Works and Customs in Palestine Volume I/2: The Course of the Year and the Course of the Day Second Half: Spring and Summer

By Gustaf Dalman

Volume I; Part 2, Spring and Summer, continues dealing with agriculture in general, because the seasons of Palestine could not be described without describing the various farming tasks connected to them, and the religious customs associated with them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Al Nasher Technical Services
• Release date: May 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9789950385016

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G. Dalman . Work and Customs in Palestine

I/2

Translation

Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian

Gustaf Dalman

Work and Customs in Palestine

Volume I/2

The Course of the Year and the Course of the Day

Second Half: Spring and Summer

Translated from the German

by

Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian

Originally published in German by C. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh, 1928

Reprinted by Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, Zürich, New York, 1987

English translation based on the 1987 Georg Olms Verlag edition

Translation copyright © Nadia Abdulhadi-Sukhtian 2013

ISBN: 9789950385-01-6

Published by: Dar Al Nasher

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Printed in Ramallah, Palestine

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Preface to Volume I, Part Two

At the conclusion of this first volume on the evaluation of contemporary Arab Palestine for the knowledge that it can bring to its biblical and post-biblical past, I must add numerous thanks for friendly assistance. First, to the former assistant of the Palestine Institute in Greifswald, Mr. Lic. Rengstorf, now in Tübingen, who read page proofs, checked the Biblical passages and compiled the index of Biblical passages. For important help extended in clarifying astronomical matters, my thanks go, above all, to Mr. Karl Schoch from the Astronomisches Recheninstitut in Berlin-Dahlem, as well as to Studienrat Schloesser in Greifswald. Because I had this help, and that of my son, which was first available for the second half, I ask the reader to refer to pages 506–518 for what was said earlier about astronomy.

Unfortunately, during work on the first half, Jemaiyel’s collection of Arabic proverbs relating to the course of the year, in the 1905 volume of el-Mashriq, was still unknown to me. Only in the second half have I taken it into consideration. Because these popular sayings constitute an important means for understanding the views of the country’s population regarding the course of the year, I have reported the previously unconsidered proverbs in the addenda, together with corrections of some mistakes and printing errors. Because their Lebanese dialect contained things foreign to me, I am grateful to Mr. Elias Haddad, a senior secondary school teacher in Jerusalem, for allowing me to include his answers to a series of questions about the meaning of some expressions and sayings. Also, a number of observations and remarks to the first half that Dr. Brawer in Jerusalem sent me could be included in the addenda.

Greifswald, Palästina-Institut, 15 July 1928.

G. Dalman

III. Spring

1. The Increasing Warmth and the Longer Days

Springtime (Ar. rabī‘) in the Palestinian sense, according to my division of the seasons (p. 51), comprises the months idhār, nīsān and aiyār, from 14 March to 13 June. This corresponds to the bedouin designation of the months from June to August as qēḍ, according to which one is inclined to consider the preceding months as spring. This in spite of the fact that in Elji, the months shbāṭ, ādhār and khamīs are named rabī‘ without taking into account jmādi, which is the equivalent of aiyār (p. 47). With the Arabic designation, the Palestinian first thinks of the wild young plant growth that has already started in winter (p. 257). But only when fully developed at this time does it determine the singular nature of the country in a very special way and, with its conclusion, also come to an end. This often happens so completely that one would have reason to grant spring only two months and to give summer four, or to add shbāṭ, which we count as winter, to spring. However, the position of the sun and the weather are such necessary prerequisites for the life of the flora that er-rabī‘ cannot be thought of without its particularity in this area. These conditions must be discussed first.

The sun in Jerusalem has a midday position of 50° 36 ’ 18 on 1 March, 62° 43 ’ 30 on 1 April, 73° 15’ 54 on 1 May, and 80° 15 ’ 54 on 1 June, while in Berlin the equivalent figures are 30°, 42°, 52.5° and 59.5°. The average length of day increases from 11 hours, 59 minutes in March, to 12 hours, 57 minutes in April, and 13 hours, 46 minutes in May.[1] Corresponding with this is an increase in temperature. According to Glaisher,[2] this results in the following average daily maximum and minimum temperatures:

If one looks only at the monthly maximum and minimum temperatures, the following average over a period of 20 years is established:

The actual maximum and minimum temperatures within this area are:

These figures show that night frosts in March and April are still possible, but are to be expected only in exceptional cases. A general increase in temperature occurs, which on average fully reaches German summer heat and often surpasses it. All this for Jerusalem, while the coastland and Jordan Valley would have significantly higher figures.

