BULLETIN ON SUMERIAN AGRICULTURE
Cambridge, U.K.
1987
CONTENTS 0 Sumerian Agriculture Group 1987. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers.
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm ....................................I-21 M.P. Charles Drawings of water melon and colocynth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 F .N. Hepper
ISSN 0267-0658 Orders may be placed through booksellers or direct to the Sumerian Agriculture Group, Faculty of Oriental Studies, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, U.K.
.....................23-56
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln nach den Texten des 3. Jt. El. Waetzoldt Garlic, onion, leek ...................................................57-80 M. St01
The Cucurbitaceae in the cuneiform texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 - 9 2 M. St01 Some vegetables in the Assyrian sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3 - 1 0 0 J .N. Postgate List of trees and shrubs of economic importance in Iraq G.H. Willcox
..............101-106
Trees and shrubs yielding gums and resins in the ancient Near East F .N. Hepper
...107-114
Notes on fruit in the cuneiform sources ..............................I1 J.N. Postgate The tree section of urg(=HAR)-ra M.A. Powell
=
hubuzzu
...........................145-151
Classical sources and the problem of the apricot M.A. Powell Fruits from ancient Iraq J.M. Renfrew
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.....................153-156
the palaeoethnobotanical evidence
.........157-161
A note on vegetables from ancient Iraq ...................................I62 J .M. Renfrew
Yrlnt.ed in England by Aris & Phillips Ltd, Warminster, Wiltshire.
5-144
PREFACE
General E d i t o r s J.N. Postgate F a c u l t y of O r i e n t a l S t u d i e s U n i v e r s i t y of Cambridge S i d g w i c k Avenue Cambridge U .K.
Powell Department of H i s t o r y Northern I l l i n o i s U n i v e r s i t y 3ekalb I l l i n o i s 60115 :'l.tt.
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CONTRIBUTORS' ADDRESSES M.P.
Charles
D e p t . o f Human E n v i r o n m e n t , I n s t i t u t e o f A r c h a e o l o g y , 31-34 Gordon S q u a r e , London W C 1 HOPY, IJK The H e r b a r i u m , R o y a l B o t a n i c G a r d e n s , Kew, Richmond, S u r r e y TW9 ~ x B , U . K .
J .N.
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F a c u l t y o f O r i e n t a l S t u d i e s , S i d g w i c k Avenue, C a m b r i d g e C B 3 9DA, U . K . D e p a r t m e n t o f H i s t o r y , N o r t h e r n 111Ci;uis U n i v e r s i t y , D e k a l b , I l l i n o i s 60315, CSA L u c y S a v e n d i s h C o l l e g e , Cambridge C B 3 OBU, U . K . F s c u l t e i t d e r Letteren, V r i j c CniversiteiL, Postbus 716!? 1007 >:L A n s t e r d a m , The N e t h e r l a n d s .
S e m i n a r f u r S p r a c h e n und Y L 1 i t u r e n d e s V o r ~ i e r e n O r i e n t s - A s s y r i o l o g i e , 6900 H e i d e l b e r g , S a n d g a s s e 7 , West S e r m a n y :omhe d e ;ioum6gas, S a i n t !.la%r e , 46800 !'lont.:llq, Crance.
;lie i 3 u ~ ~ e 7 i ;2.s , i ~p r i n c . i . p a l l y d e v o t z d Lo p a p e ~ .~~r c c a r c c l f o r ;.I t h e SumerLan Agrf cul.t.;lr? \"cup i n ":ambri :!ge :;.! ..iiily i 985, Tc3 i l l ~ s e .7h0 expected t~', r e c e t v e .311" e h i r t i c~ol.i~xei r l 2.355, 2 : ~ ~apol.ogilc?:: : . - . I lilf.r;l. w:as : :o m e e t i z g rn 1.983, l a y g e l - * Sec-r:rze i.: "ecame d e a r t ~ i a ~ i i. .?o-.ti -G P. 1 m e e r i n g t ~ , \ n :i d i f t e r e n t topic a n n u a l l : . c tcjc g r e a t .-I s~r-'-:.sn:r<j,jtoss wf.:h e x i s t i n g c:)mmi.txenCs. T t was c e ~ ~ ? :o.u r f i rm i r ~ t e n t l i o r ;I::: !,rodLi;i:e .r.?iumes regul.ar;:j e a c h y e a r , and 50.- v n r i . a u s t 2 a s o n s i t seeme!! cjcsir,:ibic. :-.:I d e l a y ; ~ r n d ~ ~ c t i r:jfj n ',!ol-~me 3 :b;- sda:le ncanti?s.
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\ i o l ; x i e ? i s sornethl.ng of a r a t a t o u i l l e , a m i x t u r e of - r e g e t a b l s s -.:?:r;-ie:)nica; Cl.mily, cI.rc:~lrr.ber 9r.d i ~ srel.ati.ries, and F r u i t t r e e s . ?de ?:ave n,:r :;i._rious;.y r e c o n s i d e r e d iil.c1?er t i l e texir:r:?1 32. the 'Ror;inica" e v i r',ence f 2: "lei cT;rte palm, s i n c e s h i s h a s r e c e i v e d cg>r~sic!t.raS.ls atce,ltLon q : ~ i r _ ereie.;: t LJ , ,and p a r t (sf t h e a r t i c l e oc > ~ e g e t - a k l e si n A s s y r i s h a r k s !lack to oi'le 138L 'nee: j.ng, when l e g u m e s Icere : d i scussed 'These v c g e t a i l e s aad f r : r i t d 3 ::.Ic ) c z u r i n s u c h b u l k a s tine s t a f l e f i e l d c r o D s d e a l t w i t h i.11 \Jols. ? ailh3! ? ( d e s p i t e t h e 3 9 , 6 0 0 b u n d l e s o:I ' , ' r i i ~ n s inent:.oned in UtG i r s u - s e e :?. '291, b u t "_hey .rre no l e s s L ~ : t e r e s ' , i r : g i n T?IP hi.st:~r:r of ~ r i c u l t t i r e . Their:: . I re ?;any =ore p l a n t s e x p l o i i - e d 'by t h e ancieent I ; I ~ . s ~ p " . t t l m i a n~ s l i cl jh -n?e 'lave s i g n i f i t : - ? ~ l t .,i i .g ~ 7 : . ~ ~ : l i L/ ~~Qi ?~o d~ ~ ; I I I c ~ . fine case ..lot ; l o t .:c?verfd, 5 u t f e w * - o v e r e d h e r ? i s t h e l i q u o r i c e ?lzLn- : c t . " o w e i l , p . l ' + ; j . Y e d i c l n a i ants :lnd :he Ll.bt- a r e '311" C ! ? U I S ~ srast ~ ~ l ~ b j e c7'.r: c s irheh: .,wn iigl::, azd :Ire 'iepper's ~ o n ~ r i h t . ~ t f is o : l a n ,:;in:nesr of ~ h eI.?tere:;r; whi.ch at:acf2et., -..a.:, :nL4eed !:;?e t r e e s n l o n c T . J O C I L ~h e a s u ; r:able :-."pic t o r rr fz:t:m-? m?etFr;g c f ::hi. *,zri.iu.p, and are i!-1 iIrgt..nr nee:'; ..i !scirr:: .;ec;i?ij ; c f . :'r~w;;lki::t: s,UriIcy j f ; l i e . . . , ~ ~ < i : , : h2 v 4 d e n c e , n ~ E45fE .
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T h e next; rrreetrng o i t ne c 7 : c l ~ p t a k e s p l a c e i n i e i d e n f ~ ?J u F y , i 4 t i 7 , a n d 1s on c h t : s u b j e c t o f ' I r a - i g a t i o r : a n d c u l t i v a r l o n t e c b ~ ~ i q u e si n 3 n c s e n t Ncsupotamra Soas of r h e p a p e r s w i l l b e p,gklished bra t h e n e x t issue o f the E ~ Z < , t > t i ? w : ~h i c t ~ S ~ I C L I :a~p ~p e a r nn 1988.. q u e r i e s a b o u t t-he f t ~ t u r e < i c t i s r i t i e s o f t h e C r o u p wild b e w i l l i n g l y a:lswered by o n e o f t h t e d i t o r s .
O N I O N S , CUCIJMBERS AND T H E DATE PALM
(An i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e c u l t i v a t i o n of A l l i a c e a e , C u c u r b i t a c e a e a n d f r u i t t r e e s i n modern I r a q )
M.P. rhe e d i t o r s h a v e n o i t h u d g h t i t n e c e s s a r j r t o impose s t r l c t b i b i i o g r a p h i c a l u n i f o r m ! :y oil t n c c s n t ~ i b ~ t i o n s . K e l e r e l l c e s t z c u n e i f orui t e x t s n o t o t h e r w i s e e ~ ~ l a l l ' i e ds h o u l d f o i l o w o n e OF t h e two sta7-ida-r~ A k k a d i a : ~ die? ivn~ries. ~ 3 Sixleri, , ~ P k i C ~ d i ~ e r ~: m i . d ' c ~ s C ? v . i , e ~ ~ ~(4Mw) h and t h e Chicago As~yr<ar Sietionay, ( C A 3 ) . A f 2 d *i~a:f ALSO ne foricd r n t h e E 3 n f i s y l ~ r a r ~ i n Surnerian D?:e-tior;n?$ (FSD), i d Lno w frequent a 9 b r e v i a t i o n s may a l s o b e n o t e d h e r e : 1iNT.i M ~ t e v ?A,; p e p i l oocabolar~io neosumarico; mF: = Materiali e p i g r a f i c i di T b h j a n d B S k = RuZletzn on
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F o r t e c h n i c a l r e a s o n s we a g a i n h a v e n o t marked t h e S u m e r i a n j A k k a d i a n h w i t h tht> ilsual f l i c k (h); o u r a p o l o g i e s t o t h o s e c o n t r i b u t o r s f o r whom t h e p l a i n h l o o k s u n c o m f o r t a b l e ? N a t u r a l l y t h e d i f f e r e n c e between h and b i s marked i n A r a b i c a n d A r a m a i c .
As b e f o r e t h i s volume c o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n p r o d u c e d w i t h o u t t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e C o l l e g e of L i b e r a l A r t s a n d S c i e n c e s o f N o r t h e r n I i l i n o l s U n i v e r s i t y , and of T r i n i t y C o l l e g e , Cambridge. Our t h a n k s go t o them o n c e a g a i n , as a l s o t o Mrs. L a u r a Cordy ( T r i n i t y C o l l e g e ) f o r h e r h e l p w i t h t h e s e t t i n g o f t h i s volume.
Charles
(Institute sf ~rchaeoZogy,h o d o n )
III(, d i s c u s s i o n Ls b a s e d on i n f o r m a t i o i l Crox l r a q w h e r e v e r p o s s ~ b i e ; I ~ o w e v e r ~i n c a s e s w q e r e d e t a i l s w e r e : n a v a i l a h i e i ~ f o r m ~ i t i ohna s h a d t s b e I illled f r o = ^ i t h e r h r e a s . The - ? o r e s i n c l u d ~ 4 ,>n t h e b i o l o g y cf t h c c ~ l c u r btia c e a e a n d i l i a c e a e a r e e a k e n , w i t 1 3 permission, f r o m W. v a n Z e i s t ' c3 ~ ~ o t ef os r t h e m e e t i n g , a n d a r e marked a c c o r d i n g l y vZ.
I. FRUIT T R E E S i ' r u i t t r e e s c c v e r some 7 % o f t h e c u l t r v a t e d l a n d i n I r a q , w i t h o v e r 7CL I , ~ > i n gd a t e p 3 i m c u l t i v a : i o n , t-he @ i l l y o t h e r f r u i t s e x c e e d i n g I% o f t-he I ~ r a l k e i n g p o m e g r a n a t e a; 2 % , . z p r l c o t 7 " 5 % , a n d a ~ p L s1 . 7 2 ( B u r i n g h 1 '!60). C i t r u s i r u i t s t o g e r h e r cake up 4 - 5 2 o f t h e a r e a b u t t h e i r d a t e o f ~rrivah Ir Y e s c , p o t a m i a i s c o n s i d e r e d L O G i i i t e f o r them t o be c o n s i d e r e d IIC re. t h e d a t e palm P i . other f r u i t trees
i.
'The s a t e Palm (P%oe~z?:s dactyiifera)
Nicholas Postgate Marvin Powell
March 1987 l r a q i s o n e of t h e w o r l d ' s l e a d i n g p r o d u c e r s O F d a t e s w i t h o v e r 30 m i l l i o n , l a t e r - r e e s g r o w i n g a l o n g t h e b a n k s o f 1-he T i g r i s and E u p h r a t e s (Dowson 1921 j e x t e n d i n g f r o m B a s r a i n t h e ~ 0 ~ 1 t oh S a m a r r a i n t h e n o r t h . The d a t e ,)alrn i s w e l l s u i t e 2 t o t h e p r e v a i e n r c l i m a t i c and e c o l o g i c a l c o n d i t i o n s o f [iouthern Mesopotamia, a b l e t o r h r i v e i n t h e h o t , d r y , sunny c l i m a e e g i v e n , ~ na d e q u a t e s u p p l y o f w a t e r ; i t c a n a l s o s u r v i v e c o n s i d e r a b l e L e v e l s o f s o i l s a l i n i t y , h a v i n g t h e h i g h e s t s a l t t o l e r a n c e known of t h e m a j o r c u l t i vated p l a n t s . The h i g h l y n u t r i t i o u s a n d p a l a t a b l e f r u i t i s e a s i l y s t o r e d a n d t r a n s ported. The number of p o t e n t i a l u s e s of t h e p l a n t i s a p p a r e n t l y l i m i t l e s s , with t h e s e e d s , young l e a v e s , t e r m i n a l bud and s a p a l l p r o v i d i n g f o o d a n d d r i n k i n a d d i t i o n t o t h a t d e r i v e d from t h e f r u i t ; o t h e r u s e s of t h e p l a n t include i t s timber a s a construction m a t e r i a l , while t h e l e a f bases a r e a m a j o r f u e l s o u r c e a n d c a n a l s o b e u s e d a s f l o a t s f o r fish in^ n e t s ( a n d e v e n r o h e l p c h i l d r e n l e a r n t o swim). The many p u r p o s e s t o w h i c h i t may b e p u t re w e l l d e s c r i b e d by Popeuoe i n l i i s bodk, The 13cxte PaZ7i-i ( 1 9 7 3 ) .
Charles
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Charles
The distribution of the date palm since the last Glacial period is not known for certain. Simmonds (1977) suggests that it extended into Europe prior to the cold period, but that it may have retreated subsequently as far as N. Africa. Its early appearance in S. Mesopotamia suggests that it must have been reintroduced quite rapidly, arriving in Iraq before 3000 B.C.
The young plants receive regular watering and the soil should be well manured; they may need protection against frost in their first year and against animal grazing for 8-10 years but after that little attention is required. They grow well on a range of soils including moderately saline ones.
The modern day limits to date cultivation are commonly held to approximate a line drawn between 'Ana and Samarra; to the south of this dates may be reliably grown for fruit. Date palms can, however, grow at least as far north as Mosul (though not fruiting in this district) and they are attributed a reasonable resistance to frost by Popenoe (1973), who also mentions that there were palms in the district of Erbil until the "Great Frost" of 1909-10. So the possibility of date growing in Assyria at some time in the past should not be dismissed competely.
Pollination and fruit care As there are male and female forms a small percentage of trees in an orchard need to be male in order to produce sufficient pollen for artificial pollination of the female tree. The male flowers are collected once ripe and the pollen is removed and applied directly to the female inflorescence, using a brush or sponge, or the flowers can be shaken over the female ones. In cases where there is an abundance of male trees a whole inflorescence may be tied above the female flowers once they have begun to open, which means that the cultivator does not have to re-visit each tree to ensure that pollination has taken place throughout the female racemes.
Biology The date palm is an evergreen, dioecious tree with separate male and female plants, growing to a height of 20-25 metres. When cultivated they usually have a single stem crowned by a cluster of large pinnate leaves, but when unmanaged the offshoots at the base of tree will develop producing a clump of tree stumps. The leaves are 2-3 metres long with a thickened mid-rib bearing 20-35 cm long leaflets; they die off each winter and are replaced by new leaves in the spring. The old leaves persist indefinitely and are cut off near the base leaving a sheath of leaf bases protecting the stem. They fruit after 4-7 years and may continue for some 60 or 70 years by which time their yield is very reduced; maximum fruit production is attained by approximately the 15th to 17th year, and they are typically cut down after 35-40 fruiting seasons, when fruit production starts to decline. The flowers are borne on a string-like peduncle with some 25-35 flowers per peduncle, and some 40 peduncles in each bunch. The inflorescence is contained in a fibrous case or spathe which splits longitudinally at flowering time into two boat-shaped valves, 35-45 cm long (Zohary 1982). The fruit is in the form of a drupe (or berry) 1-2 cm wide and some 3-4.5 crns long, and has a large seed, ca. 0.5-1 x 1-2.5 crns, surrounded by pulp, sweet and fleshy in certain varieties but bland or fibrous in others.
As the fruit develops it should be thinned at intervals either by plucking of individual flowers or by cutting off strands to keep the quality of the fruit high; overcrowded bunches tend to be of poorer quality as the inner dates do not receive any sunlight. However, this is a timeconsuming activity which is often omitted.
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Usually by offshoot, side-branches which develop from dead leaf axils at the base of the tree; seed propagation is possible but takes longer and there is no way of knowing whether the tree will be suitable (i.e. male or female, a good or bad yielder). Offshoots from a proven parent tree are cut and planted directly into the orchard at the desired frequency, depending on the intended inter-cropping, c. 7 metres between trees being recorded for S. Iraq (Poyck 1962).
Harvest The fruits of most varieties are self-curing if left on the tree, and where possible this should be allowed to take place. However, it is not always practical as there are often problems in protecting the crop from being stolen, or the population is hungry or simply impatient. Harvest can be carried out any time after the dates are "botanically ripe" (Popenoe 1973) even though they are hardly edible at this stage. Soft date varieties are carefully hand-picked whilst "hard" forms can be threshed from the tree.
The details of husbandry given below are a brief summary of the account given by Popenoe (1973) outlining the essential features of date growing.
Propagation
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Yields Considerable variability exists in fruit production depending on growing condition, variety, and on the individual trees themselves, as a high yield in one year is often followed by a very small yield in the next season. The bunches of fruit should be thinned out to ensure that the fruit produced is of a high quality. Figures for Iraq are in the range of 11-50 kgsltree with an average for the whole area of ca. 20 kgsltree being This is low compared recorded by Popenoe (1973) and MacDonalds (1962). with world-wide averages of 100-150 lbsltree (Masefield 1969) and 30-100 kgsltree (Simmonds 1976). The normal planting in Iraq for P. dactylifera is 250 treeslha. and at an average yield per tree of 20 kgs that gives approximately 5,000 kgs/ha. This is similar to the per hectare yields for other date-producing areas where there are often much lower planting rates, e.g., 100-125 treeslha., with tree yields of ca. 45 kgsltree, recorded for the USA (Popenoe 1973).
Charles
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Charles
Onions, cucumbers and the d a t e palm
Non-citrus fruit and nut producing trees
Husbandry
Approximately 5.5% of the fruit tree producing land is under non-citrus trees, and these are grown in date palm orchards as an under storey, or in open orchards; there is also some small scale garden cultivation. The principal areas of fruit growing are, in the present day, concentrated in the area around Baghdad, though there are usually some orchards around most cities and towns, the produce being consumed locally. The trees growing under date palms are the smaller' species attaining a maximum height of up to ca. 9 m., e.g., Punica granatum (pomegranate), iti is v i n i f e r a (grape), Ficus carica (figs), and Prunus amneniaca (apricot).
The root systems of these trees tend to be very extensive on good soils spreading through a large volume of soil so that irrigation techniques used are quite different from those for shallow rooted annual crops. Water applications are larger and less frequent to soak the rooting zone sufficiently to act as a storage reservoir. As the majority of trees under discussion here are deciduous their water requirement during winter months will be negligible and any rainfall can be stored in the root mass ready for growth in the spring months. Irrigation is usually carried out either in small basins around the base of the tree which are flooded as required, or in furrows with the trees planted along the sides or the furrow bottom.
Cultivation in date orchards is a useful technique for making the most efficient use of water, fertilizer and labour supplies, especially when leguminous crops form a third vegetation layer that can be used as a green manure, it also offers the lower storey trees protection against climatic extremes. The majority of fruit trees have a low tolerance of poor soil conditions and in particular of salinity, growing best on so-called "sweet" land. The trees are members of several families, the major one in Iraq being the Rosaceae family, many of which are typically of Asian origin. Rosaceae species of economic importance in Iraq today are Prunus armeniaca, Pyrus malus (apple), and Prunus amygdalus (almond). Several of the species are considered by Guest (1968) to be alien to Iraq, namely, 1. Prunus domestica, the common plum (from Europe), 2. Prunus persica, the peach (from China), and 3. Friobotrya japonica, the loquat (from China); the time of the arrival of these species in Mesopotamia is not known.
The time of watering varies for each plant but generally it is required during the early growing stages of the shoot. Later water application is most beneficial at the time of fruit setting and subsequent maturing. For some fruits such as apples, fruit growth is at a more or less constant rate so frequent watering is needed throughout the process, whilst in stone fruits, e.g., apricots, fruit development is rapid initially followed by pit hardening after which fruit enlargement is slight. In the nut trees full fruit size is reached when the shells harden; water shortage during bud initiation or fruit development can severely reduce final yield and The monthly water requirement for fruit quality, Hagan et al. (1967). trees in California during the growing season (summer months) was approximately 15-22 crns., giving an annual water use in the range of 90-115 crns. Evergreen trees, such as Olea europaea (olive), Ceratonia s i l i q u a (carob) and V i t i s v i n i f e r a (grapes) need irrigation throughout the year, with the frequency increasing in the summer and near fruiting time.
Distribution Propagation The majority of the species grow well in upland Iraq, and may even be able to thrive without irrigation; however a number find the conditions of the lowlands unsuitable including Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn), Juglans regia (walnut), Pistacia Vera (pistachio), Pyrus syriaca (Syrian pear), and Rosa canina (dogrose). Several species occur only rarely in the uplands, namely Prunus mahaZeb (mahaleb cherry), Pyrus maZus and Rubus caesius (dewberry) while Prunus armeniaca (apricot), and Eriobotrya japonica appear to be restricted to the lowland plains. Hagan et al. (1967) define three rainfall zones in relation to the growth of fruit trees and the need for supplementary irrigation; in areas with up to 50 crns. rainfall per year, irrigation essential, 50-75 crns. some irrigation needed, and in regions receiving more than 75-90 crns. supplementary irrigation is rarely used; these correspond roughly to the desert and steppe ( 50 crns.) and the lower forest zone ( 70-140 crns.) areas of Iraq as defined by Guest (Flora of Iraq, vol. 1).
The range of propagation methods includes using seed or cuttings or by layering, in the latter case a twig or branch is bent down-to ground level, attached there and covered with soil to induce root development. Budding and grafting certain strains or species onto a more hardy root stock provides a convenient way of improving the crop's tolerance of certain soils and conditions. Planting distance, and thus tree density, is dependent on whether the crop is being grown for timber or fruit. Intercropping may also affect the distance: Eriobotrya sp. are planted 4-5 m. apart, Ficus sp. 4-15 m. apart, whilst Juglans sp. and Morus aZba have close planting distances when grown as timber, to encourage tall, straight growth, but are planted at much lower densities when grown for fruit.
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Charles
11. THE CUCURBITACEAE
This is one of the groups of cultivated plants best suited to the hot dry summer climate of Iraq. They are grown successfully throughout the country as spring or summer annuals in fields, gardens or along drying river beds. They have a long growing period of 120-140 days preferring warm dry weather as in humid conditions they are prone to fungal attack. Several of the species are frost sensitive but can be protected by late planting, after the winter frosts, or by covering the seedlings during the early stages of their development. The origins of the different species are only patchily understood, those included here are thought to be native to Asia (except Cucumis melo and Lagenaria siceraria which are from Africa). Five of the species listed in the Flora of Iraq are considered to be alien to the country, though it is quite possible that they were introduced at a fairly early stage. Biology Summer growing annuals with a shallow but extensive rooting system confined to the top 30-45 cm of the soil. All the species considered here have yellow flowers except Lagenaria siceraria, the bottle gourd or white flowered gourd. They are tendril-climbing or prostrate herbs, densely hairy with large often deeply palmately or pinnately lobed leaves. CitrulZus lanutus (Thunb.)Mansf.
(C. UuZgaris Schrad.)
VZ
English: water melon; French: melon d'eau, pastsque; German: Wassermelone Water melon is a native of tropical and subtropical Africa. The red pulp of the ripe fruit is eaten fresh. From the seeds oil can be extracted. Water melons thrive best in hot and dry regions, but they require a steady supply of water (irrigation). Water melon is said to be of ancient cultivation in the Mediterranean region, but factual evidence for the use of this plant in earlier times is confined to Egypt. In Darby et al. (1977, fig. 18.8) seeds of water melon from Thebes (New Kingdom) are depicted. There is no archaeobotanical evidence for this species in the Near East. Water melon is widely cultivated in Iraq.
English: colocynth, bitter apple; French: coloquinte; German: Koloquinte Colocynth is a wild species to which reference is made in cuneiform texts. It is a perennial herb which is well adapted to regions with a hot and dry summer. Colocynth is distributed from India to tropical Africa and it is reported to grow profusely in the deserts of Iraq. The spherical fruits, up to the size of an orange, may be uniform in colour or mottled. The
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Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
fruits are inedible because of the bitter taste, but they are used for medicinal purposes. Colocynth is a violent purgative. In folk medicine the fruits, and also other parts of the plant, are recommended as a remedy against a great variety of diseases (see Chakravarty 1976, p. 132). Cucurnis melo L.
VZ
English: melon; French: melon; German: Melone As most wild Cucumis species occur in Africa, it is likely that melon originated from that continent. There is a large number of varieties and forms. Accordingly the fruits show a great variation in shape, size and coloration. In addition to the fruit flesh, the seeds are eaten; they also yield an edible oil. Melons grow in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions. They require much sunshine and a dry season. They are often grown under irrigation. Melon cultivation does not seem to have reached the Mediterranean region until the first centuries A.D. At present it is an important crop in Iraq.
Cucumis satiuus L.
VZ
English: cucumber, gherkin; French: concombre, cornichon; German: Gurke Probably of Central Asian origin (Himalayas, northern India). There is a great number of cultivars, the fruits of which differ in size and shape, and in thickness and texture of rind. Cucumbers are usually eaten raw, but they are also eaten as a cooked vegetable. The young fruits of smallfruited varieties are pickled as gherkins. The seed kernels are edible. In some tropical countries the leaves are eaten, either raw or cooked. Archaeobotanical evidence for the cultivation of cucumber in the Near East is very meagre. Nowadays cucumbers are grown in Iraq quite extensively. Lagenaria siceraria (Mo1ina)Standl (L. vulgaris Ser., L. leucantha (Duch.)Rusby)
VZ
English: bottle gourd, calabash gourd; French: gourde (bouteille), calebasse; German: Flaschenkurbis, Kalebasse Mainly cultivated for the dry hard shells of the fruits. These are used as bowls, bottles, floats for fishing nets, musical instruments, etc. The young fruits of some cultivars are boiled as vegetables (particularly in India). The fruit flesh of most cultivars is too bitter to eat. The bottle gourd is most likely of tropical African origin. It must have Gourds are spread to America in prehistoric times (well before 5000 B.C.). capable of floating in sea water for a long time without losing their viability. Consequently, they may have drifted from tropical Africa to the east coast of Brazil. Bottle gourd must also have reached Asia at a very early date. The species grows abundantly in semi-dry tropical and subtropical regions.
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Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
It is not clear whether melons, cucumbers or bottle gourds were utilized in dynastic Egypt. A species identification of mural illustrations seems to be impossible. Opinions differ on the translation of Egyptian words which are thought to indicate some form of cucurbit. The clay(?) models of fruits depicted in Darby et al. (1977, fig. 17.13) are reminiscent rather of cucumber or possibly bottle gourd than of melon (as indicated in the caption to the figure).
English: squirting cucumber; French: concombre sauvage; German: Spritzgurke
.
This is a wild cucurbit species distributed in the Mediterranean region and the Near East. The bitter fruits, which explode their seeds outwards when disturbed, are inedible. Squirting cucumber is a medicinal plant; its fruits and roots contain a violent purgative. The species seems to be mentioned in Sumerian and Babylonian texts.
Cucurbita (pumpkin, squash) species are all of New World origin. Husbandry Details are taken from Whitaker & Davis (1962) and Chakravarty (1966). CitruZZus h n a t u s (water melon) makes up 30% of vegetable crops in Iraq today, Cucumis melo (melons) 12.5%, and Cucumis s a t i v u s (cucumbers) 12%. They grow best on land classified by Buringh (1960) as good to excellent, i.e., his Dl and D2 land types (the D referring to land in date palm orchards). Grown throughout the alluvial and steppic regions of Iraq up to altitudes of approximately 700 metres, the cucurbits can thrive on soil types ranging from sandy loams to the heavier clayey soils, though they do not do so well under acid conditions. The seed bed recommended by Whitaker and Davis (1962) is a smooth, well pulverised one produced by deeply ploughing followed by the breaking up of large lumps using mallets etc. A high organic matter content produces good yields and can be achieved by ploughing in a green manure or the addition of manures. Once planted the crop should be lightly cultivated with a hand hoe, or such like, to keep the soil loose and to remove weeds; as the rooting system is close to the surface the cultivations should be shallow. Irrigation prior to sowing nay be necessary for successful seed germination and thereafter should be at regular intervals to ensure good fruit set and development, figures are given in the range of 30-60 cms. water depth per hectare. Overwatering can reduce yield as much as an insufficiency and irrigation ceases once the fruit is fully grown but still immature. The point at which the fruit is ready for harvest depends to a large extent on its intended use, e.g., C . s a t i v u s may be picked very early on if it is to be cooked or pickled, left longer if eaten raw as a salad and if cultivated for seed allowed to mature completely. There are various ways
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Onions, cucumbers and the d a t e palm
drrcribed in the literature for determining the maturity of the fruit, e.g. judging the condition by tapping it or taking flesh borings (Whitaker and D a v i s 1962). Propagation
The commonest method of propagation is from seed;
most of the species under consideration here are annuals, the only exception being CitruZZus 002ocynthis (colocynth), a root perennial whose aerial parts die back each year. There are 3 growing seasons for the annual species:
1. Winter - the seeds are sown in early January onto small nursery beds. They are protected from frost and cold winds by covers constructed out of palm fronds etc.; in some situations they are only uncovered during the day. The soil needs to be well manured, watering is not recommended until the colder weather has passed. The seedlings are transplanted into the fields in late February-March and mature by late April-May. This early maturing crop is highly profitable to the cultivator as they are paid inflated prices in the market, e.g. early cucumbers sold in April can fetch up to 5 times as much as those in July (Chakravarty 1966), which outweighs the extra effort required.
2. Spring - sowing is done in mid-March, by which time no protection is normally needed against frost, except perhaps in the upland regions, though small fences may be erected to reduce the force of the strong winds that can damage the young plants. The seeds are sown directly into the fields or orchards, and the fruits are harvested from June onwards. 3. Summer - planted in May-June in fields or along river beds as the water level falls, they are late developing plants and flower in the autumn
.
Several Cucurbitaceae species grown in Iraq have both early and late forms, including water melon, cucumber, melon, and Lagmaria liceraria (bottle gourd), only the luffa species appear to be entirely roetricted to the summer growing season (sown in late spring-early summer). aown
Methods of cultivation: a. Ridge-furrow system; seeds sown along both sides of the ridge, with 2-4 metres between ridges and the plants 0.5-1.0 m. apart. b. On "hills"; this term is not very clearly explained by Chakravarty (1966) but presumably refers to small raised mounds of earth into which the seeds are sown, 4-6 seeds per mound, set in irrigated basins approximately 1-3 metres apart. The seedlings are thinned out to 1 or 2 plants per mound.
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Charles
111. ALLIACEAE SP.
c. Over a frame or fence; climbing plants such as luffa, cucumber and the bottle gourd can be trained over various structures, raising the mature fruit above ground level where it is prone to damage. The cultivation of bottle gourds over a tall frame, high enough to walk under, through which the developing fruits hang is common in a number of countries and has been recommended for Iraq (Chakravarty 1966) as it has several advantages, not least of which is the very high yields that can be achieved, and the protection afforded the fruit by raising them from ground level.
Biology A family of bulbous herbs typically perennial, in which the aerial parts die back each year leaving the bulb to overwinter on its stored reserves. The Flora of Iraq, Vol. 8, places them in the Liliaceae family, but a oeparate family, the Alliaceae, intermediate between the Liliaceae and the bryllidaceae has been preferred by some authors (see Purseglove 1976). The globular, umbellate inflorescence bears many flowers of white, greenish t o pale purple colour on the flowering stem or scape. In the flower heads o t some AZliwn species small bulbils are produced (Masefield et.al. 1969). The true stem is a small pad of tissue below the bulb from which the roots develop. The bulb itself consists of swollen foliage leaf bases or leaves with aborted blades, in the bulb of onion the inner 5 or 6 leaves are small but sprout when suitable conditions of moisture and temperature exist (Jones & Mann 1963).
Agricultural settings of these systems: i. fruit orchards - with the plants grown as a ground level crop beneath tiers of date palms and other fruit trees. ii. open fields - summer cultivation of the Cucurbitaceae in irrigated fields is common throughout Iraq from Basra to Mosul. Windbreaks and fences, made of date palm fronds and various woody shrubs, are sometimes used to give some shelter to the plants.
Though perennials or biennials the cultivated AZZium species, A. cepa (onion), A. sativum (garlic), A. porrum (leek), and A. ascaZonicum (rhallots), are usually grown as annuals, the plant being uprooted at harvest time. The leaves of A. schoeonoprasum (chives) are cut from the perennial plant as required.
iii. gardens - several species are cultivated in small garden plots as vegetables, as ornamental creepers, or as shade plants. iv. river beds - the sandy beds of many Iraqi rivers provide an ideal location for the growing of certain cucurbits. The usual method is to cut rows along the river sides as the water level declines from April onward; seeds are then sown along the rows and the plants grow utilizing the moisture left in the soil.
The group is believed to have originated in Central Asia, and its members are able to grow successfully in the Mesopotamian climate, having a fair tolerance to frost and, once established, to drought. They are an important addition to the diet in Mesopotamia, where they are grown as a field crop or as a garden vegetable to meet local needs throughout the rteppic and alluvial plains regions.
Harvest
AlZium cepa L. (A. cepa L. var. cepa)
Methods of harvest vary for each species, e.g. watermelons are cut from the vine with a sharp blade whilst cucumbers are snapped off the main plant.
vz
English: onion; French: oignon; German: Zwiebel Yields Chakravarty (1966) records figures of between 4,000 and 32,000 kg/ha for the Cucurbitaceae in Iraq, with yields of 8-10,000 kg/ha being common. He also points out that up to one half of the produce may be unmarketable. These figures compare well with the worldwide averages given by Purseglove (1968) of between 4,500 and 6,700 kg/ha.
/
Onion is not known as a wild plant; it is probably of Central Asian origin. The bulbs are large and usually single. The bulbs of the cultivated forms vary in size, shape, colour (from almost silvery-white to brown and red) and taste. Onions can be grown under a wide range of climates and on r variety of soils. The bulbs are consumed raw, cooked and fried; they are used in soup and rauces and for seasoning foods. The green leaves and white leaf bases that develop before the bulbs are formed are eaten raw. Spring onions are a variety of A. cepa, with a small bulb, and they are harvested when young. Onions are frequently referred to in literature. There is much evidence for the use of onions in ancient Egypt. Desiccated onions and also wooden models have been found in tombs. In addition, onions are depicted on the walls of tombs and pyramids. To my knowledge there is no archaeobotanical evidence of onion for SW Asia.
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Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
AZZiwn ascatonicwn L. (A. ascotinicum L., A. cepa L. var. aggregatum G.Don) VZ
English: shallot; French: gchalote; German: Schalotte
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Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
tively by planting single cloves. It is extensively grown (and used) in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Garlic is used as a flavouring agent. In addition, its medicinal virtues are highly esteemed.
Some botanists regard the shallot as a distinct species, whereas others are of the opinion that it is merely another variety of onion, Attiurn cepa, belonging to the aggregatum group. The species name is usually spelt ascatonicum, but according to Zeven & Zhukovsky (1975) it should read ascoZinicum. According to Mansfeld (1959) the authority of A. ascatonicwn is Strand and not L.
There is plenty of literary evidence for the cultivation, trade and use Most archaeobotanical evidence comes from of garlic in ancieni: times. Egypt, where desiccated garlic bulbs have been found in tombs. A few finds have been made of carbonized cloves, including one from Iraq. At present, garlic is cultivated in Iraq as a garden crop and as a field crop.
The shallot differs from the common onion in that the bulb produces many lateral bulbs. Shallot bulbs are much smaller than those of onion. Propagation is usually vegetative by dividing the cluster of bulbs and replanting the single bulbs. Shallots are widely cultivated but mainly as a garden crop.
Husbandry
Shallot bulbs are pickled in vinegar and brine. leaves of immature plants are eaten raw.
As with onion, the
AZZium porrum L. (A. ampetoprasum L. var. porrum (L.)Cav.)
VZ
English: leek; French: poireau; German: Porree Of East Mediterranean origin (Levant). Robust plant with little or no bulb formation. The elongated leaf bases, which encircle each other to form a false stem, are eaten. The edible portion should develop below ground to promote blanching. For that purpose leeks are often planted in trenches, which are later gradually filled with soil. Leeks are grown from seed. To my knowledge there is no archaeobotanical evidence for the use of leeks in ancient times. Leek is cultivated in gardens all over Iraq.
A 2Zium schoenoprasum L
.
vz
English: chives; French: civette; German: Schnittlauch As a native plant AZZium schoenoprasum is widespread in the northern hemisphere. It is now widely distributed throughout the world as a plant of the home garden. Chives tiller easily, forming dense tufts. The bulbs are only slightly developed. The green leaves are eaten, usually chopped and used in soups, salads and such like. AtZium sativum L.
VZ
English: garlic; French: ail; German: Knoblauch The origin of garlic is not yet certain. Some authorities consider AZZium longicuspis Regel, which is endemic to Central Asia, as the wild ancestor. Garlic bulbs are made up of small bulbs or cloves enclosed by the dry outer scales (the "skin") of the parent bulb. Garlic is propagated vegeta-
Poyck (1960) described the winter sowing of A. cepa and A. sativum seed in Southern Iraq, whilst A. cepa can also be grown from bulbs planted in the spring. The winter grown form of onion is sown from mid-January to midMarch and harvest is from June onwards. There is no specific sowing date recorded for the bulb-propagated spring form, only a general growing period from April to August. Chakravarty (1976) describes two bulb-grown forms of AZZium cepa, one planted early in October or November and a later form planted in February or March; no mention is made of propagation from seeds.
A. sativum is a winter crop: the cloves (bulbils) are planted in autumn and it is sufficiently established by the winter to survive the low temperatures. The methods are essentially the same for both onion and garlic and they are often planted together, the latter being slower growing, taking 5 months to reach maturity compared with 3 months for onions. Whether grown from seed or bulbs they are planted in rows or in small basins. When in rows 70-80 crns. are left between plants, while in basins the sowing distance is reduced to 30 crns. They grow best on a well drained slightly acid soil, and respond well to manuring. A fine seed bed is recommended (Jones & Mann 1963). The crop benefits from weeding providing care is taken not to damage the roots which are just below the soil surface. Though credited with a fair degree of drought tolerance the shallowness of the rooting system means that the crop does best when frequently watered especially in the early stages of development as the roots cannot grow into dry soil. Regular irrigation helps growth in the vegetative period but cessation of the water supply a couple of weeks before harvesting encourages good bulb formation. Twisting, bruising or knotting the leaves just before the harvest may hasten maturity but is not considered advantageous if the bulbs Harvesting takes place once 10-25% are to be stored (Jones & Mann 1963). of the foliage has fallen.
Onions, cucumbers and t h e d a t e palm
Charles Table 2: Name & Family
Notes on Distribution and Ecology (ctd.)
Origins Periodicil y
Distribu ion in Iraq
&
+ Habit
[Eriobotrya japonica] (Thunb.) Lindl. ROSACEAE Loquat
Crataegus azaroZus L . ROSACEAE Azarole ~aldst-itKit. ex Willd. ROSACEAE Hawthorn
Rubus caesius L . ROSACEAE Dewberry R. sanctus Schreb. ROSACEAE
Punica gramtum L. PUNICACEAh Pomegranate exp
[I
=
1 Chakravarty 1976, Guest
&
Townsend 1966, 1980
&
1965, Purseglove 1968 & 1972, Simmonds 1976
=
evergreel shrub
LF-t1 Old Wrld
) t i d e :
C.monogyna
cult = cultivated C = Central occ = occasional species considered by Flora of Iraq to be alien to Iraq
China. Grown exp. in Iraq
World prob (Europe)
forest stepF
sm tree 2-7m shrubsm tree
very comm
?
alluvial plain exp
?
cult
OCC
altitude (m) c. 25
Flowering &Fruiting Period F1. Fr.
700850
4-6
7-9
(?I
4-5
7-10
6001300
lfz
3-7m
I*YBh ' 7 trailing
10501650
7-8 3-5
comm
pres
pres
(1500
shrubsm tree
rare wild
cult
cult
< 6m
cult
(0-) 11001300 (-2100)
derived
Iran (W. or S.Asia
Notes on Tolerance
pres = present grown experimentally ( ) = area of origin of ancestral plant
wllogging
(6-) 710
?
?
4-5
5-7
lfz = lower forest only = water-logging
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
Charles
Table 3: Name
&
Origins
Family
eriodici y Habit (&
height) W. or C. Asia
Ziaiphus spinachristi (L.) willd RHAMNACEAE Nabaq 2. jujuba ill.
(?Asia)
RHAMNACEAE Chinese Jujuba
I
Distribu ion in Iraq
9
fores stepp alluvial plain
woody climber peren.
occ
shrubtree
cult
Common Walnut
OCC
OCC
peren. summer
<250
I Africa= Naka
Fr.
