the Germans call Judendorn (Jews' thorn). ^ Spinae, vepres. Celsiu^;, P. II. p. 211. ^ Viz. Isa. xxxiv. 13, and Eccles. vii. 6, by uxavSa, Hos. P 210 THORNS AND THISTLES. also agree with the context in the passages where sirim occurs. Nothing can be determined more pre- cisely as to the meaning of this word."* 9. Sillon,^ a Thorn.^ The promise that the Hebrew people shall once be liberated from all their foes, who at that time vexed and oppressed them, is by the prophet Ezechiel xxviii. 24, thus figuratively expressed : " Then there shall be no more any sillonfor Israel, to wound it, nor any thorn (koz) to give it pain." Even the combination of the word sillo7i with another, which undoubtedly signifies thorns (see above, No. 1.), lead to the pro- bable inference, that the former denotes an analo- gous object. The Arabic word solal,^ which in its radical consonants corresponds with the Hebrew, de- notes the thorn of the date-tree, and the Chaldee word silleta,^ corresponding with the Hebrew, signifies a. thorn. The Greek translator of Alexandria has ac- ii. 6, by ffxoXoTns, Nah. i. 10, ;(^s^ffu^^ An Arabic word some- what resembling the Hebrew, Sharphat,'^ denotes a small shrub, having a milky sap, which, according to Sprengel's conjecture, is the wolfs-milk,^ The promise of the passage of Isaiah being, that in the wilderness cypresses shall grow instead of thorny hedges, and myrtles instead oi Sirpad, J. J. Schmidt^ conjectures that the Hebrew word denotes the Hoi- ///, ' ^Qj.) a shrub which is also indigenous in the groves of Italy and France. It is a low shrub, whose branches are tough striped rods, thickly studded, both winter and summer, with hard veined leaves, ^ Kovv^a, Polygonum orientale. ■* Urtica. ^ {jH^M ' See Ibn Sina, p. 179, 1. 7 of the Arabic text. ^ j>Z., 5 origanum. See above. Sect. IV. No. 2, note 3. -J ' ill\i f^ 5 species arbusculae lactiferae. Golius Lex. Ap- pend, p. 2841. * Euphorbia. Kist. of Botany, Vol. I. p. 16. '^ Biblischer Physicus, i. e. Natural Philosophy of the Bible, p. 395. JO Ruscus. (fA) 111 (Ternian, Myrthend^rn, or M'dusedorn, (literally ."Myrtlethorn, Mousethorn) ; French, Hoiisson ; Ilex Aqui- folium Tr. THORNS AND THISTLES. 215 which on the end have a hard prickle, and strongly re- semble myrtle leaves. This plant, however, grows in woods and mountains, but not in deserts or heaths, and consequently does not accord with the passage of Isaiah.^^ It seems most probable, that the Hebrew word denotes some insignificant and lightly esteemed heather. 12. Zinnim, Zeninim,^ Thorns?- In Prov. xxii. 5, we read, that in the way of the froward, or the false, there are Zinnim and Snares? The former of these words the Greek translator of Alexandria interprets by a Greek word, which de- notes both thorns and foot-traps."^ Both are, in the ^' Ewald Crit. Grammat. p. 520, conjectures that the qua- driliterum "TS"nD is, as to signification, not different from the triliterum |L__2)_ID > which denotes tvhite-mustard. And Gesenius observes (Manual Diet. p. 588, 3d Edit.), that this plant in Sicily covers uninhabited places like heather. But it is not known to be indigenous in Oriental deserts. ^ D^^y. D^^^r;>. 2 Celsius, P. II. p. 214. ^^)! TD^ 2D^ns XDm- ^ l^ifioXot. With the Romans, too, TribuU signified foot- iraps\v) which also were called murices ; in whatsoever way they lay, they always presented one or more prominent t/oarfs ; in war they were used against the cavalry. See Vegetius In- stitt. Rei milit. Lib. III. cap. 24. (*) And hence, no doubt, the English word tribulation; for undoubt- edly it was the greatest tribulation to fall in with these mischievous ene- mies.— Tr. 216 THORNS AND THISTLES. sentence here quoted, equally appropriate, as em- blems of malicious designs, effecting the hurt and ruin of others.^ At the same time, the sense of foot- traps seems here preferable, as an object cunningly laid in the way is alluded to. Job says in v. 5, that the hungry consumes the harvest of the fool, and takes even out of thorns, i. e, out of the most impenetrable enclosure.^ The Israelites are threatened. Num. xxxiii. 55, that if, in conquering Canaan, they should not en- tirely drive out all the inhabitants, those who re- mained should become thorns in their eyes, and ze- ninhn in their sides ; and similarly, although the or- der is inverted, in Jos. xxiii. 13, that they should become scourges in their sides^ and zeninim in their eyes In both places, the most ancient Greek trans- ^ The Hebrew word, in its most proper sense, seems to de- note goads or prickles in general, and to be cognate with ^ innp^ D*>l^D " ^i^\ The Alexandrian transla- tor puts : ul'To) ti Ik xaxuv olx, i^aipi^riiTovTai. They shall 7l0t he delivered from misfortunes. He considered thorns as a figu- rative expression for evils, dangers, and instead of /K? he 7^. Aquila, Symmachus, and the Chaldee translator read iZD^^i/tDj by which they understood armed men, who should lead away the unrighteous man as a captive. Cfr. Rosenmlil- ler's Scholia on the passage. THORNS AND THISTLES. 217 lators have put javelins.^ Saadias has, in Num. xxxiii. 55, translated it^ needles.^ 13. Kimosh, Kimmashon^ The Common Nettle.'^ In two places quoted (No. 5), Isa. xxxiv. 13. Hos. ix. 6, this Hebrew word occurs in combination with Choach, and Prov. xxiv. 31 (No. 6), with CharuL Both these words, as has already been shewn, denote thorny plants. Rabbi Tanchum^ on Hos. ix. 6, ex- plains Kimosh by common nettle,^ which explanation perfectly agrees with the context in the passages here alluded to.* * The feminine form rTiHi? Amos iv. 2, denotes a hook with which fish are caught, and accordingly is here in no way applicable. ^ JUm-^3 • Golius, p. 1 149, ^^^ , Plur. Jl^^ . Arcus grossior, qua sarcinae et lora consuuntur. ^ tiptop. Isa. xxxiv. 13. 5:^'i,"D»p, Hos. ix. 6. pS^^Dp^ Prov. xxiv. 31. ^ Urtica urens. Celsius, P. 11. p. 206. ^ (jajJJ » in Pococke's Comment, on Hosea. * The root preserved in the Arabic, ^Ji^ , denotes io snatch away together, specially to snatch up small objects from the ground. The Hebrew vocable, therefore, seems original- ly to have denoted an insignificant plant in general, — a weed. 218 THORNS AND THISTLES. 14, 15. Shamir and Shaithy^ Thorns and Thistles.^ These two words are to be found in juxtaposition only in the prophecies of Isaiah, in the seven places following : V. 6 ; vii. 23, 24, 25 ; ix. 18 ; x. 17 ; xxvii. 4; and Shamir in one place, xxxii. 12, in combina- tion with Koz, which is the general name for thorny plants (see No. 1). In all the passages here quoted, plants are designated, which spring up as weeds in desert places, and the ancient translators have ex- pressed these words of the Hebrew text, by vocables denoting thorny plants or thistles. An Arabic word, Samur,^ which resembles the Hebrew Shamir, is, ac- cording to Abulfadli,^ the name of a prickly tree or shrub, which is a species of lotus.^ 16. Sikkim,^ Thorns,^ In the passage already quoted (No. 12), Num. xxxiii. 55, the most ancient Greek translator puts for the Hebrew word, one which denotes thorns, prickles, or chips.^ This translation accords well with ' T • - Species Spinarum, Celsius, P. II. p. 187. 3 ^ 3 ^^ . * Celsius, 1. c. p. 188. 5 More concerning the lotus. See Celsius, P. I. p. 21, 1 D^3t!^. ^ Spina; Celsius, P. I. p. 218. "' Ix.'o'KO'Kli' THORNS AND THISTLES. 219 the context in the passage where the word occurs ; and the circumstance, that a cognate Arabic word* denotes thorns and thistles^ more fully establishes its accuracy. ^ The feminine form Hl^U^? J^^- x'- 26, (according to others 31,) [and in the Engl. Bible, xli. 7,1 denotes pomiec? -- o- 2veapons, javelins, harpoons. Cfr. The Arabic x<=^ >^ spina una, aculeus, spinosa arbor arma eorumque acumen, Golius, p. 1325. Two vocables, by some Rabbins supposed to denote thorns, CD^^p'^S' Barkanim, and O^IH ipy? ^^raiJTn, are erro- neously mentioned as such. For the former of these two words denotes a ^ail (the German word is Dreschschlitten), the latter barbed scourges. Cfr. Celsius, P. II. p. 194 and 216. SECTION NINTH. THE VINE. The ancient Hebrews seem to have considered the Vine, in Hebrew called Gephen} as a tree, for, in Jotham's fable, Judges ix. 8, sqq. the trees elect the ^ *Dil5 and in more precise language V^T\ ]5^» the stalk of wine, Num. vi. 4. Judg. xiii. 14, because the former word also applies to other similar plants. In Arabic, the vine is called XaJI^. See Host's Description of Maroko and Fez, p. 303, and Burckhardfs Travels in Syria, p. 77. In the Hebrew nlv^ denotes vine-tendrils, Ezech. xix. 11. But these are also called C^l^' Baddim, Ezech. xvii. 6; xix. 14, D^£)iV» Anaphim, Ps. Ixxx. 11; D^DiV, Aboihim, Ezech. xix. 11, and C^^Vp? Kezirim, Ps. Ixxx. 12, which vocables are also used for boughs and branches of trees. In Gen. xl. 10, 13. Joel i. 7, LD^n^"lti^? Sarigim also denotes vine-tendrils. n*11,0T? Zemorah is a grape cut off, Num. xiii. 23. Isa. xvii. 10. 7^Ji^^< Eshchol properly denotes the Raceme, (Racemus,) on which berries or flowers grow in the formof a cluster. Thus the word is used in Gen. xi. 10, of the Raceme with flowers and unripe berries, just as racemus is used by Virgil, (Georg. II. 60,) of unripe grapes. The Arabic THE VINE. 221 vine to be their king. This pompineous (g) shrub often attains, in the East, a considerable height and strength. Phny says^ that its grapes overgrow the ^ 1 ^-. 't^ and ^1 *^'< \ a branch of a date-tree bearing ripe dates, pretty much resembles the Hebrew word. Next, /3t^t^ signifies the grape itself, (as in Isa. Ixv. 8. Mich, vii. I,) whose appropriate name, however, is ^^J/*, c-\a£ Enab. *1^l5D Semadar, in the Song of Solomon ii. 13, 15, denotes the flowers of the vine, which word, as Gesenius con- jectures, (Diction, p. 581,) is contracted from DwD Snmam, to exhale frayrance, and *")*Tn hadar, to decorate, — T -iX^ is used of the appearance of the date flowers. lD!Il» Beser, Job xv. 33, and *1D2 Boser, Isa. xviii. 5, are unripe sour grapes, (as r***^ unripe dates,) which also, Num. vi. 4, o are called D'HVIH Charzannim. In the Arabic f/^^ (by a metathesis of the '^ and *1 and a permutation of 3 for DO denotes unripe grapes. ^T Zag, in Num. vi. 4, is the externally transparent membrane of the vine-berries. (^) It is not pretended that this should be considered as an English word in any other composition than one which is strictly technical Tr. '' Hist. Nat. Lib. XIV. cap. 1, § 3. Cfr. Virgil's Georg. II. SGI. (") The Latin word Rucemiis, seems to be cognate with this Arabic word ; it probably is formed from the latter by a metathesis.— 2'r. 222 THE VIXE. elm. In the 80th Psalm, where the Hebrew people, from the 9th verse, is represented by the figure of a vine, transplanted by God from Egypt to Palestine, there nursed by him and beautifully thriving, and spreading its grapes over the whole country, we read in the 11th verse : " Mountains are covered with its shadow, and the cedars of God, i. e. the highest ce- dars, with its grapesV The accuracy of this descrip- tion appears from Gmelin's^ account of the growth of the vine in the Persian province Ghilan : " It is fond of forests, whether situate in low regions or on small hillocks. It is most frequently found about promontories, and their lower part is almost entirely covered with it. There, higher than the eye can reach, it winds itself about the loftiest trees, and its tendrils, which here have an arm's thickness, so spread and mutually entangle themselves far and wide, that in places where it grows in the most luxuriant wlld- ness, it is very difficult to find a passage." In Ibe- ria, where the vine grows wild, and where it is neither pruned, hoed, nor nursed, it commonly is, from time immemorial, interwoven with the branches of centennial oaks, beach- trees, and el- ders.^ Amongst the produce of Palestine, Deut. viii. 7, 8, the vine is also mentioned. The men whom Moses had sent off from Kadesh Barnea, for the purpose of exploring the land of which the Hebrews were about ^ Travels through Russia and Northern Persia, Vol. III. p. 431. * Reinegg's Description of Caucasus, Vol. II. p. 47. THE VINE. 223 to take possession, as a proof of the fertility of the country, brought back to the camp of the Israelites, a cluster of grapes of an unusual size, which they had cut off in Nachal-Eshkol, i. e. Grape-valley, probab- ly in the neighbourhood of Hebron. " They cut off there,'' as we read in Num. xiii. 23, " (o: vine branch with one bunch of grapes, and they carried it on a stick by two, i, e. two of them carried the bunch of grapes. Several trust-worthy eye-witnesses assert, that there are found in Palestine, both vines and grapes of a size, which to us appears almost incre- dible. Steph. Schulz-^ took his supper at Beitshin, a village not far from Ptolemais, under a vine, whose stem was about a foot and a half in diameter, its height was about thirty feet, and by its branches and branchlets, which had to be supported, it formed a hut upwards of thirty feet broad and long. The clusters of these extraordinary vines are so large, that they weigh ten or twelve pounds, and the berries may be compared with our small plums. When such a cluster is cut off, it is laid upon a board about an ell and a half broad, and three or four ells long, and several persons seat themselves about it, to eat off the berries. Christoph. von Reitzschiitz^ avers, that he saw and ate of grapes in the mountains of Judea, which formed clusters half an ell in length, and whose berries were as long as two joints of a finger. * In other oriental regions, too, vines and ^ Leitungen des Hochsten, Vol. V. p. 285, ^ Siebenj'dhrige IVeltbeschauung, i. e. Seven Years Seeing of the World, p. 271. * ^laiiti's account entirely agrees with this, for he states. 224 THE VINE. grapes are found of an extraordinary size. Strabo states,*^ that in Morgiana, a country situate to the southwest of the Caspian, i. e. the modern Ghilan, (see above, p. 222,) there are vines to be found which two men can scarcely fathom round, and whose clusters were two ells in length. In the same country, Olearius^ found vines, whose stem had the thickness of a man's body. According to the same author's account,^ in Iran is found a species of grape, called Enkuri Ali derasi, of which a single cluster is half an ell in length, and its brown red berries as big as a ISpanish plum. Jacob, in his blessing, Gen. xlix. says of Judah^ v. 11, " He shall bind his foal unto the vine^ and his oss*s colt unto the choice vi?ie ; he shall tvash his gar- ment in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the grape. This is a gorgeous description of the fertility and abundance of the district which was to be al- lotted to the tribe of Judah ! Besides Eshkol, which (Tracts, p. o53,) that the grapes in the mountains of Judea are of such a size, that nothing similar is to be found in our part of the world. In other parts of Syria too, he says, that he has seen grapes of an extraordinary size, which a single person could certainly not carry far without losing some of them. From this it appears, that two of the spies carried be- tween them on a stick the cluster which they had cut off, not only on account of its weight, but also in order to prevent its being squeezed, so that they might bring it entire to the camp of the Israelites. ' Geogr. Book II. p. 73. Casaubon's edition, or p. 195, Tschucke's edition. s Persian Travels, Book VI. cap. 5, p. 369. 9 Book v. cap. 9, p. 304. THE VINE. 22o is mentioned above, the vineyards of Engedi, (which are alluded to in the Song of Solomon, i. 14, being situated to the southward of Jericho, near the Dead Sea), belonged to this district ; and even in the middle of the eighteenth century, Hasselquist found vineyards there, cultivated by the Arabs, who sold the wine which they raised to the Christians.^^ He- bron too, or Hahrun, situated six miles southward of Bethlehem, and where, in modern times, more wine has been produced than in any other part of Pales- tine, belonged to the tribe of Judah. But there, as Volney observes," the vine is not cultivated for the purpose of making wine, as all the inhabitants are such zealous Musselmen that they will not tolerate any Christian among them ; the grapes are dried, and raisins^2 of an inferior quality are made of them, although the wine itself is very good. When Shaw visited this country, an excellent raisin syrup was made from the indigenous grape, of which there were yearly exported, to Egypt alone, several hun- dred camel loads.^^ The prophet Hosea (ch. xiv. 8,*) says, that the re- formed people of Israel shall one day be esteemed like the choice wine of Lebanon. Several writers who 1° Travels in Palestine, p. 256. ^^ Travels, P. 11. p. 24l, of the German Translation. i» Hebrew pl^i^, 1 Sam. xxv. 18. 2 Sam. xvi. 1, from pD^' to dry. ^3 Travels, p. 293, Germ. Transl. * English Bible, verse 7- Q 226 THE VINE. have tasted the wine of Lebanon aver that it is still the most excellent wine to be had in Syria. Dan- dini observes,^'* that no support is given to the ten- drils, but they are allowed to creep along the ground. The clusters are of an extraordinary size, and the grapes as large as plums. The wine which is made from them is excellent. The Vino d'oro of Lebanon, so called from its bright gold colour, imparts a plea- sant warmth without being intoxicating, and its sweet- ness is extremely agreeable.^^ The word Soreh}^ denotes another species of vine, as appears from the context of the passages where it occurs. Jacob promises to his son Judah, (Gen. xlix. 1 1,) that he shall bind his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the Soreh. The prophet Lsaiah, (ch. V. 1, sqq.) represents the care with which God nursed the Hebrew people, under the type of a vine-dresser, who, on a fertile hill planted a branch of Soreh. And in Jeremiah ii. 21, Jehovah says, that he had planted tlie Hebrew people like a Sorek of a genuine seed, but which had degenerated. Probably the Hebrew 14 In Paulus' Collect., Vol. IL p. 214. 1^ J. H. Mayr's Schicksale eines Schweizer''s, <|-c., i. e. Ad- ventures of a Swiss, B. II. p. 228, 238; B. III. p. 63. De Bruyn also praises the wines of Lebanon. Voyage au Le- vant, p. 307. He says they are " les meilleurs vins et les plus delicats, qui se trouvent dans tout le reste du monde. lis sont rouges, d'une tres belle couleure, etsi onctueux, qu'ils at- tachent au verre." Comp. Arvieux, Vol. II. p. 326. Rosea, p. 466. THE VINE. 227 word denotes that species of vine which is called serik or sorik,^'^ and which is cultivated, not only in Syria, but also in Arabia and the North of Africa, particularly in Morocco. The name serki, which, in that country, is given to a grape im- ported from the Levant, is, as to its consonantic ele- ments, not different. Its grapes, according to Host's account, ^8 have no kernel, and are sweet, black, small, and almost round. Niebuhr found the same kind of grapes in Arabia and Persia,^^ where he heard them called by the Persic appellation Kisk- ?)iisk.