Works and Customs in Palestine Volume II: Agriculture

By Gustaf Dalman

Volume II follows daily agricultural work step by step, from the preparation of the field to the green cut preceding the harvest, with descriptions of the geological evolution of the Palestinian agricultural land, its different kinds of soil, various methods of artificial irrigation, methods of land division, measurement and demarcation and much more. Volume II also includes a comprehensive list and description of all field and garden plants, of when and how they are planted, as well as their culinary and medicinal uses and cooking methods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Al Nasher Technical Services
• Release date: May 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9789950385849

Book preview

G. Dalman . Work and Customs in Palestine

II

Gustaf Dalman

Work and Customs in Palestine

Volume II

Agriculture

Translated from the German

by

Robert Schick

Revised and edited by

Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian

2020

Originally published by C. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh, 1932

Re-published by Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, Zürich, New York, 1987

English translation based on the 1987 Georg Olms Verlag edition

Translation copyright © Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian 2020

This Dalman translation project is supported by the

Ghiath and Nadia Sukhtian Foundation

ISBN: 978_9950_385_84_9

Published by Dar Al Nasher

Tel.[phone]

[e-mail]

www.enasher.com

Printed in Ramallah, Palestine

Distributed by

Al Ahlieh

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[e-mail]

Preface to the English Edition of Volume II

of

Work and Customs in Palestine

When the English translation of Parts 1 and 2 of Volume I appeared in 2013, it was well received, showing that there would be an interest in reading Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina in English. The positive reception validated the main reason for producing an English translation of Work and Customs in Palestine, which is to make this encyclopedic work of an outstanding German scholar, theologian, linguist and ethnologist accessible to a much wider non-German-speaking public. His work is an important reference for students and scholars interested in understanding the biblical and post-biblical past of Palestine as well as for those interested in researching the life and culture of the Palestinian population in modern times. But it is of particular interest for today’s Palestinian readers because for them it preserves for posterity a valuable treasure of their folkloric heritage, which their ancestors recorded and passed on from generation to generation. (The volumes have not yet been translated into Arabic).

A quick glance at the following numbers reveals the scope of Dalman’s magnum opus: its eight volumes hold over 3000 pages, with nearly 800 photographs, and a bibliography that runs over 88 pages, found in Volume VIII, the posthumous volume edited by Dr. Julia Maennchen. This bibliography on its own is a valuable academic resource, not only displaying the state of knowledge and research on Palestine during Dalman’s lifetime, but also showing his ability to draw on a vast array of sources in multiple languages and disciplines.

Volume I guides the reader through the cycle of the day and the seasons of the year, covering such topics as the time and quantity of rain, the influence of the climate on the land, vegetation, prayers for rain, religious feasts and customs, harvest songs and much more, touching on agricultural activities in autumn, winter, spring and summer, because – as Dalman points out in his preface to Volume II – the seasons could not be described without the work on the fields.

Volume II is an agricultural handbook of Palestine, past and present. It deals with agriculture in the narrow sense of the word and describes its purely technical and organizational aspects, following the agricultural steps from the preparation of the fields to the green cut preceding the harvest. Volume III continues from the harvest through threshing to milling and baking, and Volume IV focuses on bread, wine and oil.

Also included in Volume II are descriptions of the geological evolution of the Palestinian agricultural land, its different kinds of soil, various methods of artificial irrigation, the sequence of agricultural tasks, including precise recommendations like using the right amount of seeds in relation to the size of the land, descriptions of property rights and ownership, and methods of land division, measurement and demarcation. Volume II includes a comprehensive list and description of all field and garden plants, divided into their botanical sub-groups of cereals, legumes, tuberous vegetables, fruit, leafy vegetables and spice vegetables, as well as oil, dye and stimulant plants, with descriptions of when and how they are planted and cultivated, as well as their culinary and medicinal uses, and how they are cooked and eaten.

There is also a comprehensive list of the various kinds of agricultural tools. The plough and yoke here serve as examples for giving the reader a taste of Dalman’s methodology. In the case of the plough, he enumerates the North Palestinian and the South Palestinian plough, the Circassian plough, the ancient and new Egyptian plough, the Israelite and the Greek plough, comparing and describing them in great detail with exact measurements and drawings, which can be found at the end of this volume. He also compares the different kinds of yokes used in Jerusalem and Galilee, Merj ‘Ayūn (Lebanon), Aleppo, Belqa, Hauran, Damascus and Egypt, highlighting their regional differences. As if that were not enough, Dalman gives us the designations for nearly every item he describes throughout all the volumes in Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin (in the case of the scientific names of plants) and often in Greek, next to their names in German, making Work and Customs also a reference for linguists and lexicographers. This translation naturally added the English names, which sometimes called for extended research.

As in all the volumes, Dalman uses this methodology with nearly all of his findings, most of which he was able to observe and study directly on the ground mostly during his stay in Palestine from 1902 to 1914. He intertwines his own findings with comparative descriptions he found in earlier accounts. For Palestine’s biblical past he draws from the texts of the Mishna and the Palestinian Talmud and their tenth-century translations into Arabic by the Jewish philosopher and lexicographer of the Abbasid period, Sa‘adiah ben Yousef el-Fayyumi; Dalman also quotes, amongst many others, from the texts of the tenth-century Greek/Byzantine Geoponica (Agricultural Pursuits), a 20-book collection of agricultural lore covering the eastern Mediterranean, which in turn draws on Pliny and various lost Hellenistic and Roman-period Greek agricultural and veterinarian authors and which was translated into Syriac, Persian, Arabic and Armenian in its time.