For the daily changes in temperature, Glaisher[3] gives the following average numbers: February 7.8°, March 11°, April 11°, May 12.2°. Exner[4] gives as average morning and midday temperatures the values: March 8.7° and 14.8°, April 13.3° and 20.1°, May 17.2° and 24.9° and as median variations for March, April and May the numbers 9.9°, 13.5° and 16.9°. These figures show an increase to the daily changes that reaches the greatest differences of the year between the lowest and highest position of the thermometer on any one day, which continues during the whole summer; however, the figures do not show what the highs and lows of the above mentioned maximum and minimum temperatures actually are. Moreover, one experiences a change of temperatures that goes down to near freezing differently from a change in temperature in a warmer range. In any case, in spring, the Palestinian has occasion to complain about cold and heat. It is not advisable to take off one’s warm clothes too early, because one might still need them after sunset. I myself had the experience in 1911, as late as Ascension Day (25 May), that a journey to the German Church of the Ascension in summer clothes can bring on an attack of appendicitis, which led to an operation the following morning. On that day, the thermometer rose to 22.3° at noon, but dropped to 10.5° the following night.[5] Before that, there had been higher temperatures.

The first part of spring, that is, the months of idhār and the first half of nīsān, have to be considered the most beautiful time of spring, in which one can still perceive the warmth of the sun as pleasant. The heat in March can still be desirable for the townspeople and might, when it turns rainy, even give the bedouin a reason to say to his wife around a fire: asāqi min ḥaẓẓi uḥaẓẓ naṣībti, umm el-‘adau yaqfi sherrha, I enjoy my good fortune and the fortune of my destiny (my wife), but as for the enemies, may their evil be enough (‘Abd el-Wāli). Also the proverb:[6] kull waḥad bijurr en-nār lequrṣo, Everyone pulls the fire to his flat bread would still be relevant. However, in the second half of nīsān and in the whole of aiyār, very often periods of east winds set in, bringing raised temperatures and dry air that now are strongly felt by man and animal alike, because for a long time they had been used to something else. More about this below in III.5. In Qazwīni,[7] the moon stations of fargh el-auwal (α, β in Pegasus) and fargh eth-thāni (γ in Pegasus, α in Andromeda) on 9 and 22 idhār mean the retreat of the cold, just as their setting signaled its arrival. Qazwīni also knows that the baṭn el-ḥūt (part of Pisces), which rises on 4 nīsān, would mean good weather for the Pilgrimage to Mecca. The Arab poet says of it: idha ṭala‘at es-samaka – makanat el-ḥaraka – wata‘allaqat el-ḥasaka – wanuṣibat esh-shabaka, When ‘Pisces’ rises, movement becomes easy, the golden carrot (Daucus aureus) hangs on[8], and the bird’s nest is laid. In the nau of the sharaṭān (the horns of Aries), from 16 nīsān on, the time is pleasant. And, although the equinox has already occurred on 18 idhār, one says of it: idha ṭala‘ esh-sharaṭān – faqad istawa ajzā ez-zemān – wa‘ādat en-nās ila-l-auṭān – watahādat el-aqārib wel-jīrān, "When sharaṭān has risen, the parts of time become equal and people return (from their winter quarters) to their homeland and their relatives and neighbors exchange presents." The early rise of the Pleiades on 13 aiyār signifies the beginning of the warm half of the year, of which Qazwīni says: idha ṭala‘ en-nijm – fa-el-ḥarr fī khidm – wel-‘eshb fī ḥiṭm – wel-‘ānāt fī kidm, When the stars (the Pleiades) rise, heat is on duty, herbs are rupturing and the she-donkeys bite (both because of the heat).

The early rise of the Pleiades is preceded, according to Qazwīni,[9] by a period in which they are invisible at night (istisrār) that lasts something over fifty nights, and accordingly has to start on 25 March (old style). Hesiod[10] speaks of a forty-day concealment of the Pleiades, which would have to begin in the first days of April. A forty-two-day period of invisibility of the Pleiades is an astronomically well-established fact. G. Hoffman[11] calculates the late setting of the Pleiades for Athens in the year 430 BC on 7 April (= 25 March old style), its early rise on 19 May (= 6 May old style) and, accordingly, their invisibility from 8 April to 19 May. The concept of a fifty-day period of invisibility is then explicable, since the question is at what time the star is indeed sighted for the last and the first time. A variation of eight days is then very possible. Moreover, Qazwīni sets the early rise of the Pleiades for 13 May (old style), thus later than what the astronomical calculation for its time would show.[12]

