Large-seeded and small-seeded broad beans.
WHILE THE BIBLE PLACES GREAT emphasis on food, remarkably little is said about vegetables and fruits in either the Bible or the Quran. This probably does not mean those foods were less important then than they are today, only that their description is not essential for the quranic or biblical narratives. Onion, garlic, melons, and lentils are mentioned in both holy books. This limited menu is puzzling since so many widely cultivated vegetables originated in the Middle East—foods that are now part of our daily diets (Zohary and Hopf 2000).
The best-known diet mentioned in the Bible is that of Daniel, who requested a vegetable and water regime (Daniel 1:12). How these vegetables were grown or harvested is not explained in either the Quran or the Bible though cultivation must have been extensive. The sole vegetable garden in the Bible belonged to the evil King Ahab on property violently seized from Naboth the Jezreelite (I Kings 21:1–3). Ahab wanted to take Naboth’s vineyard and convert it into a vegetable garden, which is puzzling since the Jezreel Valley is very fertile and many sites could serve as a garden. Certainly one of the crops that would have been grown in such a garden was beans.
There are many different kinds of beans and it is not certain which bean is meant in II Samuel 17:28 (NJB): “[They] brought bedding rugs, bowls and crockery; and wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans, lentils”; and Ezekiel 4:9a (NJB): “Now take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put them all in the same pot and make them into bread for yourself.” These references are the only two translating the Hebrew pole as bean (the Arabic foul is a cognate). However, based on archaeological data as well as current usage, it is likely that these are broad beans, Vicia faba, and chickpea, Cicer arietinum.
Broad beans are a staple in the Nile Valley of today, where they are a traditional breakfast food. They are also widely cultivated throughout the Middle East. Perhaps because the world now grows a number of different legumes—including peas, green beans, black-eyed peas, and soy beans—broad beans are not often sold in grocery stores except those specializing in Middle East or Mediterranean foods. Like other legumes, broad beans are highly nutritious and contain important proteins as well as fiber and carbohydrates. After soaking to soften the hard seed coat, broad beans are boiled and eaten plain, added to stews, or mashed into a kind of gruel. Some people are allergic to broad beans, a condition known as favism.
Sown in the late winter in western Asia, broad beans mature in the spring or early summer. The plants are large and bush-like, with white flowers that yield large pods with broad seeds. The seeds, when young, green, and tender, are relished in the spring and are prepared like butter beans or green peas. Mature beans are brown and flat in shape and, when dried, like other legumes can be stored for a long time. Two types of broad bean are grown in the Middle East: large seeded and small seeded. The small-seeded type is popular in the Mahgreb and India, while the large-seeded broad bean is favored in Egypt and Sudan as well as in the Levant. It was no doubt from a store of dried beans that David was supplied (II Samuel 17:27–28). The reference in Ezekiel, who was a captive in what is present-day Iraq, substantiates the widespread use of these beans in the ancient Middle East.
Chickpeas are best known to North Americans as the garbanzo beans of salad bars or, with increasing popularity, as the basic ingredient of humous. Chickpeas are an important part of the cropping system in many parts of the Middle East because the seeds can mature on residual soil moisture after the rains have stopped. In some areas, two crops of chickpeas can be grown in a single year. Plants are short with small, grey-green leaves and inconspicuous flowers. The legumes (“pods”) contain only one or two seeds. In Syria and Jordan, green, immature chickpeas that have been held over a flame and slightly roasted are a treat sold along roadsides.
Flowering broad bean plants near Senana, Ethiopia.
Developing broad beans in May, near Kerak, Jordan.
Chickpea pods ready to harvest in May, Tel Hadya, Syria.
Both broad beans and chickpeas were important elements of diets in western Asia thousands of years ago. The few references in the sacred texts do not accurately reflect the extent of their use. Like several other foods in the holy writings, they were essential nutrition for millions of people.