For Palestine’s Arab past Dalman relies to a great extent on Kitab ‘aja’ib al makhluqat (The Wonders of Creation) by the medieval Arab physician, astronomer and geographer Zakaria Muhammad al-Qazwini, drawing from his detailed accounts and descriptions of thirteenth-century Palestine and the region beyond, which he knew intimately through his extensive travels.

For modern-day Palestine, Dalman consulted, amongst many others whom he met during his stay in Palestine, Tawfiq Cana‘an. A well-known pioneering Palestinian physician, medical researcher and prolific author, Cana‘an was one of the foremost researchers of Palestinian popular heritage. The book Agriculture in Palestine (1909) is one amongst many of Cana‘an’s vast collection of publications on Palestinian rural life and popular culture.

The same team who worked on the translation of Volume I, Parts 1 and 2, continued to work on the translation of Volume II, with Robert and me switching roles as translators and editors/reviewers.

For Volume I, Parts 1 and 2, I prepared the draft translation which Robert edited, meticulously revising the text and carefully checking the transliterations and Bible quotations, while for Volume II it was Robert who prepared the draft translation, which I revised and edited, by carefully reading the translated text against the German original.

As was the case in Volume I, Parts 1 and 2, Isabelle Ruben edited the translation for English style, bringing her expert knowledge of matters floral and faunal to bear. Anna Silkatcheva prepared the indices and the internal page references and added the index of place names, which is not in the German original. All four of us helped with proofreading.

As with Volume I, the photographs for this volume were provided by the Gustaf Dalman Institute in Greifswald, in the form of high-resolution scans of Dalman’s vast collection of over 10 000 photographs of Palestine, which can be viewed at http://wissenschaftliche-sammlungen.uni-greifswald.de/objektsuche selecting Collection and then Gustaf-Dalman-Sammlung.

Amman, October 2019

Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian

Preface to the English edition of Volume II

of

Work and Customs in Palestine

Notes on the Translation and Transliterations

by Robert Schick

As Nadia Sukhtian has mentioned in her preface, the same team who worked on Volume I, Parts 1 and 2, continued to work on Volume II. Nadia and I worked on the translation, reversing our roles for this volume. In Volume I, Parts 1 and 2 she had prepared the draft translation, which I revised, while for Volume II, I prepared the draft translation, which she revised. As was also the case with Volume I, Parts 1 and 2, Isabelle Ruben edited the translation for English style and helped with proofreading, and Ana Silkatcheva prepared the indices and the internal page references and helped with proofreading.

The general format of Volume II closely follows that of Volume I, Parts 1 and 2. The indices, including the topical index, reproduce the original indices, with a few additions. The scientific Latin names for plant species have been included in the topical index. An index of place names, which the original German edition does not have, has also been added.

The English translations of Arabic sayings and verses of poetry follow Dalman’s German translations; translations more exactly matching the Arabic versions are occasionally noted in a translator’s footnote. A few other explanatory footnotes have been added as translator’s footnotes.

At the end of Volume II, as well as Volume III, Dalman included several pages of addenda. These have been placed in the text in footnotes marked as addenda. Typographical errors listed in the addenda have been silently corrected in the text.

Dalman cites verses from the Old Testament according to the verse numbering of the Hebrew Masoretic text, which occasionally differs from the verse numbering of modern Christian versions, such as the Revised Standard Version (RSV). For the Wisdom of Ben Sirach, where there are alternative orderings of chapters 30 to 36, Dalman cites a numbering system that differs from that used in the RSV and Septuagint versions. As a help to the reader, in those cases where the chapter and verse numberings diverge, a translator’s note identifies the RSV and/or Septuagint numbers matching Dalman’s verse numbers; the Septuagint numbers cite Albert Pietersma and Benjamin Wright, eds., A New English Translation of the Septuagint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

The technical vocabulary that Dalman used sometimes proves a tough nut to crack. I want to thank Annette Hansen at Groningen University for her help in disentangling the technical terms related to parts of grain plants that he used, and for providing us with a valuable article that in part deals with Dalman’s terminology: Annette M. Hansen, Bethany J. Walker and Frits Heinrich, ‘Impressions’ of the Mamluk agricultural economy. Archaeobotanical evidence from clay ovens (ṭābūn) at Tall Ḥisbān (Jordan). Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie 56 (2017), pp. 58-69.

Several conventions that Dalman adopted have been kept, such as distinguishing Hebrew and Aramaic names of the months from Arabic ones, by having the Hebrew and Aramaic month names capitalized and the Arabic names in lower case and in italics. Arabic place names are transliterated and in italics, other than those commonly known by their English versions, e.g. Jerusalem and Hebron.

Dalman’s transliterations of Hebrew and Aramaic words are also reproduced here, but with sh for Dalman’s š; q for Dalman’s k; and y for Dalman’s j.