The following sayings doubtlessly refer to the late setting of the Pleiades: in ghābat eth-thraiya el-ḥalāl yeghīb dihno[13] weyiḍ‘af, When the Pleiades set, the fat of the cattle dwindles and it becomes sick (el-Kerak), and: eth-thraiya tghīb ‘ala ‘eshb ḥābis – utiṭla‘ ‘ala ghimr yābis, The Pleiades set over masses of weeds and rise above meagre sheaves.[14] ‘Abd el-Wāli explained this to me in the following way: "The Pleiades set late on 28 ejmāda and rise on 4 auwal qēḍ. The seven days lying between them, called es-sawāhi, have harmful air and, with east wind, unbearable heat. The grain can turn white in a single day and scorch so badly that the seeds shrink instead of ripening. The cattle fall sick because they must suddenly change over to dry feed." A mistake will lie here in so far as in reality the last days of the invisibility of the Pleiades are in question and not the whole time-span between their late setting and early rise. Also, the dates will not be in order since, according to other indications, the late setting of the Pleiades occurs around 7 jmāda.[15] However, one thing without a doubt is true: great heat is tied up with the end of their concealment. Musil[16] also reports great heat and east wind in the second half of rabī‘ due to the anger of the Pleiades over their setting. This period of heat is also meant in the views reported to me in el-Kerak: in ghābat eth-thraiya umā bīji maṭar byeḥteriq ez-zer‘, When the Pleiades set and no rain arrives, the crops burn, i.e. they do not ripen in a normal way, but dry up and shrivel before ripening, and: in ṭal‘at eth-thraiya yeḥya ez-zer‘ waya‘ṭi fīh khḍūra, When the Pleiades rise, the crops revive and offer greenery. Therefore, a cooler period with dew comes again, in which the wheat freshens up and reaches its normal ripeness. Thus, one also says in Kufr Abīl: la ghābat (eth-thraiya) aḥraqat, la ṭel‘at gharraqat, When they (the Pleiades) set, they burn (from heat); when they rise they drown (from frost). And in el-Kerak: yōmin tiṭla‘ eth-thraiya biṣīr barād, At the time when the Pleiades rise, it becomes cool. All this means that the period, which can often have hot east winds, is over around 19 May (new style) and normal summer weather sets in with a predominantly west breeze.

If the Pleiades are the signal for the start of summer,[17] then that is even more true of the Hyades, or ed-debarān, which rises on 26 aiyār. Qazwīni[18] says of it: idha ṭala‘ ed-debarān – tawaqaddat el-ḥazān – wakarahat en-nīrān – wa-ista‘arat ed-dinān[19] – wayabisat el-ghudrān, "When ed-debarān rises, the rocky land ignites, the fires turn unpleasant and the (waterless) jars heat up; the rainwater ponds dry up."

Independent of the stars, a spring month is judged in the Palestinian saying that I heard in el-Iqbēbe:

idhār – bitwāzan el-lēl win-nehār

ubeḥmad el-leben ubibarṭe‘ ej-jamal

bighriq er-rā‘i[20] ubinshaf bala nār

biṣīr marr shemīse marr emṭār[21]

wabiddaḥḥi el-‘anqa ubibīḍ esh-shunnār

wabiṣīr warqat ed-dālie qadd dhān el-fār

In March, night and day become equal,

the yogurt curdles and the camel is agitated,

the shepherd drowns[22] and dries without fire,[23]

now there is sunshine, now rain.

A nest[24] the phoenix[25] builds and the rock-partridge lays eggs,

and the leaf of the grapevine becomes as big as the ear of a mouse.[26]

According to Canaan’s[27] version, it is the leaves of the fig trees (et-tīn) that become like the ears of mice and so start to develop, as is true in general: fī adhār byitkhallaq mithl makhālīb el-fār, In March (everything) is created like the paw of a mouse. Hesiod[28] uses a similar image, when for him the resumption of navigation is tied to the time in which the leaves on the tips of the tree branches become visible like the crow’s footprints. Another effect is connected to the same month when, at the beginning of the above quoted song of idhār people in Kufr Abīl said: min ‘oqb ‘ashara fī idhār – tiṭla‘ en-nār, "After the 10th of idhār, the fire goes outside", i.e. one no longer cooks in the house, which no longer needs any heating, but outdoors. At the same time, everything else that is mentioned in the song was set ahead by ten days. Moreover, one has to bear in mind that here too, like elsewhere, the Arab descriptions of the months follow the old style calendar, while the months of the climatological calculations follow the new calendar and therefore climatologically lag thirteen days behind.

With the greater warmth also come the longer days. In Malta, it is stressed that the coolness of March fortifies the body and that its longer days allow extensive work.[29] In Palestine, it is said of the shepherd: biṭla‘ er-rā‘i fōq el-ḥīṭān – yā me‘allimti kabbri ghirfān, The shepherd climbs on the roofs[30] (and calls): mistress, enlarge the bread loafs! (Rāmallāh). He needs more nourishment and should be more comfortable. That is why:[31] birauweḥu er-rā‘i ‘al ḥimār – lā min shard ulā min bard – illa min jū‘hu ṭūl en-nehār, One lets the shepherd ride on the donkey, not because of stormy rainfall and not because of the cold, but because of his hunger all day long. A further advance of the length of the day holds true for April, as extolled in the new Aramaic Contest of the Months:[32] The circles of the sun expand, the hours of the day become long. Hence the well-meaning advice:[33] min nīsān lā tikri nafsak la’insān, thalāth waq‘āt mā byishib‘ūk uarba‘a ma byiṭ‘amūk, From April on do not go into other people’s service! Three meals will not make you full, and four will not be given to you.