4-6
6-9
6-10 10-3
-
9001350 (or more)
6-7
9501800
4
250900 (?more)
OCC
OCC
comm
' <400 approx
I
6-7 (10111
annual herb
cult
cult
cult
2-5
good (3-1 drought 4-10 to1
6-11
<600 (or more)
(7-1 (7-1 8-10 8-10
summer annual herb summer India annual (?Africa) herbs summer
Cucumis meto L. CUCURBITACEAE Melon C. sativus L. CUCURBITACEAE Cucumber
Africa
Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Stand1 CUCURBITACEAE Bottle Gourd
Africa
ed. = edible
?
F1.
peren. = perennial
annual herb summer
Name
&
Family
Origins
Periodicit &
Habit
tuPfa acutanguta (L. bxb. CUCURBITACEAE pled Loofah , aytindrica (L.)
India edible fruit T. Asiasponges
annual herb summer annual herb summer
cult
3-10m
CUCURBITACEAE Colocynth C. tanatus (Thunb.)Matsum.et CUCURBITACEAE Water Melon
altitude (m)
Notes on Flowering Tolerance &Fruiting Period
<30m tree
ANACARDIACEAE Pistachio
Table 4: Notes on Distribution and Ecology
Notes on Distribution and Ecology (ctd.) &
Vitis uinifera L. VITACEAE Grape
Onions, cucumbers and t h e d a t e palm
Charles
cult
cult
cult
<700 approx
cult
cult
<250
poor frost to1
6-10 6-10 (-11) (-11) 6-11 6-11
)rtcosanthes oucumerina L. CUCRBITACEAE hake Gourd
T. Asia grown
annual herb
.
summer
AZZzum cepa L. ALLIACEAE pnion A . sativum L.
C. Asia
ALLIACEAE G~rlic A. porrum L. ALLIACEAE Leek
exp
?C. Asia ( ?A. Zongi.
cuspis) Medit. / 1 W.Asia ( A .ampet0 prasum)
-
annual bulbous winter perennia bulbous winter biennial bulbous winter
$
Distribut on in
fores stepp alluvial plain
Flowering Notes on Tolerance &Fruiting Period
caq alti-
F1.
8-11 8-11
cult
cult
Fr.
approx
7
7-1C 7-10
approx
exp
cult cult
cult
-imqzs-
5-6
(
3-4
(-500)
cult cult
6-8
drought tolerance ?
cult prob goo drought tolerance &
t
4-5 (-6
Onions, cucumbers and the date palm
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Table 5:
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Onions, cucumbers and the d a t e palm
1 Notes on Cultivation and Production Harvest
Name
1
I
Propagation Method
seed (musk) Melon
sowing/ Planting Date early 1-2 late 3-6
Method of Cultivation
I
I
Sowing rate/ Time Planting fre kg/ha Mattyity
1
Date (Months)
Yield
Method
rows: 2-2.5m bet rows 0.3-0.6m bet plants mounds:2-3 plants/mound 1.2-1.8m apart
c. 2 4-5 seeds per hole
90-120 days
(7-1 8-10
<32,000 at 12,000 fruits per ha
hand picked when ripe
rows: 3-4m bet rows mounds: c. 2.4m bet mounds
80-100 days
7-10
hand picked when ripe
seed
early 2-4 late 5-6
2-2.4
Water melon
seed
early 1 late 3
mounds: 3-4 seeds/mound rows: 2.3m bet furrows 0.3m bet plants
2.5-3.2
Cucumber
50-60 days
early 4 late 6
6100-12,200 or 15-25 kg seed
hand picked when ripe harvest for 28-40 days
8
100 days
early 4 late 6
20,400-24,400
hand picked when ripe
(7-1 8-10 (-11)
c. 20 fruits per plant
hand picked early for vegetables late for fibre ? ? cut, if for seed; foliage twisted just before harvest hand pulled, for bulb
Bottle Gourd
seed
early 1-2 late 3-6
rows & mounds as for water melon
Smooth & Angled Luffas
seed
early 3 late 6
raised beds: c. 2.4m wide mounds: 4-5 seeds/mound c. 90cm bet mounds
seed bulb
2-3 early 10-11
rows: c. lOcm apart rows: plants 0.7-0.8m apart
Onion
I
bulbs (cloves)
Garlic
Datepalm
Fig
I
1-
cuttings layering seed
Loquat
1.2-4.5
I
4050-4800
I
as for onion row & basin methods used
9-10 (-11)
f
offshoots varies spring/ (seed unreliable) Autumn
Walnut
Mulberry
plants c. 0.3m apart
late 2-3
I
-
offshoot: Cut from suitable parent when dormant. Distance bet plants depends on intercropping, c. 7m apart cutting: 2-3 yr old branch cut, grown in nursery then transplanted. Planted 4-15m apart. seed: distance bet plants= small for timber large for fruit growing
seed cuttings
as above
seed cuttings layering budding
Usually grown under date palms. Planting distance depends on intercropping. c. 4-5m
100-250
I
I
c. 120 days (or longer from seed)
3-6
seed 340-450
5-8
bulb 8,000-30,000
c. 150 days
3-4 (-5)
bulb 2-4,000
hand pulled when leaves turn yellow and fall
5-6 years
7-10
Iraq:(20-50/tree) -
hand picked once botanically ripe, or hard dates threshed off tree
2-3 years
7-8
NA Iraq
hand picked or collected off ground
6-8
Iraq: c. 40 kg/tree -
fruits fall to ground and are collected. Tree may be shaken.
(3-)5-6
Iraq: c. 13.5 kg/tree -
fruits delicate hand picked as ripen
Spring
Iraq: 200 kg/tree -
fruit delicate hand picked as ripen
5,000-12,500 USA: c. 100 kg/tree -
I 8-10 from c. 5 from
l~asedon information from Chakravarty 1966, 1976, MacDonalds 1962, Poyck 1962, Purseglove 1968, 1972, Whitaker 1962.
yrs seed yrs others
O n i o n s , cucumbers and c
O n l ~ n s ,c u c u m b e r s a n d t h e d a t e palm
Charles
(1.1 I
t .
11.1
I III
lownsend, C.C, a n d G u e s t , E . 1966 Flora o f Iraq, v o l . 2 .
111-Barszi , N .K.
8:ic;ogrcqizy =;.,t-' a,j.~&cuit;nreir. irr2igate2 areas o f tho ;.;.:l-ldZe n + .+ , X D K X ~ liclley. GS ( P b . D . d i s s e r t s t i c n , T J n i v e r s i t y of Durham.)
i 96"
P98G
Flora of Iraq, v o l .
1985
Flora o f Iraq, v o l . E .
W h i t a k e r , T.W.
1962
4 ,
p a r t s I. & 11.
a n d D a v i s , G.N.
Cucu-bits: Sotany, c u l t i v a t i o n , and u t i l i z a t i o f i .
Zeven, k F C . & Zhukovksy, P.H.
1975
17ictionary of cuZtivated plants and t t l s i r centres of Ciive~,?itk (Pudoc: Wageningen),
Z o h a r y , M. 1982 jarby et al.
,977
iJ.3.
',.
Earhi;, D . Chal;oungul h S r i v e t ~ i , Prod: $ f i g c?;f: 2f 2 ~ 0 1 s .Academic P r e s s : London--New f o r k - S a n F r a n c i s c o ,
Csiris.
d a g a i ~ , R.M., H a i s e , H.R. a n d T . : d m i n s t ~ r ,T.W. 1967 I r r i g a t i o n of 4gricsttural Land.
H a c D o n a l J , Sir Y. 7
"$2
and W u n t i n g s T e c h n i c a l S e r v i c e s projects. " schemes. " > l a n d a l i , Badsa a n d , a s s a n
? l a s e f i e l d e t al. 1969 2.B- F l a s e f i e i d ,
1'4.
iu'allis,
Repcrt
OP
dex7r?lopment
S.G. X a r r i s o n & B.E. N i c h o l s o n , O.U.P. ( r e p r i n t e d 1969 e d . j .
The? (3xf~ndHock of Po~dPlan-Ls.
Y a n s f e l d , R.
1959
BorlSu,fipes Verzeichnis landuirtschaf 5 l i e b oder g2irtnerisch k ~ L l t i u i e nefr Z J f ~ a n z ~ n a p t e Akademie n. Verlag : Berlin.
Popenoe, J . W .
1973
The Date Palm ( C o c o n u t G r o v e , M i a m i ) .
P o y c k , A.P.G
i962
Farm Studies i n Iraq.
P u r s e g l o v e , .I .IJ.
1968
Tropical Crops.
'%.cotyledons.
Longmans:
London.
(also
3rd
impression, 1977).
1972
Tropical. Crops.
Monoeoty Zedons. i o n g m a n s : London.
impression, 1976). Simmonds, N.W.
1976
,T~)o:utionoz Znop Plants.
( a l s o 2nd
Plants o f the Bible (Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s ) %
KNOBLAUCH UND ZWIEBELN NACH DEN TEXTEN DES 3 . JT. H. Waetzoldt (Heidetberg)
1. Mit Pflanzen der Gattung AZZium haben sich m.W. bisher nur A. Deimel (1925) und I.J. Gelb (1965) ausführlicher beschäftigt. Marten Stol's Beitrag in diesem Band habe ich mit grossem Gewinn gelesen. Zu besonderem Dank bin ich Aage Westenholz verpflichtet, der mir das Manuskript seiner Old Sumerian and Old Akkadian Texts in Philadelphia, chiefZy from Nippur: Part 2. The 'Akkadian' Texts, the 'EnZilemaba' Texts and the Onion Archive (OSP 2 = Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 112; Malibu, forthcoming) zur Verfügung stellte und die Auswertung für diesen Beitrag gestattete.*
@W@
2. Das Zeichen, das später Zwiebelgewächse bezeichnet, wird in Fara im etwa gleichzeitigen Abu Calabikh und in LagaE (präsargonisch) \
@
Colocynth (CitruZZus cotocynthis)
oder
$$
3 geschrieben.
$ $$
Es scheint kaum die gleiche Pflanzensorte wieder-
zugeben. Das sumerische Wort sum dürfte im ganzen 3. Jahrtausend sowohl verschiedene Esszwiebeln als auch Knoblauch zu bezeichnen, aber - soweit bekannt - keine Blumenzwiebeln (s. noch Kapitel 9).
k7-L-
Im Anhang sind 6 Texte aus dem British Museum publiziert, die manche Frage klären helfen, aber auch wieder neue aufwerfen. 3. Bevor ich auf die Texte eingehe, scheint es angebracht, kurz darüber zu sprechen, wie Zwiebeln angebaut werden. Der Zwiebelsamen wird gesät, nach etwa 3 Monaten kann das Kraut gekürzt oder geschnitten werden, damit die Zwiebelknolle grösser wird. Reif sind die Zwiebeln, wenn das Kraut welk wird. Nun erfolgt das Trocknen und Sortieren. Die kleinen Zwiebeln dienen im nächsten Jahr als Steckzwieblen, die grossen zur Zucht von Samen und die mittelgrossen als Nahrungsmittel. Selbstverständlich können auch aus dem Samen nur Steckzwiebeln gezogen werden. Man sät dann dichter und später, damit die Wachstumszeit kürzer ist. Die jungen Schösslinge von Zwiebel und Knoblauch kann man roh als Gemüse essen4 ('Frühlingszwiebeln'), ebenso das grüne Rraut der Zwiebeln. Masseinheiten und Umrechnungen: 1 sila = Ca. 1 Liter - 1 gur = 300 sila - 1 iku = Ca. 100 sar = Ca. 3600 m2 1 sar = Ca. 36 m2 Water melon (CitrulZus lanatus)
Drawings by F. Nigel Hepper
,I
*Marten Stol stellte mir dankenswerterweise seine Zettelsammlungen zu ~wiebel/~noblauchzur Verfügung. Daraus entnommene Belege sind mit M.S. gekennzeichnet. Einen Teil der präsarg. Zwiebeltexte behandelte M. Lambert in Orientazia (N.S.) 44 [1975] 28, 43-50. -- Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird in keinem Fall Vollständigkeit der Belege angestrebt.
'CJaetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Tabelle 1
4 . In den Texten sollten wir daher Begriffe finden für:
a) Saatgut b) Steckzwiebel C) Zwiebelknolle d) grüne Zwiebelschösslinge ('Frühlingszwiebel') Gleiches gilt für Knoblauch, nur ist es dabei nicht nötig, Steckzwiebeln zu ziehen oder auszusortieren, da man die Knoblauchzehen stecken kann.
Liter je Furche a) sum-dilmun
In den präsargonischen Texten fehlt jeder Hinweis, in welchem Monat man die Zwiebeln anbaute oder erntete. Die Texte aus der Zeit der 3. Dynastie ~ a ials Hauptvon Ur weisen eindeutig auf den I. Monat, also etwa ~ ~ r i l / ,12 ernte-Termin. Plöglicherweise gab es noch andere Termine, z.B. den 111. und V. Monat (Juni/Juli bzw. August/September), zu denen Zwiebeln von den Feldern geholt wurden.13 Der Anbau der Zwiebeln erfolgte wohl zwischen dem V. und VIII. Monat (ca. September bis Dezember da man in dieser Zeitspanne Opfer auf den Zwiebelfeldern darbrachte?& oder Saatgut kaufte.15 Leider fehlt in vielen wichtigen Texten die ~onatsan~abe .I6 6. Saatmenge und Ernteerträge Die präsargonischen Texte aus LagaS bieten sehr viele Angaben über die Saatmenge. (8llerdings wird das genaue Verständnis dieser Texte durch die Tatsache erschwert, dass mehrere Termini noch nicht deutbar sind.) 6.1 Meist wird die Menge sowohl für die Saatfurchen als auch für die Feldfläche angegeben. 5 Zwiebelsorten kommen vor:
-
tu-sum-dilmun b) sum-giximmar
5. Anbau und Ernte aufgrund der Texte In den präsargonischen Texten aus LagaS werden die Verben sur - wörtlich "pressen, drücken" - und ba-al - wörtlich "graben, ausgraben" - , in diesem Zusammenhang genannt. Sur steht für die Saat, bzw. das Stecken von Steckzwiebeln, daher wohl '(Zwiebelsamen/Steckzwiebeln in den Boden) drücken' .5 Sur als Saat-/Pflanzterminus kommt auch noch in Ur-111-zeitlichen Texten vor .6 Den Erntevorgang bezeichnet ba-al. Die Zwiebeln wurden also nicht ausgezogen, sondern ausgegraben,7 was wohl damit zu erklären ist, dass sie in tiefere Furchen8 gesetzt worden waren und diese durch die Bewässerung zugeschwemmt und durch den Wind zugeweht wurden. Der Anbau in Furchen ist auch noch später bezeugt .9 bezeugt Nur in drei Texten ist als Ernteterminus ri-ri "ein~arnmeln"~~ und zwar immer in folgendem Kontext: n gu-15 sum-gigimmar sum-GUD-ta e-tari-ri "n Bündel 'Dattelpalml-Zwiebeln von den GUD-Zwiebeln eingesammelt". Nippur-Texte aus der Ur-111-Zeit nennen als Ernteterminus bu/buoll "herausziehen", die Zwiebeln mussten folglich auf der Bodenoberfläche stehen.
meist 5-8; sonst 4;9;3917
C)
19
meist 4,9-6; sonst 3;4,1;12~1
Liter je 100 m2 5,83-718
-
20
meist 6,3-6,6. sonst 5,3;7,3;9,152
tu-sum-giFimmar meist 1,8-3; sonst 1,5;5 ,523
meist 3,3-6,6; sonst ~;3;8,6~~
sum-GUD
meist 6-7,2; sonst 3;5,6;9,425
meist 6-8; sonst 5,8. 8,3;8,6;11,3;15,52b
meist 12; sonst 6;9;12,8;1427
12,5-14~8
d) sum-sikil tu-sum-sikil e) (sum-) za-ha-ti
meist 5,8-6; sonst 2,9;4,5;7,9; meist 6,1-6,6; sonst 8,629 7,8;12,5;12,930 3-631
meist 5,8-7,2; sonst 8,1;8,332
Unverständlich bleibt mir der Anbau-Text Deimel 1925, Nr. 22. Die Anbaufläche ist in sar notiert, doch stehen zusätzlich noch die- Vermerke pag-bi 1 amg "der dazugehörige Wassergraben ist I " und DIL.SU-bi l(2)-kam-ma Ersterer Vermerk weist wohl auf die Bewässerung der betreffenden Feldflächen (60, bzw. 34 sar = Ca. 2160 bzw. 1224 m2) mittels eines Wassergrabens hin, der zweite, parallel gebrauchte, ist mir unverständlich.
".....".
Bei den präsargonischen Texten zeigen sich deutliche Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Zwiebelarten. Bei den dilmun-Zwiebeln betrug die Menge je Furche meist zwischen 5 und 8 Litern oder für 100 m2 zwischen 5,8 Die Werte für die 'Dattelpalml-Zwiebel betragen je Furche und 7 Liter. 4,9-6 und in 100 m2 meist 6,3-6,6 Liter. Interessanterweise ist die Saatmenge der tu genannten Entwicklungsstufe dieser Zwiebelsorte mit meist 1,8 bis 3 Litern je Furche sehr viel geringer, die Menge der 'Liter' je 100 m2 entspricht allerdings meist genau der normalen "'Dattelpalm1-Zwiebel". sei der GUD-Zwiebel werden je Furche 6-7,2 Liter und je 100 m2 nur geringfügig mehr, nämlich 6-8 Liter verbraucht. Bei der sikil-Zwiebel ergeben sich die grössten Unterschiede: je Furche in der Regel 12, je 100 m2 12,514 Liter. Bei der tu-Form dieser Zwiebel sind die Werte ziemlich genau halb so gross. Die Mengen für za-ha-ti sind je Furche 3 bis 6 Liter und je 100 m2 6-7 Liter. Die Deutung dieser Fakten ist sehr schwierig, da wir zu wenig über die einzelnen Zwiebelsorten wissen. Deutlich wird jedoch, dass von den tu genannten Zwiebeln in der Regel nur halb so viele in den Boden gelegt werden wie von den normalen. Bei der Berechnung nach Feldfläche fällt jedoch auf, dass die tu-Form und die normale Form der "'Dattelpalml-Zwiebel"
Waetzoldt Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
jeweils in etwa gleicher Menge in die Erde gelegt werden, während sich bei den sikil-Zwiebeln ein Unterschied von 1:2 ergibt. Betonen möchte ich noch, dass m.W. in den präsargonischen Texten kein Anbau-Texte aus der Zeit der Akk.ad-Dynastie Zwiebelsamen erwähnt y'rd! fehlen meines wissen^.'^ 6.2 Aus der Zeit der 3. Dynastie von Ur stammen die beiden hier veröffentlichten Texte 5 und 6. Sie duplizieren sich in den wichtigsten Textpartien und beschreiben den Zwiebelanbau einiger Tempel:
Die Rechnung 39 mal 12,5 ergibt genau 487,5. Interessanterweise entspricht die Menge je Furche fast genau der häufigsten Angabe in den präsargonischen Texten mit 12 'Litern' (s. oben Tabelle 1 unter d). Dies kann selbstverständlich Zufall sein, denn wir wissen weder, ob die Länge der Saatfurchen stets gleich war noch, ob das sila-Mass übereinstimmte. 6.3 Der Ernteertrag lässt sich leider nur sehr unzureichend mit der Anbaumenge vergleichen, da der Ertrag in den präsargonischen Texten in der Regel in der Masseinheit gu-16 angegeben wird, die Anbaumenge jedoch in sila (~itern). Nur für sum-sikil verfügen wir über vergleichbare Angaben: Tabelle 2 Anbau
20-16-2 sar sum-gaz 1% kilib35 213 sila sag-dili % sila numun-ta kilib-bi 27 sumsar-gaz sag-dili-bi 0.0.1 2 sila sumsar-gaz numun-bi 9 sila sumsar-gaz "18 sar (=ca 648 m2) gaz-Zwiebel(-Feld) zu je 1,5 Bündel, 213 Liter 'einzelne' Köpfe (=Steckzwiebeln), 0,5 Liter Samen: die betreffenden Bündel: 27 (mit) gaz-zwiebel die betreffenden 'einzelnen Kdpfe': 12 Liter gaz-zwiebeln der betreffende Samen: 9 Liter gaz-Zwiebeln." Nach diesem Text wurde jedes sar Feld ( C . 36 m2) mit 1,5 Bündel (=ca. 15.75 ~ i t e r ~Zwiebeln, ~) 213 Liter sag-dili-Zwiebeln und 0,5 Liter ZwiebelSamen bestellt. Bei den anderen Tempeln sind die Relationen geringfügig anders: Tempel
Menge je sar: kilib-sum-gaz
Dumuzi37 ~indara~~ ~in~irsu~'
2 Liter 2 Liter 1 Liter
sag-dili 516 Liter 1 Liter 1 Liter
numun 112 Liter 213 Liter 1 Liter
Auf all den Tempelfeldern wird dieselbe Zwiebelsorte angebaut (sum-gaz). Hinter den Bezeichnungen kilib, sag-dili und numun müssen sich verschiedene Entwicklungsstufen, bzw. Grössen verbergen. Numun ist sicher "Samen", sagdili dürften die Steckzwiebeln sein, da es kaum sinnvoll und möglich scheint, so kleine Zwiebelchen zu bündeln. Für kilib(-sum-gaz) bleibt dann "Bündel (ausgewachsener gaz-Zwiebeln). Diese grossen Zwiebeln werden zur Saatzucht wieder gesteckt. Damit hätten wir genau die zu erwartende EinEin anderer Ur-111-Text beschreibt den teilung (s. oben Abschnitt 3-4). Zwiebelanbau in Saatfurchen: 40-15-1 3bsin (ab3bsin) sum-sikil nag-dull-ga-bi 0.0.1 2% sila-ta sum-sikilbi 1.3.0 7% sila "39 Saatfurchen sikil-Zwiebeln, in die jeweilige Bewässerungs(furche) je 12,5 Liter - die betreffenden sikil-Zwiebeln: 487,5 Liter" (YOS 4 307:l-3)
Ernte Verhältnis von Anbau- und Deimel 1925,20 Erntemenge sikil- ~urchel 100 m2- Furche 100 m2 Furche 100 m2 -- -- - - - -Liter --Zwiebel ca.12 12,5-24 31,5- - 28zitertlT2;6, 1:2,24-1:2 I I I I I I I I tu der I sikil- Ca. 6 Ca. 6,6 41,5 46 Liter 1:6,9 1:6,9 Liter Zwiebel
I
I
1
L
1
1
1
1
Da sich die sikil-Zwiebeln aus den Steckzwiebeln entwickeln, muss man zur Ermittlung der Mengenverhältnisse zwischen Anbau und Ernte nur diese miteinander vergleichen. So entwickeln sich aus Ca. 6 Litern Steckzwiebeln Ca. 31.5 Liter sikil-Zwiebeln je Furche (Verhältnis 1:5,25) oder auf 100 m 5 umgerechnet: 6,6 zu 28 Liter (Verhältnis 1:4,2). Da nur ein Text rnit in Hohlmassen gemessenen Erträgen vorliegt, ist die Basis für die oben errechneten Relationen schwach und entsprechend unsicher. Die oben erwähnte Ernte-Masseinheit gu-16 dürfte deutlich grösser als sa gewesen sein, da man von einer Furche zwischen 1,8 und 2,3 gu-16 GUDZwiebeln (Deimel 1925 Nr. 5) und 14,6 gu-15 za-ha-ti-'Zwiebeln' erntete (ibid. Nr. 29). Wenn sich bei einer Anbaumenge zwischen 6 und 7 Litern GUD-Zwiebeln, bzw. 3-6 Litern za-ha-ti-Zwiebeln, das Volumen um einen Faktor 2,5 vergrösserte, dürfte ein gu-15 in Liter umgerechnet mindestens zwischen 1-2 Liter umfasst haben. Auf einen ähnlichen Wert kommt inan, wenn man Anbaumenge und gu-16 bei der Ernte vergleicht:
(sum-) za-ha- ti
I
Anbau
Ernte
Ca. 3-6 Liter
15,5; 16,6 gu-ia41
I
r ~ ~ der Direkt vergleichbare Erntetexte aus der Zeit der ~ k k a d - ~ e r r s c h eoder M.W. der einzige Text mit 3. Dynastie von Ur sind mir nicht bekannt. Angabe der abgeernteten Feldfläche ist ITT 2, 4417:lff.:
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
"30 'Traglasten' Zwiebel'köpfe', 30 gC sag-sum 48 'Traglasten' Zwiebeln 2. Qualität, 50-15-2 gG sum-Cs a-xa-bi 1 / 3 (biir) iku die betreffende Feld(f1äche beträgt) 6 iku". Der grösste Unsicherheitsfaktor bei der Interpretation ist die Masseinheit gG. ES handelt sich mit Sicherheit nicht um die Gewichtseinheit gG "Talent", sondern um das in altakkadischer und Ur-111-Zeit häufig bezeugte Geht man von der Zwiebelmass mit den Untereinheiten kilib und sa.43 Annahme aus, dieses gC ("Last, Traglast") entspräche etwa 15 Litern, so wären auf dieser Fläche von 6 iku (ca. 21.600 m2) 1170 Liter geerntet Dieser Ertrag liegt allerdings sehr worden (oder Ca. 5,5 Liter je 100 m2). viel niedriger, als nach den oben zitierten präsargonischen Texten zu erwarten ist. Möglicherweise ist das Fassungsvermögen eines gG höher anzusetzen.
7. Teile der Zwiebeln In der hier zur Diskussion stehenden Zeitspanne werden die Zwiebelteile unterschiedlich benannt, was die Deutung sehr erschwert. Oben unter 4. haben wir die unbedingt nötigen Pflanzenteile genannt. Der Begriff numun "Saatgut" fehlt m.W. in den präsargonischen Texten 7.1 aus Lagaz, dafür findet man ihn häufiger in den Dokumenten aus der Zeit der 3. Dynastie von Ur. numun-sum(-ma numun-sum-gaz numun-sum-sikil46 Es bleibt aber zu fragen, ob mit numun von Zwiebeln wirklich immer ZwiebelSamen gemeint ist, denn die Texte nennen zum Teil sehr grosse Mengen: z.B. TCL 5, 6037.iii.2f. 900 Liter und Gregoire, AAS 200.vt.6 sogar 7050 Liter. Auch werden in Nies, UDT 73A:l 60 Liter "Köpfe" von sikil-Zwiebeln als Saatgut (numun-38) bezeichnet. Daraus muss man wohl folgern, dass Steckzwiebeln auch als numun bezeichnet werden konnten. Auffällig ist, dass es keinen Ur-111-zeitlichen Beleg für numun von ga-ra~47 und ~ a - h a - d i n gibt. ~~ Zu den relativ häufig bezeugten Preisen für numun-sum-gaz und numunsum-sikil s. 8.10. 7.2 Steckzwiebeln In den Texten aus der 3. Dynastie von Ur wurde, wie unter 7.1 ausgeführt, die Steckzwiebel sag, wörtlich "Kopf" genannt. Bestätigung findet dies z.B. durch YOS 4, 307:lff., wonach 487,5 Liter sikil-Zwiebeln in 39 Furchen angebaut wurden. Dieselben Zwiebeln bezeichnete man in den Zeilen 11, 13 und 24 also ~a~-sum-sikil.~9 In den präsargonischen Texten scheint tu der Begriff für Steckzwiebel zu sein, dies vernutete bereits Bauer 1972, S. 82 zu IV.6. Für diese Deutung sprechen m.E. die oben in Kapitel 6 , Tabelle 2 aufgezeigten Unterschiede zwischen sum-sikil und tu-sum-sikil. Da bei tu der Unterschied zwischen Anbauund Erntemenge am grössten ist, kann es sich kaum um etwas anderes handeln als um Steckzwiebeln. Für die folgenden Zwiebelsorten sind tu bezeugt (s. auch Kapitel 6, Tabelle 1): sum-dilmun50
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch u n d Zwi c b c l i i
~um-~i3immar51 sum-sikil (gal-galltur-tur)52 Auffälligerweise fehlt tu m.W. aber von sum-gaz, S U ~ - G U Dund ~ ~ (sum-)zaha-ti .54 Dies könnte bei sum-gaz Zufall sein, sum-GUD und (sum-)za-ha-ti sind dagegen so häufig belegt, dass es für das Fehlen einen Grund geben muss. Falls sum-GUD "Frühzwiebeln" (sum-garg) sein sollten, wie J. Bauer vermutet,55 könnte man das Fehlen von tu dahingehend erklären, dass man diese Zwiebeln in der Regel grün erntete und dass die einzige Fortpflanzung dieser Zwiebeln mit kleinen Steckzwiebeln erfolgte, also deren genauere Da Zwiebelsamen Bezeichnung unnötig war (s. dazu noch Kapitel 8.8). (numun) in den präsargonischen Texten aus LagaZ fehlt, spricht vieles dafür, dass tu in dieser Zeit auch den Samen bezeichnete. Unter 7.1 hatten wir ja umgekehrt für die Ur-111-Zeit festgestellt, dass numun bisweilen auch die Steckzwiebeln einschliesst. 7.3 Zwiebelknolle Wie unter 7.2 ausgeführt, scheint sag in der Zeit der 3. Dynastie von Ur sowohl die Steckzwiebel als auch die ausgewachsene Zwiebelknolle zu bezeichnen. Beide wurden offenbar nicht immer terminologisch genau auseinandergehalten, wie wohl die folgende Textpassage zeigt: 39.600 sa-sum-gaz 6 gin-ta sag-sum-gaz-bi 13.1.0 gur 19.800 sa-za-ha-din 4 gln-ta sag-za-ha-din-bi 4.2.0 gur "39600 Bund der gaz-Zwiebel zu je 6/60 Liter die betreffenden 'Köpfe' der gaz-Zwiebel 3960 Liter; 19800 Bund zahatin zu je 4/60 Litern die betreffenden 'Köpfe' der zahatin-Zwiebel 1320 Liter." (Reisner, TUT 12l.iv.lff.) Aus diesem Text ergibt sich, wie klein die Zwiebelköpfe gewesen sein müssen, denn 1 Bund entsprach 1/10 bzw. 1/15 Liter. Vermutet man in 1 Bund 10 Zwiebeln, SO passten sie in ein Messgefäss von 1/10 bzw. 1/15 Liter, also rund 100 bzw. nur 66 cm3 (zu sa s. noch Anm. 35). Für die Doppelbedeutung Zwiebelknolle/Steckzwiebel für sag spricht m.E. auch TCL 5, 5680. vii.20 "900 'Liter' Köpfe von sikil-Zwiebeln, nicht sortiert"56 (3.0.0 sagsum-sikil igi nu-sigg) da mit diesem Sortieren wohl das Trennen in kleine, mittlere und grosse Zwiebeln gemeint ist. Die kleinen dienen bei der nächsten Pflanzung als Steckzwiebeln, die mittleren werden gegessen und die grossen zum Erzeugen von Samen benutzt. In Gregoire, AAS 200.ii1.4f., lOf., v1.5f. und Reisner, TUT 121.v.8f. werden sikil-Zwiebel'kö fe' vor 'Samen' der sikil-Zwiebel genannt. Nach den Mengenverhältnissen dürften mit ersterer Bezeichnung mittlere imd grosse sikil-Zwiebeln, mit den 'Samenv aber Steckzwiebeln gemeint sein (s. dazu 7.1).
g7
In den Erntetexten aus der Zeit der Akkad-Dynastie stehen 'Zwiebelköpfe' (sag-sum) vor ' zweitklassigen7- Zwiebeln' (sum-6s) 58 Vielleicht sind damit grosse. bzw. mittelgrosse Zwiebelknollen gemeint.
.
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
I
7.4 'Frühlingszwiebeln' (grüne Jungzwiebeln). Oben unter 7.2 wurde die Vermutung geäusserc, sum-GUD könnte eine der Bezeichnungen für grüne Jungzwiebeln sein. Nach den präsargonischen Erntetexten misst man diese sumGUD in der Regel in der Masseinheit gu-15, wohl ein grösserer Zwiebelbund .59 Wenn sich aber an diesen Zwiebeln schon grössere Köpfe gebildet Gleiches gilt auch für andere hatten, mass man sie in ~ohlmass.60 Zwiebelsorten besonders die 'Dattelpa1m'-Zwiebel (~um-~iFimmar)61 und za-ha-ti.62~63
1
In den Texten aus der Ur-111-Zeit konnte ich bisher keine eindeutigen Hinweise für grüne Zwiebeln finden, obwohl selbstverständlich auch in dieser Epoche grüne Zwiebeln gegessen wurden.
Tabelle 3: Bezeichnung der Zwiebelgewächse
(
Präsarg. Lagax ca. 2400-2350
--~um-gaz ---
xx
~um-giximmar sum-GUD sum-kur sum-sikil si4-lum tu-sum ?
xxx xxxx
~um-dilmun
sum-tu
---
X
---
X
xxxx X XX
( I
Sargonisch ca. 2300-2200
~um-GAM.GAM sum-gaz
-----
xxx I ~um-gaz sum-gi-gi X
~um-sikil
xxx
~um-tu-da sum-TU .LU
X
---
---
-------
~um-sikil
---
, xx
= =
sehr selten mehrfach
xxxx
---
, X
XXXX X
---
xx
~um-Eir-dili sum-dutU sum-ha-din (sum-)za-ha-din
sum versehen. Ganz deutlich wird dies auch in den lexikalischen Listen aus Fara und Abu Salabikh: Den Zwiebelsorten ist stets das Determinativ sum nachgestellt, während garaFqSar erst in der Sektion mit Determinativ sar f 0 1 ~ t . 6 ~ Dies unterscheidet es ganz klar von za-ha-ti/din, das häufiger als sum bezeichnet wird65 und in den lexikalischen Listen meist zwischen den Sektionen sum und ga-raF zu finden ist.66 In den zweisprachigen Texten von Ebla begegnen für garaX4sar zwei Entsprechungen: 1. karagu und 2. haqanu/hazanu, wobei letztere offenbar der Oberbegriff war. 67 Aus den Wirtschaftstexten von Ebla ist mir nur ein Beleg, ohne weiteren Aussagewert bekannt (ARET 4, 9.Rs.i.5).
In literarischen Texten begegnet ga-raFsar überraschend häufig: Die Göttin EreCkigal reisst ihr wegen Trauer ungepflegtes Haar wie ga-raxsar aus. In einer Fabel sagt der Fuchs zu seiner Frau: "Komm! Wir wollen die Stadt Uruk wie garaF4sar zwischen den Zähnen knacken". In Dumuzis Traum Z. 118 werden die Dämonen als Wesen beschrieben, die weder Fisch noch garaFsar essen.69
X
~um-GüD
---
Häufigkeit der Belege:
Ur-111-Dynastie ca. 2100-2025
---
---
sum-Hir-dili
I
~noblauchund Zwiebeln
Die präsargonischen Texte bieten m.W. bisher nur zwei Zeugnisse (Edzard, Sumerische Rechtsurkunden 117.i.15', ii.26.17', iii.25'; 118.iii. 5'; M.S.). Saatgut erwähnen zwei Texte aus der Akkad-Zeit (RA 55 [I9611 94 = Gelb 1965, 58 = Westenholz, OSP 2, 184:l; Meek, HSS 10, 11:3). Belege aus der Ur-111-Zeit sind selten - Saatgut: Sigrist, Syracuse 285:1, und neben gaz- und sikil-Zwiebeln als geerntetes Gemüse ibid. 325:3.b8 Der Saatgut-Text ist in den XI. Monat datiert (etwa FebruarIMärz). Dieses Datum scheint für Aussaat auf dem Feld zu spät, doch in einem baumbestandenen Garten durchaus noch möglich.
8. Zwiebelsorten. In den Texten des 3. Jahrtausends finden wir viele Zwiebelsorten. Zur besseren Übersicht seien sie tabellarisch aufgelistet.
Fara/Abu S./~bla ca. 2600-2450
Waetzoldt
X X XX
xxx
Nach den Wirtschaftstexten aus dem 3. Jt. wurde garaF4sar sehr viel In der aB Zeit scheint es eher seltener angebaut als (sum-)za-ha-ti/din. umgekehrt gewesen zu sein.70 Das Gemüse ga-raF muss sich deutlich von Zwiebeln unterscheiden, da es nicht mit sum, sondern mit sar determiniert wird. Die zitierten literarischen Stellen könnten gut zu einer Bedeutung Porree (Lauch) passen. 8.2 sum-babbar "'helle Zwiebel"'. Diese Sorte begegnet nur in einem Ur111-zeitlichen Text aus Nippur: Ein Darlehensnehmer soll seine Schuld 'zurückzahlen', offenbar indem er (auf dem Feld) des Gläubigers diese S. noch 8.15. 'Zwiebeln' erntet .71
xxx = häufig xxxx = besonders häufig
Im 3. Jt. gibt es mindestens 16 wichtigere Bezeichnungen für Zwiebelgewächse. Da man kaum annehmen kann, dass tatsächlich so viele Sorten auch unterschieden wurden, liegt die Vermutung sehr nahe, dass ein- und dieselbe Zwiebelsorte im Laufe der Jahrhunderte verschiedene Namen hatte. Für uns ist es heute unmöglich festzustellen, welche verschiedenen Bezeichnungen eine bestimmte Sorte tragen konnte. Im folgenden sollen die Zwiebelsorten in alphabetischer Reihenfolge besprochen werden. In den lexikalischen Texten wird ga-raEsar 8.1 ga-raFSar/garaF4sar. immer deutlich von den Zwiebeln getrennt und niemals mit dem Determinativ
8.3 sum-dilmun "Dilmun-'Zwiebel'". Diese Zwiebelsorte ist nach der Insel Dilmun, dem heutigen Bahrein benannt. Sie wurde aber regelmässig in LagaS angebaut. Es handelt sich folglich keineswegs um ~ m ~ o r t Ob . ~damit ~ eine Zwiebel- oder Knoblauch-Sorte gemeint ist, muss offen bleiben.
8.4 sum-GAM.GAM. Nur 2 Texte aus altakkadischer Zeit erwähnen diese Sorte. Monatlich wurden davon 3 nag-ku5-Behälter für die 'Tafel des Stadtfürsten' verbraucht. Dieser Umstand und die Nennung vor den gaz- und sikil-Zwiebeln sprechen für eine besondere, seltenere orte .73
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
I
Diese Sorte wird erstmalig in einem präsargonischen Wirt8.5 sum-gaz. schaftstext erwähnt, wonach sie auf einem Feld neben Flachs und si4-lumGemüse angebaut wurde.74 In Texten aus der Zeit der Akkad-Dynastie finden D sie etwa ebenso häufig Erwähnung wie ~ u m - s i k i l ,gleiches ~~ gilt für die ur-111-~eit.76 Beide Zwiebelsorten haben fast den gleichen Preis (s. 8.10) und werden sortiert.77 Saatgut (numun) erwähnen die Texte mehrfach. Da die Höchstmenge nur 144 Liter beträgt,'18 dürfte es sich eher um Samen und nicht um Steckzwiebeln handeln. Die Zwiebelknollen heissen ~ a ~ - s u m - ~ a z ~ ~ und werden gelegentlich gebündelt, wobei 1 Bund (sa) 1/10 'Liter' (6 gln) oder 2/15 'Liter' (8 gPn) beinhaltet.80 Die Texte 5 und 6 registrieren den Anbau dieser Zwiebelsorte auf den Die bestellten Flächen sind recht Äckern mehrerer Tempel (s. Kapitel 6). unterschiedlich gross, von Ca. 0,6 bis zu etwa 1,5 Hektar: NanSe-Tempel Dumuzi-Tempel Nindara-Tempel Ningirsu-Tempel Namhani-'Haus'
18 108 410 270 22
sar = ca. 648 m2 sar = ca. 3888 m2 sar = ca.14760 n2 sar = Ca. 9720 m2 sar = ca. 792 m2
Mehrere Holzmörser für sum-gaz-Zwiebeln nebst Klöppeln nennt ein Text unbekannter ~erkunft.8~ Diese Zwiebeln konnten also zerstossen werden. G. Dalman berichtet in Arbeit und S i t t e i n PaZästim 2, 153, dass Pflüger beim Mittagsmahl zerstossene Zwiebeln ässen. Einen steinernen Zwiebelmörser (na4esi-kum-sum-ka) nennt Owen, NATN 890:6. Snell 1982, 176f. übersetzt numun-sum-gaz "crushed onion seed" und sumgaz "crushed onions". Doch fehlt eine Begründung für diese Übersetzung. Da gaz in dieser Zwiebelbezeichnung wohl "zerstossen, zerteilen" bedeutet, ist sum-gaz "Zwiebel zum Zerstossen", zu übersetzen (vgl. schon Gelb 1965, suitable for crushing"). Es handelt sich folglich um eine 57 "onion Bezeichnung für Esszwiebel, was mit der Tatsache gut übereinstimmt, dass sie z.B. den Boten in der Provinz Umma neben Brot, Bier und anderen Nahrungsmitteln als Verpflegung gegeben wurde.82
...
In den lexikalischen Listen begegnet sum-gaz-za nur in dem altbabylonischen Nippur-Vorläufer (MSL 10, 122 C 8), in einem anderen Vorläufer finden wir nur sum-al-gaz-ze (ibid. 118:48b, nicht aber in der kanonischen Serie HARra=hubullu XVII). Der Terminus war also nach der Ur-111-Zeit ungebräuchlich geworden, wie die Wirtschaftstexte bestätigen. Zusammenfassung: Da die Terminologie für sum-gaz weitestgehend mit der von sum-sikil (s. 8.10) übereinstimmt, beide Zwiebelsorten etwa gleich teuer sind und in vergleichbaren Mengen angebaut werden, können die Unterschiede zwischen beiden nur gering sein. Am naheliegendsten ist es in sum-sikil die hellen Zwiebeln und in sum-gaz die roten bis rot-braunen Zwiebeln zu sehen. In einem Vorläufer (MSL 10, 118:48f.) folgt sum-al-gaz-zasar auch was für obige These sprechen könnte. Vgl. den Beitrag von auf sum-hu~,8~ M. Stol, der ausführt, dass rote Zwiebeln im heutigen Iraq häufig sind (P* 61).