For Arabic words, the standard Library of Congress English transliteration system is adopted here, which differs in some cases from the German system that Dalman used:

Preface

Volume I already had occasion to deal with agriculture, because the seasons could not be described without the work connected with them. Agriculture in autumn, winter, spring, and summer was briefly discussed there on p. 164ff., 269ff., 412ff., and 566ff. and thereby brought into connection on p. 586ff. with the associated religious customs. What was missing there was the technology of agriculture, which is to be treated in future volumes. With this in mind, the second volume, presented here, is concerned only with agriculture in the narrow sense of the word. It is followed from the preparation of the field to the green cut preceding the harvest, not without consideration of its requirements in organization, form, and ownership of the field. The third volume will then continue from the harvest through threshing to milling and baking.

Also here the objective behind treating this technical material, proceeding from the Orient of today, is to shed light on the history of Israel in a significant area and to explain the Bible, which always only briefly mentions the things relevant to this subject, whether it concerns the economy of Israel placed under divine order in earlier or later times, or whether the economic proceedings are used as a metaphor for proceedings in the area of ethical and religious life, as occurred in the Prophets, the Psalms, and Proverbs, as well as in the parables of Jesus. Also the practical interpretation and application of such types of biblical words should not be done without knowledge of their factual background. Only in this way can they hit the meaning that they originally had for speaker and hearer, author, and reader. Historically, it also remains significant that Israel was a people practicing agriculture, after they had acquired a suitable land. Israel’s experience of divine giving and taking cannot be separated from the form and culture of its popular life.

Applying the relevant rabbinic material means, initially, clarifying the period of the New Testament existing under Hellenistic and Roman influence, for which I regret not having compared in detail the Natural History of Pliny and the Enquiry into Plants of Theophrastus, because they are noticeably similar to the culture of rabbinic Palestine. But naturally the rabbinic literature also contains things that were already present in Israelite antiquity and for that reason were not mentioned in the Old Testament only because there was no occasion to describe in detail the economy of the period it spanned. Rabbinic law, which always went into the details of legal practice, had an entirely different reason for that, although it should not be forgotten that the reports occasioned in this way are always one-sided.

I regret that my work also on this volume could not take place in constant contact with the Arab people working in Palestine today according to ancient custom. Even detailed observations and notes contain gaps that become clear only when a related presentation is worked out. That is why it was important that the questions I encountered were not sent to Palestine in vain. For friendly inquiries I thank Father Sonnen and Father Müller and teacher Bauer in Jerusalem, Pastor Jentzsch and Pastor Sa‘īd ‘Abbūd[1] in Bethlehem, Dr. J. Reichert in Tel-Aviv, Dr. J. Künzler in Beirut, Mr. Morris Sigel in Damascus, to whom I remain obliged. That I constantly took account of the printed works of Dr. T. Canaan, teacher Bauer, and Father Sonnen, among many others, is self-evident.

Mr. Lic. Sander in Greifswald, now Halle, and missionary L. Marx in Herrnhut, gave me friendly support with proofreading; the latter also through the preparation of the index of Bible passages.

Also regarding the illustrations, which I could share in large numbers, I am thankful for the manifold friendly permissions for use. I name here the companies of Vester & Co. (American Colony), and C. Raad in Jerusalem, Bruno Hentschel in Leipzig, and Ludwig Preiß in Munich, all outstanding because of their rich archives of photographs of Palestine. But also all the other copyright holders of illustrations are named below them and are requested to consider this as an expression of my heartfelt thanks.

Consideration of the Corrections and Additions provided at the end is recommended.[2]

Greifswald, Palästinainstitut, 13 June 1932

G. Dalman

Abbreviations

ZDPV = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästinavereins

MuN des DPV = Mitteilungen und Nachrichten des Deutschen Palästinavereins

ZDMG = Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft

PJB = Palästinajahrbuch

PEFQ = Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly

List of Illustrations

1. Cultivable basin in the Senonian region.

2. An encrusted height in the Senonian region.

3. Precipitation-poor Senonian land.

4. Plain in the Turonian-Cenomanian region.

5. Natural terracing in the Turonian-Cenomanian region.

6. Stony agricultural land in the Turonian-Cenomanian region.

7. Basaltic land at Lake Tiberias.

8. Alluvial agricultural land in the Jezreel plain.

9. Diluvial agricultural land in the coastal plain.

10. Alluvial irrigated land in the diluvial region of the Jordan Valley near Jericho.

11. Watchman’s place in an olive tree in a sorghum field.

12. Watchman’s frame in a barley field.

13. Watchman’s frame with arbor in a sorghum field.

14. Watchman’s hut in a cucumber field.

15. Watchman’s hut in a zucchini field.

16. Watchtower with arbor in an orchard.

17. Hedges of prickly pear cactus.

18. Palestinian plow-share I.

19. Palestinian plow-share II.

20. The Mabic (Jebalitic) plowshare.

21a. The south Palestinian plow with share.

21b. The south Palestinian yoke.