^^ This grape, which is small and very sweet, seems indeed, as he observes, to be without a kernel, but, by a more attentive examination, he discovered that, instead of a hard kernel, it always has a soft seed, which in eating is not perceived, but may be distinctly seen if the berry is divided with a knife. Several travellers attest^^ that these grapes, which are said to be without a kernel, are reckoned among the most precious kinds of fruit with which the table is furnished in the East. It is related, in Gen. xl. 9, 10, that Pharaoh's chief ^r^ in Saadias ^— *7>^_^-'=S. The Arabic name for a nut is t^.w^::i.. [See Meninski Lexicon, 4068.] THE ALOE TREE. 233 Arabia, admits of no question. Josephus'' boasts of the country around the lake of Genesareth, that, in consequence of its rich soil and temperate climate, shrubs and trees, which prefer a colder atmosphere, are found to thrive as well as those which flourish in warmer regions ; and among the former he speci- fies the walnut-tree as being abundantly productive without any culture. Stephen Schulz, in speaking of the northern part of Palestine, between Ptolemais and Nazareth, (the same district to which Josephus refers,) says, that he often saw walnut trees so large that four and twenty persons might lie down under the shadow of the branches. 2. Ahalim,^ the Aloe-tree, Agallochum.^ In the book of Proverbs, (ch. vii. 17), it is said that the harlot who is there described, had perfumed her couch " with myrrh, cinnamon, and ahalim.'^ In the forty-fifth psalm, at the ninth verse, the garments of the queen, who is there celebrated, are said to have smelt of myrrh, ahaloth, and cassia ; and, in the Song of Solomon, (chap. vi. 14), ahaloth is introduced along with spikenard, cinnamon, frankincense, and " Jewish War, III. 10. 8. s Leitungen des Hochsten. Part V. p, 189, 190, 197, 278, 191, 305. • f ~ '. 2 Agallocbum praestantissimum, arbor aloes. Celsius, P. I. p. 135. 234 THE ALOE TREE. other costly perfumes. The Chaldee translation of the Psalms and Canticles, the old Latin version of the Proverbs and Canticles, and the Syriac transla- tor, have all rendered the Hebrew word by aloes. By this, however, we are not to understand the aloe plant of our gardens, but the odoriferous wood of a tree that grows in India, Siam, and Cochin China, and is called Aghil,^ a word which the Hebrews formed into Ahel, the Arabs into Agalajun,'^ and the Greeks into Agallochon, The stem of this tree is of the thickness of a man's thigh. At the top grows a bunch of thick and indented leaves, which are broad below, but become gradually narrower to- wards the point, and are about four feet in length. The blossoms are red, intermixed with yellow, and double like a pink. From this blossom comes the pod, a red and white fruit about the size of a pea. The whole tree presents an appearance that is un- commonly beautiful ; and the wood is so odoriferous that it is used for perfume. The Indians regard this tree as sacred, and never cut it down without various religious ceremonies. The people of the east suppose it to have been one of the indigenous trees of para- dise, and hence the Dutch give it the name of the ^ Paulinus a S. Bartholomeo, in the Vocabulary to his San- crit Grammar, entitled Vyacarana, distinguishes three species of this tree, of which the best and most fragrant is called Aghil. From Aghil the Portuguese formed ^5'ui/a, (the eagle), whence the German name, Adlerholz, q. d. Eaglewood. THE ALOE TREE. 235 Paradise Tree} This imparts a peculiar beauty to the allusion of Balaam, (in Num. xxiv. 6), who com- pares the flourishing and happy condition of the Israelites to " Ahalim* trees which Jehovah has planted, And cedar trees beside the waters." Dioscorides says, that Agallochinn was a spotted odo- riferous wood,6 which was brought from India and ^ See Ruynphius, Herbarium Amboniensis. Part II. Cap. 10, U, p. 29, et seqq. There is a species of this tree that grows in the Moluccas, and is called Garo. Linnseus has de- scribed it as Excoecaria Agallocha, q. d. Blind Aloes, because the sap is said to produce blindness. See Wahl's East Indies, Part II. p. 772, and his remarks in the Fundgruben des Orients, Part V. p. 372. • The most ancient Chaldee translator, Onkelos, has ex- plained the Hebrew word by i^^DDlIl* »• e. Aromatic. or T T : Spice Plants. The modern Jews, as well as Jarchi and the Persian translator, understand by it Sandal-wood. In the oldest Greek version it is rendered ffKnml, Tents, from which it would seem that instead of D*^^^^» Ahalim, they had • T ~: read L3^ VplN? Ohalim. [The Septuagint is in this followed • T t: by the Vulgate, the Syriac, and the Arabic] ^ The wood is said first to give out its fragrancy when it begins to putrefy. Pro agallocho quaerendo, says Kampfer in the Amoenitatt. Exotic, p. 904, emissi mercenarii sylvas certo tempore subeunt, armis et securibus instructi, inventas arbores vetustissimas et caudices prostratos carie ac putredine foedos operose findunt, repertaque hinc inde fragmenta resinosa exi- 236 THE ALOE TREE. Arabia ; by which, however, we are only to under- stand, that from India it was conveyed to Arabian harbours as an article of trade, and thence trans- ported into Syria and Palestine. Kampfer^ in- forms us, that in China and Japan, the wealthy spend large sums upon this wood, to be used in per- fume at their entertainments. Among the Arabs it is a mark of honour paid to visitors, to sprinkle aro- matic water on the beard, and then to perfume the apartment with aloe- wood, the smoke of which, ad- hering to the moistened hair, communicates to it its own fragrant odour. § When the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross, Nicodemus, we are told, (John xix. 39), brought myrrh and aloes. This was not done, as many com- mentators suppose, with a view to embalm the body, but, as is expressly stated at ver. 40, it was to impart a fragrancy to the linen in which the corpse was wrapped up. We are rot, therefore, to understand the passage as alluding to the bitter gum drawn from the aloe-plant of our gardens, (which is also employed in medicine), but as pointing to the costly and odo- rous aloe-wood which has now been described.^ munt ; quorum primum, quod inveniunt, idolis sacrificant suis, quod credunt, sospitatoribus." 7 Loc. Cit. ^ D'Arvieux's Manners of the Bedouin Arabs, P. 52. Ta- vernier's Description of the Seraglio, in his Travels, Part III. p. 468. ^ Comp. J. E. Faber's Remarks in the " Observations on the East," Part II. p. 149, et seqq. THE TEREBINTH TREE. 237 3. El, Elah,^ the Terebinth Tree? The above Hebrew words, which etymologically denote " a strong tree" generally, are employed specially for the terebinth ; inasmuch as that is the term by which the ancient translators for the most part, render the original expression.^ The designa- tion of " a strong tree" fitly applies to the terebinth, as it has a thick but not very tall stem, thick boughs, and very dense twigs and foliage, which it retains all winter. The leaves are of an oblong circular form, and very like those of the olive tree, but of a green colour, with red and blue intermixed ; the twigs which bear them always terminate in a single leaf. The flowers resemble those of the vine, and grow in bunches like them ; they are of a purple colour, and yield no fruit.* The real fruit of the tree, T " ^ Terebinthus Judaica, Celsius, P. I. p. 34, et seqq. The Pistacia terebinthus of Linnaeus. ^ For a complete investigation into the meanings given to the words ^'K, HSN, hWj llW, \r?i^ by the ancient translators, consult Gesenius, Thesaurus Ling. Heb. p. 50, et seqq. * Tournefort says, in his Voyages, T. L p. 145. II est du Terebinthe comme du Lentisque, c'est-a-dire, que les pieds qui fleurissent ne portent point de fruit, et que ceux qui portent des fruits ordinairement ne fleurissent pas ; .... les fruits asissent sur des pieds differens, rarement sur le meme que les feuilles. 238 THE TEREBINTH TREE. which grows between the branches, is of the size of a juniper berry, and hangs in clusters. It is also purple coloured, very resinous and clammy, and contains one small oval seed. Another fruit, or ra- ther excrescence, is found on this tree, scattered among the leaves. It is of the size of a chestnut, but differently shaped, of a purple colour, variegated with green and white. The people of Cyprus say that it is produced by the puncture made by a cer- tain fly with a view to deposit its eggs ; and that, on opening it, it is found to be full of small worms. The wood of the tree is white, hard, and resinous. The turpentine is obtained by inci- sions made in the bark at the beginning of sum- mer. If this is not done regularly, the resin accu- mulates so as to swell up and crack the stem, and it then exudes in such quantity that the tree is often destroyed. This seems to account for the small number of terebinth trees that are now to be met with in Syria and Palestine,^ where they formerly abound- ed, as is evident from the frequent mention made of them in Scripture. Jacob buried the idols that his people had brought with them from Mesopotamia * Mariti, (p. 521. et seqq.), who also remarks, that the te- rebinth has been preserved ia Cyprus, by the inhabitants be- ing careful to make the incision in the bark at the pro- per period in summei", when they collect the turpentine, liasselquist, however, says, (p. 550, 553, 554,) that he saw these trees in abundance in the gardens round Jaffa, and on the road between llama and Jerusalem ; and that he even found them on the rocks on Mount Tabor. THE TEREBINTH TREE. 239 under a terebinth, at Shechem. Gen. xxxv. 4.* An angel appeared to Gideon under a terebinth-tree at Ophra. Judges vi. 11, 19. In 1 Sam. xvii. 2, 19; xxi. 9, mention is made of a valley of terebinths, [in the English version the valley of ElaK], where Saul encamped.f It was by the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree that Absalom was caught. 2 Sam. xviii. 9, 10, 14. Saul and his sons were buried un- der a terebinth at Jabesh. 1 Chron. x. 12. In groves of terebinth trees idols were worshipped. Isa. i. 29. Ezek. vi. 13. Hos. iv. 13. In Isa. i. 30, the prophet declares that idolaters shall be as a terebinth, *' whose leaf fadeth," i. e. which dies ; for, as this tree never loses its foliage when in a healthy con- dition,^ the meaning must be, that the leaves fall in consequence of the tree perishing by the drying up of the sap. On the other hand, the same prophet, (ch. Ixi. 3,) describes the revived mourners of Zion as " terebinths of righteousness"'^ ever-green and flourishing ; — " the planting of Jehovah to his glory." The terebinth is reckoned one of those trees that reach a very great age. The one under which Ab- • The English version has in this, as in most of the other passages quoted, the word " oak.''' — Tr. + See De Lamartine's Travels in the East. Chambers' Edi- tion, p. 17'— Tr. ^ This is noticed by Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Pliny, (Book XVI. cap 21.) Belon, it is true, speaks of having seen terebinths destitute of foliage (Observat. Book I. chap. 44) ; but these must have been sickly trees. 1 ?1!^^ ^Vk. 240 THE TEREBINTH THEE. raham was supposed to have erected his tent, near Hebron, was pointed out in the days of Josephus,^ and even of Jerome.^ Between Jerusalem and Beth- lehem there stood, so recently as the middle of the seventeeth centurj'-, an aged tree which was called Marys Terebinth ; because under it the Virgin was believed to have reposed on her way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, to present her child in the temple. It was the only tree of the species in that district, and overshadowed a large space of ground with its wide- spreading branches. It was held in veneration by INIahometans as well as Christians ; but, unfortun- ately, in the year 1646, a peasant having set fire to the stubble in an adjoining field, the flames reach- ed this noble patriarch of the forest, and it was re- duced to ashes.'^ 4r Allah, Allan, Aelon,^ the Oak.^ The first of these words occurs only once, viz. in Josh. xxiv. 26, where it is used to denote the tree under which Joshua erected a stone of memorial. In the Greek and Syriac versions it is translated " a terebinth." Yet the second word Alton, which is of 8 Jewish War, Book IV. ch. 9, § 7- ^ De locis Hebraicis unter Drys Mambre: Usque ad aeta- tem infantiae meae, et Coustantii regis imperium, terebinthus rnonstrabatur pervetus, et annos magnitudine indicans, sub qua habitavit Abraham. 10 Mariti, p. 520. ' nW, pW, ]lS^K. ' Quercus. Celsius, Part I. p. 58. THE OAK TREE. 241 frequent occurrence, and differs from the other only in the final termination, is, by the ancient translators, almost always rendered " an oak." The third word, Aelon, is found to bear the same acceptation in all these versions, except at Judg. iv. 11, where the Syriac has " a terebinth."^ It designates etymolo- gically, " a strong tree,"^ and is used specially and principally of the oak, as are also the two other names.^ There are several species of oaks in Pale- stine. Pococke mentions five, and gives their bota- nical descriptions.^ The oaks of Bashan, a district on the east of Jordan are mentioned, Isa. ii. 13. Ezek. xxvii. 6, and Zech. xi. 2."^ Abraham dwelt in a grove of oaks, at Mamre, near Hebron.^ Gen. xiii. 18 ; xiv. 13 ; xviii. 1. An oak grove at Moreh,* in the neighbourhood of Shechem, the modern Na- blous, is spoken of in Gen. xii. 5, 6 ; xi. 30 ; and ' The particular places are mentioned by Gesenius, in liis Thesaur. Ling. Heb. p. 50. * The root is 7^5^ io be strong. 5 / /^?, which is the root of H /K» and tl /t^j has bor- - T T - » - rowed its meaning from 7^t^> mentioned in the preceding note. ^ Description of the East, Part III. § 269. Comp. Olivier Voyages, Tom. II. p. 6, et seqq. " See Rosenmiiller's Bibl. Geography, Vol. II. Part I. p. 128. 8 Loc. Cit. Part II. p. 299. • In most of the passages here qui. ted, the word which Rosenmiiller renders an oak^ is, in the English version, trans- lated " a plain.''' R 242 THE SANDAL-WOOI> TREE, in that quarter there seems also to have been " an oak or oak- grove of magicians,"^ [in the English version, " the plain of Meoneiiim,"] where such persons lived, or where they practised their arts. Judges ix. 37. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, was buried under an oak at Bethel, (Gen. xxxv. 8,) which thence received the name of Allon-bachuthy i. e. the oak of weeping. A grove of oaks, at Thabor, in the tribe of Benjamin, is mentioned 1 Sam. x. 3. In oak-groves idols were worshipped, Hos. iv. 13, and of oak-wood their images were made. Isa. xliv. 14. .5, Almuggim, Algummim,^ Sandalwood^ Among the articles of merchandise which the fleet of Hiram, king of Tyre, brought from Ophir, was Almuggim-ivood. 1 Kings x. 11, 12. In the pa-, rallel passages, 2 Chron. ix. 10, 11, and 2 Chron. ii. 8, it is written, Algummim ; but such transposi- tions of letters, more especially in foreign words, are found in all languages. The Greek translator of the book of Kings explains the Hebrew word by " hewn- wood ;"3 but in both the places in Chronicles it is rendered " pine wood.""* This is also the in- 2 Celsius P. 1. p. 171. Ligna pretiosa ex India Oriental! An Sandali ? THE SANDAL- WOOD TREE. 243 tei'pretation of the old Latin version at 2 Chron. ii. 8^ ; but, in the two other passages, it gives it the acceptation of the " thyine wood."^ The tim- ber of the thyon or thyia tree, which grew in the north of Africa, was very durable ; it was em- ployed by the Romans, (who also called it the citrus^) as a material for the roofs of temples and the most costly works of art.^ But as the almuggim wood came from Ophir, which was probably a harbour in the south of Arabia, whence commerce was carried on with India,' the conjecture of Kimchi is not im- probable, that the wood in question was the same as what the Arabs call el-bakamy^ i, e, the Brazil^o qj. * Ligna pinea. ^ liigna thyina. "^ See Voss on Virgil's Georgics, II. 126. ^ See RosenmuUer's Bib. Geogr. vol. III. p. 177. j^jUkJ! For a description of this tree from Abulfadli and Edrisi, see Celsius, Part I. p. 176. ^^ Kimchi says, (on 2 Chron. ii. 8,) that the Arabic bakam denotes the wood commonly called Bresil (7*^^*^^ V'^^^)* Celsius (Part I. p. 175j) thinks it strange that not only Kimchi, who lived above three centuries before the discovery of Ame- rica, but also Rlaimonides, who lived somewhat earlier, have both mentioned Brasil wood, (the latter in his Comment, on the Tract. Shebit, cap. vii. § 2,) whereas it is commonly supposed to have derived its name from the province of Brasil in South America, whence the best kind is brought by the Portuguese. But both the wood and its name were known long before the discovery of America, as is manifest from extant documents of the fourteenth century, from which Carpentier has given extracts in his Glossary, under the Avords " Brasile, Brisiacum, Brisil- lum.'* From them it appears that the name Brasil or Bresil 244 THE SANDAL-WOOD TREE. red sandal wood. Western Asia still receives san- dal wood from Arabia.* The tree which yields this wood" grows in the East Indies, and reaches the size of a walnut tree ; the boughs are prickly, the leaves of a longish but irregular shape and downy; the flowers yellow and hanging in clusters like grapes. The fruit consists of a pod about a finger-length in size, and curved at the end, which contains two or three flat beans. The wood is firm, hard, and heavy; black outside, but very red inside ; without smell or taste.^* It is esteemed very precious in the east, and forms an important article of trade, being used not only as a red dye-stuff, but as a cure for the bites of serpents, and also in building. The Indians carve their idols of sandal-wood, and adorn their temples with it; tables and other articles was used to denote any brilliant colour, as well as the subtances from which it was prepared. Comp. Adelung's German Dic- tionary, Part I. p. 1158 of the 2d edition. * The Agal-uood, say Niebuhr (Descr. of Arabia, p. 144,) is carried in great quantities from Siam, Malacca, China, and perhaps from other countries of India, by the Arabian and Persian Gulfs to Turkey." ^ ^ The Pterocarpus Santalinus of Linnaeus. The Arabs ^ c > - o^ write the name ^tSX/a and \j>J<^ l*"^ *hey have evidently o- formed it from the Persic, . , \«Xa^* That, again, is the Sanskrit word Tchandana. Red sandal- wood is called, in San- skrit, Rakta-tcKandana. '2 Yet there is also a white sandal-wood {Santalum Album) which grows to a great height, and the yellowish- white wood of which has a strong aromatic odour, and is used as a per- THE SANDAL WOOD TREE. 245 of furniture are likewise made of it.