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
8.6 sum-gi-dU/sum-gi-gi. In der lexikalischen Liste aus Fara/~buSalabikh wird sum-gi-dU am Anfang der Sektion genannt (vor ~ikil-liu-~i-du-~~?: Ob ein Zusammenhang mit den nur einmal in einem Ur-111-Text bezeugten sum-gi-gi (MVN 1, 259.i.11 = ii.19 = iii.10) besteht, muss offen bleiben. Es wird nach sum-gaz in der grossen Menge von 26 'Traglasten' (g6) genannt. 8.7 sum-giliimmar "'Datte1palm'-Zwiebeln". Vor Veröffentlichung des altbabylonischen Textes CBS 7094 (RA 60 I19661 8f.) mit seinen syllabischen Schreibungen wurde sum-Zag, "gute Zwiebel" gelesen und übersetzt. Diese Zwiebelsorte wurde offenbar wegen Fhrer stärker gefächerten grünen Triebe mit den Zweigen der Dattelpalme verglichen. Wie oben unter 7.4 versucht wurde zu zeigen, erntete man die 'Datte1palm'-Zwiebeln zum Teil grün. Sie sind in den lexikalischen Texten von Fara und Abu Salabikh bezeugt und bis in die präsargonische Zeit angebaut, bzw. mit diesem Namen benannt worden. Der Anbau erfolgte mit grossen und kleinen Steckzwiebeln (tu).85 Ein Erntetext erwähnt 'Dattelpalm1-Zwiebeln mit gut ausgebildeter Zwiebel (sagbi Xa6-ga)86 (s. noch 8.8). 8.8 sum-GUD. Wie oben bei 7.4 ausgeführt, handelt es sich bei sum-GUD wahrscheinlich um 'Frühlingszwiebeln'.87 Sie können zusammen mit der Dilmun-Zwiebel angebaut ~erden.8~ Zu den Anbau- und Erntemengen, s. Kapitel 6. Die relativ niedrige Erntemenge spricht m.E. auch für die Deutung als Frühlingszwiebel. Sm-GUD wird meist in Qualitäten eingeteilt und zwar in suhg-ha und ~ s ( - b i ) ~und ~ seltener in lim-mag0/15m-magl und ~ a ~ - ~ a . ~ ~ Auch die 'Dattelpalml-Zwiebeln (sum-giliimrnar) werden in die erstgenannten Qualitäten suhg-ha und CS(-bi)93 geschieden, ebenso wie Flachs und za-hati.94 Zur Lesungsmöglichkeit sum-gar5 s. Abschnitt 7.2 und Anm. 154.
.
Die Ubereinstimmung mit der Qualitätsterminologie für Flachsg5 ist m.E als Bestätigung für die Deutung als grüne Zwiebel aufzufassen. Denn bei Flachs kommt es ebenfalls auf die gute Entwicklung des Stengels (er darf nicht verholzen), nicht auf die Entwicklung von Früchten oder wie bei der Zwiebel auf Samen und Knolle an. Wie oben schon angedeutet, besteht auch zwischen den SUPGUD und den sum-giliimmar eine ziemliche Übereinstimmung in den Qualitätsbezeichnungen. Noch deutlicher wird die Verwandschaft durch die folgende Wendung aus Erntetexten: n 811-16 sum-giliimmar sum-GUD-ta eta-ri-ri "n Bündel 'Dattelpalml-Zwiebeln von den GUD-Zwiebeln eingesammelt".96 Dies ist vielleicht dahingehend zu deuten, dass sum-GUD und sum-giliimmar nur verschiedene Entwicklungsstadien ein- und derselben Zwiebelsorte sind. Oder aber, dass sie vermischt gesät und jetzt ausgeDagegen könnte allerdings sprechen, dass von sum-GUD lichtet wurden. ebenso wie von sum-giHimmar notiert wird, dass die Zwiebelknollen gut ent, wird allerdings auch von za-ha-ti wickelt sind (sag-bi ~ a ~ - ~ a 9 7 )dies gesagt.98 Der Terminus sum-GUD kommt nur in präsargonischen Texten aus LagaH und in einem altakkadischen ~ e x vor. t ~ ~ Wie diese Zwiebel später genannt wurde, liess sich nicht klären.
8.9 sum-kur 'Berg-Zwiebel'. Die lexikalischen Listen aus Fara/~buSalabikh und Ebla erwähnen diese Sorte. Letztere Liste bietet als eblaitische
-
33
-
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
dass sum-sikil eher eine Kochzwiebel war, bei der aber auch noch nach Herkunft unterschieden wurde. Wie oben unter 8.5 ausgeführt wurde, handelt es sich dazu im Gegensatz bei sum-gaz mit ziemlicher Sicherheit um eine roh gegessene Zwiebel.
In zwei präsargonischen Texten findet Entsprechung ha-sa-niim KUR^^ .Io0 Miöglicherman $um-GUD-kur-ra " 'Frühlingszwiebeln' des Berglandes". lol weise handelt es sich um eine Wildzwiebel, die in geringem Umfang in Mesopotamien angebaut wurde. 8.10 sum-sikil "helle Zwiebel". Das 'Wörterbuch' von ~blalO2 erwähnt sumsar-sikil mit Gleichung zu-mag-ki-Zu, während die Fara/Abu SalabikhListen nur sikil-Zu-gi-du-2-sum und sikil-(~e~)-~u~-suml~~ nennen. Dabei bleibt unklar, ob mit letzteren Bezeichnungen wirklich die sikil-zwiebelSorte gemeint ist. In den präsargonischen, altakkadischen und Ur-111zeitlichen Wirtschaftstexten ist sum-sikil eine besonders häufig genannte Zwiebelsorte. Es handelt sich daher sicherlich nicht um Knoblauch, wie 2.B. noch Gelb 1965, 57 und im Anschluss daran Snell 1982, 176f., vermuteten. Es gibt für die Deutung als Zwiebelsorte viele Argumente, hier nur die zwei wichtigeren: Nach den Ur-111-zeitlichen Wirtschaftstexten stimmen die Preise mit a) sum-gaz - soweit dies bei Preisen für ein Naturprodukt überhaupt möglich ist - überein. Für ein Sekel Silber konnte man folgende Elengen Zwiebeln (in Litern) kaufen:
I
Zwiebeln
d
sum-sikil Samen igi nu-sigg "nicht sortierte (zwiebeln)" igi-saglsigg "sortierte (zwiebeln)"
sum-gaz sum-sikil Laga'S Umma 1 unbek. Herkunf t LagaX I Umma I I I I 100106' 51107' 100108 100104 ca.212105 175,80, - (72, 7511 120109 ( 60, 150, - 1 300~1~
I
I -
I
V
-
1 100, - - - ca. I
111, L3U ca.300
I
I -
I I
ca. 300114
-
Die Zahl der Preisangaben für sum-gaz ist sehr viel kleiner, daher ergeben sich für diese Zwiebelsorte weit geringere Schwankungen.
b) Sum-sikil Zwiebeln werden ebenso sorgfältig sortiert wie sum-gaz. Nach TCL 5, 6037 .iii.4f f., sortierte man von 600 Litern nur 50% aus, um 300 Liter "sortierte, helle Zwiebeln" zu erhalten. Bei Nikolsky 1914, 403:4f. mussten nur 33 1/32: ausgesondert werden.l14 Dieses Sortieren ist notwendig, um die Zwiebeln in Steckzwiebeln, Esszwiebeln und Zwiebeln für Samenzucht einzuteilen. In den präsargonischen Texten wird einige Male zwischen grossen und kleinen sikil-Zwiebeln unterschieden.l15 In den altakkadischen Texten werden die 'hellen Zwiebeln' fast so häufig erwähnt wie die gaz-Zwiebeln.116 Nur Westenholz, OSP 2, 116 unterscheidet sum-sikil-ru7 "helle Zwiebeln (für) ~ u ~ ~ e ' von ' ~ lden ~ sikil-Zwiebeln. Eine Liste von Nahrungsmitteln für die Königin Abisimti unterscheidet "2 Traglasten helle Zwiebeln aus? MarhaSi" und 10 Traglasten helle Zwiebeln für Suppe" (ITT 2, 3802:9f.). Dies kann man vielleicht dahingehend deuten,
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Der Anbau der hellen Zwiebeln erfolgte zwischen dem VI. und VIII. Monat,l18 die Ernte wohl meist im I. Monat (~~ril/Mai).ll~ S. ausführlicher zu Anbau und Ernte Kapitel 6.
P
8.11 si4-lum(sar). Diese Pflanze wird mit Zwiebeln angebaut, geerntet und ~~ unter sum "Zwiebel" ~ u b s u m m i e r t . ~Ihrem Namen wird allerdings nie das Zeichen sum voran estellt, sondern sie erhält einige Male das Determinativ sar ("Gemüse"). 12f Ihr Anbau erfolgte in Gärten oder auf Feldern durch ~5rtner.l~~ Nach einem Text setzte man diese Pflanze in einem Bewässerungsgraben (pag),.Iz3 im Gegensatz zu Zwiebeln wird aber der Vorgang des Anbaus nicht sur, sondern g5-ga(-de) "um zu setzen" genannt.124 RTC 22. ii .2 verzeichnet zwei Kupfergegenstände mit Namen si4-~u~urudu. Da in diesem Text nur Werkzeuge genannt sind, dürften das Gerät und der Pflanzenname kaum miteinander zu verbinden sein. Eine Übersetzung des Pflanzennamens scheint derzeit unmöglich. Nach den genannten Mengen war diese Pflanze auf jeden Fall von geringer Bedeutung. Ein ~ e x t l gibt ~ ~an, die Knolle (wörtlich "Kopf") sei gut entwickelt (sag-bi Eiag-ga). Dies könnte für eine der verschiedenen Riibensorten sprechen, doch wird sie nicht, wie wenigstens bei den kleineren Rüben üblich, gesät, sondern man liefert junge Pflanzen zum Setzen bundweise an.
8.12 sum-Xir-dili "'Zwiebel', bestehend aus einer Zehe", "einziger Knoblauch". Hierbei handelt es sich wohl um einzehiger Knoblauch, denn - wie ich aus eigener Gartenerfahrung weiss - kommt dies gelegentlich bei Knoblauch vor. Dies ist m.W. keine besondere Knoblauchsorte, sondern nur eine Zufälligkeit im Wachstum. Die Sumerer und später die Babylonier haben derar-tigem Knoblauch aber offensichtlich besondere Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt, denn er kommt in den lexikalischen Listen bis in neuassyrische Zeit vor.126 In Ur-111-zeitlichen Texten begegnet er unter diesem Namen nur in Nippur und war dort relativ billig: für 1 Sekel Silber erhielt man 240 'Liter'.127 Ob das in Pinches, Berens 34:3 genannte sum-sag-dili die entsprechende Bezeichnung in der Provinz LagaS ist, muss bezweifelt werden, da es nach (kilib-)sum-gaz folgt und sag-dili nach dem oben in Kapitel 6.2 Gesagten wohl die Steckzwiebeln der gaz-Zwiebeln sind. Dies gilt, obwohl sum-Sir dili ebenso wie sum-sag-dili mit t u r u (AHw 1373) geglichen sind.
8.13 sum-tu-da. Diese nur in einem altakkadischen Text aus ~ m m a ?vorkommende Bezeichnung könnte in BIN 8, 231:5 = RA 59 [I9651 123 für Steckzwiebel oder Brutzwiebel stehen (davor sum-GUD, sum-za-ha-ti, sum-sikil). Vgl. dazu präsarg. tu, s. Kapitel 7.2. 8.14 sum-Tu.Lfi T~.~fi-~wiebeln findet man nur in Texten aus der AkkadZeit, meist neben sum-sikil und ~ u m - ~ a z Wie . ~ bei ~ ~ diesen handelt es sich
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
um zum Verzehr bestimmte Zwiebeln, da sie für die Tafel des Stadtfürsten und des ~ ö n i ~ sgeliefert l ~ ~ wurden. Weil meist in Hohlmassen oder Behältnissen gemessen - nur einmal bundweise (Westenholz, OSP 2, 129.iv.17) - , dürfte es sich bei sum-TU.LU um ein ausgewachsenes Zwiebelgewächs handeln. Ein aus Umma 8.15 s ~ m - ~ u t u"Sonnen-'Zwiebel"*. Der Ur-111-zeitlicher Kontext ist jedochText so zerstört, führt [slum-dutu mit Preisangabe auf. Man vergleiche sum-babbar(UD) dass keine genaueren Angaben möglich sind. (Kapitel 8.2), das sich auch ~um-<~'utu lesen liesse. 8.16 (sum-)za-ha-ti/din, sum-ha-din. Präsargonisch und altakkadisch begegWie der Feldname gana-za-ha-ti-nanet die Schreibung (s~m-)za-ha-ti.~~O ka-kam131 zeigt, hat das Wort za-ha-ti n-Auslaut, wie dies durch die jüngere Schreibweise bestätigt wird. In der Zeit der 2. Dynastie von ~ a ~ a 4 1 3 ~ und der 3. Dynastie von Ur wird (~um-)za-ha-din,l~~aber auch die Kurzform (~um-)ha-dinl3~ üblich. Dass beide Formen wirklich 135 dieselbe Pflanze bezeichnen, ergibt sich aus Varianten in zwei Texten. Die präsargonischen Texte aus LagaX registrieren Anbau und Ernte von (sum-)za-ha-ti, s. Kapitel 6.1 und 6.3. Ein Ur-111-zeitlicher Text aus dem V. Monat (~ugust/~e~tember) berichtet von 6 Marinern, die je 5 sar Feld hacken müssen. Falls die Spuren richtig gedeutet sind, steht in Z. 8 'zaldin, möglicherweise eine weitere Nebenform zu za-ha-din. Bei Richtigkeit dieser Annahme hatten die Männer das Feld für die Bestellung mit za-(ha-) V g l auch Kapitel 5; das dort Gesagte braucht hier din vorbereitet.136 nicht wiederholt zu werden. Der m.W. einzige altakkadische Text (BIN 8, 213:2) erwähnt die Lieferung von 82 Bund dieser 'Zwiebel'sorte. Die Texte aus der Ur-111-Zeit geben Auskunft über das Sortieren: :flN
8 sila sum-ha-din 1,259.i.19f.: 0.0.2 sum-ha-din-igi-sag-bi 0.0.1
Text Nr .4.Vs .l-3 : 0.4. '3?' za-ha-din kilib-ba za-ha-din-igi-Xag-bi 0.2.1 3 sila
"1056 116 Liter Z., das betreffende Drittel hat man 'herausgehen' lassen, 2112 113 Liter sind das betreffende Z."
...
Die erste Zahl ist ganau halb so gross wie die zweite. Bei diesem Text scheint es sich um eine Jahresberechnung zu handeln, in die Ernteerträge an Gerste, Gemüse, Saatgut und sonstige Produkte der verbucht sind. Die Erzeugung an gaz-Zwiebeln wäre demnach etwa doppelt so hoch wie die der sikil-Zwiebeln. Za-ha-din nimmt dazwischen eine Mittelstellung ein. In der Abrechnung Barton, HLC 3, 137, 362.ii.2ff. sind die Mengenverhältnisse allerdings wieder anders. Von den sikil-Zwiebeln werden weitaus am meisten aufgeführt, von za-ha-din etwas über k und von gaz-Zwiebeln nur 116 dieser Menge. Für alle Texte, die mehrere 'Zwiebelsorten' in grösseren Mengen verbuchen, gilt, dass die Produktion von sum-sikil und sum-gar stets deutlich höher liegt als von (sum- za-ha-din. Die Verhältnisse liegen zwischen Ca. 2:1, 3:l und Ca. 14:1.13
3
wird TUT 121.iv.5ff.:
häufig
gemessen, aber auch
Bund
19.800 sa-za-ha-din 4 gfn-ta sag-za-ha-din-bi 4.2.0 gur "19800 Bund Z. zu je 4/60 (Liter), die betreffenden Z.-Köpfe: 1320 Liter"
Ein Bund za-ha-din ist also kleiner als einer der sikil- und gaz-Zwiebeln mit 6/60 bis 8/60 ~ i t e r . 1 ~Dies ~ könnte vielleicht dahingehend gedeutet werden, dass die Knolle (sag) von za-ha-din kleiner als die der anderen Sorten ist. Wie bei diesen war offenbar dieser Zwiebel-'Kopf' das wichtigste. für 1 Sekel Silber erhält man folgende Mengen in Litern: Umma (sum-za-)ha-din sortiert nicht sortiert
16
-
15, 30, 40~42 ca. 15, 32144 30, 6 0 ~ ~
Herkunft unbekannt 15143
-
~-
Die Preise sind 2 bis 5 mal höher als bei den gaz- und sikil-Zwiebeln (s. Kapitel 8.10). Es muss sich folglich bei za-ha-din um eine Pflanze handeln, deren Anbau aufwendiger, bzw. deren Ertrag sehr viel geringer ist.
"270? (Liter) Z. in Bündeln das betreffende sortierte Z.: 133 Liter" UnNach diesen beiden Texten wurde jeweils etwa die Hälfte aussortiert. verständlich ist mir folgende Textpassage, die möglicherweise auch einen .---. Bezug zum Sortieren hatte:
6 sila 10 gfn za-ha-din gur 3.2.3 igi-3-gal-bi im-ta-2 2 113 sila za-ha-din-bala-bi gur 7.0.1
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Preise;
2 sila
"28 Liter ha-din-'Zwiebeln' die betreffenden sortierten ha-din-'Zwiebeln' 12 Liter"
MVN 2,43.ii.lff.:
Waetzoldt
8.16.3 Auffälli ist, dass für za-ha-din trotz vieler Belege kein Samen nachweisbar ist. 186 Das Wort, bzw seine akkadische Form Buha/utinnu, gebrauchte man noch in 1sin147 und ~ari,l48doch wird es dann ungebräuchlich und sicher durch einen anderen Ausdruck ersetzt. Um Porree kann es sich m.E. bei za-ha-din nicht handeln, da es meist in Hohlmass gemessen wird und eine ausgeprägte Knolle ('Kopf') hat. Nach den präsargonischen 2 QualErnte-Texten werden 3 Qualitäten unterschieden: "gut" (zag;&;), Von einer ität" (6s-bi) und "mit guter 'Zwiebel''' (sag-bi Hag-ga).
.
Waetzoldt
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Furche erntete man fast 15 Bündel (gu-16) ea-ha-ti, bzw. je 100 m2 15 oder 16 Bündel.l5O In den Ur-111-zeitlichen Texten kommen gaz- und sikilZwiebeln meist neben za-ha-din vor, sie bilden sozusagen eine Einheit. 151 In den altakkadischen Texten gehört zu den erstgenannten Zwiebeln sumist es daher nicht abwegig, sum-TU.LU und (sum-)zaT U . L ~ . ~Vielleicht ~~ ha-din gleichzusetzen. Bei der Schreibung in den Ur-111-Texten fällt auf, (surn) dass nur etwa bei der Hälfte der Belege das Zeichen für Zwiebel Bei sumDies gilt auch für die präsargonischen Texte. davorgesetzt wird. sikil und sum-gaz ist dies nie der Fall. Eine Bedeutung Porree (AzZim porrm) lässt sich - wie gesagt - m.E. ausschliessen. Da Samen fehlt und wegen der oben angeführten Fakten (2.B. 'Kopf' und höherer Preis), kommt am ehesten die Schalotte (AzZium ascazonicum) oder eventuell auch Knoblauch in Frage.
k
\
Hier stellen sich zwei Fragen: 1. könnten surn und sumsar verschiedene Zwiebelsorten bezeichnen und 2. welche sumerischen Namen für Knoblauch gab es? SumSar begegnet in präsargonischen Wirtschaftstexten aus LagaH m.W. Zwei altakkadische nicht, man findet dagegen einige Male Texte verbuchen sumsar Nach einem der Texte erhält man für 1 Sekel Silber 144 Liter.155 Ebensowenig Aufschluss darüber, was mit sumsar genau gemeint ist, geben drei Ur-111-zeitliche Texte. Eine Rechtsurkunde behandelt In einem Schuldschein verpflichtet sich jemand, Diebstahl von sumsar.156 für ein Silberdarlehen in sumsar zurückzuzahlen.15' uber Import von sumsar aus Magan berichtet UET 3, 751.Rs.3. Keiner dieser Texte gibt ausreichende Hinweise, ob mit surn und sumsar verschiedene Zwiebelsorten gemeint sein könnten. Dass sumsar der allgemeine Terminus für Knoblauch war, wird m.E. schon durch die geringe Zahl an Belegen äusserst unwahrscheinlich. Einfaches sum kann ebensowenig ein Ausdruck für Knoblauch sein denn in den Botentexten aus Umma wechselt surn mit sa-sum und sa-sum-gaz.1s8 Die gaz-Zwiebel haben wir oben 8.5 versuchsweise als die rot-braune Esszwiebel bestimmt. Eine andere Zwiebelsorte als sum-gaz wird m.W. auch in den grossen Botenlohn-Abrechnungen niemals genannt, man muss daraus schliessen, dass die Boten nur diese Sorte in Umma erhielten. (In LagaF bekommen die Boten überhaupt keine Zwiebeln.) Die Tagesration eines Boten betrug in der Regel 1/12 Liter (5 gfn) Zwiebeln. (Für Knoblauch scheint das etwas viel, doch könnten sich die Essgewolinheiten verändert haben.) In Text 5:8-10 wechselt sumsar-gaz mit sum-gaz, was dafür spricht, dass sar als Determinativ zu gelten hat und ihm keine sinnverändernde Bedeutung zukommt. Zwischen sumsar und surn dürfte folglich im 3. Jahrtausend kein genereller Bedeutungsunterschied bestanden haben. Eine durchgängige ubersetzung mit "Knoblauch" ist m.E. auszuschliessen.159 Schwierigkeiten bereitet derzeit, warum in den altakkadischen Texten aus Nippur bei der Ablieferung von Ernteerträgen nicht in Zwiebelsorten
unterteilt wird, sondern man nur die Angabe der Menge (in nag-kus) findet.160 Bei der Ausgabe von Zwiebeln wird jedoch häufig in Sorten unterschieden.l6l In einigen Texten sieht es fast so aus, wie wenn es eine Dreiteilung in sum, sum-sikil und sum-gaz gäbe.162 Sollte sum-~~.~fi surn in diesen Texten Abkürzung für das sonst an dieser Stelle vorkommende (s. 8.14) sein? Auch in einigen Ur-111-zeitlichen Texten findet man Zwiebeln (surn) ohne l~~ bei mit Zwiebeln benähere Bezeichnung, was besonders bei ~ a a t ~ u toder Nicht auszuschliessen ist bei diesem stelltem Land1b4 auffällig ist. Befund, dass surn regional und zeitlich begrenzt eine besondere Sorte aus der Familie Allium bezeichnete,165 sonst aber allgemein die verschiedenen "ESS-Zwiebelgewächse".
1
I h
I
In dem 'Warterbuch' von Ebla Z. 1076~53wird sumSar mit 9. sumsar/s. ha-za/sa-nGm geglichen. Civil 1984, 86 vertritt die Meinung, h q a n m sei in Ebla ein Oberbegriff für Zwiebelgewächse. M. Stol diskutiert in seinem Beitrag diesen Begriff ebenfalls.
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
I
I
I I
10. Schlussbemerkung. In diesem Beitrag wurde versucht, einen Uberblick über die wichtigeren Bezeichnungen von Gewächsen der Gattung AZZiwn zu geben. Dass keine eindeutigen Identifikationen möglich waren, liegt einerseits an den Zufälligkeiten der Textüberlieferung. stufen und Orten verfügen wir über genügend Material.Nur aus wenigen ZeitWegen des starken Wechsels in der Terminologie bei den ~wiebelmassenl66 undauffällig bei den Zwiebeln selbst sind aber andererseits Vergleiche zwischen den einzelnen Orten und Zeitstufen mit grossen Unsicherheiten behaftet, soweit sie überhaupt möglich sind. Detaillierte Untersuchungen einzelner Textgruppen könnten wohl in einigen Punkten noch Präzisierungen und Berichtigungen bringen. Von der aus Fara und Abu Salabikh bekannten Liste mit 23 Eintragungen sind präsargonisch nur noch 2 (sum-sikil, von surn bezeichneten ~ewächsenI6~ sum-gizimmar), altakkadisch sum-sikil (und garaH4sar) und in der Ur-111Zeit sum-sikil und sum-iir-dili (ebenso garaE4) bezeugt. Ähnliches gilt für die später verwendeten Termini. Selbst bei den etwa 500 Jahre verwendeten Bezeichnungen wie sum-gaz und sum-sikil ist Vorsicht angebracht, da nicht feststeht, ob damit zu allen Zeiten und an allen Orten dieselbe Zwiebelsorte gemeint ist. Mir scheint dies nach meinem derzeitigen Kenntnisstand wenigstens recht fraglich. Da im Laufe der 1. Hälfte des 2. Jahrtausends ein umfangreicher Wandel bei den Zwiebelbezeichnungen eintrat,168 scheint für diese und die folgenden Epochen grösste Zurückhaltung bei Rücker mini,^^^ schlüssen auf die ältere Zeit, gerade bei weiterverwendeten angebracht. Wir können einen häufigen Wechsel in der Terminologie feststellen, doch wissen wir nichts über die Hintergründe. Die Einführung neuer ZwiebelSorten könnte ebenso dahinter stehen wie lokaler Sprachgebrauch, da die präsargonischen Texte aus LagaS, die altakkadischen aus Nippur und vielleicht Umma und die Ur-111-zeitlichen wieder hauptsächlich aus LagaF und Umma stammen. Meist ist die Anzahl der Textzeugnisse aus einem Ort auch zu gering, um festzustellen, ob die dort gebräuchliche Terminologie auch vollständig in den Texten Niederschlag gefunden hat. Der Vergleichbarkeit sind also zum Teil enge Grenzen gesetzt. Ferner musste offen bleiben, nach welchen Kriterien die Bewohner Mesopotamiens im 3. Jt. Gewächse mit Zwiebeln/~nollen unterschieden. War z.B. Farbe und Verwendungsweise, wie bei sum-sikil (8.10) und sum-gaz (8.5) vermutet, ein solches Kriterium? Gehörte Schittlauch auch zu den mit surn bezeichneten Gewächsen einen
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Wae tzoldt
Terminus konnte ich nicht finden - , wurde er überhaupt in grösserem Stil oder nur zum Privatgebrauch angebaut und kommt daher nicht in den Texten vor? Wie wurde der Knoblauch genannt (etwa za-ha-tildin, s. 8.16)?l70 Konnte man mit sum auch einzelne Wurzelgewächse, z.B. Karotten, Radieschen, Rettich oder die verschiedenen Rüben bezeichnen, wie mehrfach vermutet wurde?l71 Welches Gewächs ist mit andahl,l72 das auch einmal in einem Ur-111-Text vorkommt, gemeint?
9 4.2.0 kug-NE gur 10 ni-k6-a gerne-tur ki'lSib ur-mes11 2.2.0 kug-NE kiFib irll-mu leere Zeile Fu-nigfn 0.2.1 2% sila za-ha-din Fu-nigln 1.4.4 5 sila sum-sikil 5 sila sum-gaz Fu-nigln 0.1.0 Fu-nigfn 18.4.0 kug-NE (gur) zi-ga Fu-nigln 2.2.0 kug-NE gur a-gii-a g5-g5 15-i 0.2.4 3% sila, za-ha-din 5 sila sag-sum,-sikil 0.2.1 0.2.2 5 sila sum-gaz 43.4.0(über Rasur) kug-NE (gur) 15-i-am leere Fläche ni-kas7-aka kug-sar 16-dnanna itu-Fe-gurlo-kug mu ur-bl-lum, ki ba-hul -
Viele Fragen, die hoffentlich bald durch neue Untersuchungen und Textfunde zu beantworten sein werden.
ANHANG 173 1.
BM 12941 I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.
8 9 10 11 12 13 I1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rs.111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
(Herkunft LagaH, Datum S 4 5 1 2.XI) ~ ~
12.2.3 kug-NE, gur-lugal 0.3.0 sum-gaz si-i-tum ni-kas7,-aka bal-dub-sag 30.O. 0 kug-NE gur a-Fa-gi-dah-ta 22-15-0.0.2?174 (über Rasur) kug-NE (gur) a-Fa-ambar-lagaFaki ,-ta niri ur-dlama, dumu ur-dig-alima 6.4.5 6 sila za-ha,-din 0.0.3 sum-gaz ki 32-du-ta 2.2.0 sum-sikil gur ki ni-ga-ta leere Zeile Fu-nigfn 64.4.0 ku6-NE, gur-lugal Fu-nigfn 2.2.0 sum-sikil Hu-nigfn 0.4.5 6 sila za-ha-din Fu-nigfn 0.3.3 sum-gaz leere Zeile sag-ni-ga-ra-kam Fa-bi-ta 1.4.4 3 sila sum-sikil gur 0.1.0 3 sila sum-gaz 0.2.1 S slla za-ha-din 12.0.0 ku6-NE gur ~5-dull-lugal 2 sila za-ha-din 15 sa-sum-sikil 8 gfn-ta sag-bi 2 sila 15 sa-sum-gaz 8 gfn-ta sag-bi 2 sila zi-ga ni-SI a-Sa-5,-er6n-da 2.2.0 kug-NE gur s5-du11 en-nu kiSib ur-mes zi-ga lugal
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
2.
BM 13512
(Herkunft LagaH, Datum AS 3.11)
1 sag-sum-sikil, gur-lugal nag-dull-ga,-bi 0.2.5 (über Rasur) ki-lugal-g6-ga1,-ta 16-uF-gi-na Fu ba- ti giri 6-gii?-nun ( über Rasur) itu-guq-du-b1,-sar-sar mu gu-za-den,-lfl-15 ba-dlm 3.
BM 13679
(unterer Teil einer 4.kol. Tafel, mehr als die Hälfte abgebrochen; Herkunft LagaX, Datum nicht erhalten)
1' [ 16-[tir] 2' 0.'4' .5 Fe-16 3' 1.0.3 M///&175 gur 4' 0.0.1 4 sila numun-za-hi-li 5' 56 kilib-sum-sikil, 1 sila-ta 6 sila 6' [slum-bi 0.0.5 7' [60]+50 kilib-sum-gaz 213, sila-ta 8' [sum-galz-bi 0.1.1 3 113 sila I1 1' 'Fu-nigfnl 1+[ ] '213 silal [gti] ,-tur-tur gur 2' Fu-nigln 0.0.4 5 gln 6-tir 3' Fu-nigfn 1.1.0 1 sila Fe-16 4' Eu-nigfn 2.0.2 5% sila'~~/&/,~~5 gur 5' Fu-nigln 0.0.1 4 sila dumun-za-hi-li 6' Fu-nigfn 0.0.5 6 sila sum-sikil I
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
7' 8' 9' 10' 11'
Waetzoldt
numun-bi 9 sila sumsar-gaz ~ ~ i - ~ b a -sa12-du5 ba~ 6-dnanZe
Zu-nigin 0.2.3 3 113 sila sum-gaz Zu-nigin 0.2.0 sum-za-ha-din ) gur Zu-nigin 1.3.4 mun ( Zu-nigin 0.0.2 4 sila u6-NE 32-bi-[ta]
...................................... 108 sar ~um-gaz2 kilib sag-dili, 516 % sila numun-ta kilib-bi 216 sumsar-gaz (Rasur) sag-dili-bi 0.1.3 sumSar-ga~ (Rasur) numun-bi 0.0.5 4 sila sum-gaz ~ r - ~ b a - bsalz-du5 a~ 6-dd~m~-~i
0.3.2 g6-gal-HAR-ra g6-gal-bala-bi 0.1.4 (gur) 0.3.2 g6-tur-6s- sal g6-tur-bala-bi 0.0.5 9 sila 0.3.1 3 sila zi-g6-rgall 0.2.1 8 sila gG-'gall 0.0.1 8 sila G-tir-rkum/gazl G-tir-bala-bi '0.0.1 8 silal 0.1.5 Xe-16 rZe-161-bala-bi '0.1.5l [ ] zi? [ I Rest abgebrochen
........................................
410 sar 2 kilib sag-dili 1 sila, numun [2/3] sila-ta177 [killib-[bi][600+180+20]+20 rsumsar-gazl [sag-dili-bi 1.1.5 sumsar-gaz gur] [numun-bi 0.4.3 3 113 sila sumsar-gaz] [ PN I [6-dnin-dar-a] (Ergänzung nach Text 6:20 f. ) Rs. 1' 2' 3' 4' 5' 6
[Zu-nigin s]um-sikil [Xu-nigin ]sum-gaz 1 . 8 sila za-ha,-din [Zu-nigin [Zu-nigin ] 2 - .0 kug-NE [Zu-nigin 1. r4?1.4 5 sila mun, gur 'Cu-nigin 9?' 6-U .EN leere Zeile r zi-gal 15-i 0.2.4 9? 213 sila, g6-gal [ ] 3 2/3 sRla [g6]-t[ur 1 Rest abgebrochen
.
.1 2
3 Rs. 4 5
6 7
........................................
9' 10' 11' 12' 13' 14' 15'
0.4. r 3?1 za-ha-din, kilib-ba za-ha-din-igi-Zag-bi 0.2.1 3 sila ki ur-Zag-ta kiZib lugal-ur-sag Siegelabrollung itu-amar-a-a-si mu si-ma-n6mki ba-hul
SM 14631
unbeschriebene Geile Zu-nigln 1332(SZC) kilib-sumSar-gaz Zu-nigin 2.3.0 2 sila sag-dili-sumsar-gaz Zu-nigfn 2.0.0 (Rasur) 113 <sila> numun-sumsar-gaz Xu-nigfn 22 sar kilib sag (Rasur von bi?) numun sumsar-ni-sur Zabra-sanga-ne mu-6s (sie) ki-ma@ ba-hul
6. BM 20046
(Umschrift nach Foto; Herkunft LagaZ, Datum S 47 .-)176
Vs. 1 20-15-2 sar sum-gaz kilib 1$, sag-dili 213 2 kilib-bi 27 sumsar-gaz 3 sag-dili-bi 0.0.1 2 sila sumsar-gaz
........................................
8' nam-ha-ni 6-nam-ha-ni
Siegel: lugal-ur-sag dub-sar dumu i-ta-[e] 5.
[270 sar sum-gaz 1 kilib sag-dili 1 sila numun 1 sila-ta]177 'kilib-bi"2401+[30 ~ u m ~ ~ ] ~ - g [ a z ] sag-dili-bi 0.4.3 sumsar-gaz numun-bi 0.4.3 sumsar-gaz na-ba-Zag 6-dnin-gfr-su (sie) 6-dnin-gir-su
7' 22 sar sumsar-gaz
4. BM 14768 (Herkunft LagaF, Datum ZS 3.X) Vs
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
5 sila numun-ta
(Herkunft LagaE, Datum 3 47.
-
)
vs. 1 404.2.3 Xe gur-lugal 2 516 ma-na 4% gfn kii-babbar 3 dub-sag 4 24 gur 3 gfn kh-babbar 5 dah-ha 6 1% gfn kii garaZ4sar 7 20-15-2 sar sum-gaz 1% kilib, 2/3 sila sag-dili h sila numun-ta 8 ni-sur-sum-ma Zeile mit Rasur uguia ~ a n ~ a - ~ n a n Z e 10 150.3.2 gur 11 15 gin kii-babbar
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
12 Rs.13 14 15 16
dub-sag 10 gur 6 gln 213 27 He kG-babbar dah-ha 108 sar sum 2 kilib, 516 sila sag-dili f sila numun-ta ugula sanga-ddumu-zi
.......................................
22.0.3 gur f gfn k3-babbar 3 gln-15-igi-6-g5l k3 gara7QSar 410 sar sum 2 kilib 1 sila, sag-dili 213 sila numun-ta ugula sanga-dnin-dar-a
Waetzoldt
ANMERKUNGEN
1
Deimel LAK 198, andere Form 197.
2
OIP 99, Nr. 23.iv.6ff.,
3
REC 138.
4
S. 2.B. J.H. Zedler, Grosses vottständiges Universal-Lexikon (Halle Leipzig) Bd. 1 [1732], Spalte 1261ff. (Allium); Bd. 15 [I7371 Spalte 1137ff. (Knoblauch), und Bd. 64 [I7501 Spalte 1610ff. (Zwiebel); I.S. Ersch - I.G.Gruber, Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste, 1. Section, 3. Theil [Leipzig 18191 167f. S.V. Allium; G. Dalman, Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina, Bd. 2, 188, 218, 276f.
5
Orientalia 17 [I9251 S. lff. die Nummern 1; 2; 3; 8; 23; 24; 36; 37; 40; 41; 49; 51; 52; 53; 54; 55; 57; 59; 60; 62; 67; 68; 69; 75. A. Deimel, ibid. S. 32 S.V. sur übersetzt "abgrenzen, abstecken", gegen diese Deutung sprechen m.E. der Erntetext Nr. 18 (sar-sur-ra-bi), da man kaum annehmen kann, dass bei der Ernte diese kleinen Flächen erneut vermessen wurden (vgl. auch den Flachserntetext Nr. 25), und Nr. 57 Enig-g5l nu-banda sur-de e-ne-sum "(die Steckzwiebeln) hat E., der Inspektor, ihnen (2 Leuten) zum 'Stecken' gegeben". Ob 36 kilib-sum numun-15-a sum ni-sur-ra von MVN 12, 426:lf. hier anzuschliessen ist, muss offenbleiben, da es m.W. sonst nicht bezeugt ist, gut möglich ist es aber, da an den Zwiebeln die "Samen daranhängen" (numun-15-a).
6
In der Wendung sum-ni-sur "Zwiebeln (als) Pflanzgut" (im Gegensatz etwa zu ni-k6-a z.B. Text l.iii.10) Text 5 Rs.13'; 6 Vs.8 ni-sur-sum-ma; BM 13908.ii.6 (unpubl.); MVN 12, 426:2.
7
Deimel 1925, die Nummern 4; 5; 6; 7; 10; 11; 15; 16; 17; 18; 20; 21; 28; 29; 30; 31; 33; 34; 42; 50; 56; 63; 64; 66; 70; 73. Zu ba-al "Pflanzen ausgraben" s. jetzt PSD B 10f. 1.1.
8
Deimel 1925, jeweils apin umschrieben Nr. 1; 2; 3; 5; 8 und passim.
9
Präsargonisch Lagaz: Bauer 1972, Nr. 4; 69; 70; 72; 74):lff. Ur 111: YOS 4, 307:l.
.......................................
63 gur 10 gfn igi-3-g5l k3-babbar ugula sanga-dg5-turn-dul0 Hu-nigfn 640.1.2 gur
.......................................
Hu-nigln 1 113 ma-na igi-3-g5l kii-babbar dub-sag Hu-nigfn 34 gur 14 gln kG-babbar (sic) Hu-nigln 536 sar sum 1063 kilib 1ink.Rd. I 28 29 I1 30 31
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Hu-nigln 1.3.1 4 sila sag-sum Hu-nigln 1.0.3 6 sila numun-sum g6-i7-ninaki-H~-~~ mu-6s-sa ki-maHki ba-hul
v.lff., vi.l.ff.
ITT 5, 9234 (PI.
10 VAT 4654 = A. Deimel, Sumerische Grammatik (=Orientalia 9-13 [1923-241) 328; Deimel 1925 Nr. 34; 42 (zweimal). 11 NRVN 1, 208:5; 210:8; 211:5 (zu dieser Textgruppe gehören noch 204:2f.; 207:5; 209:6), s. dazu M. Civil, JNES 43 [I9841 293 Anm. 17. 12 Nippur: NVRN 1, 204:2f.; 207:4f.; 208:4f.; Owen, NATN 825:lff. (sum-gaz, sum-sikil; Reichskalender); Laga'S: vgl. noch T. Gomi, Bulletin of the Ancient Orient Museum 2 [I9801 29 Nr. 50; Umma: MVN 4, 68:lff.; Gregoire, AAS 121:1(?). 13
"Leute, die bei sum-sikil Dienst tun" (16-sum-sikil-da gub-ba-me) nennt ein Botentext, der in den 111. Monat datiert ist (CT 10, 46 21256:lO;
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
die Leute könnten auch mit der Trocknung oder dem Sortieren der Zwiebeln beschäftigt sein). Nach Barton, HLC 111 137, 362.ii.8ff. erfolgte die erste Lieferung im XII. bis I. Monat (ibid. ii.12) und die 2. Lieferung im V. Monat (ibid. iii.6), jeweils geliefert: sum-za-hadin, sum-sikil, sum-gaz und Fisch. Selbstverständlich lässt sich nicht völlig ausschliessen, dass die Zwiebeln der 2. Lieferung als Saatgut Verwendung finden sollten.
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
33
Saatgut ([numu]n?-sum) listet Westenholz OSP 2, 80 auf, doch fehlen die dazugehörigen Feldflächen.
34 Nr. 5:l = Nr. 6:7.
Z. 2-4 nur in Text 5.
17 Die Umrechnung erfolgte auf der Basis 1 sar = Ca. 36 m2, 1 sila = Ca. 1 Liter. Deimel 1925, Nr. 24; 37; 51; 65; Nr. 23 = Nik I 46.ii.6f. 0.1.0 3 sila sum-dilmun absin-bi 1, möglicherweise (~o~ie?-)~ehler für 0.0.1 3 sila, dann 9 sila je Furche.
35 Es handelt sich hier offenbar um ein (Zwiebel)bündel, nicht um das Hohlmass niginlnigln (SL 483:80; CT 50, 146-148 von 10 sila Inhalt). S. z.B. Sigrist 1987, 285:6 2 gii sum-sikil kilib-15-ta "2 Traglasten sikil-Zwiebeln von je 15 Bündel"; Pinches, Berens 34:lf. 30 kilib-sumgaz / sag-bi 0.0.1 7% sila "30 Bündel gaz-Zwiebeln, die Zwiebeln davon 17,5 Liter". Danach enthält 1 kilib 0,583 Liter Zwiebeln; Text gibt 213, bzw. 1 Liter an. Demnach ist kilib keine Nr. 3.i.5'-7' genaue definierte Masseinheit, sondern es sind Ca. 0.5-1 Liter Zwiebeln an einem solchen Bündel. Zur Lesung kilib vgl. TCS 1, S. 141:398; AOS 32, 45f.; bei Zwiebeln za-ha-din kilib-ba (Text Nr. 4:l). Die Übersetzung "Bündel" erfolgt, um kilib von sa "Bund" zu scheiden, da letzteres wie bei den Rohrbündeln die kleinere Einheit ist (2.B. Text Nr. 1.iii.lff. 15 sa-sumsikil 8 gln-ta sag-bi 2 sila "15 Bund sikil-Zwiebeln zu je 8/60 Liter, die betreffenden 'Köpfe' 2 Liter" (15 X 8/60 = 2). Siehe noch Anm. 43.
18 Deimel 1925, Nr. 37; 51; 65.
36
19 Deimel 1925, weder in Nr. 23 noch in 24 ist die Furchenzahl genannt.
37 Nr. 5:7-12;
20 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23 und 24 werden nur die Gesamtflächen, die mit sumdilmun und tu-sum-dilmun bestellt sind, genannt.
38 Nr. 5:13-18';
14 Opfer auf ki-sum-sikil: (-.vi)
.