22. The north and east Palestinian plow with share.

23. Sowing on unplowed land.

24. Sowing on sowing rows with plowing under.

25. Plowing under the winter sowing.

26. Plowing of the summer sowing with a seed hopper.

27. North Palestinian plow on the way to the field.

28. North Palestinian plow during the summer sowing.

29. North Palestinian yoke with harnessing.

30. Mabic (Jebalitic) plow with yoke.

31. Mabic (Jebalitic) plow with horse and donkey.

32. Circassian plow.

33. Circassian yoke with plow.

34. Egyptian plow.

35. Ox and donkey under the yoke.

36. Mule before the plow.

37. Camel before the plow.

38. Camel and donkey under the yoke.

39. Two plows during summer sowing.

40. Circassian wagon.

41. Circassian yoke in front of the wagon.

42. Circassian wagon hitch with yoke.

43. Agricultural hoes near Jerusalem.

44. Garden tools near Aleppo.

45. Hoeing out onions.

46. Water scooping device using a swing bar in Egypt.

47. Water scooping device with an elevated scoop wheel.

48. Water scooping device with a low scoop wheel.

49. Water scoop wheel powered by the river.

50. Water scooping device without a wheel but with a pulling path.

51. Irrigated land of Silwān.

52. Irrigated vegetable beds around Silwān.

53. Unirrigated vegetable land around Lydda.

54. Wheat and barley heads.

55. Small wheat heads and barley corns with hulls and beards.

55a. Palestinian miracle wheat.

55b. Wild emmer and einkorn from Palestine.

56. Wheat and darnel.

57. Ripe wheat.

58. Ripe barley.

59. Wheat field on the coastal plain.

60. Wheat on rocky ground.

61. Wheat on a field path.

62. Wheat on good land.

63. Sorghum between rocky banks.

64. Arab beans in the field.

64a. Chickpea.

65. Watermelon with zucchini and tomatoes.

66. Cauliflower on the way to market.

67. Weeds in wheat.

68. Thistles (Silybum marianum) on a fallow field.

69. High-grown thistle (Notobasis syriaca).

70. Thistle (Carthamus glaucus) in bloom.

71. Field with blooming ammi (Ammi visnaga).

72. Christ thorn (Ziziphus spina-christi).

73. Weeding in grain.

74. Hoeing of thorns in a fallow field.

75. Unwinged locust.

76. Winged locust.

77. Locusts crawling on a field wall.

Table of Contents

Preface to the English Edition by Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian v

Preface to the English Edition by Robert Schick xi

Preface

V

I. The Formation and Extent of the Palestinian Agricultural Land 1

The Geological and Mineralogical Character of the Soil, Limestone,

Basalt, Diluvium, Alluvium 2

The Influence of Climate

3

The Location of Palestine, Desert 4

Temperature, Zones of Moisture 7

Cultivable Land, Yields

9

II. Types of Agricultural Land

16

Rocky and Stony Land

16

Sand, Salt

22

Level and Unlevel Land, Construction of Terraces 24

Fertile and Infertile Soil

28

The Colors of the Soil

29

Analyses of Different Types of Soil 32

III. Watering the Cultivable Land 34

Precipitation, Springs, Pools, Jordan, Ground Water, Land

Watered from the Atmosphere, Artificially Watered Land 34

IV. Land Property Rights

42

Private Ownership, Government Land, Endowment Property,

Dead Land, Land Division, Lots, Tenth 46

In Antiquity

48

V. Measurement and Demarcation of the Agricultural Field 54

Measurement According to the Work Performance of the Plow

Strength, and to the Amount of Seed, Border Designation,

Measuring Rope

54

In Antiquity

57

VI. Protection of the Agricultural Field 62

Border Walls, Hedges, Watchmen, Watch Places, Weapons 62

In Antiquity

68

VII. Agricultural Tools

74

A. The Plow. Designations, Manufacturers, Origin 74

1. The Plowshare

79

a) The Farmer’s Plowshare 79

b) The Damascene Plowshare 81

c) The Galilean Plowshare 82

d) The Mabic (Jebalitic) Plowshare 84

e) The Plowshare of Antiquity 86

2. The Plow Frame

89

a) The South Palestinian Plow Frame 89

b) The Plow Frame of North Syria 94

c) The North and East Palestinian Plow Frame 95

d) The Mabic (Jebalitic) Plow Frame 97

e) The Circassian Plow

98

f) The Egyptian Plow

99

g) The Plow of the Israelites 101

3. The Seed Hopper

103

In Antiquity

104

4. The Yoke

107

a) The Yoke of Today

107

b) The Yoke of Antiquity (on the Plow and Wagon) 114

5. Harnessing Plow Animals 121

In Antiquity (on the Plow and Wagon) 128

6. The Ox Goad

133

In Antiquity

135

B. Hoe, Spade, and Hatchet

139

1. In the Present

139

a) The Simple Hoe

139

α) The narrow plant hoe 139

β) The wide field hoe 139

γ) The weeding hoe 140

δ) The narrow hoe

140

b) The Double Hoe

140

α) The indigenous form 140

β) The European form 141

c) The Digging Spade

142

d) Ax and Hatchet

142

α) The ax

142

β) The hatchet

142

2. In Antiquity

143

C. The Harrow

147

VIII. Field Preparation

150

A. The General Temporal Sequence 150

Winter and Summer Sowing, Plow Land and Wasteland 150

In Antiquity

157

B. Fertilization

161

Dung, Pressing, Burning Off 161

In Antiquity

164

C. The Plower

169

Owner, Worker, Wages, Tenants, Day’s Work, Clothes, Food 169

In Antiquity

177

D. The Plow Animals

184

Oxen, Buffalos, Donkeys, Mules, Horses, Camels, Fodder 184

In Antiquity

189

E. The Division of the Fields

194

Plow Pieces, Seed Pieces 194

In Antiquity (also Beds, Plots) 198

F. The Time of Field Preparation 202

Rain Periods, Rain Pauses, Early, Late Winter Sowing 202

In Antiquity

204

G. The Winter Crops and Their Plowing 207

Grain Species, Pre-Plowing, Seeds, Plowing Under (Harrowing ?) Vegetable Land (Beds)