The progressing strength of the sun of the spring months is characterized through the ranking: shems shbāṭ laqinnti – shems idhār labinti – shems nīsān lasinnti, "The sun of shbāṭ for my daughter-in-law, the sun of idhār for my daughter, the sun of nīsān for my old age." The warmest kind of sun should remain saved for the time when the human body lacks its own warmth. In Greece, one certainly does not want to expose even one’s daughter to the March sun because it is harmful.[34] My own experience was that the April sun would usually burn my nose and ears on rides through the country and that at the Dead Sea, during an investigation of the tongue of land at the mouth of the Jordan that I undertook on 31 March 1925 while wearing only a shirt, the skin of my shins became inflamed. It is characteristic that in the above-mentioned saying the May sun remains unmentioned. It would already burn so much that one could wish it only on an enemy.

Certainly at the times of east wind, whoever exposes his head to it without adequate protection, which the Arab always has, would easily be hit by sunstroke, as has happened to many careless Europeans in Palestine, and as the son of Sunamitin once experienced at harvest time in the Jezreel plain (2 Kings 4:18ff.).[35] The Jerusalem Talmud[36] even believes that the sun has such an effect only at harvest time and will probably have the eastern winds in mind, which readily intensifies sunburn. The same assumption is put forward when, in Jewish law,[37] the woman who comes from the harvest crying and wearing a torn dress, bearing witness to her husband’s death, is considered to be telling the truth.

The following advice assumes that for idhār, in addition to its warm sun, cold nights and often also cold days are characteristic:[38] khabbi faḥmātak el-ikbār la‘ammak idhār, "Lay aside your large charcoals for your uncle idhār! Indeed, heating in this month can still not be dispensed with, as many popular sayings in Greece stress, which even accuse March of burning the fence of the orchards because all other heating material has been used up.[39] With this fits the mark of Adar that Palestinian shepherds once gave:[40] The ox dies in Adar in the pen, and in the shade of the fig tree he sheds his fur and, as it was formulated in Babylon[41]: When the ox dies in the snow in the morning and at noon he lies in the shade of the fig tree and sheds his coat, then it is Adar. The expressions are exaggerated. What the ox would like to do in the morning because of the cold, and at noon because of the heat, are described as actual fact. The shade of the fig tree is, of course, sought in vain at this time since there are still no leaves. Similarly, in Greece, one says of March:[42] It makes dead until breakfast and lazy until evening, that is, at night the cold kills the cattle and the lambs, during the day the heat lets (the killed animal) decay."[43]

With regard to the month of the Exodus from Egypt, therefore Nisan, Jewish tradition emphasizes that it was suitable for the move because it is neither hot nor cold[44], or, because it has neither a bad sun nor rain showers.[45] The fair weather from Passover until Pentecost, from 15 Nisan to 6 Siwan, was also known. Before the Flood, the whole year was supposed to have had that character.[46] For Palestinian military expeditions, pilgrimages during the Passover feast and Pentecost, and for the wanderings of Jesus, these climatic conditions have to be taken into account. Every year it enticed our Institute in Jerusalem to a tent journey through the whole of Palestine, which as a rule began at the end of March and led back to Jerusalem around 20 April. There were years, like 1910, in which almost daily rain made these rides more difficult. Also on 15 March 1905, there was good reason for the poetic complaint by Eckardt, which he sent from es-Salṭ to Jerusalem:[47]

In es-Salṭ, in es-Salṭ.

Already a three-day stay.

On Tuesday, gladly on a proud horse,

In the evening dripping wet,

And the night so bitter cold

In es-Salṭ.

Every tent, every tent,

Is drenched by rain, heavy and swollen.

In the cloister’s wide halls

One would like it there,

Were it not for the nightly world, the nightly world.

Every day, every day,

We look to the heavens apprehensively,

Does the sun not want to shine,

But it rains buckets,

Even though the glass may climb every day.

But it did not happen often, that we had to search for a house for the night as we had to do then. The tents were good enough for us nearly all the time, the mule drivers and horse-boys usually slept outdoors near the animals, and used only our tents as protection against the wind.

2. Spring Rain and End of Rain

As necessary as the winter rain is for Palestine, so is the spring rain. The winter rain might have filled the cisterns and drenched the soil; but if in the months with increasing warmth that follow the winter there is no rain, a plentiful harvest cannot be expected, since the grain becomes stunted instead of developing full ears of corn. To be sure, an abundant spring rain alone cannot completely replace inadequate winter rain. In 1925, when by the end of February only 213.9 mm of rain had fallen in Jerusalem, the 93.6 mm in March and April must have been very welcome; but the harvest still turned out to be very disappointing.[48]