MVN 12, 448:7 (3s 1.viii);
ITT 3, 6061:3
15 Owen, NATN 504:2 (FS 4.v numun-sum-sikil); ohne Monatsangabe 2.B. TCL 5, 5680.vii.22f.; 6037.iii.2f., ix.36f.; 6045.iii.lf. (Text: AS.8.xii). 16
2.B. TCL 5, 6045.iii.lf.;
Nies, UDT 73A:lff.
S. den Anm. 35 zitierten Text Berens 34:lf. Nr. 6:15f. Nr. 6:2Of.
39 Nr. 5.Rs.l'-6'. 21 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 23; 24; 37; 40; 41-54; 51; 53; 65=76; 68; 69. 22 Deimel 1925, Nr. 24; 37; 40; 65=76; 68; 69.
40 Deimel 1925, Nr. 7 (4,4; 16,6); 16 (12,Ol); 17 (16,8); 18 (6,2; 6,9; 8,6; 9,8); 21 (9,l); 71 (12,l gu-1%).
23 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 40; 41=54; 65=76; 68; 69.
41 Deimel 1925, Nr. 10 (15,5); 29 (16,6).
24 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 40; 41=54; 65=76; 68; 69.
42 In Westenholz, OSP 2 sind zwar viele Zwiebelablieferungen von verschiedenen Feldern publiziert (Nr. 83-87, 91, 94-105), doch nennt keine die abgeerntete Feldfläche.
25 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 23; 24; 37; 40; 41=54; 51; 53; 55; 65; 68; 69. 26 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 40; 41=54; 51; 65; 68; 69. 27 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 23; 24; 37; 41-54; 51; 55; 65=76; 68. 28 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 41=54; 51; 65=76; 68. 29
Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 23; 24; 37; 41=54; 51; 55; 65=76; 68.
30 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 41=54; 51; 55; 65=76; 68. 31 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 23; 24; 37; 40; 41=54; 53; 60; 65=76; 68, vgl. 72; 69. 32 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 40; 41=54; 53; 65=76; 68=Nik. I 48, unklar v.3-5, vgl. 72; 69.
43 AZtakkadisch: s. Z.B. OSP 2, 128.i.llff.; 131.iii.2'ff.; 132.ii.lf, iii.lff 147:5. Auch bei andere Gemüsepflanzen: lu-sar Nr. 81; 89; 90; 137; 138; 144; Se-lii Nr. 137-8. Ur 111 Wie aus MVN 2, 43.ii.6 225 g5 45 sa-sum-gaz hervorgeht, ist sa "Bund" eine Untereinheit von g5. Nach TMH NF 1-2, 161:28 180 gii sumsikil-[ 1-sa-ta könnte gii offenbar in unterschiedlich viele sa eingeteilt werden. Ein Bund (sa) hatte 6 oder 8 gfn (-6160 oder 8/60 Liter) Zwiebeln daran (Nr. i i i f f ; MVN 2, 43.ii.4f.; TUT 12l.iv.lf.). Da nach den Ausführungen in Anm. 35 die Einheit gii auch in 15 kilib eingeteilt werden kann und 1 kilib ein Bündel mit Ca. 0.5 bis 1 Liter Zwiebeln ist, lässt sich in etwa berechnen, wieviel Liter 1 gii enthält. Bei einem kilib a 1 Liter würden in das gii 15 Liter passen. Auf einen ähnlichen Wert kommt man, wenn man von der Annahme ausgeht (vgl. oben MVN 2, 43 und TMH NF 1-2, 161), dass 120 sa einem gii entsprechen. Bei sa zu 6 bis 8 gln hätte 1 gii einen Inhalt von 12-16 Litern. Diese
.;
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
Berechnungen sind natürlich wegen der geringen Zahl der Belege mit erheblichen Unsicherheiten verbunden. Man wird aber nicht weit fehl gehen, wenn man vorläufig von einem gii zu etwa 15 Litern ausgeht.
Wae!tzoldt
63
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Auch in gu-15 gemessen wird die Dilmun-Zwiebel Deimel 1925, Nr. 15; 49; 66.
64 Z.B.
= OIP 99, 23.iv.6-v.6 Zwiebeln, Deimel SF 58.iii.16-iv.21 garaF4sar v.1 = OIP 99, 23.vi.11; MSL 10, 91f.:247ff. ga-raF erst 95:312ff.; 112:138ff. ga-raF: 114:193ff.; 122.C.2ff. ga-raF C.llff.
T. Gomi, Bulletin of the Ancient Orient Museum 2 [1980], 26, 28; Hussey 1915, 13.Rs.7. MVN 1, 259.i.10, ii.15, iii.12f.;
MVN 12, 8:l;
TCL 5, 6051.11.4.
65
TCL 5, 6045.iii.lf. ("als Saatgut" numun-32); Snell 1982, Text 21:14; Gregoire AAS 200.ii1.5, 11, v1.6; TUT 121.iv.9-v.10f.; MVN 12, 437:l und s. Anm. 109.
~räsargonisch ~agaz: Deimel 1925, S. 30 S.V. za-ha-ti; aAk: BIN 8, 213:2; Ur III, Lagag: Barton HLC 111 137, 362.i.7, ii.10, iii.4 (ASJ 2 [I9801 222); U m : MVN 1, 259.11.18; TCL 5, 5680.vii.8; Ur: UET 3, 1082.ii.12. ga-raF Z.312ff.); 113:155 10, 92:269f. (Zwiebeln Z.247ff., (Zwiebeln Z.l38ff., ga-raF Z.193ff.); S.122f. im Nippur Forerunner scheint za-ha-ti zu fehlen.
66 MSL Nur in aAk Brief HSS 10, 11:3, in dem der Absender um diesen Samen bittet. Lexikalisch RA 18 [I9211 59 vi.30 (M.S.). In aB Brief TCL 17, 61:33 (M.S.). 2.3 487,5 sila:
67 (Z.11)
+
67
300 (2.13)
+
120,5 (2.24) = 487,5 sila.
Civil 1984, 86.
68 Snell 1982, 263 erwähnt einen Beleg aus dem unpubl. Text AS9xPd = Mississipi 3 (s. S.16).
Bauer 1972, S. 82 und oben Anm. 20. 69 B. Alster, ASJ 5 [I9831 lf.; E.I. Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs 2.69; B. Alster, ~esopotamia1 [I9721 S.66; s. noch J. van Dijk, Sagesse 45:g1 (M.S.).
S. oben Anm. 23-24. S. oben Anm. 29 und 30; Bauer 1972, S. 655
S.V.
tud. 70 S. CAD K 212f. kamzu B 1 a I', lc und den Beitrag von M. Stol.
Deimel 1925,
S.
31. 71 NRVN 1, 208:5 sum-babbar bu gi4-gi4, vgl. 206:6f. = 211:5f.
Deimel 1925, S . 30. 72 Deimel 1925, S. 32 und s. HruCka 1983, 83f. Bauer 1972, S. 82 zu iv.5. 73 Westenholz, OSP 2, 120:gff.; 153:ll. Ich fasse igi-sig5/igi nu-sigg als graphische Variante zu igi-sag (igi nu-sag) "sortieren" auf. In Umma-Texten sind bei Wolle beide Schreibweisen bezeugt, s. Waetzoldt 1972, S. 41ff. mit Anm. 22 und Jones & Snyder SET 274:26ff; Owen, NATN 25.Rs.iii.lGff. (aus Umma!). Gregoire AAS 200.v' .5f. 29.0.5 zu 4.2.0 gur.
zu 23.2.3
gur und TUT 121.v.8f.
75 Westenholz, OSP 2, 116-118; 121; 125; 128-134; 141; 142; 145; 146; 149; 153; 154; 158; 159; 169; 173; 176; 177; 179.
39.3.0
ITT 2, 4417:lf. Deimel 1925, Nr. 4; 7; 15; 16; 17; 18; 21; 34; 42; 49; 63; 66; 73. Deimel 1925, Nr. 4; 15; 34; 43; 44. In gu-15 gemessen: Deimel 1925, Nr. 6; 15-18; 28; 34; 66; in Hohlmass ("ihr Kopf ist gut"): Nr. 6; 15; 28; 43; 50. In Nr. 15 werden auch 71 sa (Bund) tu-sum-giFimmar erwähnt (sa möglicherweise Untereinheit von gu-15, vgl. sa als Untereinheit von gii, bzw. kilib, s. Anm. 35 und 43). In gu-15: Deimel 1925, Nr. 6; 10; 11; 29; 30; 33; 61; ("ihr Kopf ist gut"): Nr. 6.
74 Deimel 1925, Nr. 47 (VAT 4732).
76 Z.B. in gii gemessen: Forde, Nebraska 20:18; Virolleaud, TEL 46A:8; Sigrist, Syracuse 324:ll; 325:8; Owen, NATN 825:l; ITT 2, 3802:ll. In Hohlmass: Barton, HLC 111 137, 362.ii.4; YOS 4, 298:ll; RTC 307.iv.17 und Paralleltext ITT 2, 892.iv.18; Sigrist, Syracuse 462:6 und s. die Anm. 158 genannten Texte. 77 Igi-sag-sum-gaz: von Gärtnern geliefert MVN 1, 259.i.6,9 + 13 und meist als Nahrung für Boten: BRM 3, 12:4f.; MVN 4, 173:8; MCS 2, 75 BM 113075 mit Kollation von T.Gomi, Orient 17 [I9811 27. Preis für 1 Sekel Silber Ca. 300 Liter TCL 5, 6051.i.lf. 78 MVN 12, 8:l; 437:l. Preise: für 1 Sekel Silber 72 bzw. 75 Liter ?lVN 1, 259.iii.12f. (mit der grössten Menge); TCL 5, 6051.ii.4f.
in Hohlmass 79 MVN1, 215:2;
Durand, DC 1 PI. 30, 258:17; PI. 32, 263:7.
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
80 39600 Bund zu 6 gln: TUT 12l.iv.lf.; 8 gln: Text Nr. l.iii.3; sonst Nikolsky 2 [I9151 443:l; MVN 2, 43.11.6; als Opfer: An.Or. 7, 303:8, 39, 107; Jones & Snyder, SET 188:26, 83, 122. Zu den häufigen Erwähnungen in Botenlohn-Abrechnungen s. Anm. 158. 81 Jean, SA, XXI 47:lf. 13 gi%um-sum-gaz Ilaikal 1 13 giH?-sum-gaz Ea-kal. Vgl. RTC 210.iv.3 kum-giH-sum-ma-da hierher? Aus Stein von Enannatum I bur-sum-gaz s. Abb. RA 4 [I8971 108 und vgl. Civil 1984, 86.
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
100Deime1, SF 58.iv.21 = 67.iii.2' = OIP 99, 23.vi.8'; Ebla: MEE 4, 317 VE 1077f. sum-kur = ha-sa-nh KUR^^, sum-kurSar = ga-ba-ra-Zu[-?], s. Fronzaroli 1984, 142; vgl. Civil 1984, 86. 101 Deimel 1925, Nr. 5 = Nikolsky 1 [I9081 51; DP 377.i.2 sar-ras
vor sum-GUD-
102 MEE 4, S. 317 VE 1080 sumsar-sikil; AHw 1155 "eine Zwiebelart". 103 Deimel, SF 58.iii.17 = Jestin, NTSS 123.Rs.ii1.8 = OIP 99, 23.iv.7; SF 58.iv.18f. = NTSS 123.Rs.iii.llf. = OIP 99, 23.vi.5'f.
82 Siehe Anm. 80. 83 Zu huE vgl. H. Waetzoldt, Oriens Antiquus 24 119851 9.
104 MVN 11, 101:13f. (unmittelbar vor sum-gaz mit genau gleichem Preis!). 84 Deimel, SF 58.iii.16
=
Jestin, NTSS 123.Rs.ii1.7 = OIP 99, 23.iv.6, 8.
85 Deimel 1925, Nr. 23; 24; 37; 40; 41; 54; 65; 68; 69 (gal-gal, tur-tur); 76.
105 HUCA 30 119591 113:14ff. nennt für sum-sikil den gleichen Preis wie für sum-gaz: 51 Liter für 1 Sekel Silber. Snell 1982, Text 14:7: der Text ist 19 Jahre später geschrieben als Text Anm. 104, dies könnte den Preisunterschied erklären.
86 Deimel 1925, Nr. 28. 106 MVN 11, 101:15f. 87
S. Anm. 59-60; vgl. g6-gG-GUD "'frühe' Hülsenfrüchte" (Deimel 1925, Nr. 8; 23; 24; 38; 51); kaum richtig M. Lambert, RA 47 119531 118f. "raves pour boeufs" und A. Deimel, An.Or. 2 [I9311 89 "Steckrübe, Runkelrübe".
88 DP 403.iv.l-v.1
=
Deimel 1925,69 = J.Krecher, Orientazia 54 [I9851 171.
89 Deimel 1925, Nr. 4; 5; 15; 17; 34; 42; 49; 63; 66; 71. 90 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2.
107 HUCA 30 (19591 113:16f. 108 MVN 13, 696:13f. 109 TCL 5, 5680.vii.22f. = 6037.ix.36f., 6045.iii.lf.; besonders billig 6037.iii.2f. (falls Kopiefehler und statt 3 gur nur 2 gur verzeichnet wären, betrüge der Preis 1 Sekel Silber = 80 Liter). Aus Nippur Owen, NATN 504:lf. Preis in Gerste angegeben, bei Umrechnung auf Basis 1 gur Gerste = 1 Sekel Silber erhielte man für 1 Sekel Silber 36 Liter Zwiebelsaat.
91 Deimel 1925, Nr. 18; 21. 110 MVN 1, 259.iii.12f.; 92 Deimel 1925, Nr. 21.
111 Sammzung Erlenmeyer 87:9f. (unpubl.); TCL 5 , 5680.vii.20; 6037.iii. 4ff.: 2 sum-sikil igi-nu-sigg gur, igi-sigg-bi 1 gur kd-bi 2 gln, je Sekel Silber erhielt man folglich 300 Liter unsortierte oder 150 Liter sortierte Zwiebeln.
93 Deimel 1925, Nr. 28; 37; 50. 94 Deimel 1925, S. 30
S.V.
zahati.
95 Deimel 1925, Nr. 45(=DP 620). Nach der Summierung werden die 1. Qualität (gu-Hag-ga) noch in gu-Hag-ga und in gu-suhg-ha, die 2. Qualität (gu-6s) in gu-6s und gu-gar-ra-3-kam unterteilt. Vgl. Nr. 14; 25-27; 32; 47. 96 C . oben Kapitel 5 mit Anm. 10. 97 sum-GUD: Deimel 1925, Nr. 4; 15; 42-44. 50; vgl. aber 15. 98 Deimel 1925, Nr. 6. 99 BIN 8, 231:l
=
RA 59 [I9651 123.
TCL 5, 6051.ii.4f.
112 Nikolsky 2 [1915], 403:4ff.; TCL 5, 6037.iii.7f. und s. Anm. 111, den 2. Text. 113 TCL 5, 6051.i.llf. igi-sag-sum-gaz und ibid. iii.3f. igi-sag-sum-sikil. Die in Anm. 112 genannten Texte sind 7 bis 13 Jahre später geschrieben, wodurch möglicherweise der Preisunterschied erklärbar ist. Saisonelle Preisschwankungen könnten aber ebenfalls eine Rolle spielen.
Sum-giHimmar ibid. Nr. 6; 28; 114 Da die Zwiebeln je nach Boden, Bewässerungsmöglichkeiten und Erntedaten verschieden gross werden, mussten auch unterschiedliche Mengen beim Sortieren ausgesondert werden. Dies mag zum Teil auch die grossen Preisdifferenzen bei sortierten und unsortierten Zwiebeln erklären. 115 Deimel 1925, S. 32 S.V. sum-sikil; s. auch E. Sollberger, Genava 26 [I9481 49, No. l.i.lO, iii.1; 54 No. 3.v.7, vii.7 (M.S.).
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
116 BIN 8, 231:3f.; Westenholz, OSP 2, 116; 117; 121; 128-132; 137; 138; 141; 142; 145; 146; 153; 154; 179. Ferner Schultext aus Nuzi HSS 10, 219 .Rs.15. 117 Zu tu7 ~rei/~u~pe/Brühe vgl. AHw. 1414
S.V.
ummaru.
118 ITT 3, 6061:3; MVN 12, 448:7 (Sesamöl und Datteln als Opfer auf den sikil-Zwiebel-Feldern). Ein Bote ist im VIII. Monat zu den sum-sikil ( - 3 8 ) unterwegs, Lafont 1985, 191:lO. 119 Vgl. Owen, NATN 825:2
+
Rs.14'.
120 Deimel 1925, Nr. 17; 18; 22; vgl. noch Nr. 16 und 71. 121 Deimel 1925, Nr. 16; 22. Siehe noch M. Lambert, Orientazia 44 [I9751 46 mit Verweis auf E. Sollberger, ZA 54 [I9611 19. Die verschiedenen Lesungsmöglichkeiten si4/suq und lum, n5m, hum/g5m ergeben m. W. bisher keinen Anschluss an einen sonst bekannten Pflanzenamen. 122 Deimel 1925, Nr. 16-18; 22; 71. 123 Deimel 1925, Nr. 22. 124 Bauer 1972, S. 288 "eine Gartenpflanze". 125 Deimel 1925, Nr. 71. 126 Fara/Abu SaZabikh, Zex.: Deime1,SF 38.iii.26 = Jestin,NTSS 123.Rs.ii1. 16 = OIP 99, 23.v.4 = CBS 7094.iii1.lll (M.Civi1 - R.D. Biggs, RA 60 [I9661 9 n.lll). AZtbabyZonisch: MSL 10, 92:260; 112:147; 118:51; 122. Medizinische Texte s. AHW 1373 S.V. turu. C.6. 127 R.D. Biggs, Studia Orientatia 46 (= Festschrift A. Salonen) 29.ii.l8f., sonst TMH NF 1-2, 161:15, Rs.4. 128 Westenholz, OSP 2, 117; 128-132; 149; 179; vgl. Gelb 1965, 58. 129 Westenholz, OSP 2, 117:2f. (sum-TU.
); 132.i.2l.f.; vgl. 131.11. llff.: [ ]+2 s u m - ~ ~ . nag-kug, ~6 DUB.NAGAR 'X'[ 1, [Tb]-rk51. 130 Deimel 1925, Nr. 2; 10; 23; 29; 37; 40; 41; 51; 53; 60; 65; 68; 69; 72; 74; 76; aAk: BIN 8, 213:2. 131 RTC 70.ii.5 (M.S.), vgl. den Ur-111-zeitlichen Feldnamen a-33-za-hadin(-na), Pettinato, UNL 112, 866. 132 RTC 214:5. 133 In LagaE fast durchgängig, z.B. Barton, HLC I11 137, 362.i.11,13, ii.2, iii.2f.; ITT 2, 892.iv.20 = ITT 5, 6857.ii1.10' = RTC 307.iv.18; TUT 121.iv.5ff., v.14; seltener in Umma: TCL 5, 5680.vii.8; 6037.iii.9; in Ur: UET 3, 1082.ii.12.
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
134 Besonders häufig in Umma, z.B. 'Atiqot 4 119651 29:l; OrientaZia 47-49 [I9301 253:6; Sigrist, Syracuse 483:5; YOS 4, 298:12; Owen, NATN 375:11, aber auch in Nippur: BE 3, 148311; selten in Laga'S: MVN 11, 1Ol:llf. 135 TCL 5, 5680.vii.8 sum-za-ha-din, vii.8 aber sum-ha-din; 259 .i.l9f. sum-ha-din, ii.18 sum-za-ha? !-din.
MVN
1,
136 P.J. Watson, Neosumerian Texts from Drehem = CataZogue of Cuneiform ~abletsin Birmingham City Museum, Vol. 1, 133:l-9. Z. 8 möglicherweise auch 'ha! l-din zu lesen. 137 MVN 2, 43.ii.2-6; Barton, HLC 111 137, 362.ii.2'-4'; TUT 121.v.8-14.
Text Nr. l.ii.3-5;
138 Z.B. 'Atiqot 4 [I9651 29:l; BE 3, 148:ll; MVN 1, 259.i.19f.i Owen, NATN 375:11, 20; OrientaZia 47-49 [1930] 253:6; Text Nr. 1.i.11. = 4 3 1 2 , V ; Nr. 3.iv.3; Nr. 4:l-3; YOS 4, 298:12 und s. Anm. 141-145. 139 BIN 8, 213:2 (aAk); RTC 214:5 (2. Dynastie von LagaZ); TUT 121.iv.5f. (Ur 111); G.Th. Ferwerda, SLB 5, 22:l; 23:2 (aB). 140 S. Anm. 35 und 43. 141 MVN 11,10l:llf., Z.10 Preis allerdings mit 15 Litern angegeben (0.0.1 5 sila-ta), nach Rechnung aber 16. 142 TCL 5, 6162.iv.lOf.;
HUCA 30 [I9591 113:12f.;
TCL 5, 5680.vii.24f.
143 MVN 13, 696:llf. 144 TCL 5, 6037.iii.9f.; Snell 1982, Text 14:8. 145 TCL 5, 5680.vii.8f.;
Snell 1982, Text 12:27f.
146 Nur ein altbabylonischer Brief erwähnt Samen: AHw 1275 Zümu "Lauch" 1. 147 G.Th. Ferwerda, SLB 5, 22:l; 23:2. 148 AHw 1261 und s. den Beitrag von M. Stol. 149 DP 379. 150 Deimel 1925, Nr. 7 und 29. 151 Vgl z.B. die Anrn. 137 zitierten Texte. 152 S. Anm. 128. 153 MEE 4, 317
=
S. 372:0363; Fronzaroli 1984, 142.
154 Deimel 1925, Nr. 17; 18; 71; 73; mit darauf folgenden 1 oder 2 GAR Nr. 23; 40; 41; 51; 54; 65, vgl. 4; Deimel 1925, Nr. 3 (=DP 377)
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Waetzoldt
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
169 Besonders bei sum-sikil sum-GUD.SAR-ra, Lesungsmöglichkeiten: sum-GUD-sar-ra, wobei sar-ra eine Q u a l i f i k a t i o n s b e z e i c h n u n g sein müsste, oder vielleicht eher sumgarg(~u~)sa~-ra. In Nr. 2 folgt sum-GUD.SAR auf sum-GUD-6-n2-ga-ra und sum-GUD-lim-ma. 155 MVN 3, 63:l; Rashid 1981, 4 .iii.4f. 0.1.0 sumSar a-na 0.2.3 Umrechnung in Silber erfolgte aufgrund der Preisangabe ibid. k3-babbar gin a-na 1.1.0 'Se gur. 156 ITT 3, 6558
=
'Se, die i.7f. 1
=
GamaZkiZZu, vgl. den Beitrag von M. Stol.
170 Oder auch einfach sum? S. den in Anm. 165 genannten Artikel. 171 Z.B. M-Lambert, RA 47 [I9531 119; Y. Rosengarten, Le concept sumerien de consommation dans La vie 6conomique et retigieuse, S. 29 Anm 1,. 172 AHw 50, S.V. andahZu vermutete unter dieser auch sum-turldursar geschriebenen Pflanze die Linse, CAD A/2, 112 "a bulbous spring vegetable"; s. den Beitrag von M. Stol.
Falkenstein, NG 2, 129:8, 11.
157 NRVN 1, 209:6. 158 sum, 2.B.: Contenau 1915, 35; 36; 58; 96-98; MVN 1, 146; 147; 149-151; 153; 154; 157-162; MVN 2, 239-248; sa-sum (neben Fisch) 2.B.: MVN 1, 148; 152; 155; 156; IBK 718, 62; Orientazia 47-49 [I9301 381 (ohne Fisch z.B. ibid. 430; 440; 443; 445). 'In den Abrechnungen und Zuweisungen für Botenlöhne wird stets die Zwiebelsorte sum-gaz genannt, 2.B.: An.0~. 1, 254:7; Forde, Nebraska, 2:ll; BRM 3, 1:8; 2:12; 3:12; 5:9; 7:17; 30:14f.; OrientaZia 47-49, 341:9; 373:5; 405:7; 457:8; JCS 24 [I9711 173, 96:lO; MVN 4, 176:8; 177:s; MVN 9, 197; Jones & Snyder,SET 185:ll. 159 In Burpu V-V1 52f., 60 kommt sumsar mit dem Verb zil = qatäpu "abschälen" vor, was zu Zwiebeln ebenso wie zu Knoblauch passt. 160 Stets sum nag-kug (Westenholz, OSP 2, 83-85; 87; 94-101), zur Masseinheit s. Gelb 1965, 59.
173 Den Trustees of the British Museum danke ich herzlich für die Erlaubnis, die folgenden 6 Texte hier zu publizieren. Herr Ch.B.F. Walker ermöglichte mir, in die Zettelsamrnlung der BM-Nummern über 15230 von H.H. Figulla Einblick zu nehmen. Ferner liess er auf meine Bitte BM 14631 brennen, reinigen und fotografieren. Herr M. Sigrist gestattete mir die Durchsicht seiner Umschriften und überliess mir grosszügigerweise BM 20046 für die Publikation. Später kollationierte er noch einige Zeilen. Den beiden Kollegen gilt mein ganz herzlicher Dank für ihr Entgegenkommen und ihre grosse Hilfsbereitschaft, ohne die vorliegender Beitrag weit weniger informativ ausgefallen wäre. 174 Da Zeichen über Rasur, nicht sicher entscheidbar, ob Zahl 22.2.3 oder Summe in 11.2 stimmt in keinem Fall. 22-15-0.0.2 vorliegt: ;f=&..-. .- - - -
1 7 5 Nach den Spuren und dem Kontext wohl rgazil, weniger wahrscheinlicli r hanur
.
176 Linien nicht im Text, dienen nur zur Verdeutlichung der Struktur des Textes.
161 Westenholz, OSP 2, 116; 128-133; 141; 142; 146; 153; 154. 162 Westenholz, OSP 2, 117:lf. und 5ff.; 129.i.14, ii.1, 14f. und iii.4; 133:17 und 19; 143:4ff. und 10; vgl. 118; 119. 163 Z.B. MVN 12, 4126:1f., "Bündel (kilib) Zwiebeln mit daranhängenden 'Samen'" (sum-numun-15-a); Lafont 1985, 63:lO numun-sum-ma. 164 MVN 4, 68:l-7 in den I. Monat datiert (M.S.), Text wurde wohl. zur Vorbereitung der Ernte geschrieben.
177 Ergänzungen nach Parallelen in Text Nr. 6 und aufgrund von Berechnungen kombiniert mit den vorhandenen Spuren.
BIBLIOGRAHPY Bauer, J. 1972
AZtsumerische Wirtschaftstexte Pohl, 9).
aus Lagasch
(Koma:
Studia
165 Vgl. auch J. BottGro, R1A Bd. 6, Artikel "Knoblauch". 166 Präsargonisch bei Anbau Hohlmass, bei Ernte gu-15 "Bündel" (selten IIohlmass), s. Deimel 1925, S. 26. ~Ztakkadisch, Nippur: Ernte in nagUr III: Anbau in Hohlmass oder kilib "Bündel", kug (s. Ann. 160). Ernte, bzw. Verteilen zum Verbrauch in gG "Traglast", kilib "Bündel" oder sa "Bund", aber auch in Hohlmass. 167 Deimel, SF 58.iii.16-iv.21 = Jestin, NTSS 123.Rs.ii1.7-iiiI.12 + SF 67. iii.llf. = OIP 99, 23.iv.6-vi.8' mit altbabylonischem Paralleltext CBS 7094, RA 60 [I9661 8-11. Y
168 Z.B. so wichtige Sorten wie sum-gar und za-ha-din Beitrag von M. Stol.
=
suhatinnii,'vgl. den
Civil, M. 1984
Contenau, G. 1915 Deimel, A. 1925
"Bilingualism in logographically written languages: Sumerian in Ebla", in L. Cagni (ed.), IZ bitinguismo a EbZa (Atti del Convegno Internazionale Napoli 19-22 aprile 1982 = Istituto Universitario Orientale, Dipartimento di Studi Asiatici, Series Minor XXII; Napoli), pp. 75-97. Contribution 3 Z'histoire economique d'ürruna (Paris). "Der Gemüsebau bei den alten Sumerern", Orientazia (S.P.) 17, pp. 1-33.
Waetzoldt
Knoblauch und Zwiebeln
Fronzaroli, P. 1984 "Eblaic lexicon", in P. Fronzaroli (ed.), Studies on the language of Ebla (=Quaderni di Semitistica 13, Firenze), 117-157. Gelb, I.J. 1965
GARLIC, ONION, LEEK
M. St01
"The Philadelphia Onion Archive", Studies i n Honor of Benno
Landsberger on h i s seventy- f i f t h birthday April
21,
f Amsterdam)
1965
(AS 16: Chicago, University of Chicago Press), p. 57-62. Hruna, B. 1983
Hussey, M.I. 1915
"Dilmun in den vorsargonischen Wirtschaftstexten aus Suruppak und LagaS", in D.T. Potts (ed.), Dilmun. New Studies i n the Archaeology and early History of Bahrain (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag) , pp. 83-86.
Babylonian Tablets i n t h e Museum of the Buffato Society of Natural Sciences (=Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science 11).
Lafont, B. 1985
Documents administratifs sumtbiens provenant du s i t e de Tell0 e t conserv2s au ~ u s 6 edu Louvre (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, MQmoire 61).
Rashid, Fawzi 1981 The Ancient Inscriptions i n Himrin Area (=Himrin 4, Results of the Salvage Excavations at Himrin Reservoir; Baghdad). Sigrist, M. 1983
Snell, D.C. 1982
We will first discuss the plants and after that go into some general features of growing and collecting alliaceous plants, as well as their consumption.
Textes 2conomiques do-sumgriens de 2 ' Universit2 de Syracuse (Paris).
1987
This contribution intends to study the Sumerian and Akkadian terminology for the cultivation and treatment of alliaceous plants used by the Babylonians (not: the ~umerians).~ Thompson discussed these plants in his book on Assyrian botany, Gelb wrote on them as attested in the older Sumerian texts, and BottQro recently studied garlic.2 We have the most important plants together in three lines from an Old Babylonian letter where one reads: "Have brought to me seed of leek (karas'ii), garlic (gi;zmfil, bulb-leek(? ) (s'uhatinnii), and onions (s'amas'killfi)" .3 As usual with plant names in Akkadian, the words are written in the plural. These lines already present a problem: does the writer want to have the seed of all these plants, or just seed of leek? Seed of garlic or bulb-leek(?) is hardly or never attested in the texts. Or does the concept "seed" (zZrurn) also include bulbs used for glanting? The texts seem to make a distinction between sowing4 and planting these plants.
Theological Seminary Texts. (Unpubliziert , erscheint 1987 oder 1988 [dem Autor danke ich herzlich fiir eine Kopie dieses Bandes]).
Princeton
GARLIC Garlic (Sumerian sum, Akkadian s'iimii; Semitic *&am) has been discussed by BottQro in 1980 and little need be added. We will say something about its cloves, its harvest-time, and what seems to be its synonym, hazannii.
Bulbs and cloves
Ledgers
and
prices:
Early Mesopotamian Merchant Accounts
(Yale Near Eastern Researches, 8) Waetzoldt, H. Untersuchungen zur neusumerischen T e x t i l i n d u s t r i e (Roma: Studi 1972 economici e tecnologici, 1).
Just as in Greek, the bulb was called "head" in Sumerian and ~ k k a d i a n . ~ Now the bulb of garlic consists of several bulbils, "cloves" in ~ n ~ l i s h ; ~ in Greek g6Zgis (etymologically related with Latin butbus) or & g l i s ; spica in Latin; "tooth" in Arabic. The Sumerian word is 3ir "testicle" and the Akkadian word seems to be t ~ r c . In ~ footnote 107 we will suggest that Neo-Babylonian g i - d i - p i stands for "clove". There was a cultivated plant in ancient Sumer called sum.Eir.dili, lit. "Allium with one te~ticle".~A much later Assyrian vocabulary explains it A few Ur I11 Nippur texts show that this plant was as "single Rrlic*'.lo cultivated; in later periods it is only known as materia medica.12 Hebrew and Arabic sources also make mention of garlic with one bulb or clove. 13
St01
Garlic, onion, leek
Garlic, onion, leek
St01
Excursus A Hittite medical text seems to use the Akkadogram GA-PA-NU for the "bulb" of garlic, leek, onion (h[ppioaZhar]?)lSand s'uttittini (cf. Akkadian ZuhatinniZ?), all mentioned in one breath. Assyriologists will be inclined to connect this gapanu with Semitic gapnlgupn "fruit But how to explain its tree", specifically "vine" (Akkadian gapnu).15 use as "bulb"? Chiera 1983 is perhaps helpful.
In the Hittite texts sum (sar) is not found, but azzannu is attested. Hoffner objects to its identification as garlic, because garlic has no seeds whereas fh)azannu does. But sum.sar (garlic) has seeds.23 )loreover, Hartmut Waetzoldt showed during our meeting that in Ur I11 texts "seed" can stand for "bulbs" or "bulbils". This may also apply to later periods.
Harvest time of garlic
ONION
Garlic was harvested at the beginning of the Babylonian year (March-April). The first two months are mentioned in Old Babylonian texts16 and many Neo-Babylonian texts fix the delivery of garlic in months XII, I, or 11:
Onions have a great number of cultivars. In the Sumerian texts and, independently, in the Classical world there was a tendency to name some varieties after their place of origin. So the Sumerians knew the onion ~~ ,25 ~uba(?) ,26 and the Classical texts speak of from M a r h a ~ i ,~ilmun(?) Ascalonian, Cretan, Cnidian, etc., onions.27 Similarly, the Mishna mentions an onion of Rikpa (Maas. ~,8)28 or "Cypriot" 0nions.~9 Today, in Yemen one gives the red onion the name "Turkish". We will probably never succeed in identifying these outlandish onions.
month XI1 Nebk. 290: 5(? ) ; Nabn. 100:5-6; ~amb. 104:7. month I
Nerigl. 35:7; Nabn. 141:6; 169:7-8; 427:5; 819:6; Cyrus 141:6-7; Camb. 167:5-6; 218:5-7; 308:5-6; Darius 345:5; VAS 6 133; Liverpool 27:6-7.
In view of Gelb's doubts about it, it seems necessary to prove that This Sumerian sum. sikil (Akkadian Zamas'kil lwn) really means "onion". identification is firmly established by the following arguments:
month I1 Nebk. 309:4-5; Nerigl. 32:6; 66:9-10; 68:6; Nabn. 151:5; 152:6; 943:5-6; 1014:4; Cyrus 12:5; 87:4; 5R 67 no. 4:5.
--
One is somewhat surprised to read that the Achaemenid Persians named the third month "Garlic collecting".17 Was it not the collecting, but a (one month later) festival that gave month 111 this name?18 Or was the harvest in Persia actually in the third month, due to climatic conditions?
-haaannum
--
It is striking that the Mari texts never mention sum.sar or ziimii, "garlic". In the Mari lists of foodstuffs one finds onions (s'amas'killu) and we expect garlic somewhere in these lists. The word ha-za-(an-)nu (sar), often taking the first place in the lists, should denote garlic. Bott6ro and Finet have suggested this independently.19 The word also occurs in letters and lists from Babylonia proper, but always as an undeclined pseudo-ideogram. It In one context it appears in a place never occurs together with sum.sar. I suggest that h. in these where we expect garlic (Riftin 125:l-4). Babylonian texts is a traditional way of writing "garlic". It is hardly a variety of garlic, as the later lexical tradition suggests ("bitter garlic"), but simply garlic.
--
There are not many varieties of garlic. The many types of sum.siki1 known from primarily the lexical texts show that they must be onions. Medical texts on eye diseases prescribe in cases of "dryness" (tzbitu) of the eyes that the patient chop (hag; D) sum.sikil.la. 31 We assume that chopping onions will make his dry eyes weep. A medical text on ear trouble prescribes dripping onion (juice the ears.32 We find the same medication in the ancient world 3 into and even in modern ~ e m e n . 3 ~But I have to add that in another medical text chopped garlic is prescribed .35
4
Old Babylonian
Confirmation for h. = garlic seems to come from the much older lexical I admit that texts from Ebla that give the equation sum.sar = ha-za-nirm.20 sum.sar in those early lists clearly is an occupation or a profession, as is simple sum,21 and that the Ebla word ha-aa-nu means "leeks".22 But it is hardly a coincidence that they used the sign sum "garlic" for this occupation. Clearly there were two homonyms ha-za-nh, one of them meaning "garlic", the other being a profession ("burgomaster", as in Akkadian?). Excursus Old Babylonian texts from Larsa have the field name a.33 ha-za-nu-urn (YOS 8 34:6, Pinches, PSBA 39 [I9171 Plate X no. 23:15). Does h. mean "garlic", or "burgomaster"?
The list of Aramaic words in Pehlevi texts offers the equations Zrnggt = pa6ag "onion"; gdljn (see below); twm' = siyr "garlic". We easily recognize in these Aramaic words Akkadian s'amaZkiZlu, gidtu, and s'iznu.30
We are texts. another in most
,
now going to study the various kinds of onion in the Babylonian As an axiom we assume that sum is garlic, but that sum followed by sign is not necessarily a kind of garlic. In fact, we think that cases onions are meant, even when the sign sikil is not there.
St01
Garlic, onion, leek
The Old Babylonian texts distinguish the following alliaceous plants: sum. sar sum el- Zum say sum el-Zu-tum. sum el-Zu-tim sar el-Zu-tum sar sum. sar na-hu sum.sar na-hi sum na-hu-tim sum.sikil.sar
Di 726:1, 7 PBS 812 185:5; Riftin 125:6; BM 97400:6; Di 726:ll AbB 3 110:16 TCL 11 202:7 BM 97795:lO Di 726:3,9 PBS 8/2 185:2 36 TCL 11 202:8; AbB 3 110:17 TCL 11 202:9; PBS 812 185:4; Riftin 125:7; Di 726:4,10
What emerges from this survey is that we have to distinguish between Up till now, el- urn was sum.siki1 and sum el-Zum (plural el-lu-tum/tim). generally read sikilzum by the Assyriologists and no distinction between both words was seen. We can now single out a large number of references for sum el-Zum, mainly in letters, often mentioned together with sum.sar, "garlic".37 Old Babylonian lexical texts also keep both words apart.38 Excursus Two texts suggest that el-lum: a passage in a letter, AbB 9 182:2-4 and Stol, JCS 34 200 no. 11: Are the sum.sikills scribal mistakes
sum.siki1 is identical with sum 109:15-19, and the lists in YOS 12 4-6 when compared with each other. for sum el-zum?
El-zum is a pseudo-ideogram meaning "bright". Now, Sumerian sikil also means "bright". The texts shows that there is a difference, but this may have been slight. Both plants were onions, white, and a small distinction may have made the scribes invent the pseudo-ideogram el-turn for the occasion. One Mari text and the later lexical tradition show that two different Akkadian words were used for both kinds of white onion: Later lexical texts make a distinction: sum.siki1 sar = gu-si-ki-Z[u], sum.siki1.x.y sar = Za-maz-ki-lu.39 The plant list CT 14 27 K.4162:9-10 kit-Zum.
offers:
6
5&-rna~-kil-Za-nuy
~UTU-
St01
Garlic, onion, leek
(AlZium ascatonicum = sum QZ-ZU~). Both varieties are closely related, as already Hebrew besiil "onion" vs. besaZsiiZ "shallot" shows.43 The shallot is a smaller and "seed-less" onion, says the Mishnah. And, indeed, whereas "seed" of sum.siki1 is widely attested, we never find it for sum e ~ - l u r n . ~ ~ Botanists, quoted by philologists, assure us that the shallot is not identical with the "Ascalonian" onion, first mentioned by Theophrastus, though our word "shallot" is derived from " ~ s c a l o n i a n " . ~However ~ this may be, I hold it for highly probable that Greek "Ascalonian" is an adaptation of a Semitic word like ZamaZkiZZanu, ZusikiZZu, or other by-forms. Compare German AschZauch with its authentic German flavour, but in fact a corruption and adaptation of ascazonicum.
I cannot go into the origin(s) of the Akkadian words ZamaZkiZZu, etc. Of course it has to do with Sumerian sikil, but perhaps also with the plant sikiZZu. I am not averse to the opinion that these words and Greek skiZZa are basically the same ("bulb"?). Scilla is named "rats' onion" in Arabic. Cf. also Chiera 1983. Onions can be grown either from seeds or bulbs. Dalman gave a detailed description of how onions are sown and the youn bulbs (qunmra; from Greek k3knion lit. **smallcone") are transplanted .4f In Iraq the following method is also followed: "A bulb may be fragmented into bulbils and grown likewise. In Iraq bulbils, called fiska, are especially used for production of green onions which are much preferred as salads. Bulb-cultivation is rather preferred to seed cultivation. The crop flourishes better in a dry climate and shows much promise when cultivated in a lightly manured field".47 "Only healthy good-looking bulbs are selected as seed substitute for the purpose of cultivation. Sometimes, the bulbs are cut truncated and the lower parts used as seed and the upper' eaten. This ensures healthy floral spike and early spikes produce heavier and more vigorous seeds. For the sake of raising seeds, the truncated method is beneficial" .48 The Babylonian texts are silent on the methods of growing onions, etc.49 The much older Sumerian texts, however, with their interesting terms like tu(d) and igi (named "good" or "not good"), are more telling in this respect. It is not my task to study them (see Waetzoldt, above, pp. 34ff).
V
In Old Babylonian Mari we find the words su-ma-at-ki-Zu and za-ma--ki-Zu in two related texts; both words must have the same meaning, comments Durand .40 Excursus The texts from Mari and Tell a1 Rimah, in northern Elesopotamia, use the Sumerogram sum. sikil only once;41 normal is sum.ki. sikil(sar) occurring together with hazannii "garlic".42 One is tempted to see in this Sumerogram an effort to convey the Assyrian dialect word for "onions", 5umkiZ. Incidentally, this Assyrian word "returned" into Akkadian via Aramaic as the loan word 2%-ma-ka-a-ta in a Neo-Babylonian text (TCL 13 233:35).