207

In Antiquity

219

H. New Growth of the Grain

237

In Antiquity

238

J. The Summer Sowing

239

Grain Species, Pre-Plowing, Seeds, Vegetableland 239

In Antiquity

247

K. Overview of the Time of the Annual Agricultural Work 252

IX. Artificial Irrigation

257

A. Generalities

257

Origin of the Water

257

B. The Drawing Equipment

260

1. The Drawing Bucket

260

2. The Drawing Beam

261

3. The Drawing Wheel, Drawing Works Without a Wheel 264

In Antiquity

270

C. The Arrangement of the Irrigated Land 273

Irrigation System, Canals, Furrows and Dams, Basin-Shaped Beds 273

In Antiquity

279

X. Field and Garden Plants

284

Preliminary Note and Group Classification 284

A. Grain Plants

285

1. Wheat, Ar. ḥinṭa, Hebr. ḥiṭṭā 285

2. Wild Emmer (emmer, spelt), Ar. alas, Hebr. kussémet 288

3. Darnel, Ar. zuwwān, late Hebr. zōnīn 292

4. Rye

294

5. Barley, Ar. sha‘īr, Hebr. se‘ōra 294

6. Wild Barley Species, Ar. sha‘ir berri, late Hebr. shibboleth shū‘āl 300

7. Oats, Ar. šūfān, late Hebr. šiphōn 301

8. Sorghum, Ar. dhura bēḍa 303

9. Maize, Ar. dhura ṣafra

305

10. Common Millet, Ar. dukhn, dhura ḥamra, Hebr. dōḥan 306

11. Foxtail Millet, dukhn, late Hebr. perāgīm 307

12. Rice, Ar. ruzz, late Hebr. ōrez 308

13. Sugar Cane, Ar. qasab muṣṣ 308

14. Iceplant, Ar. samḥ

309

B. Legumes

310

1. Lentil, Ar. ‘adas, Hebr. ‘adāshā 310

2. Broad Bean, Ar. fūl, Hebr. pōl 312

3. Arab Bean, Ar. lūbie, late Hebr. pōl miṣri 314

4. Egyptian Bean, Ar. māsh 315

5. European Bean, Ar. faṣūlya 316

6. Narbon Bean, Ar. na‘māni, late Hebr. sappīr 316

7. Common Vetch, Ar. bāqia, late Hebr. baqyā, bīqyā 317

8. Bitter Vetch, Ar. kirsenne, late Hebr. karshinnā 317

9. White Pea, Ar. jilbān, late Hebr. purqedān 318

10. Red Pea, s‘ēs‘a, late Hebr. she‘ō‘īt 318

11. Chickpea, Ar. ḥummuṣ, Hebr. āphūn 319

12. European Pea, Ar. bāzella 321

13. Lupin, Ar. turmus, late Hebr. turmōs 321

14. Fenugreek, Ar. ḥelbe, late Hebr. tiltān 322

C. Tuberous Vegetables

323

1. Radish, Ar. fijl, late Hebr. ṣenōn 323

2. Horse-radish, Ar. shakhkhākha 323

3. Turnip, Ar. lift abyaḍ, rutabaga, Ar. lift aṣfar, late Hebr. nāphūs 324

4. Kohlrabi, Ar. kerunb

324

5. Celery, Ar. kerafs, late Hebr. karpas 324

6. Carrot, Ar. jezer, late Hebr. tamkā (?) 325

7. Beet, Ar. banjar

325

8. Onion, Ar. baṣal, Hebr. bāṣāl 326

9. Leek, Ar. barāsia, Hebr. ḥāṣīr 327

10. Garlic, Ar. thūm, Hebr. shūm 328

11. Potato, Ar. baṭāṭa

328

12. Sweet Potato, Ar. baṭāṭa ḥelwe 328

13. Taro, Ar. and late Hebr. qolqās 328

14. Palestine Arum, Ar. lūf, late Hebr. lūph 329

D. Fruit Vegetables

329

1. Okra, Ar. bāmie

329

2. Eggplant, Ar. betinjān

330

3. Tomato, Ar. banādūra

330

4. Paprika, Ar. flēfle, Indian Pepper, Ar. filfil, late Hebr. pilpēl 331

5. Squash, Ar. qar‘, late Hebr. dallá‘at 331

6. Calabash, Ar. yaqṭīn

332

7. Zucchini, Ar. kūsa

332

8. Watermelon, Ar. baṭṭīkh akhḍar, Hebr. abaṭṭīaḥ 333

9. Melon, Ar. baṭṭīkh aṣfar, shemmām, late Hebr. melōphephōn 334