^^ Solomon caused to be made of almuggim-wood, pillars* for the temple, and instruments for the temple music, 1 Kings X. J2; 2 Chron. ix. 11. From its being said in 2 Chron. ii. 8, that the almug was one of the trees Solomon procured from King Hiram, " out of Lebanon," some^"^ suppose that the word designates a species of pine that grew on that mountain. But in the parallel passage in 1 Kings v. 8, there is men- tion of only cedars and cypresses, so that the addi- tion of " almug'^ in the book of Chronicles appears to have been the interpolation of a transcriber. In 1 Kings X. 12, it is said that no almug trees-j- were seen in Judea after the time of Solomon ; but, had it been a tree of Lebanon, like the cedar and cypress, it would not have become so rare. fume at the burning of the bodies of persons of distinction. ^V'hen pulverised and made into paste, it serves as a fragrant ointment. A decoction of it is administered in fevers and other diseases. See Rumphius Herbarium Amboniensis, Part II. p 42, and Wahl's East Indies, Part II. p. 803. ^^ ■^ee Celsius, loc. cit. p. 179, et seqq. Faber's Archaeology of the Hebrews, p. 374 et seqq., and Wahl, loc. cit. * In the passage in Chronicles the English version has " terraces.'*' ^* As J. Chr. Beil, in his Exercitatio de lignis ex Libano ad templum Hierosolymitan. petitis (Brunswick 1740, 4to. p. 35. Comp. Symbolae Haganae CI. I. Fasc. 2. p. 35, and Bib- lioth. Brem. CI. II. Fasc. 2, p. 493. -|- In the English version it is " there came no such almug trees, nor were such seen unto this day." 46 THE CEDAR. 6. Eres} the Cedar.* The word EreSy which occurs so frequently in the Old Testament, is, by the ancient translators, univer- sally rendered " Cedar," an interpretation that is confirmed by the fact of the modern Arabs denoting that tree by the same name.^ The Eres tree, moreover, is repeatedly spoken of as peculiar to Lebanon ; and, from the earliest times, that region was famous for its cedars. See, for ex- ample, 1 Kings iv. 33. 2 Kings xix. 23. Song of Solomon v. 15. Isa. ii. 13 ; xxxvii. 24. Ezekiel xxvii. 22; xxxi. 3, 5. Amos ii. 9. Psalms xxix. 5; xcii. 12. These trees, indeed, are not confined to Lebanon, ' Cedrus Libani. Celsius, (Part I. p. 106, et seqq.) who is wrong, however, in supposing that the Hebrew name designates the species of pine called the Pinus Sylvestris. That opinion has been fully disproved by Jac. Trew, (a physi- cian and naturalist of Altdorf,) in his Historia Cedrorum Li- bani. Nuremberg, 1757, 4to. ; and in the Apologia et Man- tissa Observationis de Cedro Libani, J 767- Both these Disser- tations have been reprinted in the Nov. Acta Acad. Curios. Tom. I. II. Comp. Sam. Oedmann's Miscell. Collect, in Phy- sics, Part II. p. 204, et sqq. sot ' ' J. In the Aramaean dialects ^?T*^^? likewise denotes v / T : - the cedar. At Aleppo the fir tree is included under the name Ars, the cedar being, like it, of the p;;inted leaf class of trees, and the wood of both having some kind of resemblance. See Niebuhr's Description of Arabia, p. 149. THE CEDAR. 247 for similar cedars grow on the ranges of Amanus and Taurus in Asia Minor ; but they do not attain the height nor strength of those of Lebanon.* The cedar belongs to the family of pointed leaved trees, and has, in its outward appearance, considerable re- semblance to the pine, the fir, and others of that class; but it has a much thicker and stronger stem, so that full grown cedars have, at some distance, the look of large wide-spreading oaks. The main trunk is short, and soon branches out into three or four large boughs, some of which grow to the height of ten feet. Po- cocke found that one, which had the roundest but not the largest stem, was twenty-four feet in circum- ference.^ Cedars are often mentioned as the highest trees known to the Hebrews, Ezek. xxxi. 5 ; xvii. 22. Isaiah ii. 13. Amos ii. 9. And David, in Ps. Ixxx. 11, styles them " the cedars of God," accord- ing to the Hebraism which denotes something pre- eminently great and excellent. In the sublime de- scription given in the twenty-ninth Psalm, of the might and majesty of Jehovah, it is said, at ver. 5, that " his voice (i. e. the thunder or thunder bolt) shatters even the cedars of Lebanon." The oldest trees are known by the circumstance of the foliage and small branches being found only at the top.* * See Belon Observations. Livre II. Chap. 107, HO. * Pococke's Description of the East, Part II. p. 153. * Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, p. 63. This seems to be pointed out by the Hebrew word fl"!^^, in Ezekiel xvii. 3, " the highest branch of the cedar," and chap. xxxi. 3, " his top was among the thick boughs." 248 THE CEDAR. The needle-shaped leaves are shorter than those of the pine ; they grow in bunches of more than twenty, like those of the larch, but they are of a firmer tex- ture, and are not deciduous. The cones, which stand erect, are of a bright green colour, and an oval shape, five inches long and four broad ; they adhere closely to the bark, the colour of which is a clear grey or brown. The beauty of the cedar consists in the symmetry of its wide spreading boughs. The wood is reddish with streaks, and does not seem to be harder than that of white iir. The resin, which exudes both from the stem and the cones, is, according to Schulz,^ " as soft as balsam ; the smell is very simi- lar to that of the balm of Mecca. Every thing, in- deed, about this tree has a strong balsamic perfume, and hence the whole forest is so perfumed with fra- grance that a walk through it is delightful." This is probably the " scent or smell of Lebanon," to which reference is made in Hosea xiv. 6, and Song of So- lomon iv. 11. There is scarcely any other kind of timber that combines so many advantages for build- ing as the cedar. The wood is hard and free from knots, is not liable to be worm eaten, and is withal so durable, that some have supposed it to be incorrup- tible. It is on this account employed for beams and rafters in the roofs and floors of houses. The castle of Persepolis,^ the temple at Jerusalem, (1 Kings vi. 9, et sqq, Ezra iii. 7), and the royal palace there, * Leitungen des Hdchsten, Part V. p. 459. ^ Quintus Curtius, in his Histor. Alexand. Magni. Lib. V. Cap. 7- Multacedro sedificata erat regia. THE CEDAR. 249 (2 Sam. V. 1 1 ; vii. 2), were all built of cedar wood ; and there was so much of it made use of in the last mentioned edifice, that it obtained the name of the " house of the forest of Lebanon," 1 Kings vii. 2. 2 Kings X. 17. In Tyre the masts of the ships, and the wainscot of the palaces were formed of cedar. Ezek xxvii. 5, 6. Of the forests of cedar which once covered Le- banon, there are at present only a very few remains. The well known cedar grove, commonly visited by travellers, lies at the foot of the steep acclivity of the higher range of Lebanon Proper, opposite the village of Hadet. It is distant about half a league from the direct road to Bshirrai, and about a league and a quarter from that place, in the neighbourhood of which is the Carmelite monastery of Mar-Serkis^ i. e. Saint Sergius. Mayr,*^ in the year 1813, com- puted the number of trees at 800 or 900, including great and small. Among the former he remarked nine principal trees, distinguished from the rest by their age and the thickness of their stems, but not by their height, in which they were exceeded by younger trees. The circumference of the trunk of the largest cedar (at the distance of four feet from the ground), was fully twenty feet. A fallen bough measured thirty paces. The trunks of five of the largest branched off into three or four divisions, each stem in which was equal in thickness to the trunk of our largest oaks. Burckhardt, in the autumn of 1810, counted " eleven or twelve cedars of the oldest and * Ad7entures of a Swiss, Vol. HI. p. 'JQ. 250 THE PINE. best looking trees ; twentj'^-five very large ones ; about fifty of middling size, and more than three hundred smaller and young trees." Besides this cedar grove, Seetzen^ discovered two others, which were of greater extent than the one described, but they have been mentioned by no other traveller. 7. Oren,^ the Pine TreeJ^ Among the trees of whose timber idols were formed, mention is made in Isaiah xliv. 14, of the Oren, by which both the oldest Greek and the oldest Latin translators understood the pine tree.^ The same kind of tree is likewise denoted by the corre- sponding Chaldee term.'* But, as it is said in the above cited passage, that the Oren tree has to be planted, and that " the rain causes it to grow,"^ we are not to understand by it the wild pine,^ but what the ancients called the domestic pine, which was raised in gar- dens on account of its elegant shape, the melo- dious rustling of the leaves, and the pleasant fruit it yields, the Pignola nuts of the Italians.'' The pine in ' See Zach's Monthly Correspondence, Vol. XIII. p. 549. * The Pinus Pinea of Linnseus. ^ Uirvs, Pinus, * Pinus Sylvestris. ' Virgil, in his Georgics, (IV. 112), says : Pinosque ferens de montibus altis Tecta serat late circum. THE riNE. 251 question is a high tree, with a strong and durable stem. It puts forth its branches, not like the com- mon forest pines, from the middle of the stem, but from the top ; the fine needle-shaped leaves, which hang down like hair, are about half a foot long, and are evergreen. The younger Pliny^ compares with the form of this pine the flames of Mount Vesuvius, which, in like manner, dart up as in a long stem, and then shoot forth into branches. The tree bears large hard cones, in which are embedded kernels of an ob- long shape, white, fat, oily, but sweet to the taste, and covered with a yellow husk. Like several other pines, it yields timber of a fine grain, easily wrought and durable ; and, therefore, it is not unlikely that it was employed for the purpose mentioned in the above passage in Isaiah.^ and Eel. VII. 65. Fraxinus in sylvis pulcherrima, pin?/s i;i horlis. Olivier (Voyages Tom. IV. p. 27), found in the neighbourhood of Beirout a small wood of very beautiful pines, (pins a pignons, Pinus Sativa), which had been planted by the famous Emir Fakhr-ed-din, in the seventeenth century. But Djezzar Pacha caused many of them to be cut down to furnish timber for the building of his palace. 8 Letters, Book VI. Letter 16. ^ Celsius thinks (Hierobot, P. I. p. 192,) that the Hebrew ^"nX denotes the tree which the Arabs designate by a similar name, {• yr' Aran. Abulfadli describes it as a thorny tree, which grows in Arabia Petraea, and most commonly in valleys and low lying districts ; if found on the hills, the branches are less prickly. The fruit has the form of a small grape. The berries are at first green and bitter, then red, and at last black and somewhat sweetish. Sprengel (Hist. Rei Herb. I. 14), 252 THE TAMARISK. 8. Eshely^ the Tamarisk,^ Abraham, it is said, in Gen. xxi. 33, planted, at Bersheba, an eshel.* This name denotes, in Arabic,^ the eastern tamarisk, which differs from that of the south of Europe both in height and strength, and in the form of the leaves and boughs.* Among the thinks this description points out the common caper tree, the Caparis Spinosa of Linnaeus ; whilst J. E. Faher^ in his pos- thumous BISS. Notes on Biblical Botany, thinks it apphes to the Rhamnus Siculus Pentaphyllus of Shaw. But neither of these trees " is planted," as is said of the Oren in Isa. xliv. 14, and as they are mere shrubs, they do not yield wood of which images could be constructed. [The English version, like most others, translates Oren an ash-tree, the elementary letters of the Hebrew being found in the Latin Ornus. Such is also the rendering of Gesenius in his Translation of Isaiah. Link, in Schroder's Botan. Journal, (IV. 252), identifies the tree mentioned by Abulfadli with the Ftacurtia Sepievia of Roxburgh. Rabbi Tanchum, (on the Babyl. Talmud. Para. 96,) says the Ore7i is a species of cedar or pine, of the wood of which masts were constructed. — Tr.] 2 The Tamarix Orientalis of Linnaeus. * In the English version, it is " a grove.''' V^\ • pronounced by the common people aihle. See Prosper Alpinus de Plantis ^gypti. cap. 9 [who gives a draw- ing of it, which Forskal says is not very accurate.] * Forskal, in his Flora ^gypt. Arab. (p. 206) gives the dis- tinguishing points of difference [They will be found in Tay- lor's Fragments to Calmet, Vol. IV. p. 68 L But, since the period when Forskal wrote, the subject has been carefully exa- THE TAMARISK. 253 trees with which the villages in Egypt are surrounded, there are commonly several athles ; and, according to Sonnini,* they are as lofty and vigorous as the oak. The leaves are long, alternate, very small, and of a pale green colour. The branches are commonly loaded with gall-nuts^ which, before they dry up, are full of a beautiful bright red sap. The people of Egypt generally use the wood of this tree for fuel and building ; bowls and drinking vessels are also made of it.^ Burckhardt found this tree (which he calls " Itliel,^ and a species of Tamarisk'*) in the gardens round Medina> and he remarks that the Arabs cultivate it on account of the hardness of the wood, which they use for the saddles of their camels, and for other articles that are exposed to rough hand- mined by Ehreriberg; and, judging from the results he has pub- lished in the Linnaea of Schlecbtendal (II. p. 241, et seqq.) as quoted by Winer, there would seem to be five different varie- ties of the Tamarix Gallica, viz. the T. Gall. Nilotica Glausces- cenSjfound on the banks and islands of the Nile, and in Syria; the T. Gall. Nilotica Cinerea, about Suez, (both these are shrubs); T. Gall. Arborea, about Cairo ; T. Gall. Heterophylla, on the island of Philae at Syene ; T. Gall. Mamiifera, in the rallies of Sinai, which yields manna Tr.] * Travels, Vol, I. p. 264, et seqq. There is a figure of the tree on Plate "V. fig. 1 . ^ Golius, in his Lex. Arab. p. 21, gives a good description of this tree from Zamachshari , which J. D. Michaehs has embodied in his Supplemm., p. 136. Comp. Faber and Reiske's Opuscc. Medica ex Monument. Arabum, p. 1^7. Golius cor- rectly remarks the consonance of the words y.j\ and '^•f V;* y^', Travels in Arabia, p. 358. 254 THE TAMARISK. ling. That this tree grows also in Syria is attested by Dioseordides.® According to 1 Sam. xxii. 6, Saul had his dwell- ing under a tamarisk ; and under such a tree he and his sons were buried, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. [The English version has simply " a tree."] In the parallel passage in I Chron. x. 12, we find elah instead o't eshel. The former word denotes, as we saw above, (at p. 237,) sometimes a strong tree generally, at other times the terebinth ; and we have the testimony of Rabbi Jonah or Abulwalid, in his Hebrew- Arabic lexicon,® that the Arabic term athle is not unfrequently used for any large tree,* as was the word eshel by the later Hebrews. 9. Botnim} Pistachio Nats?- Among the choicest fruits of Palestine which Jacob sent as a present to his son Joseph in Egypt, men- tion is made oi botnim. Gen. xliii. 1 I. The ancient 8 Bookl. cap. 117. ^ See the quotations in Gesenius Thesaurus, p. 159. Celsius, in his Hierobot. (Part I. p. 535^ maintains that 7t^^? always signifies a tree generally, and never a tamarisk; but that no- tion has been satisfactorily refuted by J. D. Michaelis in his Suplem. p. 134. • Thus it is the name given to the sacred tree found in the ruins of Babylon. See Bib. Cab. Vol. XVII. p. 20. : T 2 Pistacia. Celsius, Part I. p. 24, et seqq. Comp. Bochart^s Geograph. Sacr., Part If. Lib. I. cap, 10, p. 419. THE TAMARISK. 255 versions of the East^ render the Hebrew word ^^pista- chio niitSi* the fruit of a tree very like the terebinth,* and hence the Septuagint has translated botnim by " terebinth." The fruit of the terebinth, however, (which is a useless substance, of the size of a pea.) would have been a very unsuitable present to a man like Joseph ; but the fruit of the pistacia tree may justly be reckoned among the finest productions of Palestine. The nuts are of the size of a hazel nut, but of an oblong angular form; the kernel is of a green- ish colour, and, (though somewhat oily,) has a very agreeable taste. It was held in high esteem among the ancients ; and Dioscorides^ informs us it was reckoned a good stomachic, and, when ground down and mixed with wine, was used as a cure for the bite of serpents. 10. JBecaim} Pear Trees (?) It is said in 2 Sam. v. 23, 24, (Conip. 1 Chron. xiv. ' Namely, the Samaritan, the Samaritan-Arabic, the Ara- bic of Erpenius, and the Persian. The last mentioned has ^jM>j Pusteh, of which the Arabs formed C_-S.AmO Fostak, the Greeks Uia-roixici and the other Europeans pistacia or pis- tachio [sometimes, says Dr. Johnson, called Jistich.] Rabbi Bartanora remarks, in the Tahnud. Tract. Shebiith, cap. vii. § 5, that K2D1 is the fruit which the Arabs call p^^^)DK£)• * The Pistacia Terebinthus of Linnaeus. * Book I cap. 178. Uiirraxia roc, (aiv yituijt.i.va. it Su^/a, o^tf/« (rT^o(3i?.oi;, zva'Toua^x, iff^/ofjiivct Ti koci Ttvof^ivx Iv o'i'vm Xi7cc io-^iTS- 256 THE PEAR TREE. 14, 15,) that during a war between the Hebrews and Philistines, whilst the latter lay encamped in the valley of Rephaim, David received a command from the Lord not to attack them in front, but from behind, and to approach them in the direction of the Becaim trees."^ He was farther instructed to wait until he should hear a rustling in the tops of the becaim trees, for then the Lord would go before him to smite the Philistines. By the Becaim the Rabbins understood mulberry trees ;^ but that interpretation is neither countenanced by the ancient versions, nor by the oc- currence of any similar term in the cognate languages. In Arabic,'^ Baca, according to Abulfadli,^ is the name of a shrub which grows around Mecca, and is not unlike that which yields the famous balm,^ only its leaves are longer. The fruits of the two shrubs are also similar, but those of the Baca tree are larger and rounder. When a leaf is broken off, there flows a white acrid sap. The wood is used for rubbing the teeth, as a preventive of tooth-ache, and to strengthen the gums. Celsius, J. D. Michaelis, Gesenius, and others, think that the Hebrew word Baca designates this shrub. It is very uncertain, however, whether 3 OTTHl* '^y-^ Tut is also the Arabic for a mulberry- tree. See Host's Description of Fez and Morocco, p. 305. * In Celsius Hierobot. Part I. p. 339. -Li^j. See the present volume, p. 147, 151- THE CYPRESS. 257 it be found in Palestine; and the mention of a <' rustling in the tops of the Becaim," seems to point rather to large trees than to shrubs. It is, therefore, preferable to follow the most ancient Greek and Latin versions, by translating " pear trees,"^ which is the oldest rendering extant, though, certainly, it is not confirmed by any of the cognate dialects. 11. Berosh, Beroth^ the Cypress? In most of the passages where the Hebrew word occurs, it is by the oldest Greek and the Sy- riac translators rendered, "a cypress"^ ; and what is said of the Berosh suits that tree very well, particu- larly in its being so often mentioned in connection with the cedar of Lebanon, the wood of both trees being peculiarly adapted for building. Isa. xiv. 8 ; "^ Aw'iovS) Pyra. This, however, is found in the scriptures, only at I Chron. xiv. 14, 15. In the other passage mentioned above, (viz. 2 Sam. v. 23, 24), the Septuagint has KXuvSfzuv, " weep- ing," and akffoi rod KXavB-fiuvof, the " grove of weeping," from K^m, which has the same signification as HDH, and hence T X T T NlD^n pf2y in Ps. Ixxxiv. 