I would like to suggest that we are confronted here with the distinction between the normal onion (AlZium cepa
=
sum.siki1) and the shallot
Not only white, but also red onions are cultivated. In Iraq, "red and white varieties are generally grown, the latter being harvested earlier in Iraq. However, the red-coloured onions are more common and the shades of this vary from deep red to brown-red or yellowish red".50 The word sum.hu5 sar could very well refer to those red onions; in a lexical text it follows sum el-lwn "bright onion".51 There is one Old Babylonian context ref., CBS 88:2 and 9: "thirty strung bundles of sum.hu3 ~ a r " . ~A ~later three-column lexical text equates the Sumerogram with zi-im-zi-me in the living every-day language.53 Indeed the word zimzirnrnu is attested in Late Babylonian texts as arden product, a 58 together with garlic, onions, sum rak-ki-bi, and mi-ir-gu. The list of plants in the Garden of ~erodachbaladan~~ opens with garlic, onion (SUM.SIKIL SAR), leek, mirgu. Then a ruling line follows and
Garlic, onion, leek
after this four plant names are given in which I would like to see various kinds of onions:
AN.TAH.~UM
(= sum.tur, lit. "small onionw)56 Eli-as-ni- bi (AHW: = EiEanibe) ku-ni-ip-hi (= sum.KIL) xi-im-zi-im-mu (= sum.hu3.a).
All four words are also attested in the Banquet Stela of Assurnasirpal 11: kuniphu directly after garlic and onion; andahEu and Eizanibu further on, but together.57 LEEK
The Akkadian word for "leek" is karaEum or karZm;58 cognates are known from the other Semitic languages. Our European leek, AZZium porrum, does not seem to be indigenous in the Near East. The local leek is AZlium kurrat, named after Arabic kurrZit "leek".59
With which plant can we identify this bulb-leek? The plant ~ l l ) p o . i r[~I ) ,,(.cur both in the Babylonian and the Classical (and later) texts. I cc; 1 iteral meaning "leek-with-a-head" made Mr F . Nigel Hepper, present ,it orlr meeting, think of a leek with a succulent cylindrical basal part as c.ontrasted to the salad leek. Such a leek does exist. The Sumerian agricultural texts never mention ga.raE.sag "bulb-leek", hut of ten za.ha.din. A word on za.ha.din, Akkadian Euhatinnii, may be in order here. The bulb-leek, Mishnaic qafZ@, is mentioned in one breath with garlic and onions in the tractate Ukzin (I,2) and seems to have been the third major alliaceous bulb-crop. The Assyriologist will not be slow in pointing out that his texts often mention garlic onions, and in one breath. This plant indeed has bulbs6? and is often za.ha.din66 prefixed with the sign sum ("alliaceous"). The bulb is "dug out" (AbB 6 92). It is bound into strings (sa) and constitutes, with garlic and No "seed" (numun) is ever mentioned. The recently onions, tZibiZum.68 published Old Babylonian "cookery book" lists za.ha.din i-Ea-ru-turn, Zu-hu.69 ti-in-ni i-za-ru-ti, lit. "straight z
./z."
Another problem is that the sources, ancient and medieval, speak of a leek "with a head" that I cannot find back in botany. We will call it here "bulb-leek".
One is tempted to see in za.ha.din the bulb-leek, but the problem is that we have already identified gerEZinum as bulb-leek. At our meeting the evidence for za.ha.din in the earlier Sumerian texts turned out to be bewildering, so we refrain from any opinion on Old Babylonian za.ha.din/&hatinnZ.
In the Old In literary similes leek is compared with human hair.60 Testament the word "grass" is used for leek (Numbers 11:5) and an inscription of Cyrus, rendered in Greek, gives among foodstuffs for the royal meal "garlic", "sharp onions", and "leaf" (= leek?) .61 Leek in these contexts seems to be a plant like our common leek. For chives (Porrum sectivum) Akkadian may have the special word kismu, a word to be derived from the verb kasEmum, "to cut (plants)".
In later texts
The Greeks and Romans speak of kephaZZt6n or capitatum leeks with bulbs as large as possible.62 The adjective literally means "with a head", i.e., a bulb. In later Greek the adjective kephaZZt6n gradually became the word for this kind of leek63 and this word appears as a loan in later Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic (qafzo$/qafZZtZ/qafiE+). Authorities cited by Ibn a1 ~aitar64inform us that this is the "Syrian Leek". The word "bulb" is "head" (sag) in Sumerian too, and in fact there is a Sumerian plant name ga.raE.sag, "leek with a head"; Akkadian gerEZnum. During the Old Babylonian period it was cultivated by gardeners. We even have rentals on the cultivation of this leek; they are dated 10.X (VAS 18 35), 15.X (YOS 12 393) and 23.11 (VAS 9 26/27). A chief gardener delivers It is striking that we have hardly any evithem on 10.V (YOS 12 428). dence of the cultivation of common leek (karaZurn).65 Was this easy and was growing g e ~ ~ Z n uam work for specialists?
The words ger5Znum and Euhatinnum became obsolete after the Old Babylonian period and are no longer used in the Babylonian dialect. But bulb-leeks continued to be cultivated, we assume, and one has to look for them in the texts. Here the list with plants in the Garden of Merodachbaladan is helpful: its first section has the plants garlic, onion, leek (GA.RAS SAR) and mi-ir-ga SAR (CT 14 50:l-4). The thought that mirgu is bulb-leek imposes itself. We actually find mirgu as a cultivated plant in Late Babylonian contracts, together with onions, etc. Also the normal word for leek, karazu, seems to have been replaced by a new word, bisru or biEu.u. This word appears as variant of GA.RAS in hemerological texts70 where eating cress and bisru are tabooed.71 This word may have survived in Mandaic besra.72 At the end of this section on leek I would like to point out some ambiguities in Ur I11 field names: giS.SAR g2r-~um(ki), ITT 5 6925:8, etc. (MAD 3 152) gi3.SAR gextin g2r-~umki,Amherst 54 :3, but in line 7 : giE.SAR ga.raZ ("merchant"?) (cf. JESHO 20 [1977] 140). a.33 ga.rax, ITT 2 895. a.33 za.ha.din, Pettinato 1967, 234 no. 866.
Garlic, onion, leek
Garlic, onton, leek
POUNDED ALLIUM
GARDENS
Theophrastus, writing on garlic, says: "There is one kind which excels in size, especially that variety which is called Cyprian, which is not cooked but used for salads, and, when it is pounded up, it increases wondrously in bulk, making a foaming dressing".73 The Greeks indeed made a garlic dish of pounded garlic as main ingredient; the dish is called muttZt6s in Greek and moretum in Latin. A poem on its preparation is ascribed to Virgil. Pounding garlic is known from Arabic and modern sources, too.74 This will raise the interest of students of the Ancient Near East, "allium" because Sumerian sources frequently mention sum.gaz, lit. "crush". This cannot be crushed or pounded , but must be a special plant: it is cultivated, has bulbs and seed,$a;zyzd could be bought. One text mentions a mortar made of wood;76 an Old Sumerian inscription is written on a stone mortar, called bur.sum.gaz. 77 The oldest Sumerian school texts list a bur (lit. "bowl") for a kind of leek.78 Excursus An unpublished Old Babylonian letter has in a list "five pu-5-ri of sum el-lum" (BM 97338:7). A list from the same time has, after alliaceous products, "30 bur gul". These are hardly stonecutters (bur.gul), but the reference is rather to "thirty bur (= bowls) of soaked matter", reading siin = nartabum instead of gul (PBS 812 185:6). Hartmut Waetzoldt pointed out during our meeting that Sumerian sum.gaz is often given to messengers as food provision; see his contribution to this volume (p. 32). A newly discovered manuscript of the Sumerian myth "~nanna'sDescent to the Nether World" has an additional line, saying that the devils from hell do not "crush bitter garlic" .sar nlg.He3.a nu.kum.e.me.eE), as obviously any normal person would do.
Alliaceous plants were cultivated in gardens. Such gardens could be part of the date gardens, where these vegetables were subsidiary cr0~s.85 They were situated on "spaces left free" (tzriqtum) between the date palms. There is a special word for a garden used for alliaceous plants in Urukagina mentions this garden, lit. "garlic place", Sumerian, ki.sum.ma. in one breath with ki.GkuH, "cucumber place" (inscr. 4 iv 10). The word is widely attested in Sumerian texts and it is clear that other crops also could be grown there (rotation?). During the Old Babylonian period the Sumerogram is only used in Nippur with its traditional writing system.86 From .the Neo-Babylonian texts it is perfectly clear that garlic was grown in a plot called Zikittu, lit. "plantation". In almost all texts Zikittu is mentioned in connection with garlic and it served as security in loans where garlic growers were involved.B7 In a contract a gardener promises to plant date to "plant a plantation (Z.) and to surround all y Z. as "garlic patch"89 is, however, too this with a w a l l ' * . 8 ~ a 1 ~define narrow. The Z. in the date grove, just mentioned, could very well serve for other vegetables as well and a Neo-Babylonian letter tells us that The word "vegetables" were pulled up in this garden (CT 22 79:22). "vegetables" in this letter, not recognized in Assyriology, is written buquZ and must be an Aramaic loan word in late Akkadian. It occurs twice in ~ r a m a i cand ~ ~ in Arabic baql (buqid) means "vegetables".
HARVEST
CI"gm
Now it is striking that Sumerian sum.gaz is no more attested after the Ur 111 period and is hardly mentioned in the Old Babylonian lexical texts.80 It seems to have been "forgotten". This may be the moment to make a remark on sum.sar nuhiiturn (and vars.) that we encountered when discussing onions. Could this be identical with sum.gaz? It is possible that the Sumerians cultivated a plant the domestication of which proved not profitable enough for their successors who gave it up. Could this sum.gaz be AZZium ampeZoprasum, "wild" or "Arab's garlic"? Let me quote Lothar Stein on the bedouins in Iraq: "Eine lauchahnliche Pflanze, b a ~ a a(Allium cf. ampeloprasum), deren Rohrenblatter im Morser zerstampft und mit Salz vermengt werden. In kleinen Lederbeuteln verwahrt, ist dieses ~ British ladies Produkt lange haltbar und dient als ~ ~ e i s w i i r z e " . ~Two wrote on this plant in Palestine: "This fine wild Allium, with tall stems bearing a round head of purple flowers, is usually called Arab's Garlic, but occasionally is dignified by the name of Leek; indeed botanists approve this and say that it is probably the origin of our Garden Leek, Allium porrum. It is often eaten and believed to have a measure of the virtues of This plant indeed has bulbs with a the cultivated garlic and onion".82 diameter to up to 3cm, says a flora of ran.^^ D . Hooper wrote on garlic in Iran (AZZium satiuum): "Three kinds of the plant are grown in Iran: Bustani (garden), Bari (wild), and Kirathi (leek-like)" .84
Two words describe the harvesting of garlic, etc., "to dig" and "to pull up". "To dig" is often attested in the Presargonic Sumerian texts (ba,al). During the Old Babylonian period napazum "to dig (out)" was used for harvesting garlic, etc. It is unfortunate that both dictionaries have the references under another verb napZlum, meaning "to compensate" or the like.91 One text shows that onions are dug out "at the appropriate time" ( s i m ~ n u m ) . ~ ~The substantive "digging out" must be niplum, attested in one Old Bab lonian contract: a man has to give garlic i-nu ni-pi-iz ZA-du-um (= ? ) . 9 1
"To pull up" is attested mainly in Ur I11 Sumerian (bu)g4 Akkadian in the Neo-Babylonian period as n a s ~ h u . ~ ~
and in
The harvested crop was measured in dry measure. Later on the plants or bulbs could be packed in baskets, etc., or strung into strin s or bundles. This bundling was done by women, as one Ur I11 text tells us. 6 6
Garlic, onion, leek
Garlic,
on i
o ~ l ,
l rck
DRYING After the harvest, one has to dry the garlic and onions. This was done "outside" (kzda, AbB 2 89:33) or on the roof (ARM 10 16, 1 3 6 ) . ~ ~ Dry (Zabulum) garlic served as food; moist (ratbum) garlic as seed (OBTR no.29). Other letters also discern two possible destinations for garlic: dry for food, and the rest for seed.98 Seed is to be soaked (mahahum) .before planting (TCL 1 47 = VAB 6 no. 267). In this last text the seeds (numun), not the bulbils are clearly meant. "Dry garlic" is a garden product in a Late Babylonian contract.9 9 Drying was the normal procedure and there are some indications that the crop was called tZbilum, lit. "dried (plants)". An Old Babylonian text subsumes garlic, onions and za.ha.din under the general term t~biZum.100 In Neo-Babylonian rentals of houses garlic and tabiturn appear in a similar clause, but never together.Io1 A Middle Babylonian text, however, shows The man that tabilum could also comprise other dried garden plants.102 who was in charge of this drying was the Za tabiZi (YOS 13 423 :5).
UNITS The commonest way of collecting garlic, etc., was to bundle them. A rather rich terminology for such "bundles" or "strings" exists in Akkadian. This in contradistinction to Sumerian, where only the word sa "bundle" is attested, a word usually used for reed bundles.lo3 Ur I11 texts show that one bundle could contain 6 shekels (volume) of sum.gaz, 4 shekels of Sumerian gu.15 seems to be a za.ha.dinYl04 and 8 shekels of sum.sikil.lO5 higher unit lo6
.
In Akkadian we have the words birihhum (Old Babylonian), gidlum (Old and Neo-Babylonian), pztum (Babylonian and Assyrian), and riksum (Old It seems best to say a few words on each of them. Babylonian).lo7
birihhwn Hundreds of them occur according to the Old Babylonian texts,1°8 so this could be a low unit. But the textual material is still too scant to draw such conclusion with certainty.
higher unit, less frequently attested that gidlum, is p T t ~ m . ~ ~T3h e lumbers range from 2 to 2000.114 Tens or hundreds are the most common figures in the Neo-Babylonian texts. One text seems to say that one pztu Is 14 cubits long.l15 The relation between pztu and gidZu cannot be cBstablished. One text gives "26 pi-i-ti, 600 gid-dil" (Nabn. 169 : 1-2), another "7700 gid-diZ 17 pi-tum" (Liverpool 27 :2,6). 'I'lle
It is striking that after the reign of Darius gidlu is no longer ilttested. This may be coincidence. ~ z t uoccurs in the Darius texts four times and is in most instances written BE (pit)-ti. This may also be coincidence. Somewhat exceptional is the use of riksum for a bundle of garlic in an Old Babylonian text ("60 bundles") .l16
'
According to rabbinic literature garlic was braided ( q l ) into strings and onions were bound ('gd) into bundles.l17 The Akkadian word for string, gidlurn, indeed has a cognate in Aramaic gdZ "to braid".'l8 Can we find this difference back in the cuneiform texts? Perhaps in the lexical series Ilarra-hubullu, where we read according to MSL: [sum.(min.)tab].ba sar = es-pu-tu ("doubled; twined") sum.3.tab.ba sar = zi-ru-tu ("plaited") (MSL 10 p.91 Hh XVII 251f.) However, the only published manuscript offers ] .ba sar [sum.s ] ikil. tab. ba sar
[
=
=
es-pu-tu zi-ru-tu (K5cher KADP 38.iv.5-6)
If this last reading is correct, zirutu would refer to "plaited" onions (sum. sikil) .'I9 It is possible that Akkadian beserum in the D-stem denoted the detachin of garlic from the string.120 Sometimes garlic, etc., is simply counted f21 We assume that not the numbers of bulbs, but of strings or bundles are meant by these figures.
.
They could also be weighed122 or given in units of dry measure.123 Sometimes we see that they were kept in baskets, sacks, or ~ e s s e 1 s . l ~ ~
g i d 2 wn Old Babylonian: in numbers of 10, 30, 60, and 180.109 says that they are "strung" (Eakkum) .llo
An unpublished text
Neo-Babylonian: often counted in thousands and a few times in tens or hundreds of thousands.ll1 The word has survived in the Aramaic glosses from the Sassanian texts: in the list of glosses gdjZn occurs between "onions" and "garlic".112 These "strings" are often counted in multiples of 30, 60, or 1200.
There is some evidence that they could be attached to wooden hooks, comparable with the 'iinq(l)aj (Greek h g k o s , angkitZB) in Mishna and Talmud : gix.eme.sum
in A. Deimel, OrientaZia 16 [I9251 p. 16 VAT 4832;l25
KA LB 1107 (published by G. Th. Ferwerda in SLB V as no. 27)
KAxUD SUM.SIKIL.SAR
in the Hittite Laws.
Garlic, onion, leek
St01
There are a few more terms in Sumerian that cannot be studied here.126 term BAR.ME in a Neo-Babylonian text is dark to me.127
Garlic, onion, leek
The
NOTES
I would like to thank W.H. van Soldt and K. van Lerberghe for having made available to me unpublished texts from the British Museum (BM) and the Belgian excavations in Tell ed-Der (Di 726). G. van Driel kindly gave me a first list of the Neo-Babylonian texts on garlic. The CBS texts will be published by K. van Lerberghe in OrientaZia Lovaniensia Anatecta 21 [1986]. The BM texts are forthcoming in AbB 12.
FOOD TABOOS Hemerologies and a few cultic texts from Mesopotamia show that the consumption of some food items was not allowed on certain days or for officiants in a particular ritual.128 Fish, garlic, onions, and leeks are prominent among those prohibited foodstuffs. Already a Sumerian proverb suggests that there is something wrong with a en-priest eating fish, leeks, and cress.129 Leeks are "an abhorrence" ikkibu) to the temple Ezida and the priests are not supposed to eat them.l O A Babylonian omen text says that a man who enters "the house of his god" is impure if he eats leeks, cress, garlic, onions, beef, or pork.131
Thompson 1949, p. 52-55; Gelb 1965, p. 57-62; Bottero 1980, p. 39-41.
4
TCL 17 61:32-35. erggum, ergu, erigtwn (Riftin 125:4, 8, 11). hkiinum (AbB 9 103:40; YOS 12 393:5). discussed later.
It is interesting to note here that the Prophet Muhammad did not like garlic, onions, and leeks and that one should avoid the mosque after having eaten them. This dislike may have old roots; a South Arabian inscription from MXrib describes how two men had to expiate for sitting in the and onions temple "stinking (qjj) from malodorous plants (dfr'n) (b~Zn)'*.133
Cf. Snell 1982, p. 176f.; note "50 sag sum.sarl' in BE 14 21:6 (MB). French ca'ieu; German Zehe ("toe"). In Hh and forerunners where the clove and the plant (to be discussed presently) are kept apart in Sumerian. Gurney 1983, p. 200, sees in MB durii our garlic bulbils. Are the (unique) sum.tur.tur.sar in CT 44 36:8 (med.) cloves?
Much more could be said on the avoidance of garlic, etc., in Egypt (according to the Classical authors), Greece, Rome, and in the Talmud. We will not do this but draw the readers's attention to two cuneiform texts. The first is the so-called atuzinnu text. In one section jokes are made on food taboos and reference is made to eating leeks (ka-ra-gi) in month VII, turnips? (taptu or tip-tu) in month VIII, garlic? (a-aa-an-ni) . ~But ~more~ plants or in month IX, and fish products. in month x t.his passage and it is not certain that the comestibles are mentioned in 7 pun is on leeks, turnipse, garlic?, and fish products?. The second text is a contract from Old Babylonian Mari. There, we find the legal formula: "anyone who enters a claim has 1 ~ 'eaten' 1 3 5 AS the 'herbs' (SAR.ME3) of SamZi-Addu and [.....I and Awin-..... A. Falkenstein and CAD realized, SAR.MES("herbsW) stands for normal asakkwn, "taboo1*,also construed with the verb "to eat'*.136 Are garlic, onions, and leeks meant by this word "herbs"?
(.....),
.
Cf. Hkittu "garden", to be
9
Oldest ref. in RA 60 [1966], p. 9 line 11.
10 edznii; AfO 18 [1957/58], p. 329 line 81. 11 R.D. Biggs, Studia Orientatia 46 [1975], p. 26; Waetzoldt, p. 35 above. 12 Add to AHw p. 1373 turii: CT 14 35a:15 (plant list) and CT 44 36:4 (med )
..
13 L5w 1924, p. 142f.; Cl6ment-Mullet 1866, p. 195. 14 Burde 1974, p. 18, on KUB 44 61 obv. llf. 15 AHw p. 1556a g/kapanu 1974, 22.
(cf. gapnu ? ? ) ,
eine Knolle.
See also Burde
16 M. Stol, JCS 34 [1982], p. 142. 17 Hinz 1973, p. 153, cf. p. [1897], p. 242-245, was the discussion on this month and tified this month with Ajaru 18 Eilers 1953, p. 42f. note 3.
66 ("Knoblauchlese"). F. Justi, ZDMG 51 first and still is the most comprehensive garlic in the Achaemenid Empire. He iden(month 11).
Garlic, onion, leek
St01
G a r 1i
(,
,
i
O I ~0 1 1 ,
I ,,,>I,
?lSL 10 91 Hh XVII 248f. The only published source is Kocher K A I ) I 1 1 H . i V . 3-4 (Sumerian broken off). For a collation of line 249, sc,e IIIY I I O L , , 26, end.
19
BcittGro 1980, p . 33b; '1. Einet, AfO 25 71974-77:, p. 128 note 52.
39
31
MEE
3 [1981], p. 178 no. 50.vi.8; cf. p . 182 no. 50:88 (synopsis); 189 no. 1 i i i . 7 ; p. 194 no. 52.rev.iv.8 (sum = za-rxx- m ) ; p . 199 no. 52:91 (synopsis).
It0 J . - M . Durand, ARMT 21 [1983], p. 122 on nos. 1 0 3 ~ 5and 104:6. K(.1<;. for ZamaEkiZZu: ARM 9 238:7; ARN 12 241:5; 729:2; 7 3 1 ~ 6 ;733:6; 7 3 4 : h ; note dutu-ki-lu, ARM 12 728:9.
p.
22
MEE 4 31i:L079, ga:raT.sar
23
Hoffner 1974, p. 109. 29:16.
24
P. Steinkeller, %A 72 [1982], p. 253.
25 26
=
ha-za-nu.
Seeds: TCL 1 47.1; TCL 17 61:32f.
Cf. OBTK
43
Following I. Law's identifications (Flora 11, p. 127f.).
4
numun sum.sikil sar: Snell 1982, p.176; TuT 12i.iv.9, 1 ; Riftir 125:7 (simple sum el-Zum sap in t h \ a prtceding line); BM 97299:6, 21.
sum.di2mun (could also be garlic!); 5. HruZka in: Potts 1983, p. 83f. sum.si.ki1 A.HA.BA,
ITT 3 5206:l.
For A.HA
-
Tuba, see Y . Steinkeller, T s there any relation with of the lexical tradition (MSL LO 1 2 2 FNi C : 4 ) ?
.JCS 3 2 [1980j, 2 . 28ff. (not this example).
the surn.sikil.tu.tu.ba Mr. C.B.F. Walker kindly collated for me manuscript Y (BM 68607) of Hh XVII, line 249, according to 7lSL 10 p . 91 sum.siki1.x.y.sar. Walker's copy suggests s~~m,sikil.d~b.d~b.bu? s [ax ]
... . .
27
42 hRM 2,3 367:7; 368:9; 465:6; OBTR 140:?5 [sic].
45 Theophrastus, Bist. plant.
b I I ,
4, 7; disc. Stadler and LL5w.
46 Dalman 1932, pp. 188, 238. 47
Chakravarty 1976, p. 17b.
48 Op. cit., p. 18a.
AndrG 1956, p. 80f., under aepa. 49
Kiftin 125 seems to be concerned ~vitl-Ia nllrsery of garlic, shallots.
5
Chakravarty i97b, p. 1 7 .
51
MSL ms.
28 We cannot connect Late Babylonian rakkibu with this onion, as Stolper 1985, p. 238 nore a to no. i4, did. 29
See Low 1924, p . 1 2 9 .
30
E. Ebeling, MAOG 14/1 !L94ij, p. 16, top.
31
RAY 6 510.i.21; duplic. 513.i.11'.
33
Diusc. 2, 151; P P i r : y , 2T.l 2 9 , 13'33. espscially 5n later t radi Lions.
3
Scholle11 1983, p . 13 ("rur die rote Kriolle als Heilmittel").
36
ije w i l l
3':
Xb3 L i36:14; 108:9; 123:11; 4bB 2 99:2,6; 116:14; hbB 7 i57:8; 159 rev. 5'; L60:16; AbR 9 103:37; 109:13; PBS 7 48-12. . , B?f 97795:i-.I.<).
38
:GI,
There certainly are Tore rer's.,
discl~ssv l a h u t u ~In the section "Pounded , I l l i i ~ m " .
10 118:45-47; 122 r : 3 , 5. C f . sum.siki.1 aar -- za.ha.din sar --,?,-lurri dzp in the Disyatation between Sumner and iinter: I S E T L I L P V . 6 7 X i . $572, second :olumn, below. sum.t
oni:ins,
and
118:46 ( i ) B ) , apparently xn ::he cii?pub. n;a.r,us.:ript 3 % T h e c o p y of offerg sum.KUN / sar j , :1'; 5 '.3 : 15 , ;;n& 1:: ::zLkec irkf or;:,:, :a< : ''KT:;.: seerria bettt:r zhan F:1'5",. A
St01
Garlic, onion, leek
99 Written SE.SUM.H~D.DA: PBS 211 154:10, 14, 18 with Cardascia 1951, p. 135 note 5 (not: "white"). 100 JCS 34 [1982], p. 160 no. 11:7. 101
Oppenheim 1936, p. 85 (4) with p. 87 and 140 note 16. p. 218a S.V. selzu.
Cf. CAD S
102 Petschow 1974, p. 95 no. 47:l. A new Neo-Babylonian ref. for tZbiZu is CT 55 365:lO ("fish and t."). Used for dried barley in JCS 11 [1957], p. 32 no. 21:7 (OB). 103 Ur 111 texts show that 7-25 reed bundles could be packed together to larger units, gu.kilib.ba (A.L. Oppenheim, AOS 32 [1948], p. 45f.). One text mentions "3 kilib sum.gazW and "1 kilib sum.sikilW (RTC 317: 14, rev. 12-13), another seems to read: "56 kilib sum numun (or:gu!?) 15.a (MVN 12 426:l).
St01
113 There is now an OB ref., in the phrase "dig out (upuz) two pi-ti of garlic", BM 97363. Add to AHw pztu I1 the NB refs. Cyrus 141:h; 331:9; Camb. 104:2; 167:1, 6; 308:1, 6; Darius 105:l; 345:1, 5, 10; Joannss, TEBR no. 67:2; Liverpool 27:2, etc. 114 VAS 4 35 (cf. "3" in TCL 13
.
r147
116 Frank 1928, no. 38:14 (= DCS no. 102); not in AHW sub riksu A 9. Note "5 ri-ik-si s'a X[e] .lG.sarN in BM 97338:8 (OB letter). 117 Salomonski 1911, p. 28; LEw, 1924, p. 141. 118 Linen gidtu: M. Stol, ZA 73 [1983], p. 299. 119
The parallelism with egpu shows that we should not think here of the "twisting" of the foliage before harvesting which helps further swelling of the bulbs: Chakravarty, 1976, p. 18a, but also Columella, De re rustica XI, 3.
120
In an unpublished Old Babylonian letter (A. 3528:20), p. 134a under bagaru.
105 H. Sauren, WMAH no. 43.ii.10. In the Presargonic period for garlic, etc.; in the Ur 111 period for reed; see D.O. Edzard, BiOr 25 [1968], p. 355a.
143:l); Nabn. 663:5.
115 VAS 4 35 (= NRVU no. 245) with NRVU Glossar p. 124: g6 'pi-turn7 ana KCS 6r-ku! (text UB-LU )
104 TuT 121.iv.2,6.
106
Garlic, onion, leek
cited in CAD B
107 Neo-Babylonian gi-di-pi is not a bundle; most recently W. von Soden, Or NS 37 [1968], p. 270 no. 168 ("Gepfliicktes"). Are in CT 22 80:9 the cloves of garlic meant? Cf. sum.sar ga qG-td-pu (so ? ) in Birot 1969, no. 28:28 (OB).
121 Multiples of 60 in CBS 491, Di 726, and AbB 7 159 rev. 5'; PBS 8/2 185:5 (all OB). Furthermore RTC 214:6 (onions); Banquet Stele of Assurnasirpal I1 line 125 (100 garlic, 100 onions); CT 22 174:39 (20 garlic).
108 Add to CAD B 248f. the refs. CBS 408 (numbers 10, 5 and 6; commodity not mentioned) and AbB 10 201:19 (12 bi-ri-hi s'a sum.sar, correcting Kraus )
122 gG: Forde 1967, no. 20:17f.; gin: OBTR 129:7.
.
123
109 Add to CAD G 66 the OB refs. CBS 88 and BM 97795 (letter). 110
"30 gi-id- Zu Za-ak-k[u-tum] ? b sum.huH.sar" CBS 88:1-2, 8-9.
111
Lowest figure is the exceptional "5" in Nabn. 100; possibly a mistake The next highest figure is in fact 500 (Nerigl. for "5 <ME>" (= 500). 50). Read in Nerigl. 32:l "10 IGI!" (= 10,000). Ten thousands in Higher: 395,000 Nebk. 406; Nerigl. 32; 66; Nabn. 160:19; 1014. (Cyrus 41), 162,000 (Sack 1972, no. 23), 150,000 (Nabn. 160).
112
ITT I1 3802.rev.1,lO; MVN 1 215; 259.
ITT 111 5206:l; ITT V 6857.ii.8f.; Orientazia 47-49 [1930], no. 253: 5f.; RTC 307.i~. In later texts: JCS 34 143 (OB); Nabn. 128:6; CT 22 80:lO; land leases in the IluraXu texts (NB).
124 Baskets: quppum for hazannii; pizannum for garlic; saZZu for onions and garlic (NA); seZZu for tdbiZu (NB). Vessels : karpatum for gumkii (OA) , s'uhurrCm for hazannii (OB Mari) Sacks: azamiztum (AbB 9 109:18).
.
125
Cf. Rosengarten 1960, p. 208 note 2.
126
See Gelb 1965, p. 58ff.-on nag.kud, giX.gigir, and kilib (perhaps comparable with Akkadian pitum; see my note 113).
Add to the dictionaries the Neo-Bab. refs. Nebk. 290; 309; 397; 400; 406; Nerigl. 32; 35; 38; 66; 68; Nabn. 100; 107; 141; 151; 152; 427; 819; Cyrus 76; 87; Camb. 218; Liverpool nos. 21:l ( ! ) and 27; 5R 67 no. 4; Sack 1972, nos. 23; 24; 25; 62.
127 Nabn. 232:1, "3785 BAR.ME s'6 SUM.SARW.
Cancel in AHw 287b Nabn. 1063 (= bu-le-e).
128
See van der Toorn 1985, p. 33-36. (AGH p. 126).
Cf. E. Ebeling, MAOG 14/1 (1941) p. 15f. In Mishna and Talmud specifically for garlic, etc., not gedz'za, but 'agiiddd.
129
OECT V [1976], p. 37 no. 3.
In a prayer ritual: BMS 33:45f.
St01
Garlic, onion, leek
Garlic, onlon, lcsck
130 E. von Weiher, Baghd. Mitt. 15 [1984], p. 202 ii.17-18. 131 CT 39 38.rev.11 (duplic. CT 39 36:107); 51-54 [1930], p. 207. 132 Wensinck
1927,
S.V.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
cf. F Notscher, Orientalia
Garlic, Leek, Onion
(refs.
only);
cf.
the
NB. Abbreviations follow W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handu8rterbuch, V O ~ .I I L with the following additions:
~ncyclopaediaof 1sZam2 I1 119651, p. 1058 s.v GhidhB. 133 Jarme 720 according to M.A. Ghul; see J. Ryckmans, Annuli Universitario Orientale (Napoli) 32 [1972], p.3. 134 B.R. Foster, JANES 6 [1974], p. [1975-781, p. 63f.
77f.; W.H.Ph.
=
D. Charpin & J.-M. Durand, Documents cun2iformes de StPUSbourg (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Cahier 4 [1981]).
MEE
=
MateriaZi epigrafici di Ebla (Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale, Seminario di Studi Asiatici: Series Maior Iff. [19791.
MVN
=
Materiali per iZ vocabolario neosumerico (Roma: Unione Accademie Nazionale, Multigrafice Editrice).
- Istituto
Romer, Persica VII
135 ARM 8 11:27, 29-31 with coll. MAR1 1 [1982], p. 98 and 128. reading SAR appears to be doubtful! 136
DCS
The
BiOr 17 [1960], p. 178a; CAD A12 p. 327a.
TEBR = F. Joannes, Textes 2conomiques de La BabyZonie r6cente (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Cahier 5 [1982]).
Wirtschaftsurkunden aus der Zeit der III. Dynastie von Ur im Besitz des Muske drArt et drHistoire in Genf (Napoli: Istituto Orientale di Napoli).
WMAH = H. Sauren,
Andr6, J 1956
.
Barton, G.A. 1914
Lexique des t e m e s de botanique latin (Paris: C. Klincksieck). Haverford Library CoZZection of Cuneiform Tablets or Documents from the temple archives of TeZZoh, part 111 (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co.).
Bernhardt, I. 1976 Sozial5konomische T ~ x t e und Rechtsurkunden aus Nippur zur Kassitenzeit (Berlin, DDR: Akademie-Verlag). Biggs, R.D. 1974
Inscriptions from Tell Abii saZ~bikh (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Birot, M. 1969
TabZettes
drGpoque
babylonienne
ancienne
(Paris:
Paul
Geuthner). Bottgro, J. 1980 1981
Reallexikon der Assyriologie (Berlin: Walter vol. VI, p.39-41, article "Knoblauch".
de
Gruyter),
RealZexikon der Assyriozogie (Berlin: Idalter de Gruyter), vol. VI, p. 277-298, article "Kuche".
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Potts, D.T. 1983
Garlic, onion, leek
Dilmun. New Studies in the Archaeology and early History of Bahrain (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag). THE CUCURBITACEAE IN THE CUNEIFORM TEXTS
Rechinger, R. 1971 Flora Iranica, no. 76 (Wien). Rosengarten, Y. Le concept sum6rien de consommation duns Za vie 6conomique et 1960 religieuse (Paris: E. de Boccard). Sack, R.H. 1972
(Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker).
Salomonski, M. 1911 Gemiisebau und -Gewiichse in Paliistina zur Zeit der Mischnah (dissertation Tubingen) (Berlin: H. Itzkowski). Schopen, A. 1983 Snell, D.C. 1982 Stadler 1924 Stein, L. 1967
TraditionelZe HeiZmitteZ Verlag).
in Jemen (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner
Ledgers and Prices. Early Mesopotamian Merchant Accounts (New Haven: Yale University Press). Pauly-Wissowa's ~eaZencycZopaedieXII (Stuttgart), col. 986991, article "Lauch".
.
Die Sammar-Gerba Beduinen im hergang vom flomadismus zur Sesshaftigkeit (Berlin DDR: Akademie-Verlag).
Stolper, M.W. 1974 Management and Politics in Later Achaemenid Babylonia (dissertation Michigan) (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms). 1985
The general term denoting the Cucurbitaceae is in Sumerian GkuZ; a few times kuF. There is probably an etymological .""I link with Akkadian qzssu "cucumber", but one cannot say that ~ Z S S Uis a loan from ~bmerian.~ This There is a theory that Akkadian word is well-rooted in Semitic (*qi$_ta'). the Greek word sikuos "cucumber" (the feminine form sik6a stands for "bottle-gourd") is related to the Semitic word. Perhaps it is better not to speak of a "loan" from a Semitic language but we should rather think of one word for cucumber, etc., common to all languages in the Mediterranean world, including Sumerian. We often observe this feature in plant names .2 .VVI
Amel-Marduk 562-560 B.C.
The botanical handbook "Uruanna" gives a plant ku-si-ja-me, explained as "star of the seaW.3 After two other plant names GkuZ ja-am follows and is identified as "the kamkadu-plant". In the element jam(el one I would like to easily recognizes the West Semitic word jZm, "sea". translate ku-si (elsewhere ku-sa) jZm(e),4 as literally "cucumber of the sea". One can imagine that such a plant looks both like a star and like a If this cucumber; think of the forms of sea-weed, found on the shore.5 is true, we have in kusi/a a West-Semitic word for "cucumber". In fact, the Ugaritic kg has been translated as "gourd" and the Classical tradition reports on a Punic word koussimezar "cucumber from Egypt (~ezar)".~ This word even seems to have survived in Arabic: Dalman writes that the Kiirbisgurke (Cucurbita pepo, var ouifera) is called kusa in palestine.
.
There is general agreement that the names for the various Cucurbitaceae in the "classical" languages of the Near East are as follow^.^
Entrepeneurs and Empire (Istanbul: Nederlands HistorischArchaeologisch Instituut).
Thompson, R.C. 1949 A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany (London: British Academy). van der Toorn, K. 1985 Sin and Sanction in Israel and Mesopotamia. A Comparative Study (Assen: Van Gorcum & Comp )
..
Hebrew (plur.)
Cucumber
qi_t&Z'
qii%u'
Water melon
ba$$?h
'abt?hzm
pep?h?i
Gourd
qar ( '
ditlii'Zm
qar' Z
Zrn
qat$ut?i
jaqtzn
.
Wens inck, A. J A Handbook of early Muhammadan Tradition (Leiden:E.J. Brill). 1927
Syriac
Arabic
Colocynth
hanzal
(various)
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform T e x t e
Whereas garden products like garlic and onion are widely attested in economic texts, such context references are extremely few for cucumber and similar f r ~ i t s . ~ Context references for colocynth can be found in the medical handbooks of the Babylonians. The reader will find the material in the Akkadian dictionaries under irr$ (err$), qidb$ and tigitc. For a closer study of the cucurbitaceous plants we are left with one more or less telling source, the lists of plants (with their synonyms) in the lexical traditions of the Babylonians. The Sumerian names for these particular plants are all preceded by the sign GkuX, "cucurbitaceous plant", which facilitates our task.
The bottle-gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) owes its name to the fact that the fruit shell is used as a water bottle or bowl. Now, one of the cucurbitaceous plants of ancient Mesopotamia was called nassabu (namsabu), lit. "water outlet, drain pipe" (CAD), "Abflussrohr" (AHw), a word deriving from the verb nagzbu "to suck". A synonym of this plant is kurditlu. R.Campbell Thompson wrote: "Namsabu is a vessel of some kind, thus giving us a This suggests clue to qurditlu as the Syriac qard6l2, a pot or jar. Cucurbita lagenaria (Lagenaria vuZgaris) for our plant, which acquires the form of a flask and forms good bottles" .17 Thompson may be right, but his arguments cannot stand criticism: Syriac qard622, a loan from Greek katdhrion, it seems, cannot be connected with Akkadian kurditlu and nasgabu is not a vessel.
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Cucumber
The oldest lexical tradition is found in the handbook Harra = hubullu and its older l ore runners".^^ The section that interests us is preserved on only one clay tablet, clearly an extract.ll We seem to find here no more than a "discussion" on q'Lssu, "cucumber". The text offers Gku'ZS = qis's'c "cucumber"; Gku'ZS. [tursar], lit. "small cucumber", = ubZinu, lit. "finger" - obviously a smaller variety. Summer and winter cucumber follow (ebariitu, ki7gZtu). After a ruling on the tablet, we read "ripe" (bas'tu) and "unripe" cucumber; another ruling follows and the cucumber section on this extract tablet may end here. .""I
Melons The expressions "ripe" and "unripe" cucumber deserve to retain our attention. "Ripe" (lit. "cooked") cucumber reminds us of Greek pGpan, also "ripe" and literally "cooked", but specifically "a kind of gourd or melon, not eaten till quite ripe (=p6pZn) (whereas sikuos [cucumber] was eaten unripe)" - thus the standard Greek-English dictionary. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament p6p3n is used to render Hebrew 'abtzh "water melon" in Numbers 11:5. P6p5n indeed is the water melon and the Greek author Galen preferred for this fruit the clearer, composite, expression sikuope Sn, lit. "ripe cucumber".12 Latin and later Greek use the word metopepoh and in Talmudic literature metopepon, a loan word, stands for the sweet melon. 14 Returning now to the Babylonian lexicon, it may be best to take "ripe/unripe cucumber" literally and to conclude that Harra = hubullu does However, in the much later Assyrian "Practical not know the melon.l5 Vocabulary of Assur" the word "melon" could be meant by "cooked" cucumbers: we find the list: cucumbers -- "cooked" cucumbers --"bitterm cucumbers -"small" cucumbers (in Assyrian Zu-ha-ni, plural of ZiZhu) We do not find here the contrast ripelunripe, but "ripe" ("cooked") stands alone. If this identification is correct, our conclusion will be that the Assyrians, the Greeks and the Romans had no special word for "melon". They called this fruit "Ripe (cucumber)".
Perhaps etymology can help us here: nasgabu is a derivation of nasabu "to suck", often used for sucking blood. Now, the Greek word for bot tle-gourd, sikfia, has the secondary meaning "cupping-instrument ", because this instrument originally was shaped like the gourd. It was applied to the skin of a patient and used to draw or suck ( ! ) blood (Latin cucurbituta ( ! ) , French ventouse, German SchrZpfkopf). This was done by sucking the air from the "cup". The Babylonians practised cupping, using a horn, as still is done in the traditional Near ~ a s t . l ~ The word naegabu, in the form nam-sa-buy occurs in the third column of the late lexical handbook Hargud. The third column often gives everyday words or words with a slightly different meaning in Akkadian. Hargud offers: iikux.kur.dil.lumsar = $U = nam-+a-bu.19 The first column gives the Sumerian word, the second column its equivalent in Akkadian (here latikkii = Zilige), the third column nasgabu in its secondary meaning "cupping-gourd", so I presume. So my conclusion is, that the bottle-gourd is meant here. However, the two preceding lines in Hargud give other equivalents for ZatikkC, one of them in the third column being peqqii* Normally, naggabu is a kind of tube or drain. Looking at the long neck of the bottle-gourd, we can see the connection. Flasks or srnall vessels in the form of a bottle-gourd are known from ~ ~ Archaeologists ~ ~ andt phi- . lologists of Mesopotamia should look for similar flasks and their names in their area. Egyptian gourd The Ancient World seems to have known an "Egyptian" cucumber or gourd. We give a few examples. The Mishnah distinguishes Egyptian gourd (deZa ( at hmisrzt) from a bitter gourd (deZa(at hdremusz); tractate Kilaim I, 2. The Punic name for sikus iigrios in Dioscorides IV 150 is koussirnezhr, lit. koussi of Egypt. Its fruit is smaller than that of the regular sikus.21 Columella tells us that "Alexandrian" cucurbitae, when dried, were suitable There was also an Alexandrian for use as vessels (vasa); XI, 3, 49. colocynth (Diosc. IV 176 R V ) . ~ ~
~
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Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
. Already the Babylonian tradition is aware of an (qzssu meqrii), in the three-column lexical text Hargud: Y"
"Egyptian cucumber"
A
the prophets finds a "vine/tendril of the steppe" (gzfsn i i l ~ i f f ' ) 1 t . o l ~ t wtb l ' s l b he picks up paqqiic5t &ads, "p. of the steppe". They did noL I l k t . t l t l r r ft,c,tl and found it to be deadly.