10. Cucumber, Ar. khiyār

334

11. Hairy Cucumber, Ar. faqqūs, quththa, Hebr. qishshūt 335

E. Leafy Vegetables

336

1. Chard, Ar. silq, late Hebr. terād 336

2. Lettuce, Ar. khass, late Hebr. ḥazéret 336

3. Endive, Ar. sikōria, hindebe, late Hebr ‘ulshīn, tamkā (?) 337

4. Parsley, Ar. baqdūnis late Hebr. peṭrōselīnon 338

5. Spinach, Ar. sabānekh

339

6. Sorrel, Ar. ḥamṣīṣ, ḥummēd, late Hebr. le‘ūnīm 339

7. Jew’s Mallow, Ar. melūkhīye 340

8. Purslane, Ar. baqle, farfaḥīne, rijle, late Hebr. regīlā 340

9. Cauliflower, Ar. qarnabīṭ, late Hebr. terabtōr (?) 340

10. Cabbage, Ar. malfūf, Kohlrabi, Ar. kerunb, late Hebr. kerūb 341

11. Artichoke, Ar. arḍishauke, late Hebr. qināras 341

12. Mallow, Ar. khubbēze, late Hebr. ḥelmīt (?) 342

13. Asparagus, Ar. ḥalyūn

343

14. Watercress, Ar. jerjīr

343

F. Spice Vegetables

343

1. Anise, Ar. yānsūn

343

2. Dill, Ar. bisbāsa, late Hebr. shébet 344

3. Cumin, Ar. kammūn, Hebr. kammōn 344

4. Caraway, Ar. karawiya, late Hebr. qerābīm 344

5. Black Cumin, Ar. qezḥa, Hebr. qéṣaḥ 344

6. Coriander, Ar. kuzbara, Hebr. gad, late Hebr. kusbār 345

7. Mint, Ar. na‘na‘, Pal.-Aram. na‘nā‘ 346

8. Rue, Ar. fējam, late Hebr. pēgam 347

9. Mustard, Ar. khardal, late Hebr. ḥardal 347

10. Oregano, Ar. za‘tar, Hebr. ēzōb 348

11. Marjoram, Ar. sumsuq, Babyl.-Aram. shumshūq 349

12/13. Thyme, Ar. za‘tar, Savory, za‘tar eḥmar, late Hebr. sē’ā, qōrnīt

349

14. Fennel, Ar. shōmar, late Hebr. guphnān 350

15. Cress, Ar. reshād, late Hebr. sheḥālīm 351

16. Rocket, Ar. ḥardan, late Hebr. gargīr 351

17. Basil, Ar. ḥabaq

351

G. Oil Plants

351

1. Sesame, Ar. simsim, late Hebr. shumshōm 351

2. Castor-Oil Plant (Wonder Tree), Ar. kherwa‘, late Hebr. qīqāyōn 352

H. Green Feed Plants

353

1. White Clover, Ar. bersīm, late Hebr. gargerānīyōt 353

2. Lucerne, Ar. fuṣṣ, Bab.-Aram. perhaps handeqūqē, mādā’ē 353

J. Fiber Plants

354

1. Flax, Ar. kittān, Hebr. pishtā, late Hebr. pishtān 355

2. Cotton Shrub, Ar. qoṭn, late Hebr. ṣémer géphen 355

3. Hemp, Ar. qumbuz, late Hebr. qanbas 355

K. Dye Plants

356

1. Safflower, ‘uṣfur, late Hebr. qōṣā 356

2. Indigo, nīle

357

3. Woad, wasme, late Hebr. isāṭīs 357

4. Madder, fuwwa, late Hebr. pū’ā 357

5. Weld, baqqam, late Hebr. rakkhpā 357

6. Henna Shrub, ḥenna, Hebr. kōpher 358

7. Cochineal Cactus, Ar. ṣabr 358

8. Saffron, Ar. za‘farān, late Hebr. karkōm 358

L. Stimulant Plants

359

1. Tobacco, Ar. titun

359

2. Poppy, Ar. khishkhāsh, Hebr. rōsh (?) 360

3. Hemp, see J 3

360

XI. The Grain Plant While Growing 361

A. The Growth of the Grain

361

In Antiquity

362

B. Parts of the Grain Plant

363

XII. Weeds

366

A. Generalities

366

B. Weed Plants

369

In Antiquity

375

Hebrew Names of Weeds and Thorny Plants 375

1. qōṣ, 2. dardār, 3. ‘akkābīt, 4.yerōqat ḥamōr, 5. qimmesōnim, 6. ḥārūl, 7. sīaḥ, 8. ḥōaḥ, 9. sīrīm, 10. āṭād, 11. shāmir, 12. shayit, 13. ḥédeq, 14. na‘aṣūṣ, 15. nahalōlīm.

