PLANTS SHAPE CULTURES. This fact is evident by our ready association of certain foods with different cultures. Put another way, all cultures are influenced by the plants and the ecology of their settings. Original hearers or readers of the Bible and the Quran understood the symbolism implicit in the words, including plants and plant products in both their literal and symbolic usages.
In this book, I have included every plant mentioned in the Bible and the Quran, more than 100 plants, with one chapter for each plant with a true botanical counterpart. When there is disagreement over the identity of a plant or plant product, I have suggested some options, which, while informative, should not be taken as exhaustive. For each plant, I provide a short botanical description, including characteristics, habitat, and distribution, and I discuss the use of the plant, especially with regard to its scriptural context as well as uses today. I have also provided photographs that will help the reader to understand what the plant and its products look like. Most of these photos I took myself in the Middle East as well as in Western locations.
Many of the plants in both holy books have symbolic meanings linked to the scriptural imagery that is often expanded in practice. For example, olive oil is associated with spiritual power and sanctification, and it is used with that meaning to the present day. I have usually limited my discussion on imagery to texts in the Bible and the Quran, being fully cognizant of the vast corpus of literature on many of the plants. I also offer thoughts from some basic literature and an eclectic mix of ideas I find of particular interest.
I have used a minimum of technical terms in the writing, and emphasized instead the features of the plants in plain language. The person interested in trees in the Quran, for example, need not know technical terms for leaf shapes. Rather, knowing that the sidr tree is viciously armed in nature will help in understanding the significance of an unarmed sidr tree in Paradise. Likewise, the priest studying the story of Zacchaeus will be assisted by understanding that the sycomore was the largest tree this diminutive man could find to climb up in so he could see Jesus.
The Bible places great emphasis on food. One of the major ministries of Jesus, along with teaching, healing, and casting out demons, was providing food. Libraries of books have been generated on the major plants and plant products mentioned in the Quran and the Bible, like grains, lentils, olives, and date palms, and these books have been written in diverse languages over millennia. These ancient plants are so important that at this moment, thousands of people are cultivating, harvesting, and processing these ancient staples on which their existence depends. I have discussed such significant plants at more length than others that play a minor role in the holy books, like onion and henna. Then there are other plants that receive very little attention in the holy writings but have recently been subjects of intense research, especially plants with medicinal applications, including ginger, black cumin, mandrake, and such well-known garden plants as garlic and dill.
Many examples of plants and their products embedded in Middle East cultures and expressed in the holy scriptures could be listed. Bread, just one example, is a clearly understandable image in the Bible. We know from archaeological data as well as from references in contemporary literature that wheat and barley were the grains regularly used to make bread in ancient times.
Trees are so prominent in the Bible that the main biblical messages can be summed up by four trees (Musselman 2003a): the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis (2:9); the tree that Jesus died on; and the tree of life in the last book of the Bible (Revelation 22:2, 14). In the Quran, trees are most frequently cited as gifts of a beneficent Creator, with the notable exception of the tree of Hell, zaqqum. In both holy books, fruits from trees are highly valued.
The Bible contains more references to trees and wood (over 525) than to any other type of living organism except humans. Of the 25 trees of the Bible, the date palm, fig, olive, pomegranate, and tamarisk are also included in the Quran. In the Quran, date palm is clearly described and mentioned more than any other tree (or any other plant, for that matter). This tree is still a dominant aspect of the landscape of the Arabian Peninsula. So it is not a stretch of the imagination to consider the date palm of the Quran as the same tree one sees in Arabia today. Unique to the Quran are the talh, the sidr, and the mysterious and foul “tree of Hell,” or zaqqum: “Is this not a better welcome than the zaqqum tree? We have made this tree a scourge for the unjust. It grows in the nethermost part of Hell, bearing fruit like devils’ heads: on it they shall feed, and with it they shall cram their bellies, together with draughts of scalding water. Then to Hell shall they return” (Sura 37:62–68, Dawood).
Other plants are less familiar to us today, either because they are not as widely used as they were in the respective scriptures; they were from a region outside the origin of the holy books, perhaps imported from afar; or the particular plant just cannot be pinned down accurately. These plants are translated in a variety of ways. The result is that the number of plants included in current translations of the holy books is probably higher than in the original texts.