7, (in the English version, " the Valley of Baca,") is " the valley of weeping," — the vale of tears. ^ ti^lllDj ni'l!!- The latter, which is the Arameean pronunciation, occurs only in the Song of Solomon, i. I7. ^ Cupressus. ' A minute investigation of the different meanings of this word, as given in the ancient versions, will be found in Gesen- ius Thesaurus, p. 246. S 258 THE CYPRESS. xxxvii. 24 ; Ix. 13. Zech. xi. 1, 2. This adaptation arises from its not being subject to putrefaction, nor to corrosion by worms. Both trees are celebrated by ancient writers as furnishing the best timber for houses and ships.^ That Solomon employed both cedar and cypress in the erection of the temple, is ex- pressly stated in scripture, (1 Kings v. 8, 10 ; vi. 15, 34. 2 Chron. xxvii. 3, 5), and confirmed by the tes- timony, not only of Josephus,^ but of Eupolemus, and of Alexander Polyhistor .^ Pliny mentions,^ that the doors and other parts of the temple of Diana at Ephe- sus, were made of cypress-wood ; and, in like man- ner, the two doors at the entrance of the temple at Jerusalem were constructed of the JBerosh-tree. Athenaaus describes^ a splendid ship of Hiero, which contained, among other valuables, a shrine of Venus that was incased in cypress-wood ; and so the temple of Jerusalem was floored with planks of berosh^ ( I Kings vi. 13. 2 Chron. iii. 5), of which likewise were formed the decks of the ships of Tyre, Ezek. xxvii. 5. The musical instruments of David were of berosh-wood, (2 Sam. vi. 5) ; and lances were fabri- cated of the same, Nah. ii. 3. The cypress is high, and has a straight and vigo- rous stem. In the Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, ^ Vir^Ws Georgics, II. 443. Dant utile lignum, Navigiis pinos, domibus cedrumqne cupressumque. 5 Antiq. VIII. 2. 7- ^ In Eusebius Praspar. Evang. Lib. IX. Cap. 30. ' Hist. Nat. Lib. XVI. Cap. 42. « Deipnosoph. Lib. V. Cap. 207- THE CYPRESS. 259 (ch. 1. 24), the high priest, Simon, son of Onias, is compared to '• a cypress towering to the clouds," on account of his tall and noble figure. The boughs shoot forth in regular circles, which gives to the tree the appearance of a cone. The fruit is also of a con- ical shape, being composed of scutiform scales, each of which covers several germs that grow into small square nuts. The stem yields a soft resin, somewhat like turpentine, with a pungent taste, but pleasant smell. The conjecture of J. E. Faber^ is very probable, that the Hebrew name Berosh included three diffe- rent trees which resemble each other, viz. the ever- green cypress, ^° the dwarf- cypress, or thuia'^ of the ancients, and the savine-tree OTJuniperus sabina. The wood of the second of these trees is in Rev. xviii. 12, called ihyine-ifood}^, both in Luther's and the English version. It is there mentioned among the precious wares for which merchants would find no purchasers, in consequence of the fall of Babylon. The wealthy among the Romans adorned their villas with this wood. When Appius Claudius, (in the work of Varro^^ j, is describing the splendour of a certain vil- la, he celebrates the golden decorations, but praises in still higher terms, the wainscoting of precious thuia-wood. Being so much in demand, it became an important article of trade. Il^q juniper us sabi/ia, ' Arciiseolo^y of the Hebrews, p. 3/1. '° Cupressus semperviva. '' Cupressus Thyoides. See CeU-ius, Part II. p. 22, si^q- ^^ From the Greek ^vkov S:iV»». 13 De Re Rustica, Lib. lil. Cap. 2. 260 GOPHER-WOOD. which is the last mentioned of the above trees, is so like the cypress, that the ancients often called it by that name, and the moderns have noticed the resem- blance, especially as to the leaves.^* Hence, even among the Greeks, both trees bore the old eastern name of Berosh, Beroth, Brutha, or Brathy.^* The Sabina grows to a considerable size. Rauwolf*^ saw one near Tripoli, which was so thick that a man could not clasp the stem with both arms. The wood is valued by the Turks as being well adapted for the construction of roofs and vaults.^"^ 12. Gopher y^ a kind of Cypress. According to Gen. vi. 14, the ark which served as an asylum to Noah and his family during the flood, was built of Gopher-ivood. The name does not oc- ^* Bauhin Pinax theatri botan. 478. Sabina folio cupressi. Tournefort Voyage de Levant, T. II. p. 137. Sabine — ses feuilles — sent de la tissure de Cypres. ^* PliniusHist. Nat. L. XXIV. Cap. 11. Sabina, Brathy appellata a Graecis, duoruna generum est ; altera tamarici si- milis folio, altera cupresso. Quare quidam Creticam cupressum dixerunt. Dioscorides B. 1. cap. 105. B^aSw; — ivrtHi tovtou if^n ^vo' TO fih ya^ avruv lari ro7s (pvXKott o/jloiov Ki/ra^Ufu. 16 Travels, p. 57. ^^ The opinion of Celsius, (Part I. p. 74, sqq.) is wholly un- tenable, that ^l*!!!! is the cedar of Lebanon, which, as we have already seen, (at p. 246), is designated by the Hebrew term H?^- GOPHER-WOOD. 261 cur elsewhere ; but it is supposed to denote a species of cypress, of which three kinds have been above enumerated. Though this designation seems to have become obsolete, having fallen into disuse among the later Hebrews, yet the radical consonants in '' go- pher" and " cypress" are substantially the same^ ; and the words probably signify, etymologically, " a resinous wood,"^ which that of the cypress is. Being at once light, and not subject to rot, it was often used in ship-building. Alexander the Great caused the great fleet which he prepared, to be constructed of cypress-wood, which was brought from Assyria.'* 2 The first two consonants of the wox-ds *lDJl and xvra^, viz. g and ph, k and p, differ only in the soft or hard manner in which they are pronounced, for iffjt>. [See Bib. Cabinet, Vol. XL p. 262,] ■• It is only, however, in the dialect of Yemen or Southern s ^ Arabia. Elsewhere the common name of the myrtle is (j"'* 264 THE MYRTLE. twenty feet,* is either wild or domestic; and of both kinds there is a white and a black. It has long, thick, flexible boughs, with a reddish rind. The leaves are oval, smooth, and evergreen. The flowers are single, and either white, or red and white ; they bloom in May, and are succeeded by berries of a brownish black colour, which contain a number of small whitish seeds. Both the leaves and flowers have a mild and pleasant aromatic taste and flavour ; and hence the myrtle was a tree in high esteem among the ancients. The Romans reared it in their gardens. Cato recom- mended to husbandmen the culture of laurels and myr- tles, because chaplets or garlands made of them would Und a ready sale in neighbouring towns.^ In the or- namental gardens of the rich, Horace found the myr- tle beside the plane-tree and the laurel.® VirgiP de- scribes the odoriferous scent of Cory don's garden, as arising from the laurels and myrtles that were planted together. The ivild myrtle has, according to Dios- corides,^ broad, lance-shaped leaves, with boughs about an ell long, very flexible, and covered with thick foliage. Between the leaves are berries, which redden as they grow ripe, and have a hard kernel. It grows on mountains and steep declivities. At the feast of Tabernacles, celebrated on the return from Babylon, when the inhabitants of Jerusalem con- structed booths of the branches of trees, we find men- * In Egypt, where it is raised in gardens, it has commonly the size of an apple-tree. Olivier^ Tom. III. p. 311. 5 De Re Rustica, Lib. VIII. Cap. 2. « Odes, III. 15. ' Eccl. II. v. 54. » Book IV. Cap. 146. THE OLIVE TREE. 265 tion made, (along with the palm, the olive, and other trees), of the branches of the wild " myrtle- trees," which were brought from the neighbouring hills, Neh. viii. 13. But when the prophet Isaiah foretells, that in the coming golden age of Israel, Jehovah will plant in the desert, " cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees," (ch. xli. 19 ;) and that, instead of the thorn hedge shall grow the fir tree, and instead of the heath, the myrtle, there is no doubt he refers, not to the wild, but to the cultivated tree of that name. The pro- phet Zechariah, (ch. i. 8, 10, 11), saw in vision a man, on a red horse, in a valley among " myrtle trees." 15. Sciit,^ the Olive- Tree. "^ The above Hebrew name is explained by all the ancient translators as meaning " the olive-tree," and the Arabic and Syriac designate it by the same word. There are both wild and cultivated olive-trees. The latter reach the height of twenty or thirty feet. The trunk is knotty, the bark smooth, and of an ashy- grey colour. The leaves, which are about two and a half inches in length, are of an oblong shape, like those of the willow, only not indented ; they are thick, hard, of a dark green colour on the upper side, and a greyish below. They have scarcely any stalk, and are not deciduous in winter.^ The flowers are white, and grow in small bunches between the leaves. ' nn- 2 Olea. Celsius, Part 11. p. 331, et seqq. 3 Theophrasi. Hist. Plant. I. 15. Plini/, XVI. 20. 266 THE OLIVE TREE. To the flower succeeds the fruit, (the olive) in the form of an oblong roundish berry, which is at first green, becomes pale as it ripens, and, when quite ripe, is of a purple black. This plump fleshy fruit con- tains a hard kernel with oblong seeds. It ripens to- wards the end of October and beginning of Novem- ber. To procure the oil, the olives are kept till they begin to shrivel, and are then put into hot water and pressed. The tree reaches a great age,^ is commonly propagated by slips, and bears fruit very copiously. It thrives best in a light dry soil, for in moist and loamy ground it puts forth much foliage without fruit.^ This is the reason why it never abounded much in Egypt,^ nor is it yet to be found there to any extent.'' Palestine, on the other hand, has from ♦ According to Pliny, (XVI. 44, 90), it will live four hun- dred years. [" The olive," says Chateaubriand, " may be said to be immortal, since a fresh tree springs up from the old stump. Those in the garden of Olivet (or Gethsemane) are at least of the time of the Eastern empire, as is demonstrated by the fol- lowing circumstance. In Turkey, every olive-tree found standing by the Mussulmans, when they conquered Asia, pays one medine to the treasury, while each of those planted since the conquest is taxed half its produce. The eight olives of which we are speaking, are charged only eight medines.'''' — Tr.1 * Columella de Cultu Hortorum, Cap. 17- Florentinus in the Geoponica, or Treatises on Agriculture, Lib. IX. Cap. 4. ^ According to Sirabo, (XVIf. 1, So), fruitful oiive-trees grew only in the Heracleotic Nomos, and in the gardens round Alexandria. 7 Sonnini, ch. II. p. 24. Olivier says, (Tom. III. p. 308. Quoique peu commun, il n'y a presque pas de village un peu e'tendu, ou on ne rencontre quelques pieds d'olivier. THE OLIVE TREE. 267 the earliest times, been as rich in olives as are now Italy, Spain, and the south of France. Among the fruit trees of that country, the olive-tree is always enumerated in Scripture, e. g. Deut. vi. 1 1 ; viii. 8 ; xxviii. 40 ; xxxiii. 24. Jos. xxiv. 13. 2 Kings xviii. 32. David had an overseer over his olive-yards, I Chron. xxvii. 28 ; and Solomon gave to the labourers sent him by king Hiram, (besides other provisions), twenty thousand baths of oil, 2 Chron. ii. 10. Oil was one of the productions which the Israelites car- ried to the markets of Tyre, as is noted by Ezekiel, (ch. xxvii. 17.) Belo7i^ found on the hills around Nablous, plantations of olive-trees that were very vi- gorous, and completely laden with fruit. Hassel- quist,^ when on his way from Joppa to Jerusalem, passed through three beautiful vallies, which were overgrown with excellent olive-trees. As the olive-tree is always green, it was employed as an emblem of uninterrupted prosperity, Ps. Hi. 8. Jer. xi. 16. In Nehem. viii. 15, a distinction is made between <' the olive-tree," {Sdit), and «' the tree of oil," {Etz- ShemeiiP) By the latter is probably intended the wild olive-tree.^' Stephen Schulz^^ found near Jeri- cho, beside the bed of a dried-up brook, a number of wild olive-trees, the fruit of which was as large as a plum, and was, consequently, twice the size of the 8 Observations, LW. II. ch. 88. ^ Travels, p. 141. ^° 1^^ "(V- '' Oleaster, iy^cixuicf. ^* Leitungen des Hochsten, Part V. p. 8G. 5fb8 THE STORAX TREE. fruit of the cultivated olive. The inhabitants of the district make from the wild olives an oil, which cannot, indeed, be used for food, but is employed as a healing ointment.^^ According to 1 Kings vi. 23, the che- rubim in Solomon's temple were made of the wood of the wild olive-tree. In the description of the future golden age in Isa. xli. 19, the olive-tree is mentioned among those trees which shall then grow in the wild- erness, along with the cedar, the acacia, and the myr- tle.i4 ^^ See above, at p. 169, Note 2 ; and p. 170, et seqq. ^* Yet the Greek translator of Alexandria renders *yV ]t2t^ in 1 Kings vi. 23, and ^t^^ ^J/ in Neh. viii. 15, by |vXa nvru^iffffivx, i. e. cypress-wood, and in Isaiah xli. 19, by xvproi^iffffov, the cypress-tree. Celsius thinks, (Part I. p. 309), that \^\^ \*J/ denotes generally oily, i. e. resinous trees, as in Levit. xxiii. 40. 1"in "'tV means ** beautiful trees," and VO-V \V " trees with a thick foliage." But in the three places where the expressions TDSi^ ''tV and ]DJi^ 'Vy occur, they seem to designate one particular kind of tree. Besides, the term ]J2^ cannot well be translated " resin," which is commonly called IDil or *l53. See above, at p. 261, note 12. [The English version has in Nehemiah viii. 15, " pine trees," in 1 Kings vi. 23, the "olive tree," and in Isa. xli. 19, the " oil tree."] THE STORAX TREE. 269 16. Libneh,^ the Storax-Tree.'^ Among the speckled rods which Jacob is said to have placed in the watering-troughs of the sheep, (Gen. XXX. 37, 38), mention is first made of the rods of Libneh. The Alexandrian Greek translator in- terprets this by " Storax,'' which the Arabs designate by Lobna,^ a name exactly similar in its radical con- sonants to the Hebrew, and which is employed as sy- nonymous with the Hebrew, by the Arabic transla- tor Saadias. The storax- tree, which grows wild in Syria, Arabia, Asia Minor, and also in the south of Europe, resembles the Cydonia, or quince-tree,* — is about twelve feet high, and puts forth b. number of slender branches, with leaves of an oval shape, about two inches long, and an inch and a half broad, and downy on the lower side. The flowers are white, and sweet scented, and hang at the end of the boughs; they grow into small nuts, which contain two hard smooth kernels. A gum is obtained by incisions on the stem of the tree, which is employed in the pre- paration of powder for incense, and is called, in He- brew, NatafJ" The prophet Hosea, (ch. iv. 13), complains of the Israelites, that they sacrificed and offered incense to ^ n^lS. ' Styrax. 3 ^. * Dioscorides, Lib. I. Cap. 80. Xry^a^ Idx^vov ifri ^sy^^at/ rtrof * See above, p. 164. 270 THE ALMOND TREE. idols upon mountains and heights, under oaks, tere- binths, and Lihneh'treeSy because these afforded a fine shadow.^ The Greek translator (who is different from the above mentioned translator of the Penta- teuch) renders Libneh by " white poplar,"? which derives the epithet of white, not so much from the bark, as from the silver-white colour of the lower side of the leaves. But the translator, in giving this inter- pretation to the Hebrew word, was misled by the etymology.^ The meaning given in the Pentateuch has far greater authority, as being much more ancient, and as being supported by the analogy of the Arabic. The mention of the white poplar, moreover, does not so well suit the passage in Hosea, inasmuch as that tree shoots its boughs high up, assuming the form of a pyramid, and, consequently, does not afford a sha- dow like that of the wide-spreading oak and terebinth- tree. 17. Lus s also Shakedy^ the Almond- tree, ^ In the narrative respecting the speckled rods which " AiuKv. [The English version has " poplar," both in Ho- sea and Genesis.] * The root 7]27 means to be white. The Storax-tree has its Arabic name ^XjJi from ^ . ^] milk, because when an inci- sion is made in the stem, the gum flows like milk. I.. T ' Amygdalus. Celsius, Part I. p. 253. THE ALMOND TREE. 271 Jacob placed in the watering- troughs of the sheep, (Gen. XXX. 37), mention is made of rods of Lus. The corresponding Arabic^ term denotes the " al- mond-tree," which the most learned Rabbins pro- nounce to be likewise the meaning of the Hebrew word.* The almond-tree is similar to the peach tree, (for they belong to the same family), but has a more vigorous growth. The leaves are oblong and indent- ed like a saw. The blossoms, which are double, grow into a fruit, the only esculent part of which is the kernel. The rind of the bitter almond, (which is only a variety) contains prussic acid, and to many animals is poisonous. Almonds, the fruits of this tree, are called in He- brew Shekedim^^ (Gen. xliii. 11. Num. xvii. 23), the singular of v/hich word, viz. Shaked,^ occurs in Jer. i. 1 1. Eccles. xii. 5, for the " almond-tree." The dif- ference between Lus and Shaked seems to be, that the former word designates the " wild," the latter the " cultivated" tree ; for Abulfadli makes an express distinction between them.'^ The name Shaked was * For example, Saadias in Abeii Esra's Commentaries. Others of them, however, as Jarchi, understand by it " the hazel-bush." The Sept. version has na^vhrtv, but xa^vu. in- cludes nuts as well as almonds. See Casaubon on the Deip- nosoph. of Athenaeus, p. 106. ' In Celsius, Part I. p. 254. 272 THE WILLOW. no doubt given to the almond- tree, because it blooms earlier than any other tree.^ And as the snow-white blossoms are seen on the yet naked boughs,^ this appearance is employed in Eccl. xii. 5 as an emblem of the hoary locks thinly scattered on the bald head of old age. 18. Arabf Zaphzaphah,^ the Willow.^ That the first of these words denotes " the willow,"^ is proved by the Arabic name being the same, and by the testimony of the oldest Greek translators."* It is confirmed by the circumstance, that the tree which the name designates is spoken of as growing " by the brooks ;" e. g. in Levit. xxiii. 40, where among the trees whose boughs were to be used in the construction of tents at the feast of tabernacles, men- tion is made of " the willow of the brook."^ Ac- ' The root signifies " to wake, to be awake about any thing, to watch it," and hence, " to make haste, to be eager." Upon this is founded the paronamasia in Jer. i. 11, 12. [" I see a rod of an almond. tree, {shaked). Thou hast well seen for {shoked), I hasten, &c.] Pliny says, in his Nat. Hist. Book XVI. Chap. 25 : Floret omnium prima amygdala mense Jan- uario, Martio vero poma raaturat. 3 Hasselquist's Travels, p. 220. ' 2r\y or niy, nD^^iDV. I » V V T T ; - 2 Salix, Celsius, Part I. p. 304. 