C. Weeding

385

In Antiquity

390

XIII. The Influence of the Weather and Grain Diseases 394

Lack of Rain, East Wind, Formation of Worms, Brown Rust, Smut

In Antiquity

400

XIV. Damage to the Grain by People and Animals 402

Pasture Animals, People, Fire 402

Jackals, Field Mice, Ants, Birds 405

Locusts

410

In Antiquity

412

XV. Green Cut

415

In Antiquity

417

Indexes

I. Index of Hebrew and Aramaic Words 419

II. Index of Arabic Words

425

III. Index of Subjects

436

IV. Index of Place Names

451

V. Index of Bible Passages 458

Photographs and Illustrations 461

I. The Formation and Extent of the Palestinian Agricultural Land

The Palestinian cultivation of grain and vegetables was always determined first and foremost by the available soil, whose formation was connected with the geological development of Palestine as it emerged from the Cretaceous sea. The east and west hill country derived from the Cretaceous period, the firm foundation of which is formed by the hard limestone and marble of the Turonian and Cenomanian, suitable for building purposes, which basically consist of calcium carbonate and occasionally dolomite with a strong component of magnesium carbonate. From these come the types of stone so important for construction: mizzi yahūdi, mizzi aḥmar, mizzi ḥelu, meleki, and der yāsīni, listed here in order from hardest to softest. As they weather they all produce a red brown soil very suitable for agriculture. Deposited above them, originally everywhere and still present today, particularly on the east slope of the western hill country and less on the west slope, was a soft layer of the Senonian. Represented in it, next to layers of hard flint (Arabic ṣuwwān)[3] that was significant for the production of primitive tools before metals took its place, are brightly ringing ka‘kūli limestone and softer chalk and gypsum chalk with carbonate, sulfate, as well as phosphatic limestone and clay soil in varying mixtures. Calcium phosphate with 30–84% phosphatic calcium also occurs. A light-colored grey soil, which does not equal the red soil in fertility, results from the weathering of the Senonian limestone. From the Tertiary Period comes the nummulitic limestone of the Eocene, which is heavily weathered and therefore of little use for agriculture and which is deposited only occasionally in the hill country of Samaria and Galilee. Volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Quaternary gave the limestone soil in the northern east-land and the northeast west-land a basaltic covering,[4] the weathering of which created agricultural land that is especially suitable. The Arab usually speaks then of black stone (ḥajar aswad), although ḥajar burkān would be the correct designation.

Through the drop of the Jordan Valley, which Willis[5] interpreted as the working of pressure coming from east to west to create ramps rearing up, and through the transverse break of the so-called Jezreel plain between Samaria and Galilee, as well as the rise of the western border area next to and between the mountain areas, deep-lying plains arose; in the pluvial period these were the natural place of deposit for the weathering products eroding down from the mountains. But they also had individual characteristics: the diluvial coast area through its limestone; the dune sand deposited from the sea; the loess covering a wide area in the south that seems to derive from the sandstorms of the southern desert; and the Jordan Valley through its chalk and gypsum-bearing marl – the bottom sediment of the inland lake that was once present here that covered the deeply sunken limestone and sandstone layers. How varied the soils of a small area can be is shown by the region of Bēsān, where according to Picard,[6] an area of arable limestone is inserted between the alluvial clay of the Jālūd stream and the marl diluvium of the Jordan Valley, while the actual edge of the Jordan must again be described as alluvial.

Characteristic of the Senonian region is the Late Quaternary Formation of a mostly white-colored lime crust with a thin gravel layer on the surface and a mass becoming ever more friable below, which gives way to marl, followed by the hard base of limestone bedrock.[7] Protection for the moisture gathered below that is offered by this crust, which the Arabs call nāri because it is fireproof when used in houses, makes tree cultivation possible but also allows forests to flourish on such soil, whereas for agriculture these necessary preconditions are lacking.

To what extent soil suitable for agriculture arises from the elements of the surface of the land is dependent on the climate of Palestine described in Volume 1. The five- to seven-month-long rainy period with lower temperatures will result in atmospheric dissolution through precipitation. But at the same time, it is active in eroding the resulting soil and thereby again frees uneroded bedrock and exposes it to the impact of the atmospheric elements. The steeply falling valleys, which themselves owe their origin to atmospheric influences, can serve as collectors of washed-away soil only in more level basins, especially in the region of their formation.[8] The destination of the soil is the deep valleys,[9] thus primarily the coastland,[10] in itself mostly diluvial, in the region of the valley mouths. The seven- to five-month-long rainless period, which is characterized by high temperatures, so that the impact of any dew cannot be great, means a sort of pause in the re-layering of the soil; but much of the moisture stored in it escapes, especially where the capillarity of the soil is not interrupted and no kind of cover protects it or its deeper layer. At the same time, however, loose parts of the soil surface and the decayed vegetation are turned into dust and blown away by the wind, so that here we have a re-layering of the soil also in summer. Yet Blanckenhorn emphasizes that arid soils arising in such a climate are less washed out than humid soils, so that weathering products and soluble salts remain contained in it. The dry upper layer is then again a good protection for the humus arising in the lower layer, for example. It is the task of people to prevent the erosion of the cultivable soil as much as possible and to replace the absent or removed elements, especially nitrogen, through the type of cultivation, particularly with legumes, but also by inserting rest periods of wild growth, and by meadows on the resting soil in a period that is not too dry.