-
In another, i. e., "tigizii (the colocynth) = the Egyptian cucumber".23 broken, context, musrztu seems to denote an Egyptian "cucumber".24
In Hebrew, p. can very well be the colocynth, but in Akkadia~l/),l,l,lr( ZiZigii seems to be another plant, perhaps the Squirting cucumber. K 1 1 ~ ) : Merodach-Baladan of Babylon grew this plant (peqqiitu)35 in his roy.11 garden, together with cucumbers (qzssu) .36 . Y Y I
Jonah's "tree" Wild melon The plant under which the prophet Jonah sat, watching Nineveh and awaiting its destruction, in Hebrew qzqzjon, has been rendered in various ways by the Greek translators in Jonah 4:6-10. Later tradition always has identified the plant as cucurbitaceous; sp$cifically the gourd, in Syriac qarJ~.25 The Coran calls this plant jaqtznfa) "gourd" (37, 1 4 6 ) . ~ ~ The reason for this later identification of Jonah's "tree" with the gourd is unknown. Note that Hesychius' lexicon of rare Greek or foreign words has an entry kfikuon (= qzqZj5n ? ? ) , explained by him as tdn sikucin. Another entry is kukfiiza = "sweet colocynth". See also Penna 1983, 887-8. Colocynth (tigiZ6) Akkadian tigilii has long been identified as the colocynth (CitruZZus colocynthis Schrad.). A magical text describes this plant as growing "lonely on the plains (q~ru)"27 and medical texts sometimes add to tigila: "of the This perfectly fits the colocynth (Arabic hanzal) of steppe fsYadG)".28 which are seen "patches here and there in the extensive blazing deserts of the Arab countries".29 The contents of the colocynth are bitter afid served as purgative or otherwise in medicine; not as food, so it seems. ~ i g i Z 2 indeed is widely used in medlcal texts. Squirting cucumber? (Zitigc and peqq6) Another "cucumber", growing in the desert, is perhaps 6 6kuE.li.li.ga = ZiZigc or Zalikkc. The botanical handbook Uruanna explains this plant name as "the cucumber of thirstV.30 The word "thirst" (gum~mztu) evokes for us the blazing desert and, indeed, a Ziligc "of the steppe (gadii)" is known.31 Elsewhere zizigg is explained as "exudate of a bush of the steppe" ( h z balti gad;) .32 Landsberger identified this plant as EcbaZZium eluteriurn, the "wild" or "squirting" cucumber.33 This indeed is the only desert plant left after we have identified tigizi? as the colocynth. It is a problem that EcbaZZium ezaterium is not found in present-day 1raq.34 Bxcursus There is also a bird name liliga (G. Gragg, AfO 24 68). The movements of the "squirting" (English name), "throwing out" (Greek ecballium) or "jumping" (German Springgurke) cucumber and the behaviour of this bird were perhaps similar. The Punic word is perhaps gelelam, see Vattioni 1975, 530 no. 21, Colocinthis agria. The later Babylonian lexical tradition equates liligu^ with peqqc, a word cognate with Hebrew paqqii'a, known from 2 Kings 4:39. There, one of
(irr2)
Some cucurbitaceae are not mentioned in the earlier lexical handbook Harra = hubullu. Most famous among them is irrii (errii), a plant mainly attested in medical texts and incorporated in the botanical handbook Uruanna -- but not among the other cucurbitaceae. This plant, too, has the determinative dkuz and it is described as "green/yellowW and "creeping over the ground". Is this plant a newcomer or was its medical virtue realized later? The dictionaries, following B. Landsberger, take this plant to be the It colocynth. But we have already identified the colocynth (tigiZ2). cannot be a later synonym for "coloc nth", because both plants often follow each other in medical prescriptions. $7
I would like to suggest the Wild Melon as a candidate for irrc. This plant is called batiiZ in Iraqi Arabic, "eine wohlriechende essbare Frucht, Zhnlich einer kleinen Gurke" (Weissbach) .38 This is the Cucumis callosus of which Chakravarty wrote: "The pulp of the fruit is bitter and is a drastic purgative. A decoction of the root is milder in action. The fruit is used as a substitute or adulterant of Colocynth. The seeds are cooling, astringent and useful in bilious disorders. The form known as Ratush which is found growing near dwelling houses is sweetish-sour in taste and is eaten by children all around the Middle Iraq, especially in Baghdad. The bitter form is usually found in the desert area but may also be found in other places associated with R a t ~ s h " . ~ ~ The dossier of batiig fits Babylonian irrG very well. It was a new and welcome substitute for the colocynth, could be grown at home and was highly prized: it was called "plant of life" in the botanical plant lists. Its smell and bitterness are in line with what we can deduce from the Babylonian texts.40 Other Cucurbitaceae At the beginning of this contribution it has been said that we have only an extract from Harra = hubullu on the plants that interest us (see note 11). Elsewhere in H. = h., in some Old Babylonian "Forerunners" of the tablet on 4 few more can be found in food stuffs, more iikuz plants are given.41 other texts. We will make a few remarks on some of these plants.
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Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
Haru'ru, Sumerian Fe.er.zi,
GkuF im.sag.g5 One of the Forerunners gives this list: cucumber (GkuF) -- cucumber of the furrow -.-cucumber42 -- "cooked" cucumber -- sweet cucumber -- 6kuF im.sag.g5 -- very sweet cucumber -- squirting cucumber ( ? ) -- bitter .-cucumber (iikuF. ti. il) .43 cucumber --
..
..
Sumerian im.sag means either "early rain" (haruptu)44 or a tuft of hair of an animal (imtanii, imii), notably of a donkey. A "hairy" cucumber does exist: "Die jung unreife Gurke ist borstenhaarig; reif glatt oder stachelig. Zehntpflichtig macht sie ein gewisses Reifestadium, das man am abfall der Borstenhaare erkennt" .45
I
"rays"; the tendrils.
W. von Soden translates "Rankentrieb bei Gurken".
A medical text speaks of "the Hariiru that an irrii plant has brought forth" (BAM 6 575.11. 15). In Syriac ieriirZ: the prophet Jonah sat under the 5. of the gourd.51 Jensen and Kiichler saw the link with our Akkadian word.52 zgru, Sumerian numun, "seed". Cucumber seed is often attested in economic texts; see CAD Q 271 f.
is'ki aZpi,~umerianXir gud, lit. "bull1s testicle". "Cucumber of Adad"
Explained as tukpztu, "kidney-shaped", in later traditi0n.~3
Attested in CT 14 21.vii.15, BAM 3 216:23 and KADP 33:15, 19. Adad is the god of winds and rain. This (later) plant name suggest a connection with im.sag.g5 in its first meaning, "early rain" (see above).
.
These are the terms preserved in the lexical texts. come across: erril, the "tendrils" of a cucumber plant .54 tanukztu, " ? " (AHw p.'1320a).
GkuF dur In Presargonic wage lists. Maurice Lambert translated "cornichons(?)" and wrote: "Les GkuF.dur sont ici des fruits assez petits puisqulon les livre par mesure de 1 sil, moins de 1 litre. On ne sait si dur est ici 46 phongtique ou id6ographique
.... .
In the Assyrian inventory of materia medica KADP 36.11.8, after the colocynth. GG can mean "neck"; is the bottle-gourd with its long neck intended?47 Parts of the plants The lexical traditions also give some parts of cucurbitaceous plants:48 ubZnu "finger" Perhaps the fruit of the cucumber. Elsewhere a small variety; see The mysterious binu above. In later Akkadian banbii.2~ (ban- from ubBn?). in an inscription of Sennacherib could be a by-form of this ubanu: "I cut off (the dead enemies1) lips, I destroyed their pride ( ? ) (baztu), I cut off their hands like the bi-ni of ripe cucumbers (qzsse 6imZni)" .49 .""I
In Sumerian Fu.si "finger".50
Outside those texts we
Cucurbitaceae in Cutha&#
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
Stol
no. 21). The original text, commented on here, might have had tha u d t my Za'bu (a disease) come to rest through a cupping-~OUI~ (na68abu)".
NOTES
1 Lieberman 1977, 426, no. 534, okusi.
For the Greek sikiia, see Thiselton-Dyer 1918, 297-299. Syriac kiZaaZt2l "cucurbitula" and Aramaic kEsittii "lancet used in blood-letting" are loans from Akkadian karzittu, see M. Stol, phoenix 31, 2 [I9851 p. 57.
3. Kiicher KADP, 12.v.13.
19 MSL 10 [I9701 106 Hg D 252. kusa/i j&i.
Also kuss6 B
4
Cf. CAD I/J 322a S.V. jamu and AHw 514a in CAD K 587b (Elam)?
5
Cf. er-ri [talm-tim, "(cucumber) tendrils of the sea", in the inventory KADP 36.v.5.
S.V.
6 Ugaritic kg in M. Dietrich, 0. Loretz & J. Sanmartfn, Die keitatphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit (AOAT 2411 [1976]), 1.22.i.15 with Klaas Spronk, AOAT 219 [I9861 172, cf. 164. For the Punic word, see note 21.
20 Keimer 1924, 13-14; Germer 1985, 133 "Flaschenkiirbis". 21 Vattioni 1976, 525 sub 39. 22 Cf. Ldw 1928, 545. 23 MSL 10 105, 249.
7 Dalman 1932, 281, (7.); Ldw 1928, 531 (Arabic), 533 (modern Syria), 542.
24 3 G[kuF ti.gXl.la (?)I = mu-us-ri-tii, CT 14 2l.vii.11, and, perhaps, CT 14 18.iv.7. See Thompson 1949, 81.
8 Cl6ment-Mullet 1870, 90-122; Ldw 1928, 528-554.
25 Law 1928, 545: Brockelmann 1928, 691b.
9
26 In Iraq igten, see Weissbach 1930, 328a no. 147 "Kirbis; 3 Sorten".
Older Sumerian: Deimel 1931, 7-10, and Lambert 1975, 28, 34. Akkadian L Gku'ES (RTC 327 obv. texts: see the dictionares under qzssu. Note 1 : 15, rev. 14) and 14 GkuX IL (Gudea, Statue G.vi.1). .""A
27 CT 17 19:33; dupl. E. von Weiher, SpTU I1 22 no. 2:30.
10 MSL 10 [I9701 97 f., lines 360 ff.
28 AHw
11 KADP 42, reverse. The first line, on kurkiinii, is out of place (= line 348, not 359) and the last four lines are very fragmentary.
29 Chakravarty 1976, 131; photo in Thalen 1979, 83.
12 Cl6ment-Mullet 1870, 99 (apud Ibn al-Baitgr), 116; Law 1928, 537.
S.V.
30 CT 14 21.vii.13 and 18.iv.11. 31 Is this "cucumber" good against thirst? A pharmaceutica1,handbook calls green tamarisk "a plant against thirst and red boils ( U ~u-ma-mi-ti u gir-gig-gi)", BAM 4 379.iii.45. 32 Thompson 1949, 85 f.; CAD B 66b, (3').
15 Texts dating to the Ur 111 period offer the combination of signs a Cf. "water" and iikux "cucumber" (UET 3 96:3; 141 rev. 3; 154:7). fiku~.a.d3~.~a/XeX/dutu/sikil/xin the "Practical Vocabulary" from Susa, MSL 11 [I9741 167.iii.23-27. Is this a water melon?! For the cultivation of the melon in Western Iran, see Watson 1979, 89-91. 16 AfO 18 [1957-581 328, lines 47-50.
33 ZA 41 [I9331 231 f.; cf. Thompson 1949, 85 f. 34 Chakravarty 1966, 18, note. 35 Von Soden, AHw 854b, below, seems to take the ending -Etu as indicating "one single" peqqii. Note also kig-&-te ( ? ) in J.N. Strassmaier, Liverpoot 30:8 and, perhaps, qzssut in later Hebrew.
.""-
17 Thompson 1949, 83. 18 BAM 5 482.i.64 (the horn of a parru), with R.C. Thompson, AJSL 54 [I9371 18 note 168. A medical commentary offers: "may my tabbu come to rest through nagsabu", explained as: "may my heart (libbu) come to rest through sucking (naszbu)", followed by a description of the nusabu plant (M. Civil, JNES 33 [I9741 337 lines 16-18 = OIC 22 [1975] 132
37 ANT 40, 5:17; BAM 1 11:l; 2 161.vi.9, 165.ii.16-18; etc. 38 Weissbach 1930, 321b no. 11.
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Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
39 Chakravarty 1966, 86.
Cf. Flora of Iraq IV/1 205.
40 The Sumerian signs for this plant, GkuX HAB, can literally mean "cucumber with a strong smell". Could Akkadian irra be a loan from Sumerian ir, "scent"? "The scented plant"? Note also 41 MSL 11 [I9741 127f., section 18; 158 lines 467-473. V. Scheil's Practical Vocabulary from Susa, now in MSL 11 167.iii.23-27.
St01
BIBLIOGRAPHY Brockelmann, C. 1928 Lexicon Syriacum, ed. secunda (Halle; Max Niemeyer). Chakravarty, H.L. 1966 Monograph on the Cucurbitaceae of Iraq (Baghdad, Ministry of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin no. 133). 1976
42 GkuX.al.rsurl! (text dar).ra, a word also attested in the myth "Enki and Ninhursag"; see P. Attinger, ZA 74 [I9841 42. 43 MSL 11 127f., section 18.
Compare with this list MSL 11 158:466-473.
44 Thus M. Civil in Kramer Anniversary Volume (AOAT 25) 94, on line 97 (without proof). Proof in Bibtiotheca Mesopotamica 212 [I9811 (=BPO 2), 40, Text III.5a.
46 Lambert 1975, 34 note 68; cf. 28 note 29. 47 A plant is described as having a 48 CT 14 21.vii.6-9
~ f i( ~ TUKU) 6
Plant Wealth of Iraq, Vol. I (Baghdad, Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform).
Clgment-Mullet, J.J. 1870 "Les noms arabes de diverses familles de v6gGtaux", in JoumaZ asiatique, Sixisme serie, Tome XV, 5-150: "Les cucurbitac6es", 90-122. Dalman, G. 1932 Arbeit und Sitte in Paliistina, 11. (Gutersloh; C. Bertelsmann) Deimel, A. Swnerische Tempelwirtschaft zur Zeit Urukaginas und seiner 1931 Vorgiinger ( = Analecta Orientalia, 2) (Rome; Pontificium Institutum Biblicum).
.
in STT 1 93:68.
with MSL 10 98:376-8 and notes.
Germer, R. 1985
49 D.D. Luckenbill, OIP 2 46.VI.llf.; also A.K. Grayson, AfO 20 [I9631 94 Cf. for the simile line 93, who translates bas'tu as "genitals". Weippert 1985, 83.
Keimer, L. 1924
50 Cf. GkuX.Hu.si, MSL 11 158:470.
Lambert, M. 1975
51 Full discussion in Law 1881, 389 no. 334. See also Payne Smith 1901, I1 col. 4301: "germen recens ac tenerum"; Brockelmann 1928, 802b. 52 P. Jensen, ZA 1 [I8861 53; F. Kuchler, BKBM [I9041 111, commenting on what is now BAM 6 575.ii.15. 53 [is']-ki al-pi also in CT 14 21.vii.14. 54 CAD I/J 180b irru B "tangle", adding: "possibly the same word as irrii 'intestines' AHw 244b under erru I11 "Dam", meaning 3: iibertragen "(Gurken-)Rankem.
."
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform T e x t s
Flora des pharaonischen zgypten (Mainz; Philipp von Zabern)
.
Die Gartenpflanzen im atten ~ g y ~ t e nI. , (Hamburg and Berlin; Hoffman und Campe Verlag). "Recherches sur les rgformes dlUrukagina", in Orientalia NS 44, 22-51.
Lieberman, S. 1977 The Sumerian Loanwords in Old-Babylonian ~kkadian,V O ~ . I (Missoula; Scholars Press). Law, I. 1881 1928
Aramliische Pflanzennamen (reprint Hildesheim 1973; G. Olms). Die Flora der Juden, I (reprint Hildesheim 1967; G. Olms).
Payne Smith, R. 1901 Thesaurus Syriacus, I1 (Oxford; at the Clarendon Press). Penna, A. 1983
"Vocaboli punici in S. Girolamo e in S. Agostino", in Atti del 1 Congresso IntemzionaZe de ~ t u d iFenici e Punici, 111, 885-895.
Cucurbitaceae in Cuneiform Texts
Stol, M. 1985
"Beans, peas, lentils and vetches in Akkadian texts", in
SOME VEGETABLES IN THE ASSYRIAN SOURCES
Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2, 127-139.
...
J .N. Postgate
Thalen, D C P 1979 Ecology and utilization of desert shrub rangelands in Iraq (The Hague; Dr W. Junk B.V. Publishers). Thiselton-Dyer, W.T. 1918 "On some
ancient
plant-names.
III", in
(Cambridge)
The Journal of
Philology 34, 290-312. Vattioni, F. 1976
"Glosse puniche", in Augustinianum 16, 505-555.
Watson, P.J. 1979
Archaeological
Ethnography
in
Western
Iran
(Tucson;
University of Arizona Press). Weippert, M. 1985
"Die Bildsprache der neuassyrischen Prophetie", in Helga Weippert a.o., Beitrage zur prophetischen Bildsprache in Israel und Assyrien (Freiburg , Switzerland; Universitatsverlag).
Weissbach, F.H. BeitrZge zur Kunde des Irak-Arabischen ( = Leipziger Semitis1930 tische Studien, IV) (Leipzig; J.C. Hinrich).
The following notes are put together from material assembled for the meetings of the Group in 1985 and 1986. The Assyrian texts are very poor in references to the less staple vegetable foods, and the assembling of the material was not unduly onerous. There is no comparable article on the first millennium Babylonian texts, but this gap has been largely filled by Stol, both for the onions and the legumes (see St01 BSA 2, 127-139; this volume). Assyrian evidence is not self-evidently useful for the agricultural regime in the south of the country in the 3rd millennium: it relates to a different climate and cultivation regime, it is mostly from the 1st millennium B.C., and Assyrian is a different dialect of Akkadian which does not always use the same words for the plants. Nevertheless, there is a clear continuity with the texts of the early 2nd millennium, from Mari on the Middle Euphrates, from Tell al-Rimah west of Nineveh, and even from Shemshara in the north-eastern mountains, which use a dialect of Old Babylonian, and a link is often provided by the lexical texts as well.
I. The legumes This plant is usually mentioned in the plural (EurE),and has the 1. ZU'U The logogram, not apparently attested in determinative Fe ("grain"). Sumerian, is Fe.ba.ra, now found outside the lexical texts in a late 7th century 1etter.l The constant use of Fe with both syllabic and logographic writings should not lead us astray into considering the plant to have been a grass (Gramineae): sesame (Fe.giF.id) is composed with the Fe sign, and it acts as determinative for kuddimmu (see below), so that we need only deduce from it that the plant yielded a (small) seed or grain. when The Zu'Z may be "normal" (sadriite)2 or "chopped" (haEe' i i t e ) ,3 they are measured by volume, or "'roasted" (@2bte) ,4 in which case, like abZZ (see below, 2.) they seem to be counted in some unspecified unit. In the Banquet Stele the menu included 10,000 ziqpu of guru (and?) sesame, and the similarity of these two plants is confirmed by their both appearing in sulukannu, a word rendered as "jar" by CAD S (for no reason known to m e ) . In the case of the fruit-trees there is no doubt that ziqpu means a "shoot" or "sapling"; as indicated in BSA 2, 1515, AHw's "Transportstange" for ziqpu does not carry conviction, and I am inclined to see it as no more than a young plant. I have no information to tell whether young sesame plants could be eaten in their entirety, either raw or cooked, but some legumes could certainly be eaten whole when young. a
The lexical evidence provides an a p r i n r i case for identifying g u r u as legume,5 and other texts show that it was quite frequent and well
Pos t g a t e
Notes on v e g e t a b l e s
Of t h e B a b y l o n i a n t e r m s n e i t h e r kakkii n o r h a l l G r u i s a t t e s t e d i n esteemed. t h e N e o - A s s y r i a n ( o r M i d d l e A s s y r i a n ) s o u r c e s , n o r i s t h e e a r l y 2nd m i l l e n nium n o r t h e r n word a p p Z n u , w h i c h i s i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e c h i c k - p e a ( S t o l , C k n S (forthcoming; following Parpola) BSA 2 , 128-9; Eidem, i b i d . , 141-3). proposes t o i d e n t i f y zu'u i n t h e A s s y r i a n s o u r c e s a s " c h i c k pea" (Cieew d ~ i e t i n u r n ) arid t h i s c e r t a i n l y seems t h e b e s t s o l u t i o n . Note t h a t t h e r e i s no d i r e c t e q u a t i o n o f ~ U ' U ( A s s y r i a n ) w i t h haZZZiru ( B a b y l o n i a r , ) , w h i c h i s j u s t a s w e l l s i n c e a g r o n o m i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n s d o n o t seem t o f a v o u r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f haZZiiru w i t h " c h i c k - p e a " ( c f . S t o l , l o c . c i t . ) .
2. abZu
L i k e g u ' u t h i s p l a n t i s u s u a l l y mentioned i n t h e p l u r a l and w i t h the S E determinative. The two p l a n t s a r e o f t e n l i s t e d t o g e t h e r , a n d a b z u may a l s o be " n o r m a l " ( s a d r u ' t e ) o r " r o a s t e d " ( q a l ~ t e ) . 6 I t i s u s u a l l y m e a s u r e d by v o l u m e , b u t l i k e ~ U ' U when r o a s t e d i t i s c o u n t e d , i t i s n o t c l e a r i n w h a t u n i t s : CAD A / i , 6 6 b w r i t e s " o n e h u n d r e d ( b a s k e t s ) o f r o a s t e d - b u t I p r e s u m e t h i s i s no more t h a n a g u e s s , a l b e i t - . q u i t e a.-grains" plausible. The word i s o n l y a t t e s t e d a t p r e s e n t i n M i d d l e a n d E e o - A s s y r i a n t e x t s (and p o s s i b l y once a t N u z i ) , b u t i n l e x i c a l t e x t s i t i s equated w i t h kakki2, a R a b y l o n i a n word n o t u s e d i n A s s y r i a . There is t h u s a s t r o n g a p r i o r i c a s e f o r i d e n t i f y i n g a b g v w i t h w h a t e v e r p l a n t kak'cC r e p r e s e n t s i n Babylonian. I t i s t h e p r i n c i p a l s m a l l p u l s e grown i n t h e s o u t h , a n d w i t h v a r i o u s a u t h _ o r i _ t i e s T would f a v o u r " l e n t i l " : t h e l e x i c a l evidence (with t h e w r i t i n g U.GU) c l e a r l y s u g g e s t s a l e g u m e , a n d t h e t r a n s l a t i o n o f f e r e d i n C h D A / i ( " ( a g r a s s s e e d ) " ) s e e m s t o be b a s e d o n a f a l s e c o n c l u s i o r ; d r a w n f r o m t h e u s e of t h e d e t e r m i n a t i v e SF, ( s e e a b o v e u n d e r 1 . ) . Nor i s t h e r e a n y j u s t i f i c a t i o ~ know^ t o me f o r i t s d e s c r i p t i o n as " a w i l d p l a n t " (CAD, ibid.). Y
1'0st g a t e
The S u m e r i a r ~ s i d e of t h e s e e q u a t i o n s i s h o p e l e s s l y c o n f u s i n g , , I 1 1 , I I i n c l u d e s w o r d s , o r s i g n s , u s u a l l y d e n a t i n s Leguaes ( g G ) , emrner ( 7 1 1 ) 1 ~ 1 , w h e a t (GIG) ! Von Soden (AHw 29613) p r o p o s e s " ' n a c k t e ' G e r s t e " , r ~ >y Il 1 1 , ~ 1 1 1 the e t y m o l o g i c a l c o n n e c t i o n w i t h guZZubu " t o s h a v e " a n d , p r e s u m a b l y , o n ( 1 1 6 He f o u n d i n t h e P r a c t i c a l V o c a b u l a r y o f A s s u r ; h o w e v e r , i f i t w e r e .I b a r l e y , we would s u r e l y e x p e c t i t t o b e p l a c e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n ot the list.
~
L e t u s assume t h a t we a r e p r o b a b l v d e a l i n g w i t h a l e g u m e . The n e x t p r o b l e m t s t h e A k k a d i a n e q u j v a l e n t SAL-tan. Von Soden i s n o t p r e p a r e d t o commit h i m s e l f t o t h e form of t h e w o r d , b a t YSL 9 ? 8 1 , 1. 1 3 0 , plumps f o r raq-turn. Von S o d e n r s c a u t i o n seems j u s t i f i e d : r a q t u m ( f r o m * r i q " e m p t y " ) i s i m p r o b a b l e , b e c a u s e i t would b e a n A s s y r i a n i s m i n a S a b y l o n i a n l i s t ( f o r ~ ~ i q 5 u r n ) . A d e r i v a t i v e from *rqq " t h i n , f i n e " o r from * r q ' "be a r o m a t i c " (see 5 e l o w ) i s a l s o u n l i k e l y s i n c e t h e form i:; i n c o r r e c t . I n the circ u m s t a n c e s , t h e A k k a d i a n s i d e o f t h e e q u a t i o n i s no h e l p t o u s , a n d t h e r e do n o t seem t o b e a n y s y l l a b i c w r i t i n g s o f t h e word o u t s i d e t h e l e x i c a l L1StS .9a ?
a
T h i s l e a v e s t h e way o p e n t o a c c e p t , w i t h a l l d u e r e s e r v e , some c o n n e c Lion o f q u l i ' h ; ? Z t i d i t h AramaicIArabic giZb&/jiZbE~1, i d e n t i f i e d with l a t 4 y r u s s a t i v k z , on w h i c h s e e S t o l , BSA 2 , 130-131.
3. kis's'unu
T h i s i s a n o t h e r n o r t h e r n word, g e n e r a l l y i d e n t i f i e 6 w i t h a ( V i e i n ) f o r etvmolog;:aJ. r e a s o n s ( s t i l l some h e s i t a t i ~ n b e t w e e n V. cru:!ia and 7. s a t i u a ) - s e e Eidem, RSA 2 , 1 4 2 ; S t o i , i b i d . 1 3 9 - 1 3 2 ) . The p l a n t w a s u s e d i n t h e 1st m i l l e n n i a m i n A s s y r i a , a n d was a l r e a d y p r e s e n t i n ijne l e x i c a l list mentions i t s t h e n o r t h i n t h e e a r l y 2nd m i l l e n n i u m . "straw",7 and it? ?our and s e e d s a r e r e f e r r e d t o . I t is m e n t i o n e d ( a s t h e logograrn GI!.IL'IG.AR.R!.) i n Keo-Pssvrian c o n t e x z s d e a l i n g w i t h s u p p l i e s for c o n s c r i p t s i n tile arm3li. a n d i r , f a i r l y l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s . 8 It d o e s n o t r i p p a r e r l t l p o c c l l r among t h e t e m p l e o f f e r i n g l i s t s o r i n t h e E a n q u e t S t e l e o f Acsur-msir-apli, arLd t h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t i t w a s a r a t h e r humble i t e m i n t h e rn~litar:, die:, o r p e r h a p s r a t h e r , t o j u d g e from t h e q u a n t i t i e s a r d t h e p o s i t i o n i;r t h t l i s t s , s e r v e d ~ 3 s h o r s e f o d d e r . T h l s N e o - A s s y r i a n e v i d e n c e d o e s n o t a s s i s t i n n a r r o w i r l g down t h e i d e n t L f i c a t i o n , b u t i t i s us.afu7 f o r :he p u r p o ~of~ tlir c r o p . vetch
_auZt' u)biiti T h i s is t h e A k k a d i a n e q u i v a l e n t of Xe.gG.nunuz i n the Keo-Assyria.1. P r a c t i c a l ~ o c a b ual r y , 9 L i s t e d t o g e t h e r w i t h ,o m i x t u r e of The same logogran: f o o d p7.ants w h i c h o f l e r s n c c l u e t o it-, identity. (without t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y A s s y r i a n u s e o f Xe) r e c u r s i n H a r r a = h u b u l l G :,XIL , i n a s e c c i o n hcjgiLlning w i t n t h e pi,; s e s (hai,7zir~id - kaXk;i - kiSYEaqz. > , t ~ i t c o n t i n u i n g a f t e r j u r e c t r i e c , w i t b cl;!mer and w'heat, Although t h e < c r Z a n g e v n e no t f I t x i kai l i s t s i s n l ~ t o r i o ~ ~ sdl :~ f f i c ~ r lt -o e x p l q i n , i t d o e s l o o k a s though t h i s s e c t i o n i s d e a l i n ? t l i the priricipal f i t l d crops ( e x c l u d i n g b a r l t y and r e l a r e d w o r d s , whit:! cunt> ~n t h e n e x t s e c t i o n ! . The c tries ir, q u e s t i o n are:
4.
1
~
1
N .Akkadian
Sanerian
-
-.
-- "'big ,3i-ihe'' g5-tur
"
"srnalL p u l s e " ' -. -.----.
--.I-*--.7-""-."
gd-nfg-3r-ra "groats -pulse" :gii- j ;zi.da
jt-' i
--.------"
I
?
I v--+----
Assyrian
7
3
I 06s"
i --- -i+ 1 q p i t n ! i j SS"'~.
--
J-
-.-I
b;,~gpamt?
I
See:
English
~i d/~es-
1
i
ki~di
1
+
pro~~osed
I
141-2 1 BStZ 2 , 129-30
-- --5
----
lentil
1 chick-pea
,-------
i +
r-TE?Ziau
Kzssunu
b
c
h
j ..-L
1-
,I
-4
-
3SA 2 , ? l Q - 2 , \
1.41-2
i
--
-.____---.A-
" h a r v e s t p l : a n t W1 " ' f o r i d e r -31 a n t " ..--__-._.-___--
-li!]-? ---
~RFA. 2 , 128-?, 1 1.41-2 .Ah
)
_i u l l i m ( ~ . B ~ ~ ? J l q/ ) B ~ ~ % ~ Z ' T m-+ 6 E ~ L: L ~ ~ U 3f f e n u g r e e k l _ l . I
1
I
4
I
E
i!
il
ZSA 2 , 132
L
;
t
.
I i
Postgate
Notes on vegetables
5. raqiitu This word does not in fact refer to a legume, but it is desirable to treat it here both because of the potential confusion with S A I , - ~ U (when ~ read *raqtum), and because it occurs in one of the texts given in the Appendix, whose collation enables us to clear up some misunderstandings about the derivation of the word. There are only a few passages to be taken into consideration: 1) in the Banquet Stele the menu includes 300 Gra-qu-tc sammuhtu. This, like aamru sammuhu "assorted fruit", suggests that raqiitu is a generic term, which we shall render "assorted spices". 2) this fits very well with ADD 962.i.5 (see Appendix), where raqu'ate "spices" form a mixed group among other comestibles. At the end of the text (iv.4') we learn that there were more than 2 homers (ca. 200 litresj remaining (raqu'ate ra?i). The plural form gives a sense of diversity achieved by sammuhu "assorted" in the Eanquet Stele.
3) the only remaining passage is in ADD 1036.iv.15-19, where an official called rab raqcte "spice superintendent" is mentioned in the same section It is probably no coincidence that as raqctu qalissu "small spice(s)". another of the contributions in this section is refined sesame oil, because spices were regularly used in the manufacture of perfumed oils, as we shall now see. The form raq'uate establishes that the root of the word is *rqT, and that AHw is wrong to place the Assur-nasir-apli passage under *rqq ( M w 958a S.V. raqqatu(m) I, 3). Our word must be connected with rzqu, riqqu "aromatic", and with the Hebrew word rqh (despite the objections of Thompson, DAB 336 with note 11, meaning "mix or conlpound oil, ointment".lrJ The same root gives ruqqc, a process applied to oil. It is translated "keltern" ("to press") by AHw 995a, but this is usually sahatu, and in fact, like the Hebrew word, it must mean "to perfume", "to spice", because various ?assages make it clear that as well as olive and sesame oil, aromatics were used in the process. One example icay suffice: "I made fine perfume (uraqqa a m rugti) from olive oil and aromatics from the groves".11 An overlap between aromatics (appealing to the nose) and spices (to the taste-buds) is quite understandable, and in the first two contexts mentioned above the translation should clearly be "spice"; in ADD 1036 the correct translation remains less certain.
No~c.:,
Postgate
Finally there is the plant called aspastu, listed next to fenugreek in a list of plants in the garden of ?ferodachbaladan (ca. 710-700 R.C.). This
V I ~ ) : ~, 1. 1~1
1
I...
is a loan word from an Iranian language where it probably rnc,r~l~" I I O I , , , ~ fodder", and it is thought to be lucerne or alfalfa (Medicago .; 1 1 i i l l ) . Heyer has recently suggested that in Assyria at the sane time S
11. Onfons and garlic
%ions and their relatives are infrequently mentioned in e)t Assyrian As in Babylonia the principal species are (U.)SUM(.SAR) documents. "garlicN and (~J.)suM.sIKIL(.SAR) "onion". The Assyrian equivalents given in the Pr~actieaZ Vocabularg gf Assur are not the same as the Babylonian words: for garlic an unknown word which is broken: ig-Liz)-Ix-ku, and for the onion Eu-un-ki. The two ?lants are listed side by side in the Banquet Stele, and zlso in the three offerings(?) lists edited in the Appendix, AGD 960, 961 and 962. In ADD Qhl we a! so ]lave xinzimmu, a variety of onion also fourid ia t h e Sanquet Stele and Merodachbaladan's garden (see Stol, this volume p. 52). Kunlphu also occ,lrs in these contexts and with St01 and CAD Y it too is ;:robably of tne onion family. Two other possible !Tiernbers of the Alliaceae Listed in Ytrodachbaladan's garden and mentioned by st01 are amahs'u and ZiZani3e,,'sasnibi; chese also recur in the Banquet Stele, a n d antnhsYu i:; found in the Practical IrccabuZary of A s s u r , 89-91, and also in the ,Issur Temple offeririg lists. CAD suggests "a springflowering lily a r crocus" (dlil, 113;. Thn, jlder Akkadian word Tor i e e k , iarsvtc, secins to have survived longer in :issyrian than Lr: B ? S y l ~ n i a , iikcre 5 ; may have been replaced by r n i ~ p . Tile 3na~t?:i3aZ. Y I I C ~ ~ ? ~ G0PfY &s.?~AP gives th_e Assyrian equivalent of ga. ra5 as 22-va-su, and t % i is ~ ilow attested as I1ka"-su in a document from Fort jhalma:leser (CTX 3 , yo. 8 7 :17,;8 e LC. 3 . However, the P~cctica': S'ocablAZz*y . gives ~jarious other words 2pparer:~Py referring to leeks, including b? sru, and t h e Assyrian sources do not offer any chance at present af distanguishing them. It is wort,h ~nentioning the plant K'iRisZte: this enigmatic word is found En the zwo offerings texts AD9 950 and 961, tabu, tlle o t L 1 e c lated in the Appendix: in Dne :ext it is written M U R - ~ - S Z - ~ ~ in YUX.SAL.!IES, evidently a scribal play willch depends qn the equation of SAL.YES (logogram for *%womenw) with a word iszte which mist correspond to a form o f the ~ r a m a i cword for 'women"', This i s accepted by Ardrnaic experts, che correct phoiietic read~ngfor rhe but unfortunately it does not give Z(UR sigr j!'ur, mat, nut, lat, sat.. ! ) nor help with the neaning of the k mention it ierc because in ADD 960 it forms one 1)f a group ~f word. three ~~egetables served in "basliets" (sa?YZtl),where the other two 3re oni,>n Y
V
6. Other legumes The word Earnbaliltu "fodder plant", identified with fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) becjuse of its derivative in Aramaic, is not apparently attested in Assyrian texts, whether written syllabically or as a logogram. As a valuable condiment and medicinal plant it is probable that the Assyrians knew and used it, particularly since it is already mentioned at Tell al-Rimah in the early 2nd millennium.12 Probably, then, like g u r u and absYu, it had a different name which we do not recognize, St01 notes that the word is equated in Hargud with ladiru, which he suggests may be related to the Greek Zbthuros (Lathyrus). However, ladiru itself does not figure in Assyrian texts either, so this does not get us much further.
1111
V
.
Postgate
Notes on vegetables
Postgate
Not<*:; O I I v~-p,cstt ~
t ) (l* r {
and garlic, and in ADD 961 a similar group of four includes zinzimmu which is also of the same family (see above). This leads me to wonder - no more - whether we have an Aramic form of the word for leek approximating to /kurisZte/ (though the -te would probably not be realized as a t), to be connected to the modern Arabic kurrZg.
At the end of the text the scribe writes: PAP LGI.L~ "Total, insl)cxc.t ,>(I", followed by the remnants of a further entry, perhaps a list of 1111:;~; II~); items or remnants (cf- ADD 962 col. iv, below). The tablet is tl;~tod: "28th day of Dumuzi (IVth month)".
In Middle Assyrian documentary sources I have noted only the contract recording a loan or debt of about 84 litres (8-BLN 4 qa) of garlic (SUM. [SJAR), from Tell al-Rimah in the 13th century B.C. (Iraq 30 [I9681 P1. LXIX)
ADD 961 (89-7-19, 104) Section:
.
UDU NIT^ .MES GIS.N~ e b b i b t ~ GIS.N~ huhurZEGe sali KURisdte sazi zinzime saZi SUM sazi SUM.SIKIL ANSE 5E.SA.A kutzte KAS.MES
APPENDIX: Administrative offering lists ADD 960 and 961 are lists of food from the 7th century palace of the Assyrian kings at their capital city of Nineveh. Although it is not explicitly stated, I presume that the food listed is a form of regular contribution by the officials mentioned in response to some formal obligation. While this could be some form of secular taxation, it is likelier that they represent temple contributions or "offerings". ADD 962 is a miscellaneous list of comestibles which are also likely to be offerings, but no clues to this survive on the tablet. Rather than give a traditional transliteration of these texts, I present the data here in tabular form. A11 three tablets have been collated, which has led to some improvements. [ [
]
- ]
= =
entry lost or absent presumed no entry
[ x ]
-
= =
figure lost, entry present no entry
I 1
A
B
C
D
E
F
Total
.
A: B: C: D: E: F:
2 3 3 3 3 5 5 2
1 3 3 3 3 5
[ I [ I
[x+]5 6 6 10 [XI 10 [x] 2
i.1-9, deliverer: "province of Dur-IZtar" i.10-18, deliverer: "province of Balat" ii.1-8, deliverer: "[province of ....I" ii.9-15, deliverer: "province of City of Crown Prince" iii.1-10, deliverer: "Sit-rahi(..), of province of Kar-[ iii.10a-15, deliverer: "Tuti, village-inspector"
1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1
1 1
1 2 3 4
i
5 6 7
1 GIS.N~ gari~ate "trays of g.-bread" 8 GIS.N~ ebbizte " trays of e.-bread" 12 sazi KURisZte "baskets of K." 10 saZi G.suM( .SAR) "baskets of garlic" 10 sazi (fi. ) S U M . S I K I L " ~ ~ S ~of ~ ~onions" S [lo] UDU ME3 "sheep" [XI kutZte KAS "jars(?) of beer" [XI ANSESE.SA.A "homers of parched corn"[x]
i
Total
1 1 1 1
[ [ [ [ [ [
]
1
[ X I
[ x
]
[ X I
4 m E 3-BAN 3-BiN [ [ [ [
]
1 1
GESTIN.MES
4 homers of wine
IA-ME3 SUM.SAR SUM.SIKIL.SAR ra-qu-u-a-te SE.G~.TUR SE.G~?.GAJL?.G[AL?]
0.3 homers of 0.3 homers of [ ] homers of ] of [ ] of [ ] of [
oil garlic onions spices "small legumes" "large [legumes]"
(rest of Col. i broken)
[-] [XI
[XI 5 8 5
ii
1 2 3
4 5 6
7
~-BLN 5-~iN 5-BLN 2$ 5-BiN 4-BiN 5-BAN 5?-BiN
SU[M?.SAR] SUM. [ SIKIL SARI qa SE.[ 1 MUN. [PIES(?) ( )] si-x[ 1 kar-[kar-tu ( ? ) ]
.
[
(rest of Col. ii broken)
...I"
C
ADD 962 (K.9984)
i
Section:
B
A: 11. 1-5, deliverer: "[PN], village-inspector" B: 11. 6-14, deliverer: "Assur-matu-taqqin, village-inspector" C: 11. 15-Rev. 4, deliverer: "Sa-NabG-azzaz(?), [ 1".
Obv. i
ADD 960 (K. 108)
"rams" "trays of e.-bread" "trays of h .-breadn "baskets of K." "baskets of 2.-onions" "baskets of garlic" "baskets of onions" "homers of parched corn" "jars(?) of beer"
A
1
0.8 homers of garlic 0.5 homers of on[ion] 0.525 homers of [...I grain 0.5 homers of salt 0.4 homers of [ . . . . .1 0.5 homers of 0.5 homers of [..... 1
......
Postgate
Rev. iii iv
Notes on vegetables
(broken mention of official only survives) (upper part broken)
1-2' [ PAP 2 ANSE 2% qa 3' 4' ra-qu-a-te re-@-ha
BAN
I
[
I
Total: 2.725 homers of spices remaining.
LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS OF ECONOMIC MPORTANCE IN IRAQ
G. H.
Willcox
(Centre de Cu2 tures ~ r 6 h i s t o r i q u e s JaZZs, Prance) NOTES 1
CTN 3, No. 3:7.
2
see NARG p. 93.
3
haZeriite: CTN 3, No. 87:26.
4
For qatdte see Wiseman, Iraq 14 [I9521 35:129.
5
Particularly the equation 6.gG.nTg.ar.ra (see CAD 3, S.V. in the lexical section). I am very grateful to Prof. S. Parpola and to Prof. E. Reiner for sending me the draft of the CAD article and permitting me to make use of it.
6
sadriite: NARG, p. 93; qatdte: Iraq 14 [I9521 35:128.
7
in.nu.gG.nfg.3r.ra = [ " kilg-s'&-ni (after the straw from hattiiru and kakkd): ~h Xx1v.227 (MSL 9, 84).