3 * These render the Hebrew word by the Greek /««/. * 7n^ ^^^J^' -^a»w»o»»c?«« says, in his Comment., on the THE WILLOW. 273 cording to Isa. xliv. 4, the Israelites shall one day luxuriantly spring up like grass and " willows by the brooks." Among the trees under whose shade the hehemotlh {i. e. the hippopotamus) reposes, are enu- merated, (Job xl. 22), " willows by the brook.'' The Psalmist, in the hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm, thus plaintively sings : — By the streams of Babel — there we sat down, And we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows, amid the rivers, we hung our harps. The reference here must be to the " weeping willow," also called the Babylonian (Salix Babylonica), with low hanging boughs that bend gracefully down. The prophet Ezekiel, in his figurative description of the destiny of the last branch of the house of Judah, says, (ch. xvii. 5.) that a great eagle cropped off a twig from the top of a cedar and set it, like Zaphzaphah, in a country abounding with water. The Rabbins are unanimously of opinion, that that word denotes a species of willow, which is confirmed by the circumstance, that the similar Arabic word Saffa/,^ is a very general name for the willow at the present day. Besides the descriptions of this tree Talmud. Tractat Succah, (Cap. 3, § 3), that the willow of the brook has long smooth leaves, and a red stem. Comp. Cra- mer's Remarks on the Codex Succah, edited by Dachs, (LTt- recht. 1726, 4to.) p. 195. ^ o - ^ o- 6 ., . .... OUsXa:?, »XJ^X*a. Burckhardt mentions, (Travels in Syria, p. 044), a fountain called Li^^^^*a (^ » y'..^ Ain- Saffafj X. e. " the willow-fountain." T 274 THE WILLOW. furnished by Prosper Alpinus,^ Paul Lucas,^ and Hasselquisl,^ there is a particular account of it by Rauwolf ^° He says, that along the brook, on the outskirts of Aleppo, he found a peculiar species of willow called Sa^af, " These trees are of various sizes; the stems, branches, and twigs, are long, thin, soft, and of a pale yellow, and have some resem- blance to those of the birch ; the leaves are like those of the common willow ; on the boughs grow here and there shoots of a span long, as on the wild fig-trees of Cyprus, and these put forth in spring tender downy blossoms, like those of the poplar ; the blossoms are pale-coloured, and of a delicious fragrance ; the natives pull them in great quantities, and distil from them a cordial which is much es- teemed." It is said in the Gemara,^^ that the willow called SaffafhdiS a white stem, and round indented leaves.^* 7 De Reb.iEgypt. Nat. p. 194. 8 Voyages, Tom. 11. p. 91. ^ Travels in Palestine, p. 544. 1" Travels, Part T. chap. 9, p. 111. ^^ In the Tractat Succah, fol. 34, p. 1. ^2 Celsius thinks, (Part II. p. 112) that HID ^£3^ means S ^ (J ^ " a plain," like the Arabic C-Aa2Sa:> . But there is no reason for departing from the universal opinion of the Rabbins, which is confirmed by the above mentioned Aralac synonym. The Greek Alexandrian translator has mistaken the passage in Ezekiel, for, deriving the Hebrew word from HiD^) " to con- T T »ider attentively," he has rendered it by iTi^kivifUfot , which THE PLANE TREE. 275 19. Armon} the Oriental Maple- Tree or Plane- Tree.^ Among the speckled rods which Jacob placed in the watering-troughs of the sheep, mention is made, (Gen. XXX. 37.) of rods of armon. This, according to the rendering of the most ancient Greek transla- tor,* denotes the " plane-tree," — an interpretation which likewise suits the other place, (Ezek. xxxi, 8.) where the word armon occurs, and where the tree is celebrated on account of the rich fohage of its branches. In Ecclesiastic, xxiv. 19, wisdom is com- pared to a plane tree shooting its high boughs aloft. The stem grows straight up, and has a smooth gray- ish bark, which comes off every year ; the wood is white and hard. The branches are wide spreadinjr, and afford a fine shadow ; the leaves resemble those of the vine, are downy on both sides, and hang on long stalks. The blossoms, which appear before the leaves, form large round clusters, and have a whitish yields no congruous sense. [Comp. the Heb. and Sept. in Ps. Ixvi. 7 with Biel's Thesaurus, and Schleusner's Lex. Vet. Test. under iTnlix'nru, — Tr.'^ 2 riatanas, Celsiiis, Part T. p. 5i2. ^ (Ka/ ^a'jSJav) 7rXa.Ta.v0v. So a!so the Latin version; and v.'ith these agree the Chaldee, the Syriac, aud the Arabic, which U ' s o^ have respectively n^^^l, |:^^Oj and ^^, all desigziating the plane tree. [In both places the EuglisJi version has *' thft chestuut-tree." — Tr-I 276 CASSIA. and grass-green colour. The seed does not ripen till late in autumn ; it is embedded in the fruit, which is small, and has a woolly covering. The tree abounds in Syria and Palestine.* 20. Kiddah} Ketziah,^ Cassia,^ Among the articles of which the holy anointing oil was composed, (Exod. xxx. 24,) Kiddah is enume- rated. The only other place where the n'ord occurs is in Ezek. xxvii. 19, where it describes one of the wares brought by Arab tribes to the markets of Tyre. In the former passage, the Septuagint trans- lates kiddah by '* iris," i. e. the blue water lily, the root of which, on account of its fragrant odour, is called " violet-root." But in the passage in Ezekiel, the Hebrew word is not translated in the Septuagint at all. The violet-root might have been employed in the preparation of the anointing oil ; but it does not suit the passage in Ezekiel, for we cannot suppose that a root so common in Syria and Palestine would have been brought by Arab merchants all the way to Tyre. But in Exod. xxx. 24, kiddah is by the oldest Chaldee, the Syriac, and the Latin translators, render- ed by " Cassia," which we find mentioned in Ps. xlv. 9, under the Hebrew name of Ketzioth,^ That is a * See the quotations from travellers in proof of this, in Cel- sius, loc. cit. p. 5 13. 3 Cassia Cinnamomea, Celsius, Part II. p. 360, p. 185. * The word being derived from 3^Vp, " to cut oiF," denotes CASSIA. 277 production not only of the East Indies but of Arabia, and therefore it was quite natural for traders of the latter country to carry it on sale to Tyre. Dioscorides says there are in Arabia several kinds of Cassia, one of which is called kitto,^ a name v/hich is substan- tially the same with the Hebrew kiddafi.^ Theo- phrastus^ mentions the bark of the Arabian cassia, (not unlike cinnamon,) among the articles used to perfume ointments. We are, probably, to understand him to refer to the wild cassia,^ which differs from properly, " pieces cut oiF, or fragments," tlie cassia consisting of pieces of bark. According to Abulfadli (in Celsius, loc. cit. p. 363) tbe Arabs call it X^-- '**' Salichah, i. e. something taken off or peeled. Tbis Arabic word, says he, designates the bark of a tree which grows in India, and in Oman, (a district of Arabia,) whose leaves are similar to those of the blue lily. The stem is vigorous, and is covered with a strong rind, which is peeled off it, ^^'^^ gvA.A**J. ^ KlTTU. * \11p from Tip, in Arabic *^ " to split, hew, or tear any thing lengthwise.''^ 7 Hist. Plant. Lib. IX. Cap. 7- * The Laurus Cassia of Linnseus. [The accounts given by most writers, both of Cassia and Cinnamon, are confused and contradictory. The subject was thoroughly investigated by the brothers C. G. and Th. Fr. Ludwig Nces van Esenbeck, in a tract, " De Cinnamomo Disputatio," Bonn, 1823, 4to, and in the Botan. Zeitung for 1831, No. 34, (Comp. Martins Pharmakogn. p. 102, 141, and Hamilton in the Linnaean Transact. Vol. XIII. p. 556.) They have shewn that the Laurus Cassia of Linnaeus is not a distinct species, but only the true Cinnamon-tree, {Cinnamomum Zeylanicumi) in a de- 27S CASSIA. the true cinnamon-tree. The bark is of a pale brown colour, and of a more-bitter but less aromatic taste than cinnamon. It is also more difficult to reduce to a fine powder ; but it yields twice as much es- sential oil, besides an oily water. It was, therefore, well adapted for use in the preparation of the holy anointing oil. Cassia is likewise mentioned among the odours with which the garments of the " king's daughter" were perfumed, as described in the forty- fifth Psalm, at tiie ninth verse. 21. Kintiamon,^ Cinnamon.^ There is no room for doubt as to the meaning of the Hebrew word, seeing the Greeks and Romans received the name of tliis well known bark from the Phoenicians,^ whose language differed little from that of the Jews. Cinnamon was one of the spices which> generate form growing wild. With regard to the Cassia bark of commerce, it seems as yet uncertain by what tree it is yield- ed, or whether it be merely an inferior kind of Cinnamon gathered in bad seasons, or from trees that are old or placed in unfavourable situations. It seems probable that the Cassia from Ceylon is the lowest sort of cinnamon, but the Cassia from Canton, the product of the Cinnamomum Cassia (Nees Fratres et Blume) a native of China, and also cultivated in Java. — Tr.] • Cinnamomum, s. Canella Zeilanica, Celsius P. II. p. 3:-o. " H(r(dciV!', F< ck III. chap. iii. la Kot^^iarari f^sTs a^* «t> «(».';: (J » |««Savr:; xiyvct/za/zov xaXtofitv, CINNAMON. 279 according to Exod. xxx. 23, was to be used in pre- paring the holy anointing oil for the service of the tabernacle. It is also mentioned with other aromatic spices in Prov. vii. 17. Song of Solomon iv. 14, and Revelations xviii. 13. It is the product of a tree which is indigenous to the island of Ceylon in the East Indies, and is called by the natives Korunda- gauhah. According to the account of Knox, it grows wild in the woods like other trees ;* but its value does not seem fully known to the inhabitants of the country. It is met with in greatest quantity on the west side of the great river Mavela-gonga, where, in many places, it is as common as the hazel- bush in England. The trees are of a middle size- The cinnamon is the rind cr bark, which, so long as it is on the tree, has a white appearance. It is scraped or peeled off, and dried in the sun ; it is commonly taken only from the smaller trees, though the bark of the larger ones has an equally pleasant and pungent taste. The wood is without odour, has a white colour, and is as soft as fir. It is used for a variety of purposes, the tree being cut down as freely as any other in the forest. The leaves resemble in colour and thickness those of the laurel, with this difference, that the latter have only one vein, while those of the cinnamon-tree have three. The young leaves, when tliey first sprout, are of a scarlet-red, and, if rubbed or torn, yield an odour more like that of cloves than of cinnamon. The tree bears a fruit which ripens in the month of June, and has the ap- pearance of an acorn, but is somewhat smaller. * Voyage to Ceylon, p. 32, of the German Translation. 280 CIKNAMON. It has neither the taste nor smell of the bark, but, when boiled in water, it yields an oil which, when cold, is as hard and white as tallow, and has an agree- able perfume. It is used as an ointment for wounds and sores, and is also burnt in lai ips ; but no candles are made of it, except for the service of the king. \et it is stated by Tavemier,^ that while the Portu- guese were in possession of the island, this oily ma- terial was employed by them in the manufacture of candles. His words are, " on the cinnamon-tree grows a fruit like an olive, which is not, however, eaten. When a quantity is collected, they are boiled (along with some of the twigs pulled from the ends of the branches) until the water evaporates. On the materials cooling, there is found on the top a kind of paste like white wax, and camphire at the bottom. Of this paste candles are made, which are used in the churches, and give out, as soon as lighted, a strong smell of cinnamon." Tavernier further remarks, that the tree has three different rindS; but it is only the outermost and second that are pulled, the third being often left untouched. This is confirmed by Wolf,^ who adds, that the growth of the tree is by no means uniform, but depends very much upon the soil. If time is allowed, it attains a considerable size ; but the larger the stem, the less valuable the bark ; and, indeed, the rind of the largest trees is used only for the distillation of the oil of cinnamon. The He- brews received this Indian production, like several * Voyages, Part II. Book I. chap. 12. ^ ^'oyyge to Ceylon, p. 80'. CINNAMON. 281 others, through the Midianites and Nabathseans, who brought it from the Arabicin Gulf. [The above account being somewhat antiquated, we present the following more recent statement, drawn from the writings of the brothers Nees van Esenbeck, which are referred to in a note to the last article " Cas- sia'' The Cinnamomum Zeylanicumo^^Xnmeis in- digenous only to Ceylon, though the culture has spread to Java, and some parts of South America. It a,bounds most in the south-western district of the island ; and those trees are supposed to furnish the best cinnamon which grow on a sandy soil. From May to October is the season for gathering the bark. After being separated from the tree, it is tied up in bundles for twenty-four hours, during which time a kind offer- mentation ensueS; v/hich facilitates the removal of the outer bark from the cuticle and epidermis. It is then rolled up into quills or pipes about three feet long ; the smaller quills being surrounded with larger ones, — a mark which is said always to distinguish cinnamon from cassia. It is then taken to Colombo, where it is sorted by government in- spectors into three kinds, of which the two first alone are commonly sent to Europe. It is formed into bales of upwards of ninety pound weight, containing some pepper or coffee, and wrapped in double cloths, which are made, not of the cocoa-tree, (as some as- sert), but of hemp. The pieces are about three feet four inches in length, containing from six to eight rolls in each, of the thickness of vellum, the colour a dull golden j^ellow, and the surface smooth on both sides. Its analysis, by Vauquelin, yielded volatile 282 THE POMEGRANATE TREE. oil, a large quantity of tannin, an azotized colouring matter, a peculiar acid, mucilage, and feculum. The inferior kind of bark is generally reserved to be dis- tilled, along with the broken pieces of the other two, for the purpose of obtaining the oil of cinnamon Tr.~\ 22. Rimmon} the Pomegranate-tree.^ That the Hebrew word denotes the pomegranate- tree and its fruit, is proved by the concurrent testi- mony of the ancient translators, as well as by the Ara- bic name of that tree,^ which has a similar sound. The pomegranate-tree grows to no great height, and ssend forth a number of sprouts from the same root. The boughs are very thick, and armed with thorns. The leaves resemble those of the olive and myrtle, and hang on red stalks. The flowers, which stand isolated, are large, of a stellated form and blood-red colour. They grow into a delicious fruit, which is of a globular shape, and of the size of an apple. It is surmounted with a small round knob two or three inches in circumference. The interior is of a yellow colour, is divided into nine or ten compartments, and contains a number of purple seeds, with a juice or liquor of an acid sweetness. The pomegranate- tree is common in all the gardens of Syria, especially about Aleppo, The ripe fruit is seldom found in ' Maluspunica; mains granata. Celsius, P. I. p. 271. THE POMEGRANATE TREE. 283 abundance before the end of August, when most families lay in a store of it for winter. There are three varieties of this frait : one is sweet, another very sour, and the third has an agreeable mixture of both tastes combined. The juice of the sour pome- granate is used instead of vinegar. The fruits of the two other varieties are sometimes served up at table along with sugar and rose-water. The kernels like- wise, (both fresh and dried) form an important article of cookery.* As the pomegranate-tree flourishes in the south of Europe in the open air, we may naturally look for it in Syria and Palestine, where it was indigenous from the earliest times. Moses mentions it among the fruit-trees of Canaan in Dent. viii. 8. Several towns or villages in that countrj-- bore the name of RimmoVy which was probably given them from the circum- stance that the environs abounded in pomegranates. Thus we read of a Rimmon in the tribe of Judah. Josh. XV. 32 ; in the tribe of Benjamin, 1 Sam. xiv. 2 ; in the tribe of Zabulon, 1 Chron. vii. 77 ; of a Gath-RimmoJi, i. e. " the treading-press of pome- granates ;" in the tribe of Manasseh, Josh. xxi. 25; and in the tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 5.5. Saul dvvelt at the extremity of the city of GibCvah, under a po- megranate-tree,* 1 Sam. xiv. 2, The prophet Joel * RusselVs Nat. Hist, of Aleppo. Part 1. p. 107 of the German translasion. ^ Yet the Syrian idol R'lmmon^ (2 Kings v. 18.) did not re- ceive his name from the pomegranate, as some have conjectur- ed ; but the word denotes ' the exalted one," froin LS/t^*^ T " to be high or exalted." 284 THE POMEGRANATE TREE. complains (cli. i. 12,) that the locusts had destroyed the pomegranate-trees; and Haggai, (ch. ii. 19,) that in a season of barrenness the pomegranate-tree had also failed In the Song of Solomon (ch. iv. 13,) mention is made of a " garden of pomegranates." That Egypt likewise abounded in this fruit is evi- dent from the complaint of the Israelites in Numb. XX. 5, that Moses had led them out into a wilderness where there were neither " vines nor pomegranate- trees," to which they had been accustomed when in Egypt. AbdoUatiJ^ says, the Egyptian pomegra- nates are excellent, though not without something acid in their sweetness. Sonnini^ saw the tree in the orchards around Denderah; but the pomegranates sent him as a present by the Emir of Denderah were not so savoury as he expected. In the Song of Solomon, (ch. iv. 3,) the colour of the pomegranate is alluded to as descriptive of a beautiful complexion — " thy cheeks* are like a piece, (or section), of the pomegranate apple within thy locks." That pome- granates were pressed for the sake of obtaining must, appears from the Song of Solomon, (ch. viii. 2,) where, along with spiced wine, mention is made of the "juice of the pomegranate." Philostratus says,^ in one of his letters, that atErythrae, in Ionia, pome- ^ Hist of Egypt, p. 57 of the Arabic text, edited by White, in De Sacy^s French translation, p. 30*. 7 Voyage, Part II. p. 2f)7 and 279 of the German transla- tion. ■ The English version has improperly " temples." • In Diodorus, p. 88G. THE POMEGRANATK TREE. 285 granate-trecs were raised, which yielded a kind of vinous liquor, which was used for drink. Dios- corides remarks,^ that the pomegranate wine was pressed out of the ripe fruit, after the kernel had been abstracted, but that it was not fit for preserva- tion until very much reduced by boiling. From the beautiful round form of this fruit, it was used as a model for many ornaments both in archi- tecture and dress ; e. g. in the pillars of Solomon's temple. 1 Kings vii. 18, 20, 42. 