SPICES
Table of Contents
Between
the Judean desert and the Dead Sea, at the lowest and one of the most
arid spots on earth, is a tropical oasis with flowing streams and
great canyons, beautiful waterfalls and clear pools. This is Ein-Gedi,
famous for its beauty and for the huge, delicious dates that grow
there. In ancient times, however, Ein-Gedi was most famous for the
persimmon the perfume extracted from the balsam plant. [1] |
The balsam plant is
a spice known in biblical and Talmudic literature by various names. The
term afarsemon (persimmon) which appears frequently in the Talmud
and Midrash, designates the perfume extracted from the resin of the balsam
plant (a thorn bush with trifoliate leaves, belonging to the genus Commiphora
opobaalsamum.) When the bark of the lower part of the balsam trunk
was split, the resin which oozed out was soaked up in cotton wool, and
then squeezed into oil which absorbed the pungent odor.[2]
A lthough rarely used any longer as a perfume, the plant is still used
in the Orient as a healing agent for wounds and as an antidote to snakebites
and scorpion stings.
In the Bible the plant
is referred to as bosem. Although bosem signifies spices and perfumes
of all kinds in the Bible, in the verses from Song of Songs, I
have gathered my myrrh with my bosem (5:1) and the
beds of bosem (5:13. 6:2), the reference is to balsam alone.
(In modern Hebrew bosem is the word for perfume)
High praise was lavished
on balsam oil in rabbinic literature as well as by Greek and Roman writers.
Natural historian Pliny relates that in their struggle against the Romans,
the Jews tried to uproot the balsam orchards, to prevent their falling
into Roman hands. The Romans, however, captured them, and Titus, in his
triumphal march in Rome, displayed the balsam branches he had brought
from Judea. The orchards in Ein-Gedi (and Jericho) henceforth provided
the Romans with an important source of revenue.[3]
(It is related that Mark
Anthony,
wishing to prove his love and generosity to his mistress Cleopatra, presented
her with the orchards of Ein-Gedi and the Jericho Valley.)
The balsam is described in the Talmud as the best and most expensive spice
of ancient times. The Babylonian amora, (scholar) Rav composed
a special blessing for balsam oil: Blessed art You..... who creates
the oil of our land.[4]
The Midrash
describes its pungent odor as one of the methods used by sinful
daughters of Zion to entice lovers: She would place the balsam
between her heel and her shoe and when she saw a band of young men, she
pressed upon it so that the perfume seeped through them like snake poison.[5]
The rabbis also taught that in messianic times, the righteous will bathe
in thirteen rivers of balsam.[6]
One can still observe
remains of the terraces in the hills of Ein-Gedi, where balsam trees once
grew, and visit excavations of a workshop complete with its ovens and
vessels. Strains of the balsam tree may still be found today in Saudi
Arabia, Yemen and Somalia.
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[1]
The most ancient remnants discovered in Ein-Gedi date back to 4000
BCE. At that time, a temple was built there on top of a cliff facing
the Dead Sea, far away from any known settlement. The Hasmonean kings
developed Ein-Gedi extensively, turning it into a central city and
the kings home. After the Romans squashed the Jewish rebellion,
the settlement was rebuilt and once again thrived. In the Byzantine
period the Jews who resided there built a grand synagogue which operated
between the fourth and sixth centuries CE. During the Roman-Byzantine
period Ein-Gedi was described as a very large Jewish village, famous
for its fine dates and rare spices. [Back]
[2] The German botanist Schweinfurth conducted
investigations in the Arabian Peninsula, where he succeeded in reconstructing
the process of balsam production. [Back]
[3] Historia Naturalis 12:25. [Back]
[4] BT Berakhot 43a. [Back]
[5] Lam. R. 4:18. [Back]
[6] JT, Av. Ar. 3:1, 42c). [Back]
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SPICES
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