To put names on the plants mentioned in the Bible and the Quran, botanists lean on two areas of study—ethnology (which I emphasize in this book) and historical use. Details of historical use can be found in such diverse sources as literature, philology, and archaeology. We are fortunate in having a vast corpus of writing from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans that details the usage of most of the plants we find in the divine missives. In many cases, these sources present parallel details for both holy books. For the New Testament era, the classical writings of Pliny, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides are invaluable. Quranic plants, as well as those mentioned in the Hadith, have been widely explicated by such classic Arab writers as Ibn Sina. Philology of Bible terms is well documented, and I have referred the reader to several of these studies in the scientific literature.
Roasted green wheat is mentioned several times in the Bible and is known in Arabic as frikeh. This Palestinian farmer near Hebron has selected some suitable durum wheat from his field to prepare this delicacy.
The number of plants mentioned in the Quran (no more than 20 are explicitly cited) is much fewer than in the Bible (about 80). This fact is not surprising, considering the shorter length of the Quran and its link with a desert region. There are few plants that are obscure (except those that are supernatural).
How to present the plant words in English is a challenge, since in the case of the non-Western languages of Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew, they use a different alphabet, and Greek does not use the Latin alphabet. Further, philology is not limited to these languages in the narrowest sense, because the languages of the holy books also borrow from languages of surrounding cultures (see the “Aloeswood” chapter, for example). I have simply used standard transliteration into English without a formal system of diacritical marks.
No region in the world has received more archaeological attention than the Middle East. The recent publicity over the publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls shows the level of general interest in the region. The number of articles and books on Middle East archaeology is vast. Early contributions to the literature were largely descriptive; studies have become more analytical in recent years. With increased sophistication in analytical methods, it is possible to establish plant species and their products with a precision previously unimaginable. A good example is the work by Delwin Samuel on beer making in Egypt. She used scanning electron microscopy to find that barley had been fermented. Likewise, workers can now use nuclear magnetic resonance and chromatography to make accurate analyses of ancient deposits like embalming compounds used in Egypt. The magisterial volume edited by P. Nicholson and I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, is a treasure trove of information on an extraordinary diversity of plants and plant products, almost all of which were also used in other parts of the Middle East. I have drawn heavily on this work, in addition to the literature and my own research on traditional uses.
Traditional uses of plants may have origins in the Quran and the Bible or the sayings attributed to teachers in these books. For example, the Prophet Mohammed suggested that the leaves of sidr are useful for washing bodies before burial, and this practice is still observed in parts of Lebanon and no doubt elsewhere. Use of leaves (“fronds”) of the date palm for the celebration of Palm Sunday is practiced by Christians not only in the Middle East but in other parts of the world. In a similar vein, wine and its significance are based on definite Bible verses. It is the less obvious uses of plants, however, that have particularly fascinated me—uses that are often poorly documented.
I know of no controversy in the translation of grapes in either of the holy books. But it is through learning alternate uses of grapes by local people that it is possible to shed light on some passages of scripture. One example is the practice in the Levant of harvesting hard, unripe grapes and powdering them to use as a flavoring for food. While this use is not explicitly noted in either book, the fact that unripe grapes are intensely sour lives on in English in the phrases “sour grapes” and “teeth on edge,” both expressions finding their origins in the Bible.
Other traditions involving plants probably have their origins in pre-Christian and pre-Islamic cultures. One is the attachment of cloths and strips of cloth tied to trees, which are considered holy or mark a holy spot. Do these practices have the same root as the likening of men to trees in both the Bible and the Quran?