2 Kings xxv. 17 ; and in the fringe of the high-priest's robe. Exod. xxviii. 33, 34. 23. Shittah^ the Acacia- Tree?- The boards, and part of the furniture of the taber- nacle in the wilderness, were made of shittah-tvood. Exod. xxv. 5, 10, 13, 23, 28 ; xxvi. 20, 32, 33 ; xxvii. 1,6; XXX. 5 ; xxxv. 7, 24. Dent. x. 3. The He- brew name, which is properly Shi?itah,^ was formed from the Egyptian word Shonf, which the Arabs ' Book V. Chap, xxxiv. ?r£g< poirov o"vou. T 2 Acacia, Mimosa spinis geminatis ; Celsius, P. I. p. 498. ^ For the sake of euphony, and an easier pronunciation, the double t was substituted for thent; as nt^H for HD^H T • » : • which is preserved in Arabic; flS for n^!^ in Arabic 286 THE ACACIA. pronounce So7d^ It literally signifies " thorns," but denotes specially the Egyptian acacia, the only tree in the Arabian desert from the wood of which boards could have been made. This tree commonly attains the height and strength of the willow ; it sometimes is as large as a wallnut-tree, and has wide spreading branches. The stem is very straight, and is armed (as well as the boughs) with prickly thorns, which commonly grow two or three together. The bark is of a greyish black, the wood yellov/ish, the leaves small, and shaped like a lentil. It bears pods like those of the lupin, and of a blackish brown colour; the interior is divided into compartments, in which the seeds are deposited. It is from this tree that gum Arabic is obtained. The wood is not only very durable, and not liable to injury from water,* but is also extremely light ; and hence it was admirably adapted for a moveable and portable structure like the Mosaic tabernacle. " On the arid and almost barren plains of Upper Egypt," says Sonnini,^ " grows the acacia- tree, from the trunk and branches of which the gum Ara- bic distills. The stem is crooked, and of no great height ;7 the boughs are long and not rrume- * Ia>,^^. For remarks on the Egptian word see Jablotuki's Opuscula, P. I. p. 200. * Hence the Septuagiiit has rendered the Kehrew word by ^uXec affyiTTTa, i. e. " wood not subject to rot, incorruptible." •^ Voyages, Part II. p. 329 of the German translation. 7 This is true only ofthe trees Sonn'mi saw in the Thebaida in Upper Egypt; for Abdollaiif (Hist of Egypt, p. 50 of the THE ACACIA. 287 rous ;* the leaves being both few and small, give it a very naked look ; the bark is rough and of a dark brown colour. The long white thorns^ impart to it somewhat of the appearance of a tree that has been killed by frost. It bears a very small white or yellow flower, almost destitute of smell. This tree, which the Egyptians call sunt or sant, is not reckoned among those planted for ornament, on account of its poor foliage ; yet it is highly valued for its use- ful properties. The wood, which is of a dark red colour, is hard, and is susceptible of a fine polish.^ The kernel of its fruit (which lies in a pod,) yields a Oxford edition,) calls Sont ^A^ A^^ j^*^' " ^ ^^^J' large tree." A little after he quotes from DinurVs work on plants, that " it is a tree of the size of a wall.'iut-tree," '^^^'^ ^-./^.^i AXXr- ^^' This is also the remark of Eugene Roger in the Descript. de la Terre Sainte, p. 17- Get arbie est quasi aussi grand comme un noyer. IVesseling says, iu his notes on Prosper Alpinus, de Plantis Aeg. p 8. Cau- dicem non raro ampliorem deprehendi, quam ut brachio meo circumdari potuerit. Hasselquist says, (p. 514 of the German translation) Tdimosa Nilotica arbor ingeus ramosissima, gum- mosa. • Abulfadli says, (in Celsius, Tp. 503,) that the branches and twigs bend down and do not stand uprights » Abdollatif loo. cit.. ^Xjxd 4^J<>o> r.V^^-^^ SyJ* aJ (jiiAJi. It has many sharp, hard, white thorns.'' ^ Dinuri, (in Abdollatif,) says, the wood of this tree lias the hardness of iron ; and, when long kept, becomes as black as ebony. The same is remarked by Abulfadli, in Celsius, Ijc cit. 288 THE SYCAMORE. red colour, wliicli is used in the dyeing of leather. Goats are very fond of the fruit, which the Arabs call Karat}^ V/hen pulled before it is ripe, an astringent m^^dicine^^ is prepared from it. But a still more important article of manufacture and trade is the gum, which flows from the numerous cracks in the bark, or from incisions made in the stem, or in the larger branches." 24. Shikmahy^ the Wild Fig-tree, or the Sycamore-tree.^ Wherever the Hebrew word occurs, the Alexan- ^° i^ r^*} Kait. According to Abdollatif, it is only the leaves of the tree that are £o called ; but Abulfadli uses this name of the tree itself. Hass:lquist, incorrectly, writes the word Cha- rad ; nor is Forskal v\^t when, in his Flora -Slgypt. Arab. (p. LVr. LXXVII. and CXXIII.) he writes ^.S. ^^ See an account of the mode of preparing this me- dicine in Abdollatif; with which compare the notes of Ds Sacy, in his French translation, p. 122. T\t2p ti}' Yet the singular no where occurs, and the femi- nine plural termination only once (Ps. Ixxviii. 47.) In all the other passages, 1 Kings x. 27. 1 Chron. xxvii. 28. 2 Chron. i. 15. Isa. ix. 10. Amos vii". 4, it is £^^^pCi^. 2 Sycomorus. Celsius, Part I. p. 310, sqq. [It is compounded oiavKov, a fig, and^o^ja, a mulberry-tree, resembling the former in its fruit, and the latter in its leaf. Hence too the Germans call it the Maulbeerfeigenbaum, q. d. The mulberry-fig- tree — Tr.] THE SYCAMORE TREE. 289 drian Greek translator renders it by Syhaminon^^ and the Arabic by Djommais^^ the name which in Egypt and Palestine still designates the wild fig-tree, or sycamore. It belongs to the family of fig-trees, but in outward appearance resembles more the white mulberry-tree. The stem has the size and circum- ference of an elm, or a full-grown walnut-tree ; the branches are wide-spreading, and cover a large space with their shadow.* The leaves are heart-shaped, downy beneath, and have a pleasant smell. This tree bears its fruit in a manner quite different from other trees. It has it on the trunk itself, which puts forth little sprigs in tlie form of grape stalks, at the end of which grow the figs close to one another, almost like clusters of grapes. The tree is always green, and bears fruit several times in the year, with- out observing any certain seasons. NordenP saw some 3 ^vxoifimy. This word, indeed, denotes properly the mul- berry tree, but it is also used of the sycamore, Dioscorides, Book I. Chap. 182. "SvKOfieoov, 'ivioiTt ««/ tovto trvKccfAivov kiyoufft. [Yet, may there not be a distinction between the truxduivos of Luke xvii. 6, and the evKofia^aix of Luke xix. 4. The for- mer may be a species of mulberry, and the latter the sycamore. See Woljius on Luke xvii. G Tr.'\ 5(jz:i J * :a4o» See Abulfadli in Celsius, loc cit, p. 311. Comp. v/ ■• • Abdoiatif, Bonk I. Chap. 2, p. 21 of the Arabic text, and p. 9 of the French translation. • Hasselquist says, (p. 537) : Umbram praebet egregiam ar- bor vasta ramosa et in latum extensa, qua incolis terrarum, sub fervido sitarum cjelo, ir.signem praestat usum. ' Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie. Tom I. p. 85 of the u 290 THE SYCAMORE TREE. sycamores that gave fruit two months after others. The fruit has the figure and smell of real figs, but is inferior to them in taste, having a luscious disagree- able sweetness.^ Its colour is yellow inclining to an ochre, with flesh-coloured streaks. In the inside it resembles the common fig, except that it has a blackish colour with yellow spots. The wood of this tree is very strong and durable, for it suffers neither from the sun nor from water. Hence it is used in the construction of doors and the larger ar- ticles of house furniture. The ancient Egyptians made of this wood the coflfins for their mummies, and they remain sound to this day.'' It is to the employment of this wood in building that the pro- phet Isaiah refers, when, (in ch. ix. 10,) he represents the presumptuous Israelites as saying, " The syca- mores are fallen, but we will change them into cedars," i. e. in place of common houses, built of the wild fig- tree, we will erect palaces of cedar. That sycamores abounded in Palestine, especially in the plain along Edit, of Langles. There is a figure of the tree on Plate xxxviir. ^ Abdolatif ssLjs, (loc cit.) that the fruit is sweeter than the fig, but has a taste of the wood. According to Olivier, (Voy- ages, Tom. III. p. 305), the fruit is unwholesome. Ses fruits sont mal-sains et ont un gout fade, peu agreable. Hasselquisiy on the other hand, (p. 5), thought its fruit had a very pleasant taste, Fructus gustui satis gratus est, dura bene maturus, mollis, parum aquosus, dulcis, cum minima portione saporis aromatici ; ego ab ejus esu, dum primum gustavi, non nisi dif- ficulter me retinere potui ; et, si sanum satis recentem ilhim credidissem, insignem copiam devorare cupidus fuissem. ■^ Jbdollatif, )oc. cit. Hasselquist, p. 537- THE SYCAMORE TREE. 291 the Mediteranean,^ appears from the circumstance, that in 1 Kings x. 27 ; 2 Chron i. 15, it is said, that in the time of Solomon, cedars were as common in Judea as " sycamores in the vale." David appointed a special overseer for sycamores, as for olive trees ; 1 Chron. xxvii. 28. In Ps. Ixxviii. 47, it is said that the sycamores of Egypt were destroyed by hail.* The tree is still common in Egypt, being planted near the houses, for the sake of its ample shade.^ The prophet Amos says, (ch. vii. 14,) that he was no prophet nor prophet's son, but a herdsman '' who cut or pared wild figs ;"^" for Theophrastus^ ^ informs us that " the fruit must be cut or scratched, either with the nail or with iron, otherwise it will not ripen, but that four days after that process it becomes ripe." Ahdollatif^^ says : " Some days before the figs are pulled, a man ascends the tree with a pointed piece of iron, and pierces the fruit. There flows from the small puncture a kind of milk of a white colour, and the place then becomes black. It is by this process the fruit acquires a sweet taste." ^^ ^ n7Dt^n^ Shefelah. See RosenmuUer's Geography, Vol. II. Part. I. p. 151, 288; and Part II. p. 322. * In the English version, it is " by frost.'' 9 Belon, Observations. Liv. II. ch. 37 and 78. OUvier,\ofi. cit. Com. the note * at p. 289, above. 11 Hist. Plant. Book IV. cap. 2. 1^ At p. 21 of the Arabic Text. '3 Forskal, Flora iEgypt. Arab. p. 182. Cum fructus ad magnitudinem pervenit diametri pollicis, solent incolae ad uxn.- 202 THE FIG TREE. The sycamore is one of the highest trees that grow- in Palestine.^* It was into one of them that Zaccheus climbed in order to obtain a sight of Jesus as he pass- ed by. Luke xix. 4. 25. Teenah^ the Fig Tree?- That the above Hebrew word designates the fig tree can admit of no doubt, since it is so translated iu all the ancient versions, and the Arabic and Syriac names are very similar.^ The fig tree is enumerated among the valuable fruit trees of Pales- tine, Deut. viii. 8 ; and figs were among the fruit« which the spies, who were sent from the wilderness of Paran, brought back as specimens of the produc- tiveness of the land, Num. xiii. 23. The tree is not there reared in gardens as in Europe, but grows bilicum ejus partem resecare, qui locus deinde nigrescit. Sine hac circumcisione maturitatem non obtiueri ajunt. Cultros habent, ad hoc artificium factos, apice rotundatos, et ab una parte acutos. Si ficus aliquae praetereuntur, et sectionem non subeunt, cynipe plenae evadunt versus tempus inund:itionis Nili. Quicquid sit, in his arte maturatis ficubus nulla vidi semina. Comp. JVarneJcros Historia Naturalis sycoraori in Eichhorn's Repertor. for Bibl. and Orient. Literal. Part XI. p. 224, sqq. and Part XII. p. 8!, sqq. '^ Leo Jfricanus, in his Description of Africa, (p. 773,) calls them, " proceras et altissimas." ' Ficus, Celsius Part II. p. 368. s THE FIG TREE. 293 spontaneously in the open country. It has a smooth stem, which is seldom quite straight, and is covered with a grey bark ; the branches afford a light and pleasant shade. The leaves are of the shape of a heart, with three or five lobes, and are indented ; the upper side is rough, the lower is covered with fine hair. The flowers lie concealed within a hollow fleshy receptacle, and hence the ancients were led to entertain the notion that the fruit did not proceed from any flower.* There are three descriptions of * See Celsius loc. cit. p. 394, et seqq. The Fig-tree is dioecious^ having the male flowers on one tree, and the female or fruiting ones on another. The former, which is also called the " black or wild fig-tree," is the Caprificus of the ancients, (^Plint/, Book XV. chap. 19.) An insect of the gnat species, (Culex), breeds in the male tree, and, being covered with the pollen of the male flowers, impregnates with it the stigma of the female tree, whither it repairs in order to deposit its eggs. [The author seems here to confound the caprification of the fig-tree, (viz. the maturing of its fruit by the bites of in- sects or the puncture of a needle or awl,) with what is some- times called, though with manifest impropriety, the caprifica' tion of the palm-tree. It is at least to the former practice alone that Tournefort refers, who is the chief authority relied on by the author, and who, besides the notice he took of the operation in his travels, wrote a memoir on the subject, which was com- municated to the Academy of Sciences in 1705. The insect, by means of which the ripening of the fig is hastened, is the Cynips Psemes or Diplolepis Ficus Caricce, — a figure of which was given in the Linncea for 1828, p. 70, Tab. I. — Tr.] The peasants are in the habit of taking the fruit of the male tree, (where that insect breeds,) and suspending it on the female tree, from the belief that without this caprification the female fruit would not fully ripen. But this is a mistake, for, on the L'94 THE FIG TREE. fruit, which the tree bears almost throughout the whole 3'ear,* but at different periods : 1st, The Early Fig, called, when unripe, Pag,^ when ripe, JBiccu- rah.^ It begins to appear about the time of the vernal equinox, and is fully ripe about the middle or end of June. In the Song of Solomon, (chap. ii. 13), contrary, the figs are more savoury without this process. It has been found, however, that without the intervention of the insect, the female fruit is not so large, and has unfruitful seed, though the latter circumstance is of less consequence, as the tree is commonly propagated much better by slips than by seed. [Dr. Russell says, in his Natural History of Aleppo, Vol. I. 86, "I have heard that the Aleppo gardeners, in imita- tion of this operation of the gnat, sometimes pinch a few figs Avith a needle dipped in oil, in order to have early figs for pre- sents to great men. But the manner of conducting this pro- cess in the Archipelago, as described by Tournefort, is little known at Aleppo, and is so little suited to the natural indolence of the people, that, were such labour absolutely requisite, they probably would sooner giv^e up the fruit than take so much pains to procure it." — Tr-I Comp. Tournefort" s, Voyages dans le Levant Lettre 1. Tom. II. of the octavo edition, [Eng. Translation p. 20] ; and Hasselquist, p. 221, of the German Translation. * Josphus mentions, (Jewish War, Book III. chap. 10, § 0,) that along the Lake of Gennesareth, figs and grapes were produced for ten successive montlis without intermission. 6 in'niSS' ^" Arabic, > *^^ t and s,*>J^2,j denote " any kind of early fruit." In the north of Africa the early figs are called Boccore, {Shaw''s Travels, p. 296), or -.^b *.j, Bucor. See Host's Account of Fez and Morocco, p. 304. THE FIG TREE* 295 it is mentioned as one of the tokens of the arrival of spring, that the fig tree " seasons its unripe figs," i. e. that they begin to acquire a flavour and to ripen. The ripe early fig, being the first kind of fruit in the year, was reckoned a great dainty. Hence, in Isa. xxviii. 4, the quickly fading glory of Ephraim is com- pared to " an early fig before the harvest ;" [in the English version it is, '^ the hasty fruit before the summer,''] which one sees, and it is scarcely in his hand when he swallows it up. The prophet Jere- miah saw in a vision, (chap. xxiv. 2), " a basket of figs, which were very good, like early figs."' As soon as they are ripe, they fall off the tree ; and, as the prophet Nahuni says, (ch. iii. 12), " if they be but shaken they fall into the mouth." 2d, The Summer-Fig^ Karmtise,^ shews itself in the middle of June, when the early fig is ripe ; but does not it- self ripen until August. ;3d. The Winter- Fig ap- pears in August, when the last mentioned is ripe, and it ripens late in the autumn, when the tree has lost its foliage. In mild winters, fruit is found on the tree even in the month of January. This kind of fig is larger than the former, of an oblong shape and violet colour.^ Figs were not only eaten when fresh, but seem, from the earliest times, to have been much relished ' nnssn '^^^ns 'l^^D nlito tDOXp. /Ofc,^ -^=)i Shaw and Host, loc. cit. Shaw, loc. cit. 296 THE FIG TREE as an article of food when preserved. On this point we have the express testimony of Athenceus^^ , who says, " dried figs have been, at all times, so highly esteemed, (for, indeed, as Aristophanes truly ob- serves, ' nothing is so sweet as dry figs,') that we are informed, by Hegesander, that Amitrochades, an Indian king, begged Antiochus, in a letter, to send him at his own expense, ' sweet wine, dried figs, and a sophist.^ " Hence the ancients were in the habit of preserving them in great quantities, both for home consumpt and for exportation.'^ There were two modes of preservation : either by pressing a number of fresh figs so closely together that they formed one adhesive lump, or by pounding them into a mass of uniform consistency ; and, in both cases, they were formed into cakes. These were made sometimes round, sometimes square, and sometimes of the shape of bricks.'^ They were '° Deipnosoph. Book XIV. p. 652. *^ The Greeks called them ia-^xSxs, the Romans caricas. See Celsius, Fart II. p. 379. The Hebrew word *^^j5 would seem to signify " dried figs," 2 Sam. xvi. 1. Jerem. xl. 10, 12. Amos viii, 1, 2. See J. E. Fabers Remarks on the Ob- servations on the East, Part I. p. 387, et seqq. '^ Both kinds of these fig-cakes were called by the Greeks *a><.a,6as. St. Jerome says, in his Commentary on Hosea i. 3, waAaS-;} massa ficuum et pinguium caricarum, quas in modum laterum figurant, ut diu illaesae permaneant, .calcant atque compingunt. Ses also Hesychius and Suidas under ^aXaSn, As to the different forms of these cakes, and the method of preparing them, Celsius, (loc. cit. p. 377), and J. E. Faber, (loc. cit. p. 391), have collected several passages from the Tal- mud. THE FIG TREE. 297 called in Hebrew Dehelim^^^ and are several times mentioned in the Old Testament. 1 Sam. xxv. 18 ; XXX. 12. 2 Kings xx. 7. 1 Chron. xii. 40. Isa. xxxviii. 