Observation over a period of almost thirty-nine years showed that Jerusalem had an average of 107.3 mm of precipitation in March, 41.1 mm in April and 6.3 mm in May.[49] March had an average of eight rainy days, April had five and May two. With a yearly average of 661.9 mm, 16.9% of that amount fell in March, 6.1% in April and 1.1% in May. The maximum amount of rain for March was 267 mm, 166 mm for April and 26 mm for May; the minimum was 11 mm for March, 0 mm for April (one time in thirty-nine years) and 0 mm in May (thirteen times in thirty-nine years). All that means a rapidly declining line heading towards rainlessness. Conditions on the coastal land and the area of the valley differ in so far as a decrease in precipitation sets in as early as February and continues throughout the following months. While the precipitation of spring in Jerusalem makes up 24.1% of the yearly amount, the corresponding figures for Tiberias are 20.9%, for Sarona near the coast 11.5%, and for Haifa 14.2%, so substantially less. The total amount of rain for Jerusalem is 661.8 mm, for Tiberias 528.0 mm, for Sarona 557.9 mm and for Haifa 704.8 mm.[50]

Concerning the relationship to winter rain, it can be observed that the month of March, with 16.9% and an average of 107.3 mm, is still very similar to February, which has 19.4% and 129.5 mm of precipitation. It would be justifiable to consider the March rains as the closure of winter.[51] Then the April rain with the latecomers in May would appear to constitute spring rain. As negligible as its average amount of 47.4 mm and 7.2% of the total winter rain is, nonetheless its economic importance is great. One could even separate the month of May from it because the insignificant precipitation that comes in this month, which often fails completely, is actually unnecessary for the development of the wheat that is now ripening.

The two years of 1921 and 1925 demonstrate the differences that can occur here.[52] In the first year there was an abundant March rain of 105.8 mm. Not a single drop fell from 23 March until 28 April. On 29 April, 4.4 mm fell and from 11 to 29 May, 2.7 mm, on 5 June, 2.2 mm. Here, the April rain was replaced by the March rain; nonetheless the rain at the end of April was welcome, but the rain in May and June was of no real significance. The situation was completely different in 1925. A weak March rain of only 13.3 mm ending on the 20th was followed by an April rain of 80.7 mm, of which 80.2 mm fell from 3 to 5 April and 0.5 mm on 20 April, followed by 0.5 mm on 18 May and 2.4 mm on 14 June. Here, the three days of rain in April meant a rescue, even if they could not undo the effects of an unprecedented weak winter rain.[53]

The events of 18 May 1913, which Schumacher[54] describes, show that an exceptional rain in May can bring enormous amounts of water. A cloudburst with hail and thunderstorms that fell south of Ḥaurān east of the Jordan filled the Yarmuk in such a way that within 20 minutes its water level had risen by 3.3 m in one spot where the river bed is 60 m wide, while in its surroundings only insignificant rain had fallen. Such rain, with the rapid runoff of water, only causes damage.

Over a period of thirty-six years, according to Hilderscheid,[55] the end of the rainy season occurred twelve times at the beginning or end of April, the earliest on 2 April, and twenty-four times in May, the latest on 31 May. Only for two years was rain still recorded on 5 and 11 June, whereby it should be noted that 13 June corresponds to 31 May old style, so that the month of aiyār can, with certainty, be described as the time of the end of the rain. However, the statistics do not reveal that in forty years the month of May remained completely without rain thirteen times (cf. above p. 300f.), and that ten times there was only one day of rain, five times two days, five times three days, four times four days, and three times five days, with an average of only about 1% of the annual amount of precipitation. They also do not show that after a rain-rich winter, the precipitation in April and May can turn out to be so insignificant, as in 1900,[56] that it should not even be taken into consideration. On my travels at that time through all of Palestine, from Merj ‘Ayūn to Hebron, I experienced the end of the rain on 15 March. In 1910, after eight days of rain that impeded our Institute’s journey, March 29 meant the desired end of the rain.[57] Also in 1921, 23 March had to be considered the end of the rain, even though 9.3 mm of rainfall came from 29 April until 15 June.[58] Moreover, the month of April (old style) lasts until 13 May (new style) so that in those thirty-six years the end of the rain occurred twenty-three times in nīsān and only thirteen times in aiyār. Lastly, the mostly modest precipitation in May means even less, since 1 mm of rain in this month is much less significant than the same amount in April or March, because the increased warmth, the dry air and the longer-lasting sunshine absorb it much faster, so that it does not even penetrate into the soil. Thus it is understandable why in popular belief the period of rain ends in nīsān and the early rise of the Pleiades on 13 or 20 May (old style) is rightly considered to be the start of the rainless period.[59] The Feast of George on 23 April (old style) is considered to be the divide between winter and summer.[60] The following popular saying goes somewhat beyond that, stressing only the possibility rather than what usually happens: lā ttāmin min jarr el-wadyān – lau anno fī zahr er-rummān, Do not trust the torrents of the valleys (because of rain water) except when the pomegranates are in bloom, i.e. at the earliest from May onwards (Jesushilfe Asylum). The example of 18 May, mentioned on p. 302, serves as a graphic illustration. The fact that precipitation after the month of nīsān is considered as an anomaly is also shown in the significance that is given to Easter next to the early rise of the Pleiades on 13 or 20 May, as a sign for the divide between the two great seasons of the year.[61] For Jewish perceptions, in addition to what has been said on p. 42, it should be mentioned that the plastering of the temple and the altar before the Passover Feast[62] also presupposes that the rain has ended, and above all, that fifteen days before Passover, on 1 Nisan, ceremonial prayers for rain for trees can still be held, and that fifteen days before Pentecost, thus on 19 Iyyar, so can prayers for rain for the cisterns, while rain falling from then onward would be a miracle.[63] The final possible date for rain is thus placed in remarkable proximity to the early rise of the Pleiades.