Even considering the biblical mandate of the Old Testament establishing the borders of the land of Israel to the River (the Euphrates), almost all work on Bible plants has centered geographically on Israel more or less within its modern boundaries. The work presented here, on the other hand, focuses on the region from southern Turkey to central Sudan, and from Cyprus to the border of Iraq, thereby encompassing most of the biblical neighbors of Israel. Likewise, there has been a tendency for writings on the plants of the Quran to be desert centered, when, in fact, the stories common to the two books took place in the same regions. An appreciation of desert ecology naturally is needed when writing about the development of Islam in the desert region of the Arabian Peninsula, especially the Hejaz region of what is now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We know that geology and ecology determine the plants found in these lands. This is true, naturally, everywhere on Earth. But the Middle East is especially diverse. In describing this unique setting, I can do no better than quote from the eminent George Edward Post (1838–1909), a pioneer botanist of the region, who in 1896 wrote the first English flora of that part of the world: “The region covered by this Work [his flora] is unequalled by any of the same size on the globe, not only for the thrilling and important events of human history of which it has been the theatre, but for its unique geological structure, its great diversity of surface and climate, and its remarkable fauna and flora. It is the meeting point of three continents, since Asia Minor must be regarded, from the standpoint of its Natural History, as belonging to Europe rather than Asia, and as such, a link of connection between them all. It is marked geographically by two mountain systems parallel to one-another, and to the coast, and extending from the Taurus to the latitude of Ras Muhammad [the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula].”
Post’s words about the “meeting point of three continents” were prescient. Research based on the theory of Continental Drift, unknown to him, has shown that this region is where several major tectonic plates come together, bringing the respective floras of Europe, Asia, and Africa with them. There is strong evidence that the diversity of flora in this limited area is due in no small part to the conjoining of three different floras.
Old date palms in the city of Jericho, known in the Bible as the “city of palm trees” (for example, II Chronicles 28:15), near the Spring of Elisha (II Kings 2:18–22).
Quercus calliprinos decorated with cloths honoring a Druze holy person, in May. Near Suweida, Syria.
Botanists are in general agreement with the system developed by M. Zohary and published in 1973 outlining three major vegetation domains in the Middle East. The first is the Mediterranean, which extends from Turkey as far south as the southern border of Israel and inland no more than 200 kilometers, except where modified by mountains. Plants in this flora, like olive and grape, are widespread around the Mediterranean. Much of the natural vegetation has been heavily modified by grazing; this largely treeless (or with stunted trees), scrubby vegetation is known as batha (a Mediterranean dwarf shrub formation; a slightly taller formation is known as garique) or maquis (a Mediterranean formation of evergreen low trees and tall shrubs with mostly hard leaves). To the east is the Irano-Turranian flora, which characterizes much of Iran and Iraq as well as parts of the Arabian Peninsula. This flora is adapted to much lower rainfall than those of the Mediterranean region. Many plants here are halophytes, often succulent plants, adapted to dry, saline soil. And a third domain is made up of plants typical of the Sahel that penetrates the Middle East via the Great Rift Valley. Species of acacia are representative of this flora.
If we look at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean on a current map of western Asia, Beirut is approximately at the midpoint. From Beirut, it is about 260 kilometers (200 miles) north to Adana, Turkey, and about the same distance south to Al ‘Arish, Egypt, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. A transect from Beirut to Baghdad gives the range of topography of the region. Beirut is built on the slopes of Mount Lebanon with very little arable land nearby, though the coastal plain widens both north and south of the city. Proceeding eastward, we cross the Lebanon ridge, which reaches its highest point at Qurnat as Sawda’, 3088 meters (10,131 feet), the highest point in the Levant. Here rainfall can exceed 1200 millimeters (approximately 47 inches), supporting the once extensive stands of cedar of Lebanon and associated species. Snow can be heavy and often persists. Alpine plants found nowhere else in the Middle East thrive here. The vegetation at higher elevations is a mix of high-altitude plants, floral elements from farther north, and several endemic species.
Acacia raddiana, Wadi Feinan, southern Jordan. This area was an ancient copper mining site. No doubt acacia, which makes excellent charcoal, was used to stoke the smelters.
Barley in May, near Tayasir, Palestinian Territories.
Continuing east, when crossing the ridge we see the narrow Biqa, which is the Lebanese part of the vast Great Rift Valley that terminates in southern Turkey. The eastern slope of Lebanon is much drier but still supports (or did support) forests. Much is maquis and batha. The Biqa is in the rain shadow of Mount Lebanon but is watered by streams such as the Orontes and Litani Rivers that form from precipitation deposited on Mount Lebanon. Agriculture is well developed in many parts of the Biqa, with broad plantings of grains and vegetables as well as vineyards. After crossing the Biqa, we climb the Anti-Lebanon Range. The flora of the Anti-Lebanon reflects a lower rainfall (200–400 millimeters, 8–16 inches), with drought-resistant trees, shrubs, and grasses. Agriculture is limited here unless water is available from wells and springs. Barley is about the only grain that can be depended on to give a reliable yield, though some fruit trees can survive. The Anti-Lebanon is a lower ridge, with its highest point being Mount Hermon, elevation 2814 meters (9232 feet). The common name of this peak in Arabic is Jebel al Sheik, or Mountain of the Sheik, referring to the snow that can persist on the summit into the hottest summer months, giving the appearance of a straggly, white beard.
The eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are even drier, and aridity increases as we travel across the Euphrates River into Mesopotamia, east toward Baghdad, with an average of 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain in the vicinity of Baghdad. The difference in the geology of the landscape is reflected in the buildings. On Mount Lebanon and in the Anti-Lebanon, buildings are made from stone, usually locally quarried limestone, while in rural Mesopotamia the traditional houses are made from mud or sun-dried bricks. Sustainable agriculture is only possible here with irrigation, readily available and utilized from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. In May this region is a verdant green of wheat fields, but within a few months it is scorched and intolerably hot and dry.
While this transect is simplistic, it illustrates the general pattern of rainfall and mountain ranges. There is tremendous local modification within such a large area that is diverse in geology. For example, there are several regions of extinct volcanoes. One of the most prominent is the area about 100 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Damascus known as Jebel al Arab and the associated plain, the Plain of Hauran. In the Bible, the region is known as Bashan. While the soils here are derived from volcanic basalt and are fertile, the landscape is littered with large boulders, making mechanized agriculture difficult. There are other extinct volcanoes in this region, in parts of Israel and the Arabian Peninsula.
Farther south, along the Israel coast, the coastal plain is broader. The Plain of Sharon is a fertile region no more than 20 kilometers (15 miles) wide, which gives way to a ridge, then to the Great Rift Valley, then a ridge on the eastern side, then on, similar to the transect just discussed. Again, there is a system of two parallel ranges. The most remarkable feature is the Dead Sea, located in the lowest spot on Earth, 408 meters (1339 feet) below sea level. In this region, numerous elements grow that are part of the flora from farther south, known as the Sudanian flora. Within a few kilometers, it is possible to experience the Mediterranean flora, the steppe flora of farther east (what Zohary refers to as the Irano-Turranian steppe and desert vegetation), and, in the lower end of the Great Rift Valley, the African elements of the Sudanian vegetation.
At the latitude of Jeddah (about 21°30′), port for the holy cites of Mecca and Medina, the coast is dissected by a series of valleys that drain the arid upland into small, fertile valleys that can support agriculture. Beyond these valleys lies the formidable Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, where no agriculture is possible.
To the west of Jeddah, across the Red Sea, lies Egypt, a vast desert with a narrow ribbon of green watered by the Nile River. Agriculture is fairly uniform in the Nile Valley, being most extensively developed in the Nile River Delta in the region of Alexandria.
I have painted the features of this region with a broad stroke. For the interested reader, there is a wealth of informative literature on the region. I would suggest beginning with the book by Michael Zohary, Geobotanical Foundations of the Middle East (1973). This work, on the plant communities, ecology, and plant geography of the Middle East, is a classic of botanical literature. The book is a rich compendium of information on climate, geology, and geography, and their relationship to the flora of the region. Zohary’s work has informed this text in many ways.
Throughout the text, I provide scripture extracts that name plants, and I have followed these quoted pieces with the related Bible and Quran sources in parentheses. Following the book and verse citations, I provide the translation for that particular interpretation in abbreviated form; if all translations agree, I have not identified a particular source. The translations I have used and their abbreviations are listed here.
ASV, Authorized Standard Version
JND, Authorized Version of John Nelson Darby
KJV, King James Version (more formally referred to as the Authorized Version or AV)
MSG, The Message
NKJV, New King James Version
NLT, New Living Translation
RSV, Revised Standard Version
(The preceding seven references are from Electronic Edition STEP Files. Omaha: QuickVerse.)
NASB, New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California
NIV, New International Version. Electronic Edition. Zondervan, Grand Rapids.
NJB, New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday, New York.
Ali, A., transl., 2001. Al-Qur’an: A Contemporary Translation. Princeton: University Press.
Dawood, N. J., transl., 1997. The Koran with Parallel Arabic Text. London: Penguin Books.