2. The Evangelist Matthew mentions, (in ch. xxi. 19,) that, when Jesus was on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, not long before his last sufferings, he «aw a fig-tree covered with foliage, and went near, expecting to find on it some fruit wherewith he might appease his hunger. But, on finding nothing but leaves, he said; " Let no fruit grow on thee hence- forward for ever ;" and presently the fig-tree wither- ed away. The Evangelist Mark adds the observa- tion — (ch. xi. 13,) "for the time of figs was not yet come."^* The meaning of that obviously is, that as the tree was clothed with foliage, and did not seem to be in an unhealthy condition, it might have been D vH"! in the singular 1^/^*1 from /D.^' in Ara- bic Jkji, "to thicken anything," and specially " to bring into a round form." ^^ OuSii) iZgiv SI /t4»7 (puXXa' oh ya,^ yjv xxi^os avKuv. Somecritict have thought it singular, that Jesus should have expected fruit on the tree before the season of figs had arrived. They there- fore propose to expunge the ou, " not," which is sanctioned, however, by the best critical authorities, and is indeed neces- sary to the sense. For, if Jesus had come seeking figs, after the fig season had fully commenced, and found only leaves, there might have been ground for supposing that the fruit had already been pulled. But when there was not even the ap- pearance of fruit, at a time when it ought to have been ripen- ing, and yet the tree was covered with leaves, it was natural t« conclude that the tree was utterly barren. 298 THE FIG TREE. expected to have by that time exhibited some show of fruit ; and though the season of ripe figs had not yet arrived, yet it was reasonable to look for some early figs. But as the tree bore no kind of fruit whatever, Jesus condemned it as altogether useless. That this fig-tree was intended to be an emblem of the Jewish nation appears probable from the cir- cumstance, that in another parable, recorded in St. Luke's gospel, (ch. xiii. 6 — 9,) the Saviour compares that people to a fig-tree, whose proprietor had for three years sought fruit from it in vain, and there- fore gave orders to the gardener to cut it down, but at his earnest entreaty spared it yet another year. The Arabs, according to Ibn El- Wardi}^ deal in a similar way with the palm-tree. To cure the bar- renness of the palm, the owner, taking a hatchet, went to the tree accompanied by a friend, and said, " This palm-tree must be cut down for it is barren." Then his friend said, " Do not cut it down, for it will certainly bear fruit this year." But the owner persisting, said, '• It must by all means be cut down ;'* and thereupon struck it three blows with the back of the hatchet. Then his friend interposing, said, " I beseech you not to do it, for certainly it will bear fruit this year ; have patience with it, and do not de- stroy it so hastily ; if it should bear no fruit, then you may cut it down." In Gen. iii. 7, our first parents, on their expulsion '^ In the fragment of his Cosmr)grapliical work, which Charles AurivUlius published in Arabic and Latin, in the Dis- sertations of that learned Swede, edited by J. D. Michaelis, [Gottingen, 1770], p. 56. THE FIG TREE. 299 troiii paradise, are said to have made to themselves aprons of " fig-leaves." Some commentators sup- pose, that as the leaves of the common fig tree are not adapted for such a purpose, we are to under- stand the reference to be to the large leaves of the Pisang or Paradise Jig-tree, ^^ which are several ells long, and proportionally broad. But not to mention the objection of that tree being peculiar to India,^'' and, therefore, not likely to be familiarly known by the Hebrew historian, there is no reason for suppos- ing that any tree but the common fig-tree was in- ^^' Musa Paradisaica. The first of these words is derived from the Arabic name of this tree ;*,-r-«j signifies levis fuit, et quidem cum aliqua duritie, in- durnit manus ad opus, vel opere, Golius, p. 2218. ^ Comment, on Isaiah xli. 19, p. 54. ' imn he supposes to be equivalent to K"^i^nn (Comp. the Chaldee advex'b K*1^"I/^S durable. Dan. vi, 17, 21,) and llT^ equivalent to "^^ I " to turn round in a circle," and thence " to endure." 304 THE PAJLM TREE. perhaps a kind of plane-tree. But the trees which produce durable wood are so numerous that it is im- possible to determine which of them may be here in- tended. Saadias has, in both places, the Arabic name Sadj, which, as we saw above, (at p. 261,) designates the Juniperus Sabina, a kind of cypress. As none of the cognate dialects furnish any name that corresponds to the word Tidhar, its meaning must remain uncertain. 28. Tamar,^ the Palm- Tree or Date-Palm} The meaning of the Hebrew word Tamar has never been called in question. The ancient Greek and the Oriental translators unanimously interpret it by " the palm-tree ;" and the corresponding Ara- bic term^ designates the fruit of that tree the date, and especially a kind that is preserved on account of its superior excellence.'* The palm differs from all other trees, both in its general appearance and the form of the particular parts. Its roots do not strike deep, nor do they spread far around, and yet it becomes a tall and vi- gorous tree, attaining the height of our loftiest firs, T T ' Palma, Phoenix dactylifera, Celsius, Part II. p. 44, et seqq. ^ 5 ^ O - S O ^ < The Arabic name of the tree is XX^"* ' co^ective ^^ • THE FALM TREE. 305 especially when it has a slender stem, for where the trunk is thick, it is proportionally low. It is the practice to lop off yearly the lowermost sprouts, with a view to accelerate the growth ; and hence the boughs are all towards the top of the tree. The leaves are of the nature of reeds, and, when the tree has grown to its full size, are six or eight feet long, and, being very broad when spread out, are used for covering the tops of houses and similar purposes. They are attached to short stalks, and in the centre rise erect, but, after they are advanced above the vagina which surrounds them, they expand on every side, and bend towards the ground. Gn the top there is the germ^ of the future boughs, in the form of a pointed cone, nearly two ells in length. The husks, or sheathes containing the flowers, appear in the month of February ; they are about an ell long, and ^ " On the very top of the palm tree there is a marrowy substance, which 1 had an opportunity of examining in a tree that was felled. I ascertained that it is nothing else than the young sprouts of the tree, which afterwai'ds unfold themselves, and grow into boughs and leaves. I can find nothing better to compare it to than the head of an artichoke, only that it is much whiter ; it is sweet and pleasant to the taste, and con- tains a kind of milky sap." Mariti's Travels, p. 407. This substance was called by the ancients the brain, {i'yxi a word, however, which denotes any kind of in- toxicating liquor. ^ SonninVs Travels, Part II. p. 20. Burchhardt's Travels in Arabia, p . 30. 308 THE PALM TREE. Palm trees (of which there is a great variety of species), are commonly found only in the warmer regions of the earth. The date palm, which is the one above described, is indigenous to Arabia, Egypt, and the whole of Southern Asia, from the Indus to the Nile, as also to the north of Africa, as far as Ceuta. It appears to have been more abundant in Palestine formerly than it is now, when the careful cultivation of it is very much neglected.* In early times, Jericho was called the " city of palm trees," Deut. xxxiv. 3. Judges i. 16 ; iii. 13. About sixty years ago, Mariti^^ found palm trees in that neigh- bourhood, but they were few in number, and chiefly young shoots, the older trees having been cut down by the Arabs for the building of huts. Among the noble trees, which the threatened swarm of locusts was to destroy, (Joel i. 12), mention is made of the palm tree. At the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles by the restored captives under Ezra, palm branches were employed, which were brought from the hills near Jerusalem. Diodorus Siculus says," that palms flourish in the country round the Dead Sea, wherever it is irrigated by brooks. Stra- bo^^ praises the dates of Judea, especially those from the district of Jericho, and prefers them to those of Babylon. Hence, perhaps, the figure of a palm tree * Shaw's Travels, p. 297- ^° Travels, p. 405. 1^ ir. 48,53. XIX. 98. " XVI. 41. Comp. XVil. 15, where he says : « With a view to secure to themselves a inouopoly of the best dates at a higla price, the Jews forbid wqw palm trees to be planted to any extent." THE PALM TREE. 309 came to be used upon coins as an emblem of Judasa. Not only are there Roman coins extant with that de- vice, and the inscription " Judcea Capta^^ but like- wise coins of more ancient date, struck in the time of the Asmonaean princes, on which is found the symbol of a palm tree, and sometimes of a bunch of grapes, or a sheaf of wheat.^' The palm requires a warm climate, a sandy, but moist and nitrous soil ; the growth of newly planted trees is supposed to be promoted by scattering salt for some distance around, but dung, and all kinds of putrefying manure, are held to be injurious.^^ It thrives best in plains where there is no scarcity of rivulets or springs.^^ Thus, the Israelites, in their journey through the desert, found at Elim twelve wells, with seventy palm trees, Exod. xv. 27. The palm tree is an evergreen ; and hence it is employed in Ps. xc. 13, as an emblem of the flourish- ing condition and durable prosperity of the pious. On account of its tall, straight, and slender stem, the form of a handsome woman is compared to it in the Song of Solomon, (chap. vii. 7) ; and, indeed, its Hebrew name Tamar, became a w^oman's name of frequent occurrence, e.g. Gen. xxxviii. 6. 2 Sam. xiii. 1, 23; xiv. 27. ^2 See Fr'dhlich's Annales Syriae. Tab. XVIII. No. 14, 23, 24. J* Mariti, p. 403. ^^ K'dmpfer Amoenitt. p. G77. Ad palraetos condendos de- ligendi sunt loci irrigui, in quibus affiuxus aquae fontanae, vel, si ea deficiat, puteanae per arbores derivari possit. Campus quo planior, eo alendis arboribus aptior natus est. 310 THE PALM TREE. Palm branches were in use at the Feast of Taber- nacles, Levit.xxiii. 40. Neh. viii. 14, 15, 16. They were carried in token of joy at festive processions, 1 Mace. xiii. 51. 2 Maccab. x, 6, 7. John xii. 13, In the public games of Greece, they were presented to the successful competitors as signs of victory ; and hence, in the book of Revelation, (chap. vii. 9 14), the martyrs, who appear in triumph before God's throne, are described as having " palms in their hands." In the above quoted passage in the Song of Solo- mon, it is said, " This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters, i. e. [not " of grapes,^' as is added in italics in the English Version, but] " of dates" which, as we have already seen, also grow in clusters. The next verse continues: " I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs^ 6 thereof," viz. with a view to pull the fruit. '^ rp^Di nrni^. The Hebrew word D^:)D;ip properly signifies besoms ; but here it is used for the branches of the palm, which, in Levit. xxiii. 40, are called ni£)D HD^'nDD- The Greeks also called the palm boughs x«X- XvvTYi^ix, (See Celsius, Part II. p. 509), and the Septuagint has, in the above cited passage, Ku\kv6^a. (pornxm. The upper branches of the palm are still used for besoms and fly. flaps. Pococke's Description of the East, Vol. I. p. 306, and Hassel- quist, p. 540. Palm besoms tID**^Dn /^ I^^D are mentioned in the Talmudic Tractat Oketzin, Cap. I. § 4. Horace says, (Sat. Lib. II. Sat. IV. 83) ; " Ten' lapides varies lutulenta radere palma ?" THE PALM TREE. 311 As the tree has no branches but at the top, and is not easily ascended by a ladder, the inhabitants of Egypt, says Sonnini,^7 puU themselves up by means of ropes.^^ The patriarch Job, in describing the expectation he once had of a long and peaceful life, says, (chap, xxix. 19): " Then I said, I shall die in ray nest, I shall multiply my days as the sand," This gives a sufficiently congruous sense, inasmuch as the sand was a common figure of speech to express a great multitude. Yet the Jewish expositors have, from very early times, taken the word chol^^ here, (usually rendered by " sand,") to denote the fabled bird called the Phoenix.20 The tradition bore, that And Martial, (Epigr. L. XIV. 82) : " In pretio scopas testatur palma fuisse." '7 Part II. p. 26. '■^ Niebuhr, in a letter to Velthuysen, to be found in a translation by the latter of the Song of Solomon, (Brunswick, J78G), remarks, that to a peasant of Europe, accustomed to climbing from his youth, an ascent to the top of a palm tree would present little or no difficulty ; but that it is otherwise with an oriental, who has to raise himself by a laborious pro- cess with ropes, one of which is placed in a loop under his feet, and another on a branch of the tree. Comp. K'dmpfer''s Amoe- nitt. Exott. p. 710. Stephen Schulz^s Leitungen, Part. IV. p. 354. Celsius, Part II. p. 566, et seqq. '' bin. ^^ Kimchi has remarked, that in the MSS. of the Oriental Recension of the Hebrew text, (viz. that which was executed 312 THE PALM TREE. after it had lived for five hundred years, it built for itself a funeral pile of sweet wood and the branches of odoriferous trees, to which it set fire by the flap- ping of its wings, and that, when the whole was con- sunjed, a new phoenix rose out of the ashes.^^ There is no doubt that this fable took its origin from the great age which is attained by the palm tree, (of which the Greek name is phoenix), and from the manner in which it is propagated. " When the palm tree is hewn down," says Mariti,^^ u ^iad. the trunk burnt, the ashes are of great service in furthering the growth of the young trees, as I have myself often witnessed. The palm, moreover, lives to an extreme age ; for, in none of the countries where it grows, have I ever heard of any tree perishing through natural decay."^^ at Nahardea on the Euphrates), instead of /iH} chol, there is /IH) chul, which has a different meaning. The root signi- fies, properly, " to turn round, to turn in a circle/' and thence a name might have been derived, intended to be descriptive of the bird that was supposed to be always renewing its life. ^ ^ The accounts of the Phoenix differ considerably in diffe- rent writers. They have been collected by Calmet, in his Biblical Dissertt. Vol. VI. p. 164, of the German Translation, with Mosheim's Remarks. [Comp. the Monograph of An- thony JMetral, entitled, " Le Phoenix ou Toiseau du Soleil." — 22 Travels, p. 410. 23 In the passage in Job, the Greek Translator of Alexan- dria adopted the idea of the palm tree being referred to. His words are : ^ hXiKla fiov yyi^dni cia-TS^ ffriXi^og (poivtxe;, ^oXuv X^ivo* fiiuffta. St. Jerome has ; et sicut palma multiplicabo THE QUINCE TREE. 3 13 Solomon caused pillars and columns, in the temple at Jerusalem, to be erected in the form of palm trees, 1 Kings vi. 29, et seqq.; and such there were also in the Egyptian temples.^* The prophet Jere- miah, when deriding the heathen idols that were car- ried about in processions, (chap. x. 5), says, that they stood stiff and immoveable, as pillars made like the palm. 29. Tappuach} the Quince Tree.^ The above Hebrew word is, by the most ancient Greek translators, rendered, " apple,"^ and in this the other ancient versions concur. It is confirmed by the cognate Arabic language, in which the simi- lar word Taffach^ denotes an apple. Yet, in Scrip- ture, there seems to be a special reference to the sweet-scented quince apple, for, in the Song of Solo- mon, (chap. vii. 8), the breath of the beloved is com- dies. Comp. Boeharfs Hieroz. Part II. Lib. VI. Cap. 5, in Tom. III. p. 889 of the Leipzig Edition. ^* Herodotus mentions, (IF. ii^.'>), that, in the porch of the temple at Sais, there were pillars in the form of palm trees, " Malus C^ydonia, Celsius, Part 1. p. 255. * ^ULj. See Host's Description of Fez and Morocco, p. 305. 314 THE QUINCE TREE. pared to this fruit,^ which was esteemed by the an- cients chiefly on account of its fragrance, and was placed on the heads of those images in the sleeping- apartments which were reckoned among the household gods. 6 The odour of the quince possesses a restora- tive power ; hence, in the Song of Solomon, (chap. ii. 5), the bride says : " Refresh me with quinces, for I am sick of love." AhulfadW remarks, that the smell of the quince clears the brain, and renews and invigo- rates the animal spirits. Phylarchus^ affirms, that it even tends to lessen the power of deadly poisons. In the Song of Solomon, (chap. ii. 3), a little be- fore the last cited passage, it is said : As a quince tree among the trees of the wood, 8o is my beloved among the young men. Under his shadow do I long to sit, And his fruit is sweet to my palate. This allusion would scarcely apply to our quinces, which are coarse and sour, and require to be boiled and ^ The Hebrew name seems derived from HD^, to scent, - T Plutarch says, (Convival. Quaestt. V. 8), that the quince, ivaj^'ias uvx^rtf^Tkavxi rov ocriof^tvov, fills with fragrance whoever touches it. That the generic Greek name fjirikev has a special refei-ence to the quince, has been shown by Bodeeus a Stapel on Theophrastus' Hist. Plant, p. 338. Comp. Celsius, loc. cit. p. 259. " Voss on Virgil's Eclog. II. 51. ■ In Celsius, Part I. p. 2G1. ^ In Athenceus, Book III. p. 81. THE QUINCE TREE. 315 mixed with sugar to render them palatable.^ But there seems to be a species of this fruit in the east, which is eaten raw. Tavernier mentions,^° that the dis- trict round Vodana, in the south of Arabia, yields a great abundance of fruit, especially plums and quinces, which have not the tartness of ours, and are eaten raw like apples. By the ancients, the quince was commonly boiled, along with honey or must." In the Song of Solomon, (chap. viii. 5), it is said : " Under the quince tree I raised thee up. There thy mother brought thee forth ; there she brought thee forth that bare thee." These words are by some supposed to receive light from the circum- stance, that among the ancients the quince was sacred to the goddess of love. In antique sculp- tures, Venus is represented wdth a quince in her right hand, as the gift she had received from Paris. The amorous deities pull quinces in gardens and play with them .^2 For persons to send quinces in pre- sents, to throw them at each other, to eat them to- ^ This is true even of the Egyptian quince. A bdolatif says, (p. 57 of the Arabic text), that the quinces in Egypt are very inferior, being small, sour, and very dear. Forskal found, in the apothecaries shops at Cairo, only preserred quinces, Con- serva Cydoniorum, J.^ i^. According to Russell, (Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, Parti, p. 110 of the German Translation), the quince, at Aleppo, is not so juicy as in France. ^° Voyage en Perse, L. II. chap. 9. »^ Celsius, p. 260. '2 Philostratus Icones, B. I. p. 738. 316 THE QUINCE TREE. gether, were all tokens of love ; to dream of quinces was a sign of successful love.