8
ADD 1095:5; ND 453:12(?: ki-e?-[gi-nil); ND 3467:lO. 1095 - amounts of 500 and 120 litres are mentioned.
9
AfO 18 [1957-581 328:27;
See TCAE on ADD
also KADP ll.iii.83.
9a See also Powell, BSA 1, 53 and 61! 10 Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hebreu Lexicon 955a; cf. also Ebeling, PKT p.5. 11
Sennacherib, quoted after CAD S, 312a.
12 Stol, BSA 2, 132.
The list here presented is of trees and shrubs which may have been of economic importance in ancient Iraq. It may serve as a guide in the translation and interpretation of plant names in ancient texts. However, it must be noted that there can be confusion in the translation of modern common names from one dialect or language to another, hence the use of For a more extended discussion on the scientific - that is Latin - names. use of common plant names in Iraq see Guest 1966, pp. 117-122. Scientific names (binomial nomenclature), the use of which is essential, are written in two parts, one part designating the species, the other indicating the The generic name is written first with a capigenus to which it belongs. tal letter, the specific second with a small letter, both in italics. The specific name may be followed by the name in abbreviated form of the original naming authority - for example, L. for Linnaeus. Two groups of trees and shrubs have not been included in the lists: firstly, timber trees, which will be dealt with at a later date, and secondly, species from the Indian subcontinent, as they could include a great number of species and would perhaps be better dealt with in terms of imported products. The list gives a wide range of trees and shrubs which were either of economic importance in the past or are still being used in the region today. The first division to make is between those plants native to Iraq, that is to say, part of the original natural flora, and those which are exotic. The latter have not been marked with an asterisk in the list, and are proportionately more numerous. Within this group are those plants which are and probably were cultivated in Iraq, that is to say introduced as opposed to those whose refined product, be it fruit, gum, or incense, was imported. Where importation was clearly the case it has been indicated. Of the cultivated species we can define two groups: 1) those which are cultivated there today but are relatively rare and not well suited to the climate, being better adapted to wetter, colder, more northerly climates.
2) the other group, including plants climatically and environmentally well suited to the environment, and therefore probably common in the past as indeed they are today. These are the traditional fruits of Iraq, some of which occur in both their wild and their cultivated forms.
\Ji1 lcox
List of trees and shrubs
I ) Cydonia oblonga
2) Punica gramturn
Mespilus germanica Prunus auium Prunus domestica Pyrus malus Pyrus communis
V i t i s vinifera Prunus amygdalus Ficus carica Pistacia Vera Phoenix d a c t y l i f e r a Elaeagnus a n g u s t i f o l i a
Wild grape is possibly native to Iraq, but it is probable that the centre of domestication was elsewhere and that the cultivated variety was introduced (Simmonds 1976, p. 295). Of the trees and shrubs native to Iraq which are not cultivated but provide products gathered from the wild, the most widely exploited are the following:
Rosa spp. Rubus sanctus Crataegus azarolus Prunus mahaleb Prunus spp. (almond types) Pistacia khinjuk AstragaZus gumrnifer Quercus i n f g c t o r i a Celtis tournefortii Also gathered from the wild is a product not mentioned in the list since it includes potentially all woody species; this is fuel, for heating, cooking and a variety of industrial uses. The residue of burned wood, charcoal, which preserves perfectly the cellular structure of the original species, making identification possible, is omnipresent in archaeological strata where wood fuels were used (see also Miller 1984, 43-47). Informztion gathered from charcoal analysis provides evidence of the trees exploited (Willcox 1974, 117-133), and the state of the forests and their deterioration. This is a subject better placed under the heading "timber", to include charcoal burning and carpentry wood, particularly since the texts may be able to provide environmental evidence.
List of traal
Willcox
BIBLIOGRAPHY Guest, E. 1966 Miller, N. 1984
Flora o f Iraq, Vol. 1 (Baghdad: Ministry of Agriculture). "The interpretation of some carbonized cereal remains as remnants of dung cake fuel", B u l l e t i n on Sumerian Agriculture 1 , 45-47.
Simonds, N.W. (ed.) Evolution o f crop plants (Edinburgh). 1976 Willcox, G.H. 1974
"A history of deforestation as indicated by charcoal analysis of four sites in eastern Anatolia", A m t o l i a n Studies 24, 117-133.
Willcox
LATIN NAMES
COMMON NAMES Eng.-Fr.-Germ.
PRODUCT
"Acacia gerrardii acacia
gum
A . radianna
gum
A. tortilis
%stragalus gummifer Boswellia papyrifera
L i s t o f Lrcbc*s :i11(1 14Iit-II~N
L i s t of t r e e s and s h r u b s
acacia acacia
gum
-
gum tragacanth frankincense
frankincense tree l'arbre encens Weihrauchbaum B . sacra frankincense frankintree cense l'arbre encens Weihrauchbaum caper "Capparis spp. flower buds caprier Kapernstrauk " C e t t i s tournehackberry fruit, bark fortii micocoulier used for dye Zurgelbaum Ceratonia carob, locust pods and siliqua tree beans contain high caroubier Johannsbrot proportion of sugar & protein C i t r u s limon lemon I fruit citronnier Zitronenbaum Commiphora myrra myrrh shrub rdyrrh myrrhe Myrrhe Cornus mas cornelian cherr cormier Kornelkirsche Corylus maxima nut hazel noisetier Hasel *Crataegus fruit Mediterranean azarolus medlar azerolier " C . monogyna edible fruit hawthorn aubepine Weissdorn Cydonia oblonga fruit quince cognassier Quittebaum Elaeagnus olive-like oleaster angustifolia fruit chalef 0lweide *Ficus carica fruit fig figuier Feigenbaum
NATURAL HABITAT IN DISTRIBUTION IRAQ Palestine, Kuwait Palestine Palestine, S.Arabia, S-Africa W. Asia
wadis (very rare)
-
-
possible source of gum arabic source of gum arabic; imported product
LATIN NAMES
COMMON NAMES Eng.-Fr.-Germ.
PRODUCT
Jugtans regia
walnut noyer Walnuss medlar n6f lier Mispel white mulberry mQrier Maulbeerbaum olive olivier ijlbaum date datte Dattelbaum stone pine pin parasol Kiefer
nut,oil, yellow dye
Asia
fruit
N Europe Asia Minor
leaves, fruit
China
fruit, oil
Mediter.
gardens, cultivated areas cultivated
fruit
Morocco to India
lowland zone
cones or kernel
Mediter
Mespitus germanica Morus alba
steppe/ forest
E. Africa
-
S. Arabia
-
1
REMARKS
gathered from the wild, could be used as food product imported
product imported
Olea europaea "Phoenix dactylifera Pinus pinea
Mediterraanean, W. & central Asia W. Asia
steppic zone
spiny shrub, buds may gathered from wild
"Pistacia atlantica
forest zone
not known to be cultivated
*P. khinjuk
Mediterranean
cultivated used as fodder in lowlands
P . lentiscus P . terebinthus
SE Asia
cultivated
-
S Arabia Europe
&
reported in Iran by 300 B.C.
1. vera
product imported
"Prosopis farcta Prunus amygdal us
Asia cultivated
N Turkey
-
product imported
Mediter., W Asia
forest zone
Europe, W Asia
forest zone gathered
W Asia
cultivated
Central Asia
associated could be confused with with olive habitation steppic preservation by drying; zone, culti- very high sugar conten1 vated --
W Asia
gathered from the wild
cultivated in gardens, even in lower Iraq
P . armeniaca P . avium P . cerasifera P . domestica
-
mastic tree lentisque Mastixbaum terebinth tGr6binthe Terebinthe pistachio pistachier Pistazie
-
almond amandier Mandelbaum apricot abricotier Aprikosenbaum cherry cerisier Siisskirsch cherry-plum prunier-cerise Kirschpflaumen common plum prunier Pflaumenbaum
NATURAL HABITAT IN DISTRIBUTION IRAQ cultivated
.
gum and soap-making
N Africa, Central & W Asia edible fruit Central & W Asia gum
Mediter.
-
cultivated
Central &
one specimen found in Alpine zone food of silkworm introduced cultivar; only suitable in moister regions ancient cultivation attested; not known outside cultivation of historical interest
forest/ gathered from wild, steppic zone eaten usually after light roasting imported fruit
cultivated
W Asia edible seeds W Asia
occurs naturally oniy-at high altitude
forest zone
gum, fruit, Mediter. oil nut
KEMAItKS
steppe
product would have been imported little apparent difference between cultivated & non-cultivated forms gathered from wild
fruit
W and Central cultivated Asia
both wild and cultivated forms exist
fruit
W and Central cultivated Asia
very common in upper and central Iraq
fruit
Europe
fruit
N.Asia Minor to central Asia Europe
fruit
cultivated
commonly cultivated in the lowlands
cultivated
cultivated in both upper and lower Iraq
Willcox
LATIN NAMES
List of trees and shrubs
COMMON NAMES Eng.-Fr.-Germ.
PRODUCT
NATURAL HABITAT IN DISTRIBUTION IRAQ
REMARKS
TREES AND SHRUBS YIELDING GUMS AND RESINS *P. rnahaleb
P. persica P. granaturn Pyrus communis
P. matus
St.LucieVs cherry murisier de S. Lucie peach pgcher Pfirsichbaum pomegranate grenadier Granatbaum pear poirier Birnbaum apple pommier Apf elbaum
P. syriaca *Quercus spp. Rhus coraria Ricinus communis *Rosa spp. "ubus sanctus *Tamrrix spp.
"his
sinifera
Ziziphus jujuba %Z. nummuZaria
oak chtne Eiche sumach sumac Sumach castor oil plant ricin Rizinus rose rosier Rose blackberry ronce Brombeere tamarisk tamaris Tamariske vine vigne Weinrebe jujube jujubier Brustbeer
-
fruit, kernels
Europe, W. Asia
forest zone, fruit sold in cultivated local markets
fruit
China
cultivated
cultivated in irrigated fruit gardens
fruit
W. Asia
cultivated
very well adapted to semi-arid areas
fruit
N.Asia Minor
cultivated
commonly cultivated today
fruit
N.Asia Minor
cultivated
fruit
W. Asia
acorns, Europe, galls, bark W. Asia Mediter. dyes, tanning, food garnist oil for Africa? illumination flowers and fruit
Europe & W. Asia
edible fruit Europe & W. Asia manna; can W. Asia be derived from a number of other plants fruit Central & W. Asia fruit
N. India
fruit
W. Asia
cultivated in mountains, occasionally in lowland forest zone edible but not cultivated forest zone Q.infectoria yields galls (nat. distr. N. Mesopotamia) commonly used in the past cultivated
used for medicinal purposes (cf. BSA 2 [I9851 45ff.)
forest zone rose water is an important product economically forest zone gathered steppe, wadi gathered
cultivated early domestication (subsp. syt- well attested vestris in forest zone) cultivated
IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
F. Nigel Hepper (The He~barium, Royal Botanic Gardens, K m )
Some of the most famous and important gums and resins used in ancient civilizations are produced by trees and shrubs, though few of them occur actually in the vicinity of Sumer. This paper deals with the botanical aspects of those occurring in present day Iraq and Iran, as well as the Eastern Mediterranean and southern Arabia on the assumption that their gums and resins entered into the ancient trade routes. Important resins from herbaceous plants, such as FeruZa (galbanum) and Dorema (gum ammoniacum) are not covered here. Others such as Artemisia, BaZanites and Moringa although woody, are excluded on the grounds that they produce oils rather than gums or resins. Gums and resins The words gum and resin are often used rather loosely. They are, however, easily distinguished from one another since gums mix with water and resins do not. Some gums actually dissolve in water, while others only form a jelly or mucilage. On the other hand resins are soluble in The alcohol, benzene and other organic liquids which do not affect gums. diversity of both gums and resins is very great as they vary in appearance, in physical characteristics and in chemical composition, which is hardly surprising since they are plant products and it is to be expected that each In some plants both gums and resins species has its own characteristics. occur together. For instance, frankincense consists of 60%-70% resin, It should 27%-35% gum and 3%-8% volatile oil (Brit. Pharm. Codex). strictly be called an oleo-gum resin. Liquid perfume was obtained from gum-resins by heating them with refined oil which then became fragrant and was used for personal anointing.
desert association
ASTRAGALUS (Leguminosae) Gum tragacanth is obtained from AstragaZus gummifera (Fig. 1) and other species inhabiting the dry mountains of Turkey, Iran and neighbouring countries. The spiny cushions are scattered on arid slopes at 1200-2130 m, while inferior gum is obtained from some species growing at an even higher altitude. Protection of the plants is afforded against browsing animals by the When the leaflets axis of the compound (pinnate) leaf becoming spiny.
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gums & resins
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gums 61 reeine
fall, the sharp-pointed stalk persists indefinitely like a pin-cushion with the points sticking outwards. The gum itself is made and stored by the plants in the central core of their roots. This core of gum, which may be 2-10 mrn in diameter according to the species, is contained under pressure in the cylinder of wood. If the root is cut off the gum will exude from the centre, and over 20 mm of exudate has been recorded in half-an-hour. The gum trade still relies entirely on wild plants which are tapped by local people. With a small pick they dig earth away from the base of the astragalus plant to expose its root and the gum is obtained from one or two longitudinal cuts made towards the top of the root. The collectors need to walk about a great deal as the plants are scattered over the hillside and several species may occur, each with its own characteristic gum which should not be mixed together. Tapping begins in June and continues for several months until the rains start, although it is said that the best quality gum is produced during the first ten days after tapping (Gentry 1957).
BOSWELLIA (Burseraceae)
Fig. 1 AstragaZus gummifer A
R
Fig. 3 Cistus ZaurifoZius
Fig. 2 BosweZZia s a c m !drawn from Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc. (Bombay Branch) 2 [1848], 380).
Fig. 4A Co-phora rnyrrha 4B C. schimperi 4~ C. abyssinica var.
simpticifotia
The Arabian frankincense tree (BosweZZia sacra, Fig 2) grows near the southern coast of the Peninsula in Hadhramaut and Dhofar. This remote, mountainous region on the edge of the Arabian desert still supports numerous frankincense trees. They are bush-like with several trunks and stout branches covered by paper-thin outer bark that is so typical of most species. Theodore Monod, who studied the Hadhramaut frankincense trees in 1978, found that their size depended on where they grew: the largest occurring in the valleys, smaller ones on the rocky slopes and little ones on the dry plateaux. Monod (1979) observed the extraction of the resin by immigrant Somali people who used a special knife, called a manqeb, to cut deeply into the rusty inner bark. The oval scar was immediately covered with little pearl-like drops of resin which were of the consistency of condensed milk. Surgeon Carter, who had reported on the Arabian frankincense trade as long ago as 1848, stated that the hardened resin was "collected by men and boys employed to look after the trees by different families who possess the land in which they grow". This practice continues, as observed by James Mandaville (1979) in Dhofar. Frankincense collection begins there about December, reaching a peak from March to May. Thereafter it is stored for some months in clean swept caves in dry country before being sold at the coast about September. The quality of the resin depends on whether it is dropped onto the ground or had to be scraped off the branches, the latter being not so good. But three qualities are also recognised according to the location of the trees; those growing near the coast yield poorer resin than inland trees, the best coming from those on the far side of the mountains. Much of the moisture supporting the trees is obtained from a persistent mist that is characteristic of southernmost Arabia (Hepper 1969). A recent study has been made of African frankincense and an important paper is in the press (Thulin & Warfa 1987).
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gums & resins
CISTUS (Cistaceae)
Ladanum is a name applied to the resin produced by certain rock roses (Cistus) which are an important element of the Mediterranean shrub vegetation, but they do not grow as far east as Mesopotamia. The resin of Cistus Zadanifer, which occurs in Spain and on the opposite coast of North Africa, was unlikely to have entered into trade in the ancient orient. More likely is the closely related C. ZaurifoZius (Fig. 3), a very resiniferous species occurring in Turkey. C. creticus (often referred to as C. viZZosus and C. incanus) with pink flowers, is said to become progressively more covered with glandular hairs as the summer wears on: the whiteflowered C. satviifotius which commonly grows with it is non-resinous. A surprising and amusing method of collecting resin from rock roses was by combing the goats' beards and coats after they had browsed among the shrubs and rubbed against the damaged branches which exude drops of resin. Herodotus tells us of an alternative way which was to beat the bushes with leather thongs and to collect the resin adhering to them. It is possible that the trade caravans such as the Ishmaelites who passed through Gilead on their way to Egypt, carried ladanum. Genesis 37:25 refers to traders taking "gum, balm and myrrh" but true myrrh is a tropical product which would not have been taken southwards, so ladanum may have been the substance. Ladanum is not a gum but a true resin which appears as a dark brown or black mass. It was used as a perfume and for medicines having obscure properties. COMIPHORA including Batsamodendron (Burseraceae)
The myrrh bush (Commiphora myrrha) grows about 2 m high on steep rocky hills in the semi-desert countries of Somalia and the Yemen. It is thorny, with the long stout branch thorns protruding in all directions bearing the small three-lobed leaves, small whitish flowers and beaked fruits, although for most of the year the bush stands gaunt and leafless. A thin papery bark peels naturally from the stems exposing a thicker green bark which contains the fragrant myrrh. Exudation of it is encouraged by cutting the stems, and as in ancient times, the reddish tears of aromatic resin are still collected by local people into baskets for sorting before sale to incense dealers and transport to the markets of the world. Although C. myrrha (Fig. 4A) is described above since it was the main species from which the myrrh of the ancients was probably obtained, as well as from its variety mozrnot, several other species in the genus Commiphora growing in the Horn of Africa, e.g. C. abyssinica var. simpZicifoZia (Fig. 4C) with small undivided leaves and C. schimperi (Fig. 4B), also yield myrrh resin. The word "balm" is loosely used for various ointments including the balm-of-Gilead, balm-of-Mecca or opobalsam obtained from Commiphora
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yieldin8 $rru 6
gileadensis (C. opobaZsamurn), Fig. 5. This is a tropical shrub tg8 tionally said to have been grown by Solomon at En Gedi on the Dead which has a tropical climate similar to its native area in SW Arabia. is a non-spiny shrub or small tree with numerous slender branches small compound leaves with three leaflets which are present for a eho The gummy resin is obtained by making incitime after the rainy season. sions in the bark in the same way as the exudates of myrrh and frankincenee are collected. Chemically the resin is a kind of turpentine, strictly an oleo-resin. Ancient writers considered it a cure for many diseases and Pliny noted its extraordinary sweetness, which fits well with the description in Exodus 30:34 of sweet spices. It was often used in liquid form by dissolving the lumps in warm olive oil and straining the solution. Comparison of frankincense and myrrh Although Bomellia and Commiphora are similar in some respects, such as the peeling bark and that they grow in arid conditions, there are excellent botanical characters for separating them. Unfortunately, as they usually grow in such dry places, their leaves soon fall off and the branches remain bare for many months of the year. They are seldom in a very attractive The state and they tend to be overlooked by travellers in those regions. Africa BosweZZia species are usually trees with a single stem but if they have been lopped a more shrubby growth may result. The myrrh-yielding Commiphora, on the other hand, are thorny, branched shrubs, often with several sizeable stems as well. However, the Arabian BosweZZia are also bush-like in growth, but their fruits are dry (capsules), while those of Commiphora are juicy (drupes). There are five petals and sepals with ten stamens in BosweZZia flowers, compared with four and eight respectively in Commiphora. The myrrh resin is reddish in colour, while frankincense is whitish. In fact, the Arabic Zuban for the various frankincense resins refers to the milk-like appearance. Frankincense was burnt as an expensive, powerful incense for ancient Egyptian religious rites, as it was by the Israelites. Myrrh, on the other hand, was not burnt but was used as a perfume, cosmetic and medicine. While both were considered to have medicinal value, myrrh was by far the more important having many properties ascribed to it both internally and externally. Frankincense is still widely used in Arabia to fumigate houses and for personal cleansing in a hot climate with limited availability of water. LIQUIDAMBAR (Hamamelidaceae)
L . orientatis (Fig. 6) occurs in Rhodes and western Turkey beside streams as a small, deciduous tree having numerous twiggy branches and a weeping appearance. Storax resin is obtained by beating the bark in spring which causes the resin to accumulate until it is collected in the autumn. After extracting with boiling water the viscid greyish liquid
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gums
&
resins
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gum8 6 ra8h8
turns yellow-brown when purified. It contains cinnamic acid having an odour like benzoin (Lucas & Harris 1962). Meikle (1985, p. 1089) shows that there is some confusion in the literature over the precise origin of storax as it seems that both Dioscoridee and Pliny considered that it was obtained from Styrax offieinatis, which is a bush or small tree with white flowers commonly occurring in Mediterranean type vegetation (Fig. 7). As recently as 1755 there is an account of French monks collecting the resin, yet nowadays this species produces none! There is no confusion over the identification of Styrax or Liquidambar as they have a totally different appearance so it is difficult to resolve the confusion.
PISTACIA (Anacardiaceae) Fig. 6 Liquidambar orientalis Several species of pistache yield resin which is used to stop teeth and as a masticatory, also in medicines and as a varnish. Lentisk or mastic is the best resin obtained from the Mediterranean shrub P. tentiscus (Fig. 8). Although this species does not occur further eastwards, the resin must surely have entered into ancient commerce, but Thompson (1949, 339) denies reference to it in Assyria. Howes (1949, 138-9) states that in Chios the resin is obtained from the bark of the stems and branches, not the wood, from vertical incisions made about the middle of June. There are three grades of resin according to whether the resin is picked from the tree, collected from clean stones placed beneath the tree or contaminated with soil.
Fig. 5 ~onrmi.~ho& giteadensis
Fig. 7-styrax officinalis
P. khinjuk and P. eurycarpa, known as terebinths or oriental turpentine trees, are native in the mountains of Iraq and Iran and have often been confused with the true terebinth, P. terebinthus, which has a Mediterranean distribution. They grow to a height of 3 to 7 m and are deciduous, with the male and female flowers on separate trees; the resin is obtained by tapping the trunks and branches and it is said to be similar to mastic, hence its name Indian or Bombay mastic (Howes 1949, 139). PINUS (Pinaceae)
-!.%
In Iraq there is only one native species, the Calabrian pine P. brutia (or P. hatepensis var. brutia - Townsend & Guest 1966, 98). In ancient times this tree was likely to have occurred in a much wider area of mountainous Iraq and Iran than its present-day remnants would suggest. Its products would therefore have been readily available to the Sumerians who would have used its oleo-resin for medicinal purposes. Recent analyses have shown that P. brutia resin yields about 20% turpentine which is Rosin or colophony is the laevorotatory (Townsend & Guest 1966, 100). solid residue remaining after distillation.
&a
Fig. 8 Pistacia Zentiscus
Fig. 9 Pinus halepensis
Pinus hatepensis (Fig. 9) is a common tree in the eastern Mediterranean region and its resin has been tapped in Greece since earliest times (Howes 1949, 109) so it is likely to have been available to civilizations further east
.
Hepper
Trees & shrubs yielding gums & resins
Oils and resins are produced by other conifers, including cedar Cedrus Zibani, juniper Juniperus phoenica and Cilician fir Abies cilicia. NOTES ON FRUIT IN THE CUNEIFORM SOURCES Other resin producing woody plants mentioned by Thompson (1949, 335ff.) are broom, box, Euphorbia, tamarisk, elderberry and oleander, all of which are minor producers but in some cases their identification in the context of ancient inscriptions is open to question.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Gentry, R.S. 1957 Hepper, F.N. 1969 Howes, F.N. 1949 Lucas, A. 1962
"Gum tragacanth in Iran", Economic Botany 11, 40-63.
"Arabian and African Archaeology 55, 66-72.
frankincense", Journal
Vegetable gums and resins.
of
Egyptian
Mandaville, J.P. 1979 "Frankincense in Dhofar", Journal of Oman Studies, Special Report 2, 87-89. Meikle, R.D. 1985 Monod, Th. 1979
Flora of Cyprus, 2. Kew. "Les arbres 3 encens (BosweZZia sacra Fluckiger 1867) dans le Hadramaout (YGmen du Sud)", Bulletin MusGum National Histoire Naturelle, Paris, s5r. 4, lB, 131-169.
Thompson, R.Campbel1 1949 A dictionary of Assyrian Botany. London: British Academy. Thulin, M. 1987
&
Warfa, A.M. "The frankincense trees (Boswellia spp.) in N. Somalia and S. Arabia", Kew Bulletin 42 (in press).
Townsend, C.C. & Guest, E. 1966 Flora of Iraq, Vol. 2.
(cambridge l
Summary This article is divided into three parts, Part I: The Third Millennium, Part 11: The evidence from Assyria, and Part 111: Nuts. The article thus seeks to list the fruits and fruit-trees mentioned in the cuneiform texts of the 3rd millennium B.C. and in Middle and Neo-Assyrian sources, and to attempt identifications where possible. It leaves aside the aromatic and resinous trees and tree-products, which form an important part of Mesopotamian civilization, and does not make use in any systematic way of evidence from Babylonia, more particularly from the Middle and Neo-Babylonian periods. While this omission results primarily from the areas with which the author is most familiar, the inclusion of evidence from Assyria does help with some of the problems of identification, and is therefore not entirely inappropriate.
Waltham: Chronica Botanica Co.
Harris, J.R. Ancient Egyptian materials and industries. London: Edward Arnold.
&
J.N. Postgate
Baghdad: Ministry of Agriculture.
I: THE THIRD MILLENNIUM EVIDENCE As with so many aspects of Mesopotamian agriculture, the most consistent and most voluminous evidence comes from the 3rd millennium, when documents were mostly formulated in Sumerian. We have therefore elected to describe first the range of fruits attested in these texts, and to consider any pertinent evidence from the lexical lists of the 2nd millennium and later, when Akkadian equivalents were given for some of them. This enables us to adopt the procedure, advocated by B. ~ a n d s b e r ~ e rof , ~ establishing the complete repertoire of words referring to fruit, and matching this entire list against the list of fruits attested archaeologically or likely to be present for other reasons. The sources The texts of the 3rd millennium may be divided for our present purposes into the following chronological groups: Fara and earlier (before 2450 BC);~ Pre-Sargonic texts from Lagash (Early Dynastic 111; ca. 2350 BC) Akkad Dynasty (ca. 2200 BC);~ and Neo-Sumerian period (2100-2000 BC). Most of the texts can be assigned to distinct archives: the Bau Temple at Girsu (in the state of ~ a ~ a s h ) the ; ~ activities of particular officials in Neo-Surnerian ~ i r s u ; 6 or a "merchants' bureau" at Umma under the Ur I11 kings.7 Because the texts refer to the regular events in a continuing operation, they tend to record very similar, not to say monotonous, transactions. Once the separate archives have been reassembled as completely as the vicissitudes of their discovery will permit, the reconstruction of their administrative contexts will be rewarding. Indeed, an excellent
i
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Notes on fruit
example of such a reward is already provided by the reconstruction of the Umma account texts in Snell 1982, but to gain a general idea of the varieties of fruit and of their exploitation such time-consuming groundwork is not indispensable and has not been attempted. Even without a clear understanding of the administrative background, it should be possible to discover: (1) which - or at least, how many - species were cultivated; (2) their importance in the diet, at least relative to one another; (3) something about the methods of cultivation. This contribution is thus no more than a general survey: a full analysis of garden cultivation in early Iraq is expected from the pen of Dr. K. Butz, of the Freie Universitgt, Berlin, and this will no doubt tackle the subject in much greater depth and solve many problems here left unt~uched.~ Table 1 : Third millennium fruit Sumerian Fara Lagash Akkad sull-lum
+
gextin pSF(Xe)
+
haHhur
+
+ + + +
+ + + +
gipar
GRXA.NA
Ur 111 Fresh Dried Akkadian English
+ + + +
+ + + +
+ + + +
+ +
+
+
mudum
+Ebla
+
nurma
+
+
Xennur
+
suzuppc
date
kariinu
grape
tittu
fig
haghiiru
trad. "apple" Gelb "apricot"
Zipiiru
?
?
mulberry ( ? )
?
?
pomegranate nurmii, Zurimtu
+
ZaZZuru ? (trad. "medlar" or "plum")
The above table lists the fruits attested in 3rd millennium texts, approximately in order of frequency of occurrence and quantity. For fruits attested in the Assyrian sources, see pp. 128ff. Identifications The chart in Table 1 emphasises the need for a simple statement of the identifications generally accepted by cuneiform scholars today: not only does the sole work explicitly devoted to fruit-trees in ancient Mesopotamia confidently identify p2F and haEhur as types of date (Deimel 1925), but the translation of hamur as "apple", almost universally adopted in the mean-
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Notes on fruit
time, was challenged as recently as 1982 by I.J. Gelb (Gelb 1982, 79-82). In the following notes to the chart I have tried to indicate how secure the proposed identifications are, and the principal reasons for them. Where translations cannot be offered, people may reasonably wonder why we assume them to be fruits at all. In some cases this may indeed be uncertain, as with Fuqiinu in the Assyrian sources, but usually the constant association of the less common words with others which are certainly fruit is enough to remove any doubts. It is perhaps worth mentionin passing that the Sumerians had a word for fruit (nlg-sa-a or nlg-sa-ha ),inand that which is perhaps better characthe Assyrians also had one ((a)zamru), terized as "Northern Akkadian" since it occurs at least once at Tell al-Rimah in a dialectically Babylonian context. The Babylonian word most usually translated "fruit" is inbu (Sumerian: gurun), but this is rather The only Akkadian more general in its connotations (German: Friichte). equivalent in the lexical sources for nlg-sa-a is muthwmnu, and this really does mean fruit in the narrow sense (German: Obst), as one can tell from the Akkadian explanation muthwnmu = inbu kir? (see CAD M/ii, 298). Neither inbu nor muthurnrnu features in pragmatic administrative contexts in the same way as both nlg-sa-(h)a and (a)zamru, however.
8
1 . Dates
The identification of sulum/su~upp~ as "date" is not questioned, and we do not discuss the tree or its fruit further here, partly because it is too vast a subject, but more particularly because there are books giving detailed descriptions of modern date cultivation in South Iraq, and a comprehensive survey of the philological evidence by B. Landsberger, which covers almost all aspects of the date palm except the techniques of cultivation.11 Note, however, in passing that as well as the most frequent word sulum/~u~uppc, which refers to dried dates, there is an entirely different word, uhinluhinnu, which refers to the fresh date, in the autumn.
2. G ~ a p e 8 Although as a logogram in later Akkadian texts gextin most frequently has the meaning "wine" (in Akkadian karznu), in most 3rd millennium texts it is to be translated "grapes". This is self-evident in the case of "dried grapes" (geFtin hHd - Snell 1982,134: ITr 111; MCS 9 232; 247: Old Akkadian), or "fresh grapes" (geFtin durug - Grggoire 1970 No. 200: Ur III), but also follows from the fact that, unlike beer, it is not usually measured in pottery or other vessels, but in dry capacity measures like other fruits with which it is listed (in Pre-Sargonic and Ur 111 texts).l2 3. Fig8 The Akkadian equivalent for pSX is tittu, which is cognate with the words for fig in Aramaic (tynt') and Arabic (tzn), and the identification is now universally accepted. Since fresh (A = durug) figs are occasionally mentioned (Grggoire 1970 No. 200; UET 3, 76), fig-trees were undoubtedly cultivated, as today, on the lowland plains. However, Gelb has shown convincingly that dried figs were sold on strings (some of them 6 cubits or 3 metres in length), and today such strings are usually imported from the north of Iraq, especially the Sinjar district.13
4. haEhur
For many years this was regularly translated "apple", and the two Akkadian dictionaries give this meaning for haghiiru without question. The identification is primarily based on an etymological connection assumed
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Notes on fruit
with the Syriac (bazUrG) word for apple; it depends to some degree on the synonym list entry equating the two Akkadian words has'hiiru and henziiru. However, etymological arguments are not decisive, as other examples within the fruits clearly show, and Gelb 1982 has proposed instead the meaning "apricot" (in which he was anticipated by M. ~ a m b e r t ) . ~ ~His initial doubts sprang from the observation that, like figs, haFhur are kept dried, on strings, and this was thought to fit well with apricots, which do not otherwise appear to be represented in the texts.
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Notes on fruit
The other point is that in one of the Ur I11 texts from the Girsu archive of Ur-abba we find a quantity of dried ZipEru fruit "instead of haEhur fruit" (6.2.0 GIF.PAR4 h5d gur-lugal mu-gig-haFhur-38 TuT 309:l). This does suggest, although it cannot be taken to prove, that the two fruits were quite similar to one another; but since the identity of ZipZru is even less certain, it does not greatly assist.
d. The archaeological evidence To resolve this matter we shall have to take various considerations into account, and the issues are best isolated and discussed one by one:
a. Did apples and/or apricots exist in the Near East at the time? Gelb wrote "There is no reason to assume, a priori, that apricots were unknown in ancient times " (p 78). The Oxford Book of ~ o o dplants states categorically that "Both the peach and the apricot originated in China" (p. 72). Although the Classical evidence does not appear to be decisive, it is thought that apricots were known to the Romans, and has been suggested that they are referred to in a 3rd century BC Greek author (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. Aprikose; Powell, pp. 153ff.), and peach-stones are now attested at Samos in the 7th century B C . ~ There ~ remains a long gap between these examples and our 3rd millennium texts. Apples, on the other hand, are native to Northern Iraq, and flourish there under cultivation; they would certainly have been available to the Sumerians.
....
.
The news that dried and strung apples were included among the grave gifts in the tomb of Pu-abi in the Royal Cemetery of Ur (Early Dynastic 111) came too late for Gelb to include in his discussion, although he was able to mention it in his Addendum on p. 484. This does much to re-establish the plausibility of "apple" as a translation of haFhur, because it shows that apples were dried and kept on strings, as, occasionally (though by no means as often as figs), were haFhur (e.g. ITT IV 7032 = MVN 6, 32:2; Nakahara 1928, 9 : - Ur I ; and MCS 9 247:13'). As far as I can see, and according to Gelb 1982, 78, no other Sumerian fruits are said to be on strings; although apricots do of course make a superb dried fruit, and are to be found on strings today (see Gelb 1982, 78-9), the fact remains that the apple from Ur is the only fruit which can be shown for certain to have been kept on strings.
e. Can we identify any relatives of the fruit?
b. Will apples and/or apricots grow well in South Iraq? The haEhur must have been cultivated widely and successfully in the south. It is the commonest of all the fruit mentioned in the texts (after dates figs), and is found both dried, on strings, and fresh (haEhur durug - e.g. An.Or. 7, 312 and 313). In UET 3, 76, we read that about 200 litres of fresh haEhur will yield one-third the amount in capacity of dried haEhur.16 The ratio does not really help us to choose between apricots or apples, but it does confirm that the fresh fruit was available in quantity at Ur, and thus grown in South Iraq (see also UET 3 No. 782). Today apricots are grown abundantly in South Iraq, apples rather less so. One does meet statements that apples do not flourish on the lowland plains, but the Flora of Iraq 2, 110 admits that they are "occasionally grown in orchards in Lower Iraq", and Wirth 1962 confirms this. It appears therefore that either fruit is a possible candidate on this score.
c. Are there any circumstantial details in the texts? Two points may be made here. The haghur tree supplied a useful timber (UET 3, 782:l - Ur 111; 240 vessels (nag-ku) of gig-haEhur - Nikolsky 1908, 282; Bauer 1972 No. 73, passim: Pre-Sargonic). This is indecisive: apple wood is generally esteemed by wood-workers, but Guest notes that apricot wood has been used "for various purposes: drinking cups are made from it in Tibet" (Flora of Iraq 2, 157).
In later lexical sources various other fruits are described as kinds of haHhur: the quince and the pear are called "mountain (or: foreign) haFhur", and to our post-Linnaean minds it is easier to understand this as "mountain apple". Unfortunately, though, the same lexical tradition also calls them "mountain Xennur", confusing the issue totally, since gennur can hardly belong to the genus Pyrus too (see below, p. 129). On balance, it seems to me that the archaeological and the etymological evidence under d. and a. above favour the retention of "apple".
I use the Akkadian form of the word because it is difficult to know how the Sumerian should be transcribed. It is agreed that the fruit written (giE).PARq (sometimes given as (~~F).KIsAL) in Ur 111 texts is identical which is equated in Old Babylonian lexical with the (gix).MI(=gi6).parq tradition with the Akkadian li/up/baru (CAD L 198b), and is also occaIt features quite regularly sionally attested already in Ur 111 texts.17 in lists of fruit for the Ur 111 period, both fresh and dried, and also among the temple offerings in Cylinder B of Gudea, but is not, to my As a tree knowledge, mentioned in documents before or after that time.l8 the lip?iru is mentioned in a couple of Pre-Sargonic passages and the Old Babylonian texts from Susa, and the fruit also turns up in medical recipes.
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Notes on fruit
No cognates are known in neighbouring languages and etymology does not help us here. Gelb has suggested "apple", but only because he had ousted Neither of the that fruit from its traditional identity with haHhur. Akkadian dictionaries ventures a guess. The tree is not mentioned as a source of wood, and the only faint clue is given by the passage quoted above in which lipiiru fruit is provided in place of haHhur, suggesting that they are not dissimilar. If it was a fruit familiar in northern Iraq, it is strange that it does not appear, for instance, in the Banquet Stele of Assur-nasir-apli, and this suggests that it may in fact have had a different name in the north (even though retaining its traditional designation in the medical texts). Two candidates which fit the bill are therefore "pear" or "quince", but these are proposed with the greatest diffidence.
This sign does not feature in the lexical lists, and its Sumerian reading and Akkadian equivalents are accordingly unknown; at present it seems to be known only from Ur and Umma. That it is a fruit follows from its appearance in Ur I11 offering lists: e.g. in UET 3, 1051, between giF.gi6.pa1-4 and strings of figs, or UET 3, 68 between giF.PAR4 and oil and strung figs). The fruit is never qualified as "fresh" or "dry", and was therefore presumably not preserved by drying. This may explain its rather irregular occurrence in the lists, since it would only have been Other contemporary texts from Ur show available at the right season.19 that it grew in local plantations, and that its timber was valued: see UET 3, 782, where 73 giF.URxA.NA (trees, i.e. trunks?) and 72 giH.PA.KUD ("sticks" for which see Oppenheim 1948, E31 note a) are listed with other non-edible plantation products. It is transported in a type of basket (masablmasappu) which is also used for grain, fish and dates, and has been identified by Gadd as a "winnowing basket", perhaps a flattish tray, and also in a ~ u - ~ .20 u r ~ The fruit is often recorded in units called gir.lam or 6.da, both of which have sometimes, perhaps erroneously, been thought to mean some kind of cake or confectionery.21 In some such cases it is followed by the signs N~G.GAL which are obscure to me, but one text in this context has merely ~ 1 3 . 6 N?G.GAL, ~ without the inscribed A.NA, and if this is correctly ~ ~ 2~ 172:3, which seems copied, it may permit us to compare g i ~ . 6 ~in. MVN certain to be a fruit, coming as it doescafter dates, grapes and figs. We may perhaps also compare the wood giH.UR.AN in Pre-Sargonic texts from Girsu (DP 413.ii.6 and 414.11.4). On the other hand, it could be connected with the two grades of the fruit gal ("big") and Gs ("second-class") attested in Umma texts (de Genouillac 1924 No. 36; An.Or. 1, 190). If we now look for a fruit which grows well in south Mesopotamian conditions and su plies a useful wood, one candidate which suggests itself is the mulberry. 2fa Mulberry (primarily the white species, Morus alba), grows wild in Northern Iraq and thrives under cultivation in the south (Guest 1933, 64; Flora of Iraq 4, 82); its wood is much esteemed by the modern populace for making the handles of agricultural tools (personal observation), and used for furniture, boats and building construction as well (Flora.of Iraq 4, ibid.). Curiously few attempts have been made by modern
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Notes on fruit
scholars to identify the Sumerians' word for this fruit-tree, which must surely have been known to them. True, Oppenheim once proposed it for the tree asal (1948 E31 note b), but fruit from this tree is never mentioned, it is today generally identified as a poplar, and its identification with mulberry is explicitly contradicted in CAD S 109b, no doubt with Oppenheim's concurrence. Campbell Thompson's suggestion of musukannu (1949, 316-7) is not convincing since that tree does not seem to yield a fruit, and the dictionaries today do not support him (see also Powell, p. 149).
7. mudum This is another enigmatic fruit, known virtually only from the Neo-Sumerian archive of Sara-I-Fag at Girsu. It is found listed between ZipZrum and grapes (RTC 217:7, rev.2'; ITT IV 7032(=MVN 6 32) :11), between grapes and strung figs (RTC 218:14), between grapes and halub-tree kernels (ITT IV 7032 rev. lo), and between figs(?) and grapes (MVN 3 82:8). In all these cases it is written mu-TUM (without a giH); my reading of mu-dum is ba5ed on the entry in a much earlier lexical text from Ebla reading: GIS.HUBx KASKAL = mu-du-umlmu-dulmu-da-um (MEE 4, 1. 391). Unfortunately neither side of this equation seems to be attested elsewhere, and so it does not take us much further. Even a provisional identification is out of the question; we can only point out that since this word is attestec almost exclusively in Girsu texts, an equation with the preceding fruit (URxA.NA) is not impossible; note, though, that the timber is apparently not attested.
The identification may be taken as secure on the basis of (a) etymology, (b) textual descriptions of the fruit as a decorative motif in the iconography, and (c) its use in the leather industry (see Stol, RIA VI, 532-3; Rdllig, RIA 111, 630a-632a S.V. Granatapfel). References to the fruit of the pomegranate are surprisingly rare: they do not occur with other kinds of fruit in the offering lists or in the Sara-I-Fag archive, and I have noted only the following: for rations (kurg) and a festival (I3H-I3H) in the Ningirsu Temple in the reign of ~ u l ~ ireceipt ; ~ ~of top-quality pomegranates (nu-fir-ma lugal) from a plantation-keeper (Fandana) at Nippur under ~mar-~in;~ and ) listed (in gir-lam) along with dates in a text from ~mma.24 The rind was a separate commodity and is listed in Ur 111 Girsu texts in some quantity: 7.0.3 gur in TuT 121.vi.10 (cf. also 113.v.5, and ITT V 3 No. 6705 PI. 39). By comparison, it seems likely that other large amounts of "pomegranate" listed in inventory texts from Girsu among wooden items, rather than food, are also in fact consignments of pomegranate rind.25 The pomegranate was certainly cultivated, both for its fruit and its rind, as references to its presence in date plantations make clear (see below). That it is mentioned so rarely as a fruit is probably ironically because it was so common, and thus not greatly esteemed for the tables of gods and princes (see below, p. 127 on this point in general).