An indication of the perceptions regarding the end of the rain can be found in Gen 8:4–14. There, the time of drying at the end of the Flood is set at seven months and ten days, so that according to Gen 7:11, five lunar months remain for the Flood itself. If one understands, with the Palestinian Talmud,[64] the second month, with which the flood starts and ends, as being Marcheshwan (November), then according to Gen 8:4, the receding of the water would have started on 17 Nisan, therefore immediately after the Passover of the Law. The much later rise of the Pleiades, which here probably is to be set on 17 Iyyar,[65] cannot be the determining factor; their late setting is more likely (see p. 293). However, according to Qazwīni[66], the horns of Aries (esh-sharaṭān) rise on 16 nīsān, and it is said of them that with their appearance the water in the wells starts decreasing and that they signal the start of the New Year, since the sun comes to them on 18 March, thereby bringing a worldly year to a close. Also, the setting of el-ghafr (φ, ι, κ, of Virgo) on 16 nīsān[67] could have seemed significant because its rise on 18 October leads in winter. If the calculation of the months in the Flood account is meant differently, as the method of counting the months in the Priestly Source of the Pentateuch demands, then according to Gen 8:4, we arrive at 17 Tishri (October) as the end of the rain, i.e. at the time of the otherwise usual date of the start of the autumn rain. 1 Tebeth (January), perhaps as the beginning of the first month after the winter solstice (a peculiar New Year!), brought the first emergence of the earth from the water. On 1 Nisan (April) the Flood had completely receded, according to Gen 8:13; by 27 Iyyar (May) the earth had dried completely. This probably completes the solar year that was dominated by the Flood, but it also corresponds with the rise of the Hyades, or rather of ed-debarān on 26 aiyār, which was known to the Arabs as the sign that the winter ponds had dried.[68] It may be most likely that, in reality, the Pleiades (Hebr. kīmā) lay behind the notion of the beginning and end of the Flood (p. 125f.). Its beginning on 17 Iyyar, as well as its end on 27 Iyyar would then be related to the early rise of the Pleiades, and the difference of ten days aimed only at completing the solar year. For this, it could be mentioned that, according to Babylonian views, the Pleiades (Babyl. mulmul), whose month is Iyyar, were the stars of floods, which were connected with the peak level of the Mesopotamian rivers from the middle of March to the end of May.[69] The fact that this peak, due to melting snow, ends simultaneously with the beginning of summer and thus does not extend beyond the range of the mulmul, could have brought about the end of the Flood towards the end of Iyyar. The narrator thus assumes that the Flood reached its definitive end with the beginning of summer and that then as much moisture was present in the soil as otherwise at that time of year. Only five months later would normal winter rain need to fall.

The end of the rain is naturally a highly significant moment in the course of the year for many reasons: not so much because now for a long time daily sunshine replaces weather alternating between rain and sun, which makes planning work in the field and threshing floor and in the orchards, as well as hikes and trips, easier; but also because the thriving and gathering of all the fruit in field and garden are connected with it. Another reason is that the end of the winter rain is now a completed fact, which determines everything ahead until the next winter rain. If he is satisfied with the amount and distribution of the precipitation, then the farmer, like the city dweller, can calmly look forward to summer. If not, then the consequences have to be endured. Limited water reserves in cisterns and wells, a modest or bad harvest, an inadequate yield of grapes, figs and olives are a certainty and one has to be careful to use water sparingly. Many inexperienced people failed to do this in 1925 and found themselves faced with nothing. Palestine had had such a winter, or indeed several[70] when Jeremiah cited God’s word about times of drought (Hebr. baṣṣārōt) (14:2ff.), Judah mourns and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns, they find no water, they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads. Because of the ground which is dismayed, since there is no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads. Even the hind in the field forsakes her newborn calf because there is no grass. The wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage. Jeremiah himself utters a cry of lament (12:4): How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away. The Mishna (Abot V 8) differentiates between three degrees of famine (rā‘āb) and sees its cause in the failure to carry out the prescribed levy of the yield of the field. The first two degrees mean a shortage (baṣṣōret) for individuals or for the whole community, the third, which in a strange way is connected to the failure to levy bread dough, means complete annihilation (kelāyā).