The location of Palestine on the coast of a sea, but also on the western border of a large precipitation-poor region that also encompasses the south of the country, is the second important precondition for its agriculture. It brings with it the great dryness of the east and southeast winds, the start time of which cannot be calculated in detail, but is always decisive for agriculture precisely in the transition from the rainy to the rainless period. Early in the year it advances the ripening of the field fruits, but can also endanger them. In the fall it completes the effect of the rainless summer, before the new moisturizing of the land sets in. Connected with the structure of Palestine is the fact that the eastern scarp of the west land and the Jordan Valley are poor in precipitation. The result is that the southern half of the west land, where this drop-off is most developed, is a rain-poor region, making it unusable for cultivation on the east side.[11] One can designate this area as desert, although the Hebrew expression midbār implies that it means something akin to pasture land for animal husbandry, even if our concept of animal pasture is inappropriate when applied to this land. Of the parallel Hebrew expressions ‘arābā and ṣiyyā, which are used next to midbār in Is 35:1, ṣiyyā certainly is reminiscent of the dryness of uncultivated regions, although Sa‘adiah thinks of mafāiz (sing. mafāza) as the place where one escapes to. The origin of ‘arābā was already unclear for the Targumist, as he always translated it with valley (mēsherā Deut 1:7) and thereby seemingly thought of the Jordan Valley, for which Sa‘adiah used el-ghōr in Deut 1:7, while in Deut 1:1 and 2:8 he used el-baydā the land in which one loses oneself and in Is 35:1 plur. bawādi. The Palestinian Arab thinks with shōl of the emptiness of precipitation-poor bare land, but also uses the expression when he wants to designate desert in the full sense. What the Hebrew names midbār is for him el-barrīye the land found outside – outside of the inhabited region.[12] Sa‘adiah, not without reason, translated midbār with barrīye, plur. barāri (e.g. Deut 1:1; Is 35:1). In the desert there are neither grain crops, fruit trees, nor drinking water (Num 20:5). Thus, all the preconditions for normal human life are lacking.

Also the Jordan Valley[13] should be spoken of as desert, although its Arabic name el-ghōr takes only its deep position into account, since only the narrow strip on the banks of the Jordan ez-zōr is watered by the river. Cultivable land is only present where springs and pools make artificial irrigation possible, thus supplementing the small amount of precipitation which, because of the high temperature of the plain, is especially grave. In the east land a nearly 35-km-wide strip, which doubles in width farther to the north through the influence of the Ḥaurān mountains, can be considered covered with precipitation and thus cultivable. But then the transition into the precipitation-poor region of Arabia follows, which can only serve the pastoralism of nomads, although it is not a sand desert, but can be considered instead as a Senonian landscape. The situation is similar in the south, where a precipitation-poor region begins with the drop-off of the west Palestinian mountain ridge, becoming always more desert-like in a southerly direction. The loess and Senonian limestone primarily determine the soil, but the sand from the northwest has also created a border for cultivability.[14] That the situation was no different in the south land (Negeb) in antiquity is shown by Josh 15:19 and Judg 1:15, according to which it had little value without wells, and Ps 126:4, which assumes the usual waterlessness of its valleys,[15] but also Gen 27:39, according to which, in contrast to Palestine, it is without dew – and so also rain-poor – and lacking rich soil.

Next to precipitation, the temperature of Palestine is also not uniform, but rather different in the coastal land, hill country, and Jordan Valley. For Jerusalem, over seven years an average temperature between 17.3 and 18.0 has been calculated, for Haifa, lying on the coast, the numbers fall between 18.8 and 21.9, for Jericho, between 23.5 and 23.8.[16] These differences mean that all seasons have a variable character and a variable influence on the growth and ripeness of plants, as well as of grain. In particular, harvest time is determined thereby. It starts with the barley, which begins, according to Bauer,[17] in the Jordan Valley in the first third of April, in the coastland in the second half of April and in the heights of the hill country in the last two thirds of May. That mountains and plains have different harvest times is significant for Jewish law, when the temporal validity of an oath is to be determined.[18]

Because the impact of precipitation is influenced by the height of the temperature, Reifenberg[19] determined rain factors for a series of places in Palestine by calculating the precipitation with the average temperature of the season (October to April), and accordingly divided the land – initially in the southern half of Palestine – into zones. He calculated the region in the south of Palestine and southern Jordan Valley to be arid to extremely arid, and gave Jericho and Beersaba the rain factors c. 12 and 13. The next, semi-arid, zone is a strip stretching from the coast of Gaza until close to Jaffa, then going far to the south of Hebron around the highest part of the hill country and finally following the Jordan Valley to the north. Gaza, with rain factor 25, and Tiberias, with rain factor 22, are the examples for this zone. Then the semi-humid region of the coastland and lower hill country follows, from Jaffa northwards, with Jaffa (rain factor 31), Latrūn (rain factor 33), Jenīn (rain factor 34), Haifa (rain factor 35), Sarona (rain factor 39) and Nazareth (rain factor 40). Areas with a rain factor of 50 and higher are considered humid. Hebron and Jerusalem with 52 show that the elevation of the western hill country accounts for that. But many more points need to be determined in a corresponding manner and with the observation of longer periods, if a reliable division of the land into zones is to be made. Also the strength and direction of the wind must be taken into account for the calculation. The amounts of evaporation would be a more dependable basis than the height of the temperature alone, which indeed has a