^^ It is said in the Book of Proverbs, (chap. xxv. 1 1 ), that " a word spoken fitly, or in season, is like golden apples in finely-wrought dishes or baskets." We are not to understand, by that expression, arti- ficial apples of gold, but quinces, one species of which was called the gold apple}"^ It is alluded to by VirgiP^ in his Pastorals, in a passage thus para- phrased by Dryden : Ten ruddy wildings in the wood I found, And stood on tiptoes reaching from the ground ; I sent Amyntas all my present store, And will to-morrow send as many more. That the quince tree M^as formerly common in Pales- tine, appears from the circumstance, that various places obtained their names from it ; as Tappuach, Jos. XV. 34. Beth-Tappuach, Jos. xv. 33, and Aen~ Tappuach, Jos. xvii. 7. It is mentioned in the pro- is Theocritus Idyll. III. 10. V. 88. VI. 6. Virgil's Ec- log. III. 64. See several testimonies in Celsius, Part. I. p. 263, et seqq. Delia Valle received from the daughter of a Christian merchant at Bagdad, with whom he fell iu love, and whom he afterwards married, a beautiful quince, as a token of their reciprocal affection. See his Travels, Part I. p. 211 of the Ger. Transl. 1* Xfy3-o^>jX«v. Comp. J. E. Faber's Remarks in his Beo- bacht. uber d. Orient. Vol. I. p. 372—380. 15 Eclog. III. 70, 71. Quod potui, puero sylvestri ex arbore leeta, Aurea mala decern misi. THE EVERGREEN OAK. 317 phecy of Joel, (chap. i. 12), among the trees the locusts would devour. Various regulations concern- ing this tree and its fruit, are to be found in the Talmud. 30. Tirzahy^ the Evergreen Oak.^ Among the trees, of whose wood idols were fabri- cated, mention is made in Isa. Ixiv. 14, of a kind call- ed Tirzah. This name occurs no where else in the Old Testament; and the Chaldee is the only one of the cognate languages in which it seems to have denoted a species of tree.^ In the most ancient Greek version, viz. that of Alexandria, there is here a blank. Two other Greek translators, Aquila and Theodotion, have employed a word which denotes the wild or forest oak,^ but which is not found in any other Greek writer. The oldest Latin translator explains the Hebrew word by " the evergreen oak,^" which grows in the countries of the south, has prickly leaves, and bears a small acorn.^ That this tree was intended, in the passage in Isaiah, appears probable ^ Ilcx^ Celsius, Part II. p. 269. [Linncei Gen. Plant. 168. Aquifolium. Tournef(yrt Instit. Rei Herb. 600, Tab. 371.] ^ In the Chaldee Version, instead of the Hebrew HT^/n T : • there is T"^^- * '\y^io(iiKav»s. ^ Hex. ^ Allon. :!^te above, at. p. 240. 318 THE CAROB TREE. from the Tirzah being there mentioned along with another kind of oak ; besides, that the wood of the evergreen oak was well adapted for being carved into images, from its hardness and durability. Pau- sanias says,'' that no other wood was used for that purpose but ebony, cypress, cedar, oak, evergreen oak, and lotus. It may be added, that the root of Tirzah, in Arabic,^ signifies to be hard or thick.^ 31. Keratia} the Carob Tree?- In the parable of the prodigal son, (Luke xv. 16), it is said that he wished to appease his hmiger with the " husks that the swine did eat," the Greek term for husks being Keratia. That word designates generally the pods of any leguminous plant, but it especially denotes the fruit of the carob tree, called by the Germans Johannisbrod, i. e. John's-bread, from the idea of its having been the Baptist's food in the desert. The tree on which it grows is called by the Arabs, Kharub or Kharnub? It is of mo- 7 In the Arcadic. or Book VIII. p. 442 of Kiihn's Edition. ^ •_}', hence ••,j crassities et firmitas duritiesve. -o - - ^ Kimchi and Saadias take ntlD for the vine but its soft wood, which is so liable to be worm-eaten, was ill- fitted for being carved into images. ^ Kiodria. ^ Ceratonia Siliqua, Celsius, Part I. p. 226. J - J o ^ V^y-=^' »->_^J^. This is used in the Arabic ver- THE CAROB TREE. 319 derate size, and puts forth a great many branches, which, as they are covered with large thick leaves, afford a pleasant shadow. The blossom is of a reddish colour. It grows into a cod or husk, curved like a sickle, more than six inches long, and an inch and a half broad ; the colour is dark red, and the seeds which it contains are flat, hard, and bitter.^ These are thrown away, but the husks are preserved, and acquire so pleasant a taste when dried, as to be used for food. A remarkably sweet juice is ob- tained from them, with which they are made into a confection. This tree is so common in Palestine,* that the husks are still used for fattening cattle. sion, at Luke xv. 16, for ks^xtiu, as in the Syriac Churcli Translation, j_00> «w * A scientific botanical description of this tree has been given by Hasselquist in his Travels in Palestine, p. 531 of the Ger- man Translation. Comp. Cotwyk^s Itiner. Hierosolymit. p. 92. Arvieux^s Relations, Part II. p. 206. Oedmann's Col- lections, No. VI. p. 137- ^ Rauwolf says, in the account of his journey from Bethle- hem to Jerusalem : " Along the roads were a good many of the trees, which are called by the inhabitants Cheryiubiy and the fruit of which we call St. John's Bread ; it was brought to us in great quantities." [The husks of the earob tree still retain in Greece the name of xsgar/a, under which they are sold in the markets. They are used in feeding swine, but are not re- jected by the poor. See Hartley^s Researches in Greece, p. 241 rr.] SECTION ELEVENTH. MANjl MANNA. In the account of the journey of the Israelites through the desert, (Exodus xvi. 13, 14, 31), it is said : "In the morning, dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew was gone up, behold ! there lay on the surface of the desert something small like snow, small like hoar-frost on the ground. And the house of Israel called it manna ; and it was white like coriander seed, and its taste was like cakes made with honey." In all European languages the word manna is employed to describe a thick, clammy, and sweet gum, which, in the countries of the south, exudes from certain trees and shrubs, partly from the heat of the solar rays, partly from the punctures of insects, and partly from artificial incisions. The manna, so common in our dispensa- tories, comes from Calabria and Sicily, where, from the end of June to the end of July, it flows from a species of ash tree,* when it is pierced by the Cicada, an insect which, at first sight, might be taken for a locust, but, from the sting it carries under the body, is found to be wholly different. The gum which 2 Fi-axinus Ornus and Fraxinus rotundifolia. MANNA. 321 thus distills is fluid during the night, and looks like dew, but begins to harden in the morning. The manna of the East is far superior to the European ; it is found in Syria, Arabia, and Persia, being ob- tained both from the eastern oak and tamarisk, and also from the shrubs called El-Hadj^ and Akul.^ The Persian name of manna is Terengabin or Te- rendjabin.^ Rauwolf^ remarks, that the grains of manna have a great resemblance to coriander seed ; and in this opinion most modern travellers agree. Gmelin^ mentions that the Persian manna is as white as snow, and consists in grains like coriander seed. The peasants around Ispahan collect it before sun- rise from a prickly shrub, the branches of which they beat with a stick, holding under them a sieve, into which the grains fall. If the gathering be de- layed beyond sun-rise, no manna is obtained, for it is then melted. This agrees with what is said in Exod. xvi. 21 : " When the sun waxed hot, it melted." * ,1^'Ls- By many it is incorrectly written Algul. De, scriptions of both plants will be found in J. E. Faber's Dis- sert, de Manna Arabica in the Opusc. medic, ex monumentis Arabura et Ebraeorum, p. 124, et seqq. edited by Gruner. J o ^ ^ ^^^.AX^'*/-', compesed of the two Per. V Ter, and ^ . ^ «>A.^a.M, enkyubin honey. ^ Travels, Part I. p. 94, 95. ' Travels through Russia to Pecsii, Part III, p. 28. Y 322 MANNA. Niebuhr^ says, that manna is found in various coun- tries of the East. " At Merdin in Mesopotamia, it appears like a kind of pollen, on the leaves of the trees called Ballot^ and Afs^ (or according to the Aleppo pronunciation, As^^), which I take to be of the oak family. All are agreed, that between Mer- din and Diarbeker, manna is obtained, and princi- pally from those trees which yield gall-nuts." The manna-harvest occurs at Merdin in the month of August, or, as others say, in July. It is said to be ** Description of Arabia, p. 145» ^° This is, perhaps, the tree which Burckhardt calls Assef, t_ji*fii. Travels in Syria, p. 8G6 of the Ger. Trans'. It grows in the fissures of the rocks, and its crooked stem creeps up the mountain side like a parasite plant. According to the account of the Arabs, it bears a fruit of the size of a walnut, of a black colour and very agreeable taste. The rind of the tree is white, and the twigs are very thick, and covered with small thorns ; the leaves are of the shape of a heart, and their verdure is like that of the oak. In the Lexicons of Golius and Freytag, t.^A»i is explained by Capparis ; but Burckhardt's descrip- tion does not apply to the caper tree. i^ Burckhardt heard the same thing from a Turk, who had passed the greater part of his youth at Erzeroum in Asia jNlinor. He said, that in Moosh, a town about three or four days journey from Erzeroum, there is a tree yielding gall- nuts, from which a substance is gathered, which is quite similar, in taste and consistency, to the manna of the peninsula of I\Iount ifiriai, and is used by the inhabitants instead of honey. Travels in Syria, Ger. Transl. p 958. MANNA. 323 much more abundant after a dense mist, and when the atmosphere is full of moisture, than in clear weather. Any one who pleases may go into the woods and gather it to any extent, without seeking permission, or paying anything to the government. Three different kinds are collected, which are of dif- ferent qualities. The whitest and finest is that which is procured before sunrise, by shaking it from the trees into a cloth. If it is not gathered at a very early hour, and a hot day ensues, it soon melts on the leaves ; yet it is not then destroyed, but seems to increase in thickness daily. The peasants carry home a quantity of such leaves, and put them into boiling water, when the manna is seen to swim on the surface like oil. This kind of manna is probably that which the people of the east call ^lanna-esse- ma^"^ that is, Heaven's Manna ; not, however, be- cause they think it falls from the air, for, in that case, it would be deposited on other trees besides those above mentioned." Burckhardty during his journey through the El-Ghor,^^ or Valley of Jordan, heard of the " Beiruk Honey"^* which seems to be a species of manna. It is described as a sap which is obtained from the leaves and branches of a tree called Gliarrah}^ of the size of an olive tree, and with leaves like those of the poplar, only broader. It is found on the leaves as a dew, and is gathered from ^^ ^\^\ (^j^- •^^ Loc. cit. p. 662. ^^24 MANNA. them, or from the ground beneath the tree, which is often covered with it. According to some, it is of a brown colour ; according to others, rather grayish. When fresh it is very sweet, but, when kept for two days, it becomes sour. The Arabs eat it like honey and butter, and also use it to clean their water ves- sels, and make them air-tight. On the traveller asking whether it acted as a purgative, the reply was that it did not. The Beiruk honey is gathered only in the months of May and June. Some persons assured Burckhardt, that the same substance is also produced, in a similar manner, by the thorny tree, *' Tereshresh,"^^ and is gathered about the same sea- son as that from the Gharrab. The same traveller, in the account of his journey through the wilderness of Sinai, which was traversed by the Israelites, mentions another substance like manna, of which he gives the following account. Speaking of the Wady-el-Sheik,^' to the north of Mount Serbal, he says: '« In many parts it was thickly overgrown with the tamarisk or tarfa ; ^^ it is the only valley in the peninsula where this tree grows at present in any quantity, though some small bushes are here and there met with in other parts. It is from the tarfa that the manna is obtained ; and ^7 Loc. cit. p. 79S, 953. ^* |li Js . Another kind of Tamarisk is called ys\ Athle, Ithle- See above, p. 253. MANNA. 325 it is very strange that the fact should have remained unknown in Europe, till M. Seetzen mentioned it in a brief notice of his Tour to Sinai, published in the " Mines de I'Orient." This substance is called by the Arabs mann, and accurately resembles the de- scription of the manna given in Scripture. In the month of June it drops from the thorns of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, leaves, and thorns, which always cover the ground beneath the tree in the natural state. The manna is collected before sunrise, when it is coagulated, but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. The Arabs clean away the leaves, dirt, &c. which adhere to it, boil it, strain it through a coarse piece of cloth, and put it into leathern skins. In this way they preserve it till the following year, and use it as they do honey, to pour over their unleavened bread, or to dip their bread into. I could not learn that they ever made it into cakes or loaves. The manna is found only in years when copious rains have fallen ; sometimes it is not produced at all. 1 saw none of it among the Arabs, but I obtained a piece of last year's produce at the convent, where, having been kept in the cool shade and moderate temperature of that place, it had be- come quite solid^ and formed a small cake : it be came soft when kept sometime in the hand, or if placed in the sun for five minutes ; but, when re- stored to a cool place, it became solid again in a quarter of an hour. In the season at which the Arabs gather it, it never acquires that degree of hardness which will allow of its being pounded, as the Israelites are said to have done in Num. xi. 8. 0'26 MAXNA. Its colour is dirty yeKow, and the piece which I saw was still mixed with bits of tamarisk leaves ; its taste is agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey .^^ If eaten in any considerable quantity, it is said to be highly purgative. The quantity of manna collected at present, even in seasons when the most copious rains fall, is very trifling, perhaps not amounting to five or six hundred pounds. It is entirely consumed among the Bedouins, who con- sider it the greatest dainty which their country affords. The harvest is usually in June, and last six weeks ; sometimes it begins in May." Burckhardt farther remarks, that the tamarisk is one of the most com- mon trees in Nubia, and throughout the whole of '^ Various particulars, drawn from ancient writers, respect- ing the tamarisk manna, will be found in the Dissertation of Faia(rr^ov, 21, 22, 23. Alabastrite, 'AkdliettrT^irns, 21, 22. Amber, Chasmal, 57. Amethyst, . Achlamah, 37- Antimony, . Puch_^ro6. Kohol, 65. Asphaltos, . Cheraar — Arab. Chomar, 11 Beryl, Bitumen. See Asphaltos. Bloodstone. See Jasper. Bolus (Red), Brass, Brimstone, Bush. See Thorn. Carbuncle, Cornelian, Chalcedony, Chrysolitb, Chrysopras, Clay, Clod of Earth Copper Crystal, Diamond, Dust, Dust, (Fine) Dust-particle Earth, Emerald (?) Shoham, 39. Sered, 24. Nechosheth, 53. Gophrith, 9. Nophech, 32. Ekdach, 44. Odem, 29. "KaX^vihuv, 35. Tharshish, K^v;, 204. Kovw^a, 214. Kvficivov, 99. Kwff^o;, 134. AaJavov, 157. As«*^, 270. A'/j^flf, 158. Aifiavoi, 156. Aiyxv^iov, 35, A/Soj 5r^ao'/va^, 39, A/v0X£fXa^>;, 174. A/vav, 173. MctXa^rit 115. Mxv^^otyo^en, 130. MiXav^/«y, 100. M>7A.a, 313. M»?Xa fifUy^^ayo^av, 130. Na^Sflf TTiffriKf), 166. O/vaj IfffAV^fAlfffAifOS, 163. Ovu^tov, 34. 0^g/;^aAxaf, 55. O^/yavav, 109. naXaSa/, 296. rieXsx^Ta |«A.a, 242. n££/x>j, 302. UiVKiva ^vXa, 242. Unyavov, 103. Il/x^iSsj, 93. n/yvivc; X?, 164. :ST/i3/^e/y,65. '^VKKfitVOS, 289. "Zuxo/jLt^o?, 289. ToXfcr>? xy^iu, 128. T^tfhoXo;, 202, 215. ^^uyo iy^ia, 207. XaX/3av>;, 152. XaX;£oX/oavaj, 68. X^y«roX/V-, 38. X.^virefiyiXov, 316. IV. INDEX TO THE LATIN. Absinthium, 116. Acacia, 285. Achates, 36. Acorns, 189. Aculeus, spina, 219. Adamas, 43. Agallochum praestantissi- mum, 233. Alabastrites, 22. Alga, 195. AlHum cepa, 95. Allium pori-um, 93. AlUum sativum, 95. Aloes arbor, 233. Amygdalus, 270. Amyris, 147. Aroyris opabalsamum, 150. Anetum graveolens, 102. Angaria, 98. Apium petroselinum, 180. Arbor aloes, 233. Arbor thuris, 154. Arundo, 182, U:5. Arundo donax, 187. Arundo vulgaris s. palustris, 182. Astragalus verus, 165. Atropa mandi*agora, 129. Aurichalcum, 55. Brasile, 243. Brisiacum, 243. Brisillum, 243. Bubon Galbanum, 152. Buxus, 360. Calamus aromaticus, 189. Canella Zeilanica, 278. Canna, 185. Capparis, 106. Carbuncnlus, 32. Carex, 194. Caricae, 296. Carura carvi, 99. Cassia cinnamomea, 276. Cedrus Libani, 246. Ceratonia siliqua, 318. Cinnamomum, 278. Cistus Ladanifera, 157. Converva cydoniorum, .315. Coriandrum sativum, 101. Crocus sativus, 137. Cucumeris agrestis, 127- Cucumis citrullus, 98. Cucumis melo, 97. Cucumis sativa, 96. Cuminum, 99. Cupressus, 257. Cupressus thyoides, 259. INDEX TO THE LATIN. 341 Cydonia, 313. Cyprus, 133. Donax arundo, 187. Ebenum, 262. Elektrum, 58. Faba, 90. Fagonia Arabica, 202. Ficus, 292. Fritillaria imperialis, 139. Galbanum, 152. Genista, 121. Gossypium herbaceum, 178. Halimus atriplex, 115. Hebenum, 2G2. Holcus, 84. Hordeum, 87- Hyssopus, 108. Ilex, 317. Juniperus Sabina, 259. Labruscae, 111. Lactuca agrestis, 93. Lapis lazuli, 33. Laurus cassia, 277- Lilium, 138. Linum usitatissimum s. sati- vum, 173. Lolium temulentum, 119. Malus cydonia, 313. JMalusgranata, 282. Malus punica, 282. iVIandragora, 130. Mentha, 101. Mimosa spinis geminatis, 285. Musa paradisiaca, 299. Myrrha, 160. Myrobalanus, 17 1. Myrtus, 203. Narcissus, 141. Nardus indica, 166. Nigella, 100. Nitrum, 7- Nux juglans, 232. Olea, 2G5. Oleaster, 267. Ononis spinosa, 199. Paliunis, 203. Palma, 304. Papyrus, 191. Phoenix dactylifera, 304. Pinea ligna, 243. Finns pinea, 250. Pinus sylvestris, 250. Pistacia, 254. Pistacia terebinthus, 237- Platanus, 275. Polygonum orientale, 214. Prunus sylvestris, 205. Pterocarpus Santalinus, 244. Pyra, 257- Pyrites. 19. Quercus, 240. Rhamnus foHis trigynis, 207. Rhamnus spinis oblongis, 199. Ricinus, 125. Rosa, 144. Rubus vulgaris, 212. Ruta graveolens, 103. Salix, 272. SalsolaKali, 112. Sandali lignum, 242. Sardius, 28. Scirpus palustris, 182. Sinapis, 103. Smaragdus, 31. Solanum melongenae, 230. Solanum Incanum, 112. Spartium junceum, 121. Spica nardus, 1 66. Spina, 198, 210. Spiuae, vepres, 209. Stannum, 62. Stibium, 65. 342 INDEX TO THE LATIN. Styrax, 269. Sycomorus, 288. Tamarix orientalis, 252. Tragacanthum, 165. Thus, 154. Thyina ligna, 155, 250. Tribulus agrestis, 202. Tribulus veterum s. terrestri; 202. Tribuli, 215. Triticum spelta, 82. Urtica, urens, 214, 217. Vitis, 220. Vitis Labrusca, 111. Zizyphus Vulgaris, 209. THE END. J. THOMSON, PEINTEK, MILNE SQUARE. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 01145 3885 r