The opposite is a normal, or even abundant, winter rain, which transforms the land that in the autumn had turned into a desert into a green pasture and fruit-bearing garden, or as Is 32:15 describes it in an intensified way, which transforms the wilderness into a fruitful field (karmél), and the fruitful field into a forest of large trees (ya‘ar). The miraculous effect of the winter rain is carried over to the spiritual realm and the torrent of rain becomes the outpouring of the divine spirit, which changes the life of a people lacking in righteous deeds and with no relationship with God into the opposite (Is 32:17; cf. Is 44:3ff.; Joel 3:1f.), which was self-evident where the inner life of man was recognized in its outstanding significance in comparison to natural life, and where God’s actions in both spheres were brought into a purposeful relationship.[71]

Popular Views about the Spring Months

For today’s Palestinian, March weather, already described above, is a special phenomenon. One says about it: hādha adhār – sā‘a shems usā‘a amṭār – usā‘a imqāqāt esh-shunnār, This is March, now sun, now rain, now the cackle of the partridge. So its weather is changeable, like ours is in April. Also in Greece, one says of March:[72] Now he cries, now he laughs. The partridge (Caccabis chukar),[73] the caller (qōrē) in Jer 17:11,[74] cackles (biqāqi), especially when it wants to mate. For it is in idhār that they are seen, usually in pairs, provided the weather is good. The significance of the March rain is shown by the sayings that also apply to kānūn:[75] faḥl es-sene adhārha, adhār faḥlha adhār maḥlha, The fertilizer of the year is its March, March is its fertilizer, but also its barrenness (when it causes rain to be lacking). The greater significance of the late winter rain in contrast to the earlier one is stressed in the saying: kānūn ‘ala nās wanās washbāṭ ‘ala kull en-nās, The (rain of) December and January serves people here and there, (but) the (rain of) February everybody (Jesushilfe Asylum). Its importance increases from month to month. The rain of adhār is set against the entire winter rain, when one says: in ghallat warāha adhār, win amḥalat warāha adhār, If it was fertile, March follows (and can increase it), if it was barren March follows (and can still rescue the year) (es-Salṭ).[76] The first would fit the good rain year 1874/75, in which after 745 mm of precipitation from November until February, 254 mm followed in March; but then the April rain almost failed with only 3 mm. An example for the second possibility is the winter of 1870/71 with only 116 mm from November until February, but 101 mm in March and 94 mm in April. However, strong rain showers are still possible in the first two spring months. As a daily maximum amount, Exner [77] recorded 60 mm for March, even 95 mm for April, and only 15 mm for May. Only in December was a stronger one-day rain of 100 mm observed. Such downpours are extremely welcome for the cisterns, but are of little use for arable land, because its water runs off quickly.

But yet the rain of April (maṭar nīsān), in spite of the low average amount of spring rain, which is what matters, is the actual maṭar er-rabī’.[78] According to Qazwīni,[79] on 1 April the rain is hoped for (yurja el-maṭar). One says in all of Palestine: maṭar (shetwet) nīsān, or: en-nuqṭa fī nīsān[80] – biswa es-sikke (el-‘edde) wel-feddān – wel-qruqqa weṣ-ṣīṣān, The April rain, or, The drops in April are worth the plow and the ox, and the hen and the chick. One says of it: hū ḥajāt el-insān, He is the life of man and: beḥī la-insān, He gives man life. That is why it is justifiably said: shetwet nīsān –tiswa mīt sēl is-sāl,[81] The April rain is worth one hundred streams that flow (eṭ-Ṭafile). Among the Greeks it is often stressed that two precipitations in March and one in April are necessary for a good harvest. But besides this, the same is said of April and May, and the April rain is praised: He is the fortune of the world.[82] I was told in el-Iqbēbe: shahr el-khamīs ujemād khauātim es-sine, idha ija fihim el-maṭar hōl bīji-z-zer‘ mnīḥ ubikūn ed-dinya khaṣāb ubīji el-qamḥ ḥabb hōl,[83] The months April and May are the seals of the year; if the rain comes plentifully in these months the crops grow well, the world becomes fertile and the wheat develops seeds in abundance. If these prerequisites do not take place one says: bīji el-qamḥ maḥl, ma bījīsh ḥabb, The wheat becomes scanty, no seeds come. How significant even a weak April rain can be, following a nearly rainless winter, is shown by the example of 1925 (pp. 182, 302).

At this time continuous east wind is, as a rule, the cause of the rain staying away. But it can also happen with other wind directions, that clouds form but bear no rain – as Prov 25:14 says: Clouds and wind without rain. For example, hardly any rain fell in Jerusalem in April 1900 (according to Glaisher[84] 1.4 inches = 35 mm in one day of rain.) But for weeks a cool wind blew from the southwest, causing the formation of clouds as well as fog but not the rain that was justifiably expected of them. Still, some moisture from dew may not have been totally absent. A dry and hot southeast wind would have caused much worse conditions.

In addition to the effects of the April rain on the coming harvest, it has an immediate influence on the price of wheat. Chaplin[85] tried to establish the relationship between the summer wheat prices and the yearly amount of rainfall over a period of twenty years.[86] After four years of insufficient rain, he observed a price of 31 piasters for 21.7 kg, after four years of moderate precipitation, 18 piasters, but yet after three years of strong precipitation it was 23 piasters. Thus, other conditions beyond the amount of rainfall must have influenced the price. A large amount of late rain that Chaplin measured as of mid-March meant in some cases, like 1863, 1867, 1875, a low or moderate price, but in other years that was not the case. One has to take into account that, along with the amount of rain, the distribution of the rain and the prevalence of certain winds also influence the harvest and that the absence of a harvest in Transjordanian Palestine and farther afield affects the price. A stronger rainfall in May could also cause damage, as in 1887, which evinced 32 mm of precipitation. In that case the saying would hold true:[87] min qillet hidāna – ṣār ṣēfna shitāna,[88] Because of our lack of piety our summer became our rain. But the more usual case is that the lack of rain and especially the absence of the late rain give rise to difficulties that a wise government is in the position to alleviate for the consumer, but not for the producer, by lowering import customs.

In Aristobulus’ day, at the time of Passover, a strong east wind resulted in the destruction of the farm produce of the entire country, and the price of one modius (8.75 l) of wheat increased to 11 drachmas (8.58 marks).[89] When the heavens remain closed so that dew and rain do not fall, obviously a rise in price (Hebr. jōqer) occurs, according to rabbinical opinion.[90] Jonah, the successful implorer for rain, knew that one does not buy wheat when, due to the coming of rain, a drop in the price of wheat is imminent.[91] A merchant would say that one does not sell wheat when a price rise is at hand with an absence of rain or a shortage in stock,[92] and he would become a holder-back of grain (Hebr. mōnēa‘ bār), which according to Prov 11:26, the people curse. A wheat price of 1 sela (3.12 marks) for 1 se’ah (around 13 l) means want (Aram. baṣṣōretā) if there is no lack of supplies; famine (kaphnā) occurs when for the same price one receives four se’ah but the reserves are insufficient.[93] Comparable to this is that in 2 Kings 7:1–16 with a market surplus due to special circumstances, one shekel was paid for one se’ah of wheat grits, or two se’ah of barley meal, whereby one would have to take into account the relationship of wheat and flour.

The Biblical Late Rain

Corresponding to the April rain, according to Jewish perceptions, is the late rain (Hebr. malqōsh) of the Bible belonging to Nisan, which would not be on time if it were to fall in Iyyar.[94] The Targum understands the late rain of the first [month] in Joel 2:23 as occurring in the month of Nisan.[95] The natural end of the rain that is desirable for the land falls at the end of the Passover Feast or at the end of the month of Nisan.[96] That is also why prayers for rain are held up to this date.[97] Also here present-day conditions do not show any variation from antiquity.[98] In the time of the late rain the description explaining its name is correct:[99] "He completes (memallē) the yield in its stalks (qashshéhā) and descends on the nearly ripe spikes (melīlōt) and on the stems (qashshīn). In this way he circumcises (māl) the obstinacy (qashyūt) of Israel" and is the bringer of divine blessing. It is different when he overturns houses, breaks trees and brings out[100] the crickets (saqqāin).[101]

The references to late rain in the Bible apparently refer to the stragglers of winter rain. Even the name malqōsh, Targ. laqqīsh, Sa‘adiah laqqīs, emphasizes its late time. It is the counterpart of the early rain (yōre) in Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24 and Joel 2:23,[102] because both are indispensable for a good harvest yield. The latter enables a timely cultivation of the soil,[103] the former ensures that the wheat that has grown up during the winter rain does not become stunted. Thus, the prayers for rain at the time of the late rain in Zech 10:1 are just as understandable as waiting for rain and opening one’s mouth for it in Job 29:23. Not the unpredictability of a king’s favor, but its high value for life is emphasized when, in Prov 16:15, it is compared with the cloud of late rain that is so longed for and so beneficial. In Ps 72:6, it is also the late rain that is thought of when the effect of the just rule of a king is compared to a rain downpour that falls on the early mowing (gēz), which, according to Amos 7:1 precedes the latter growth (léqesh).[104] The best one can say about the return of God towards his repenting people in Hos 6:3 is that he waters the parched earth like the late rain.[105]

The significance of the late rain is also illuminated by the fact that in Jer 3:3 its failure is considered God’s punishment, which should have resulted in repentance. Even more than when the late rain failed, when God in Amos 4:7 withheld the rain three months before the harvest, that is, from the beginning of March onwards. This does not necessarily mean that precipitation completely failed during this time, but that the badly needed rain that might be expected in March and April did not come. No example of absolute rainlessness from the beginning of March onwards is known, but in 1877, March had only 23 mm, April 5 mm, May no precipitation, and the whole winter only 348 mm of precipitation, thus only just over half the average amount. That would match the experience of Amos’ day.

Rain is unpredictable in