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Notes on fruit
Notes on fruit
Postgate
9. Fennur
Containers and packages
There are no etymological associations for Fennur and its Akkadian equivalent zaZZuru.26 It is listed in one Ur 111 list (provenance uncertain) ,26a where it has the epithet durug "fresh", implying that it might also be dried. Campbell Thompsbn suggested "medlar" (MespiZus germanica), but this is only attested once, wild, in the extreme north-east of Iraq, and is not apparently cultivated in the area today.27 Landsberger's "plum" seems a good deal more plausible (MSL 3 123 ad 305). To discuss this possibility requires a consideration of the 1st millennium evidence in the Assyrian sources, where ZaZZuru occurs with other fruit certainly of the plum type, and we therefore defer discussion to pp. 129-131 below.
Fruit was packed and transported in various ways, and these may eventually help in determination of the species since similar fruits will often be transported in similar containers: today in Iraq citrus fruits and pomegranates usually travel in stout openwork crates made of split palm-frond ribs, dates come in various containers, such as tightly woven palm-leaflet baskets, while grapes and mulberries can be seen on big flat round trays woven from grasses or vine stems. Table 1 shows which fruits were listed as either "fresh" (A=durug) or "dried" (UD=hbd); Table 2 gives some details of the other forms in which fruit was reckoned, other than simple dry capacity. It would be profitable to follow Landsberger's lead in noting the size-range of many of these containers, but this would require a comprehensive survey and take us far beyond the subject of fruit. I must also apologize for not considering the relative quantities of different fruits in the Ur I11 lists in particular, and indeed their relative values; these are also valuable data which could be recovered, and some information on the relative values can be found in Snell 1982 .37
Cultivation of fruit trees While several species of tree were grown in "forests" (tir) for timber, date palms were cultivated in "plantations" (kiri6 [wr. (GIS.)SAR]/~~~$~), and other fruit trees are found there too. Some Ur 111 texts from Ur give details of the interplanting of trees: one mentions an area of about 8 ha. of "plantation, interplanted with pomegranates, containing 36 bearing palm-trees",28 and another Ur 111 text also has pomegranates planted within The practice of growing smaller fruit trees beneath a date plantation.29 a canopy of palms is widely followed in South Iraq today, principally with pomegranates and citrus fruits,30 but other forms of interplanting also seem to have been practised. One Ur 111 text from Ur lists at least two vineyards interplanted with figs and apples (haFh~r).~l Another mentions a plot of tamarisk interplanted with young date-palms.32 The practice of mixing crops in this way may explain the curious fact that in two cases the term vineyard (kiri6 gegtin-na, lit. "grape-plantation") is used to describe a plot of land on which corn had been grown.33 A rare 2nd millennium witness to fruit plantations, presumably along the Middle Euphrates, comes from Mari, and lists small plots with figs, vines, pomegranates and haFhur
.
Details of planting practices are rarely given, though - only when the administrators were specifically concerned with the use of the land. On other occasions the plantations are mentioned merely as the source of date products or fruits. Even when the provenance is not specified as such, we can often assume that the fruit came from a local orchard, rather than being imported, because the delivery is made by a "gardener" (n~-kiri6/ nukaribbu) or a "plantation-keeper" (Fandanalzandanakku) Sometimes the texts list deliveries of dates mixed in with other products of the palms (fronds, etc.), and it would probably be rash to assume that all such documents record a single delivery - they may well be compilations over a period of time. At other times dates can be mixed in with other fruit, as e.g. in the Pre-Sargonic texts from the Bau Temple at Girsu, where dates, apples (hanur), figs and grapes are delivered by the gardeners.35 It does not seem likely that there was any important difference in the agricultural responsibilities of the "gardener" and the "plantationkeeper": in some Ur 111 texts gardeners deliver dates, with date-palm products, grapes, haFhur and ZipBru, and yet exactly the same range of products come from a Fandana at Girsu at the same date.36
.
Table 2 : Fruit containers in the 3rd millennium ~umerian/Akkadian English Fruits attested
Periods attested
Notes a
sag-keFda
?
figs; haFhur
ED IIIb (Girsu)
nlg-d3(-a)
?
figs; haFhur
ED IIIa-b (Fara, b Girsu);OAkk;Ur 3
Fergulebtum
string
figs; haFhur
OAkk
6-da
box ( ? ) haaur; Gates; grapes; URxA.NA
masablmasabbu
basket
-
OBab
c
Ur 111 (Ur)
d
Ur 111 (Ur)
e
~u-~ur~/ZugurrQ basket?; dates & most or bunck other fruit
Neo-Sumerian
f
(gi3)fl
basket
haFhur; ZipZru grapes
Neo-Sumerian
g
gGrdub, gur-dub
basket
dates;haFhur; grapes
Ur 111
h
dug
jar
Neo-Sumerian dates; tip&%; grapes(?); pomegranate;URxA.NA
i
Neo-Sumerian
j
gXr-lam
?
dates;
GRXA.NA
dates; figs; pomegranates; haFhur
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Notes:
Notes on fruit
a. Occurs at Girsu in Bau Temple lists in identical contexts to nfg-d3-a (e.g. DP 106; 108). Is it perhaps simply another word for the same thing?
lam of 3 srla each, ITT V 6880. According to Landsberger gTrlam alone, as in the Gudea Statue E offering list, applies to dates; the same would apply to Forde 1967, No. 20:19 (4 gXrlam 2 sxla-ta). Is this identical with Pre-Sargonic gi-lam (see Deimel, SL 85.399: DP 42:2 and UruKAginals reform text; also de Genouillac 1924, HG No. 12)?
b. Occurs at Girsu in Bau Temple lists in identical contexts to sag-keFda (see above under a.; e.g. DP 105; 107; Nikolsky 1908, 144-5; de Genouillac, TSA 42-43). At Fara likewise with both figs and haXhur (Jestin, Tabtettes sum2riennes de 3uruppak, Nos. 363; 422; 558; 750). Since the only form (other than simple volume) in which these fruits are recorded in Akkadian and Ur 111 texts is as strings (see c . ) , it is possible that one or even both of a. and b. is a Pre-Sargonic word for a string. Also in Old Akkadian: 40 giF-haghur nfg-du (Donbaz & Foster (figs). 1982, No. 44); and Ur 111: MVN 9, No. 176 nfg-d3! Half a nfg-d3-a at Girsu was a Fu-ru-a (Deimel, SL 354.113: DP 196.iii, iv; also 224.xi.8'-9').
k. Cf. CAD G 136; TCL 2 5530; a large basket holding at least 60 sXla, also attested for andahgum (onion family) and emmer. The social context and changes through time
c. See Gelb 1982, passim; also footnote 4. Note that in some cases the string is double (tab-ba, e.g. TCL 2 5530), and can be measured in cubits (k3H). d. This was considered a cake by Limet 1982, 266l3, but Landsberger 1967, 37, considers it a container. "Box" seems better in view of ITT I1 No. 892.v where 20 giF.6.da appear among other wooden items in an inventory. e. This is discussed in Gadd, Iraq 10 [1948], where he makes a convincing case for identifying the symbol of the goddess Baba (or Bau) on a kudurru as a winnowing-basket rather than a fan. f. Landsberger 1967, 37-8; MSL 11, p.110 implies that this word in fact means a "cluster" or "bunch" or similar, which is not implausible in some contexts, but some doubt is cast on this by de Geno~illac 1924, No. 36 which has grapes, haghur, figs, dates, URxA.NA, pine-kernels and tipZru (inter alia) in this form! g. The wood determinative giF might suggest that this type of basket was made from palm-fronds rather than reeds or grass. In the texts of Gudea it is used for cucumbers (see Stol, this volume, p. 88 with note 9).
I ~gGrdub is given h. Landsberger 1967, 38; the reading of G ~ G as in Borger, ABZ 243, and used by Sigrist 1984b, 87:l (a basket of bread) without comment. i. E.g. RTC 109 rev. (ge3tin k6ES.d~); 245 (grapes?); de Genouillac 1924, No. 36:6 (dates ?); An.Or. 1 190:41, 44 (ZipZru, ~ R ~ . N A ) ; MVN 6, No. 286 (=ITT IV.7295). j. Limet 1982, 26613 following the traditional rendering "cake"; but see Landsberger 1967, 37. For gir-lam of 10, 5 and 4 sila ("quarts"), see Jones & Snyder 1961, No. 198; for haEShur in gir-
Notes on fruit
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,
It should have become apparent that the most detailed evidence for fruit trees and fruit in the 3rd millennium comes from the texts of the Ur I11 Dynasty: they mention the widest range of species, and the most specific details of methods of cultivation and arrangements for transport and storage. The repertoire of the Pre-Sargonic texts from Fara and Lagash dates, figs, haghur and grapes - agrees with that of the few pertinent Akkad Dynasty documents in excluding the rarer fruits encountered in the Ur 111 texts. This is not surprising: as the sophistication of the cuneiform writing system and the range of its application grew we could expect more to be recorded by the scribes. The less predictable fact is that after the Ur 111 period fruit is rarely mentioned in the everyday documentation. This will come as less of a surprise to those familiar with the bureaucratic passion of the Ur I11 kingdom, but if we are not to be slavish prisoners of the bias of our sources, we should consider the reasons for the apparent change before we draw any far-reaching conclusions from it. Three explanations, not necessarily mutually exclusive, present themselves: (1) that fruit was no longer, or very much less, grown or imported; (2) that fruit was available as before, but was not recorded by the account clerks; and (3) that it was still present and recorded, but we chance not to have recovered the relevant texts. Let us consider (3) first. One might suggest that the predominantly secular context of the majority of Old Babylonian texts is responsible for the apparent change. It is true that the majority of 3rd millennium texts mentioning fruit list regular deliveries to a temple or special offerings for a f.estiva1 (23-23). This applies at least to the Pre-Sargonic texts from Girsu, to most of the texts from Ur, and probably to the Sara-X-Zag archive from Ur I11 Girsu. Nevertheless there are texts from secular contexts referring to fruit, notably the merchants' accounts edited by ~ne11,38 and Old Akkadian texts listing a whole range of food for the king's table.3 Moreover, although we lack similar texts from the Old Babylonian period in South Mesopotamia proper, there is a huge archive from Mari concerned with the commodities supplied to the king's table there at the time of Hammurapi, and fruits are conspicuously absent. Indeed, there are lists of temple offerings from eriod too, and in almost all of them the only fruit mentioned is the It is thus improbable that the only reason for the difference from date.fg Ur I11 times is the accident of recovery of the texts. Let us turn now to explanation (I), which might at first sound rather naive. We can hardly suppose that the Elamites and the SU-people, nor even
~+fhfC; I;{,' t i , ' ; ," 'i CRlEfdTkL INST; illt r U&tVFPr;lTV
A K
rurr A
~
A
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Notes on fruit
the Amorites, celebrated the downfall of the Ur I11 Dynasty by chopping down every fruit-tree in Southern Mesopotamia, but this political event could have had an indirect effect on the issue. In the climate of southern Iraq fruit trees, like all agriculture, can only be sustained by careful husbandry and in particular dependable irrigation. While date palms may survive in tidal conditions in the far south, other fruit trees will not tolerate so much salt, and therefore any deterioration in the administration of irrigation will have its effect on the quality and quantity of fruit produced. That the breakdown of centralized bureaucracy which accompanied the fall of the Ur 111 kingdom would have had an immediate impact on the irrigation system does not need to be justified at length: even if the administrative traditions of the dynasty were retained locally by the individual city states, they lacked political control of the whole system of watercourses. There is therefore a likelihood that fruit-growing in general suffered a recession after the Ur I11 period. A second, related, point concerns the destination of the fruit. We know about our 3rd millennium fruit mostly because it was supplied to temples, and it is a fair (though by no means certain) assumption that it came mostly from orchards owned by the temples. After the Ur 111 period it is generally agreed that more land found its way into private ownership, although how big a shift this was is controversial, and it is certainly exaggerated at first sight by the bias of the sources. At the same time it is probable (though again hard to prove) that the number of personnel employed by temples dropped sharply along with their general prosperity, which must have been closely linked to the prosperity of the ruling houses which saw the support of the temples as one of their principal duties. With their large reserves and body of employees the temples (and of course any palace) are in a position to support specialist agricultural activities such as fruit-growing; individuals who may have tended orchards on behalf of the public institutions in calmer times will have been forced to revert to producing the staple grain and legume crops as their subsistence no longer came from their previous employers. There is, therefore, some reason to suppose that the quantity of fruit produced may have dropped sharply with the end of the Ur 111 kingdom, but this is hardly sufficient to account for its almost total disappearance from the documentation, and we should now consider explanation (2), that although the fruit was available, it was simply not recorded with as much assiduity. This would be closely bound up with scribal habits. In Pre-Sargonic Girsu the Bau Temple scribes had developed a regular sequence for their four fruits: dates - figs - haFhur - grapes, with the entry for the commonest and largest deliveries coming first. Although there are always slight variations, the royal chancellery of the Akkad Dynasty had an accepted order of entries to secure consistency in their records, and, no doubt, to act as a mnemonic device for them.40 In some of their lists our fruit forms part of a much wider range of food, from milk products and oils to farinaceous products and aromatics. A similar, perhaps even derivative, convention was used by the Ur I11 scribes, though greatly enlarged in scope as we would expect. The Ur I11 merchants' accounts from Umma include a similar range of products: the resins, for instance, being listed in almost the same order in the different texts,41 and the same applies to the fruits, with the commonest usually first and ending with the occasional
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Notes on fruit
entries like the GRXA.NA and the Zipiiru (although strung fruit may come at the very end as well). While much detailed work is needed on the ordering of entries in such texts, it does seem that in its broad outlines this tradition was transmitted to the temple accountants of the Old Babylonian period as well, and is to be found in the temple offering texts. As in the Ur 111 texts, these may include farinaceous products, milk products, oils and other comestibles, but in much less variety than before. The two large archives from the Ninurta Temple called EXumeXa at Nippur and the Ningal Temple at Ur are alike in their remarkable monotony over some decades, and in the relatively small number of items listed, and the same applies to the occasional single texts with lists of offerings prescribed. With the exception of dates, fruit virtually does not appear: the only exception is the single text Sigrist 1977, with raisins, haghiiru and figs.42 Most of the texts are records of regular offerings (sattukku), which are prescribed in advance, with the obligation to supply them assigned to certain persons. The amounts and days have to be determined accurately, and the commodities listed are not usually perishables. My suspicion is that fresh fruit does not feature because it could not of its nature be supplied on a regular basis, and that perhaps the provision of dried fruit was indeed affected by the reduced availability of fruit in general and the loss of control of its production by the public institutions in particular. But this all falls within the context of the diminution of accounting activity under the Old Babylonian kings, by comparison with the bureaucratic excesses of their predecessors. Another respect in which the nature of the sources will have biased the picture they give of fruit production is reflected by the scarcity mentioned above of references to pomegranates. In writing of the Ur 111 period Limet has observed that "Les couches supgrieures de la sociGt6, comme les dieux, reqoivent des graisses cornme le I-nun, des fromages, des fruits...". 43 The other side of this coin is of course that those fruits mentioned in our sources are the best, the delicatessen of the Sumerian table, and we would not expect to find any fruit which was not considered worthy of the divine or royal menu. This is perhaps the reason why the pomegranate, even today plenteously grown in southern Iraq, does not often feature in the lists of fruit which have come down to us. It should also make us wary of assuming that other fruits which are less delicious but nonetheless perfectly edible were not present: for example, was Ziaiphus spina-christi (the nabuq) collected or actually ~ u l t i v a t e d ? ~or ~ the hackCeZtis species - attested archaeologically in the Old Babylonian berry period45! ), or indeed the fruit, attested in ancient Egypt and grown today in southern Iraq, of Cordia mym (L.), sometimes called the Assyrian plum?46
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Notee on f r u i t
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The sources Except for medical texts, which are not taken into consideration here, the written sources for fruit in Assyria fall neatly into two categories, with a single text standing alone. The single text is the "Banquet Stele" of Assur-nagir-apli I1 (880-857 BC), which describes the inauguration ceremonies of the new Assyrian capital at Kalhu (modern Nimrud). The text gives a long list of trees, native and exotic, planted in the gardens of the new city, and ends with a detailed menu for the immense banquet, which included among the delicacies a variety of fruit and nuts. Both these lists seem to be extremely comprehensive and include many plants which we shall probably never be able to identify.47 The other sources have a much more restricted repertoire of fruit. In the first place there are lists of temple offerings - perhaps no surprise, in view of our 3rd and early 2nd millennium evidence. These are both administrative texts which record actual deliveries, and rituals prescribing offerings to be made. Fruit was included in the Middle Assyrian deliveries to the Assur Temple in the reign of Tiglath-pileser I (1105-1077 BC), but the individual species were not specified then.48 The date of the original composition of the ritual texts is hard to determine, but it is likely that all the administrative documents date from the 7th century BC, or at earliest from the reign of Sargon I1 (722-705 BC). Many of these Neo-Assyrian texts, though found at Nineveh, relate again to the Assur Temple (at Assur), and were edited by van Driel; others cannot be firmly assigned to their administrative context, but seem likely to be offerings texts too.49 The second group is almost exclusively from the reign of Sargon, because circumstantial evidence makes it clear that it is correspondence addressed to the king on the subject of the orchards being planted for his new capital at Dur-Sarruken (~Khorsabad). Unlike his distant predecessor Assur-nagir-apli, Sargon's own formal inscriptions do not mention any particular species of tree, but his officials write to him listing the numbers of saplings of various fruit trees which they have assembled or dispatched for him. It is likely, though it cannot be proved, that a couple of administrative lists of fruit trees also result from these activities. The places named by the officials include the Middle Euphrates region (Suhu), the Habur River (Sadikanni) and a town west of Nineveh called Nemed-IHtar, which has been identified tentatively with modern Tell Afar. It is not fortuitous that all these places have a regular water supply, since today the cultivation of orchards in northern Ira is concentrated in villages with a permanent wadi or other water source.58 Identifications The identification of the fruits in Neo-Assyrian sources is more difficult than one might hope for two reasons: the aggravating fact that Arabic words, which are in etymological terms unquestionably identical with Assyrian words, are used for different fruits in different modern dialects
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128 -
and the confusion created by the lexical lists which (cf. angZgu, hahhu); use obviously artificial Sumerograms for some of the fruits, and often the same ones for different Akkadian words. As far as the first problem ie concerned, I have tended to accept the modern Iraqi usages as recorded by Guest, in preference to the Syrian equivalents which tend to find their way into the more official dictionaries of Arabic: there is undoubtedly a continuous indigenous lexical tradition within Mesopotamia which makes this a reasonable (though far from compelling) procedure. As for the lexical problem, it seems best to set out the general position before descending to detailed discussion. The confusion centres round the genera Pyrus and Prunus in Linnaean terms, and about the groups haFhur and Fennur in the lexical lists. The species we might possibly encounter are: Pyrus matus Pyrus communis (Pyrus syriaca Cydonia uutgaris
= = = =
apple pear wild pear) quince
Prunus armeniaca = apricot Prunus domestica = plum Prunus cerasifera = cherry-plum Prunus persica = peach
Against this we have to set the cuneiform terminology: hazharu gig. haFhur gi3. haFhur .kur ra/babbar kamisYsYaru giF.haFhur.kur.ra supurgilZu
.
giF.Fennur giF.Hennur .gal giF.Hennur.kur.ra giF.Hennur.kur.ra
3aZZuru hahhu kamisY3aru supurgiltu
This means that the quince (supurgittu) was classed by the scribes under both kinds of fruit, but at least they do retain the separate identity of Any identithe two 3rd millennium fruits, the haFhur and the Fennur. fication of the individual fruits mentioned in the Neo-Assyrian sources must take into account the implications for the other fruit and names in these two lists, and be able to give a reasonable explanation of them. Let US now proceed to consider the fruit one by one, in alphabetical order.51 Only attested in the Neo-Assyrian texts.s2 angiig, "(a kind of) plum". Modern Arabic 'anjag is in the Levant a pear, but in Iraq it refers to the plum (Prunus domestica). Since there is no reason to doubt that kamiHHaru (q.v.) means a pear, it is preferable to translate angsu as "plum" This does not necessarily mean P. domestica, (despite CAD Alii, 117). however, since botanists seem agreed that this is a hybrid of which one parent is P. cerasifera (the cherry-plum), which is native to Iraq (Flora of Iraq 2, 155-6). There is "no record of its (i.e. domestica) having been found wild in Iraq", and even today "P. cerasifera appears to be the species most commonly cultivated on the plains" (ibid.); if the hybrid did exist, there is no guarantee that the two species would necessarily have been distinguished.
hahhu "a peach" ( ? ) . This identification relies on the Arabic khawkh which
is used for peach in modern Iraq, and appears also in Aramaic. AHw gives the meaning "plum", which is apparently correct for Syrian dialect, but it
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means peach in Egyptian and Iraqi. The lexical evidence places hahhu with the s'atluru group, and the equivalence giF.Fennur.ga1 = hahhu (MSL 5, 103: 127) would not be unreasonable for "peach", whether s'atturu itself meant "plum" or "apricot".54
other equivalents, kami55aru and armannu, which are not found in such lists). One text mentions "ripe quinces" (baglate). We may note that the word supurgizzu, like kamiEEaru, does not occur in southern Mesopotamia, at least before the 1st millennium B.C. Since both quince and pear grow well in the area, it is quite likely that one or both of them is represented by one of the unidenttfied 3rd millennium fruits, ZipZru being an especially likely candidate. As far as I can see, supurgiztu does not feature in the medical texts, whereas lipdru does, and since the quince is much commoner in the Neo-Assyrian texts than kamis'Zaru, I am inclined to favour the idea that ZipZru is the southern word for quince.
haghiiru (wr. giF.haFhur).
In fact the Assyrian form, attested in Middle and Neo-Assyrian texts, is Zahs'iZru. The Assyrian sources give no further clues to its identity, although it was quite widely grown in the north: ABL 813 mentions 2,350 bundles (ebissu) of has'hilru at Nemed-IHtar, and ABL 938 1,000 saplings (xiqpu). This fruit does not appear among the temple offerings, possibly because it was so common.
ishunnutu (wr. giF.kin.geVtin).
This is the later Akkadian word for "grape", distinguished from k a e n u ("wine"). The "vine" is called in Neo-Assyrian tizzutu, and is listed in thousands in descriptions of estates being sold or surveyed. Grapes occur in offering lists, and occasionally elsewhere.
kamigZaru (wr. syllabically) This fruit has a long history in northern Mesopotamia, turning up at Mari (ca. 1800 B.C.), at Nuzi (ca. 1400 B.C.), and among the trees planted by Assur-naeir-apli at Kalhu. Etymologically identical with the Arabic kurnmathra, and hence given as "pear" in both Akkadian dictionaries. The lexical attestations (see above) are not helpful, and do not tell us whether the fruit is more similar to has'hiiru or to s'a~Zuru.55 nu&
(wr. giH.nu.Gr.(ma)). Assur-nayir-apli tells us that his gardens had "pomegranate trees clothed with bunches of pomegranates like grapes" to show how luxuriantly they bore fruit, and the fruit occurs in offering lists, the trees as saplings for transport to Dur-Sarruken.
serdu (wr. syllabically).
Assur-nayir-apli and Sennacherib claim to have planted olives at Kalhu and Nineveh, respectively. Very likely Sargon also planted them at Dur-Sarruken, but they are not mentioned in the letters and administrative documents. Nevertheless, the villages at the foot of the Jebel Maqlub, just north of Khorsabad, are renowned in Iraq for their olives (especially Fadhiliya and Ba'shiqa). The fruit itself is well attested back into the 3rd millennium (see Waetzoldt BSA 2, 77ff.) and occurs in the Assur Temple offering lists .56
8uZuppa (wr. zG.lum.ma). Date palms did not fruit in Assyria, as far as we know, and dates are therefore mentioned only rarely in Assyrian texts as a temple offering, more than once as a Babylonian import.57 supurgitzu (wr. syllabically and (probably) giF.haFhur.kur.ra).
The Arabic safarjaZ gives the meaning "quince" (Cydonia vulgaris) which is generally accepted. In various syllabic spellings the plant is often listed in the Assur Temple offering texts, and as a sapling the tree is sent to Dur-Sarruken together with plums (angagu) and almonds (duqdu). The lexical texts give supurgizzu as one of the equivalents of giF.haFhur.kur.ra (lit. "mountain haghiiru"), and this logogram is used a couple of times in offering lists.58 In view of the fruit's regular appearance in the Assur Temple lists, the likeliest reading here is supurgizzu (rather than the
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130
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Notes on fruit
quqiinu (wr. syllabically). This is not certainly a fruit. It is listed in the Practicaz VocabuZary of Assur between unidentified trees, probably not fruits, and in the Banquet Stele between olive-trees (sirdu), oak (aZZBnu) and tamarisk (tarpu'u). On the other hand, it figures between figs and plum-trees (angtis'u) in one list almost exclusively composed of fruit-trees, and between figs and has'h~ru in another. We lack the Assyrian words for "walnut" and "mulberry", both trees which are almost certain to have been included by Assur-nayir-apli in his plantation, but there is no way to decide between these or other conceivable ~ a n d i d a t e s . ~ ~ gaZZuru (wr. giF.Fennur). Listed alongside has'h~ru, among trees being supplied to Dur-Sarruken, also with pomegranates and figs, and between pomegranates and pine (as'iZhu) in Assur-nayir-apli' s orchards. As a fruit it is found in crates ( ? : kakkuttu) as an offering, between figs and dates. We have seen above (p. 122) that Campbell Thompson's proposal of "medlar" is unlikely for botanical reasons. Landsberger proposed "plum", and if we accept that hahhu (=giF.Fennur.gal) is "peach", then it certainly seems plausible to make gaZZuru a species of Prunus. If angii~u is the usual Assyrian word for "plum", then this would leave s'atzuru (and hence the Sumerian Fennur) as "apricot", or else as another kind of plum, which seems less likely. It still does not explain the promiscuous nomenclature of the lexical lists, which make "mountain s'atturu" the equivalent of both kamis'garu and supurgiZZu, but one must concede Gelb's view that the evidence against the presence of apricots in the 3rd millennium is purely negative. If one accepts that we have two series: apple, pear and quince on the one hand, and plum, peach and apricot on the other, then the best match is certainly achieved by assigning has'hiiru to Pyrus and s'aZZuru to Prunus
.
tittu (wr. giF.pSF).
Probably the commonest fruit in the Neo-Assyrian texts. It occurs in offerings and as saplings. One offering text specifies "peeled figs" (qazzupati), and a list of military provisions mentions Although the word ebissu "fig cakes" (kamanZZte) - perhaps pressed figs? (originally *ebiZtu as the plural form shows) is related to ebZu "a string", it does not refer to strung figs but rather to a tied bundle.
zamru (wr. syllabically). This is another north Akkadian word which goes back, in the form azamru to the early 2nd millennium at least (see above, p. 117). "Mixed fruit" is on the menu for Assur-naeir-apli's banquet, and offering lists sometimes just specify "fruit" (perhaps dependent on the season), while "fruit orchards" are mentioned in the survey of estates in the Harran district.bO
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PART 111: NUTS
Table 3 : Proposed identifications for Assyrian fruit English
Cognates
Logogram
Akkadian
h a n ur
Eiahs'iiru
"apple"
~rarnl~yr. @aziTrFi
(hanur .kur. ra) (Fennur.kur.ra)
kamigs'aru
"pear"
Arab. kummathra
(hanur.kur.ra)
(armannu)
?
(none certain)
ha=ur.kur.ra (Hennur.kur.ra)
supurgiZZu
"quince"
Fennur
Eia2Zuru
"apricot"
(Hennur.ga1) (3ennur.kur.ra)
hahhu
"peach"
~ram./~rab. khawkh
angiis'u
"plum"
Arab. 'anjZiq
-
nurm$,Zurimtu
nu.6r.m
"pomegranate" Arab. ramman
-
giH.kin.geHtin
ishunnutu
"grape"
-
serdu
"olive"
-
-
Probably the most important nut mentioned in the 3rd millennium texts, partly because of its oil:61 Sumerian /ex/, written (GIS.)LAM (=exx) or LAMxKUR (=eH22, after Borger, ABZ). Akkadian Eiiqdu or zuqdu (and Eiiqittu), with good cognates meaning "almond" in other Semitic languages (AHw 1427b, s.v.). It has recently been shown that the Assyrian word which has been read Zuddu is in fact to be read duqdu, and since it is also a tree with a nut and usable wood-working timber, this is very likely to be the Assyrian form of the same word. This is made the more likely because it does not feature in its Babylonian or logographic form in the Banquet Stele of Assur-na~ir-apli, though we should certainly expect to find the almond.62
-
S U Z U ~ ~ ~"date"
No generic term corresponding to the modern English "nut" is known (unlike "fruit"). This short survey considers in all brevity the nuts we might expect to encounter and suggested SurnerianlAkkadian equivalences. It makes no claim to exhaustiveness, because it merges into the vast territories of resins and aromatics, on the one hand, and timber trees on the other. Like the fruit trees, the species to be expected are mostly listed by Willcox, this volume (pp. 101-106). Almond
Arab. safarjal
zd. 1um.ma
Notes on fruit
-.
In both Assyrian and earlier texts, then, almonds are occasionally listed in small quantities with the fruits in offering lists; for the 3rd millennium I have noted only a single reference in an Akkad Dynasty tablet,63 and rather unexpectedly neither this nor either of the two following nuts in any Ur I11 text.
NB. Words enclosed in brackets ( ) are only attested lexically. Terebinth Table 3 sums up the suggested range of fruit in Neo-Assyrian times. It is hardly necessary to stress once more that some of the identifications remain uncertain, or that there were many other food-bearing trees which may well have featured in the Banquet Stele but which we cannot hope to identify. Note representations of pomegranates, grapes and figs on the Assyrian reliefs (Bleibtreu 1980), but of course these are mostly outside Assyria in the course of the military campaigns. In modern times fruit orchards in northern Mesopotamia are to be found only where there is a dependable water-course (Wirth 1962, 173). With the possible exception of the Harran census (Fales 1973), virtually every mention of the cultivation of fruit trees in the Assyrian sources refers to a similar environment. The kings Assur-naair-apli, Sargon and Sennacherib all make it clear that the irrigation for their capitals served to enable the planting of fruit-orchards, and the young trees for Sargon's new city came from Nemed-Iztar (perhaps Tell Afar), Suhu (the Anah region of the Middle Euphrates), and the lower Habur, all fruit-growing areas today.
Often mentioned in the same contexts as the almond is the terebinth (Pistacia atzantica). The Akkadian word takes various forms, principally butnu and bu$umtu/bu$uttu, and it has often been translated "pistachio" (strictly, Pistacia Vera). St01 has now made a strong case for translating it always as "terebinth", partly because pistachios proper may not have been introduced into Western Asia before Alexander. Terebinth seeds (known as "green seed") are sold to this day in local spice markets,64 and are attested archaeologically in the Old Babylonian period (van Zeist 1984, 124-5). Note their occurrence in a Neo-Assyrian palace administrative text along with a variety of other foods (Dalley & Postgate 1984, No. 87). The Sumerian for this nut is (GIS.)LAM.GAL (according to the lexical Unless this is to be read IeFgall we have no list ~arra-hubullu).b5 clue as to its Sumerian value; it can hardly be translated as "big almond" since the terebinth nut would be smaller than an almond, and anyway we should probably not attempt to impose such logic on the writing conventions. It occurs in one 3rd millennium text with the adjective reduplicated (LBM.GAL.GAL);~~ a similar practice can be observed with the legumes (see Maekawa, BSA 2, 101), and it is presumably no more than the pluralized version of the form with a single adjective, and thus represents terebinth seeds.
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Notes on fruit
The same text has LAM.TUR.TUR immediately after, and these recur in another Akkad Dynasty text (ITT I p. 20 L.1318 = Donbaz & Foster 1982, No. 44). In each case they follow on from the fruit (dates, haHhur, etc.). According to Harra-hubullu 111 GIS.LAM.TUR is in Akkadian tur'azu, which has been identified with gerhazum (MSL 5 103), a word listed separately from GIS.LAM.TUR in a school exercise tablet. St01 enquires whether the smaller (tur) nut could be from Pistacia khinjuk, but it seems doubtful whether its seeds would be sufficiently different from its larger cousin's to merit separate treatment (both as a word and as a commodity) .67 The Akkadian word itself is only attested twice in St01 gives the sparse occurrences in the Old the lexical contexts; Babylonian and earlier texts. Walnuts and hazelnuts Walnuts (Juglans regia) grow today in Kurdistan, and the nuts themselves are imported into the lowlands (along with other typical northern products such as strongly spiced cheese and honey). Hazel trees (Corylus aveltana) are not recorded from Iraq, although the nuts are imported today, probably mostly from the Black Sea coast of Turkey, and are attested archaeologically in the 7th century BC at ~ i m r u d . Campbell ~~ Thompson does not consider either of these two nuts in DAB, but one might perhaps expect the walnut at least to make some sort of appearance (e.g. in the list of trees planted by Assur-nagir-apli - see above, under susGnu !).59
There are two other trees whose "grains" are listed w l t I l f e u ( @ 3rd millennium texts. One is the huluppu tree (Sumerian: h a l u b ) , l & g & d occasionally in the Sara-i-Za6 archive and Ur 111 texts;ll L t * .eed@ &m Unf~fte mentioned in later Akkadian contexts as zBr haluppi (CAD H 56b). if the dirtlonarl.a' unately the identity of the tree is uncertain Even l o r @ suggestion of a kind of oak is right, these would be acorns. frequent are references to *'pine seeds" (He giH~-~uh5) :72 there are et ymulogical reasons for translating this tree (Akkadian: aFiniu) as "pine", and obvious reason to doubt fbem. It was used as timber in Pre-Sargonic Lagii~lr (Deimel 1925, 59 under glsigi+dib-ku). There is also a single reference to a basket of seeds of a tree called giH.kln.73 Lexical evidence suggests that this is the tree later called kiZkanC in Akkadian, traditionally growing in Eridu,' and providing a bark which was used for the outer covering of composite bows in the 2nd millennium B.C. Thompson (1949, 287-9) suggested Acacia, but the botanists at the meeting of the Sumerian Agriculture Group were not happy with acacia in ancient Iraq. A firm identification of the bark used on the bows in Tutankhamun's tomb would perhaps bring us nearer to a solution. -In any case, the seed of the tree seems to be very uncommonly mentioned. 7 4 --
FOOTNOTES 1
"The so-called distribution method, namely to apportion the available names to known objects, etc., as was first attempted in my study with regard to the species of wild animals of Mesopotamia, has not, in my opinion, been sufficiently imitated.'' (JNES 24 [I9651 295-6).
2
Fara texts: Jestin, TSS Nos. 363; 422; 558; 750.
3
Akkad texts: CT 50 Nos. 52; 72; ITT 11/2, 4658; MCS 9 Nos. 232; 247; For the IM 5592/08(?) [copy by J.N.P. to be edited by P. Steinkeller] late Sargonic archive concerned with the royal table, see B.R. Foster, Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society (Columbia, N.Y .) 12 [I9801 29-42.
4
Ur 111 texts (other than those mentioned in notes 6 and 7): Analecta Orientalia 1, No. 190; 7, Nos. 261; 312; Lewy & Artzi, 'Atiqot 4 [I9651 No. 67; CT 9 , PI. 18(?); Fish, CST Nos. 720; 734; de Genouillac 1924, No. 36; Donbaz & Foster 1982, Nos. 12; 44; 111; 153; Oberhuber, Florenz, No. 126; Grggoire 1970, No. 200; Barton, Haverford Coil., No. 391; Hussey, HSS 4 (=STH 2) Nos. 5; 6; ITT IV Nos. 7032; 7686; 7707; V Nos. 6680; 6687 [NB. these and other ITT texts in MVN 6 and Donbaz & Foster]; JCS 24 [I9721 154 No. 27; Lafont 1985, No. 325; MVN 2 No. 171; 4 No. 61; 5 No. 289; 7 Nos. 85; 106; 135; 185; 577; 9 No. 25; 10 No.213; Nakahara 1928 No. 19; Forde 1967 Nos. 19; 20; Owen, NATN Nos. 375; 678; Orientalia (S.P.) 48, No. 396; RTC No. 245; Sigrist 1984b Nos. 293; 320; Limet , Tablettes sumQriennes No. 108 (edition needs emendations) ; TCL 2 No. 5530; TCL 5 No. 6040; TuT 114; 115; 170; UET 3 Nos. 68; 76; 209; 273; 782; 1051; 1368; UET 9 Nos. 817; 1004.
5
The fruit and trees in the Bau Temple archives were discussed thoroughly by Deimel 1925 (although some texts have been published since that
Kernels By this term I mean to include the tree products called in Sumerian "grains" - using the ordinary word for the seeds of grasses (He), and in Akkadian "seeds" (z@u, often written with the logogram numun). Much the commonest of these is the product of the tree li = bur~Zu. Its seeds (we find He-li, but also just (giX.)li, and in later medical and lexical texts 3im.He.li) often occur in lists of foods, but also among aromatics, e.g. in the Umma merchants' accounts (Snell 1982, 31; 159-160; also pp. 181 and 230 for pa-li, apparently "branches"). In Akkadian there was a separate word kikkiriiinu (with many variant forms) for this product, and it is not infrequently atte~ted.~g Translation depends of course on the identification of the tree. The word burZZsYu is found in Biblical Hebrew as berOs'; this used to be translated as "pine" or "cypress", and led Campbell Thompson to suggest these as possible identifications (1949, 258). However, Baumgartner now gives the meaning "juniper" for ber52, and Civil suggests this also for li (1960, 68 ad 1.70). Pine kernels are of course a familiar ingredient of modern Near Eastern cookery (Arabic: ~nBbar), but the fruits of the juniper are also exploited today (Flora of Iraq 2, 90-91) and are attested in Egypt from at least the 18th Dynasty (15th century B.C. ) .70 Without determining the actual species of juniper, the translation "juniper seeds" or "berries" seems the best guess at present.
... ..
Note also UET 2, 209.
.
stgate
Notes on fruit
time). Relevant texts which I have consulted are: DP Nos. 105-108; 196-8; 221-5; 422; Nikolsky 1908, Nos. 144; 145; RTC No. 61; TSA Nos. 42; 43; VAT 4613 (see Deimel 1925); VS 14 Nos. 57 (=Bauer 1972 Nr. 73); 113 (=Nr. 91); 155 (=Nr. 92). See Lambert 1960 for the archive of Ur-abba; the archive of Sara-:-Sag, dating to the Gudea dynasty, covers many items other than fruit, but relevant texts for us are: RTC 217-220; MVN 3 Nos. 32; 62; 6 No. 32 (-ITT IV 7032); 7 Nos. 541; 543; and no doubt others I have missed. These are edited in Snell 1982. See also Limet 1982 for an account of Sumerian market gardening. For nlg-sa-a see MSL 11, 86:259; for nlg-sa-ha see DP 422.iii.l (arrears of dates, grapes and haFhur - Pre-Sargonic); RTC 61, Rev., last line; DP 225.xiv.4' (after Deimel 1925, 57); CT 50 52.ii.5 (a "table" of nlgsa-ha among the royal menu - late Old Akkadian). For the Akkadian see CAD ~ I i i ,298. logogram (in Assurbanapli nlg-sa-sa(-hi-a)), I
For (a)zamru see Postgate, Bi.Or. 37 [I9801 68b; Dalley, OBTR No. 204:s (Old Babylonian). The meaning "fruit" is admittedly a guess, but strongly supported by contexts and by the phrase xamru sammuhu "mixed fruit". Landsberger 1967; since then see also Cocquerillat 1967; 1968; 1981-85; Postgate 1980a; Renger 1982. Possible exceptions are RTC 245; 'Atiqot 4 119651 67 rev.6; and Sigrist 1984b No. 320:2, where ge'lStin is in a dug ("jar"); however, other fruit can be transported in jars, see Table 2. For wine in the early 2nd millennium B.C. see Finet 1980. Passages in the inscriptions of Gudea (ca. 2100 BC) mention libations of honey and geztin, which in this case is presumably wine (SAKI 116 col. 25:15), but I have not noted any other clear occurrences of "wine" rather than "grapes". Old Bab. geTtin-8-a (Sigrist 1977, 175) is also "dried grapes" (rather than wine), as follows from the Diri entry: e u~.~u=abZZu(CAD A/i, 29b), and the position of (e.g.) haghur-8-a straight after haFhur-durug in the Old Babylonian lexical lists (MSL 11, 134-5). Gelb 1982, 67-82; note that ebZu "string, rope" is attested for Mari as well as the Old Assyrian dialect (Veenhof apud Gelb, p. 78): J. Bottgro, ARM 7 234:6' 3 eb-lu-5 za ti-na-[timl, with his comments, ibid. p. 254. Gelb 1982, 80-82, with addendum p. 484. According to D. KuSan (communication to meeting of International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany, Cambridge, April 1986) peach stones were discovered among many other fruit and plant remains in the rubbish tip of a 7th century BC sanctuary on the island of Samos. 0.3.2 giF-haFhur duru silver prices for fre&
gi3-haThur-hdd-bi 0.1.0 6 213 sila; note the and dry haghur recorded by Snell 1982, 134-5:
Postgate
367.35 quarts per 1 shekel silver for fresh, 545.45 quarte par for dried. 17 E.g. An. Or. 7, 4; 6040; etc.
UET 3 209; 1051; Orientazia (S.P.)
48 396;
18 For the sign KISAL = par4 and its possible reading as /gipar/ sea Steinkeller 1985, 46, who also refers to an archaic text from Ur ( c a . 2700 BC) which has the signs giH.KISAL, immediately followed by a mention of geFtin "grape" and therefore quite possibly referring to our fruit. The two Pre-Sargonic passages are quoted in Deimel 1925, 75; slightly later also INN 3 No. 33. On the other hand KISAL in an Old Babylonian offering text does not come with the rest of the fruit and is probably something quite other (Sigrist 1977, col. vii.25). 19 In one Umma reference the ~RxA.NA!, listed directly between ZipiZ~uand miscellaneous aromatics (Tim-hi-a), occurs for the festivals (ezen) of Shulgi and Amar-Suen; I do not know enough about the calendar to determine whether this could give us a clue to the season at which the fruit was available. [The copy of the sign is unclear in each case, and looks more like URxA.HA, but the context makes it certain that t>e same fruit is intended; note that despite various transcriptions as URxA.HA (e.g. in Schneider, KeiZschriftpaZZographie and in RGTC 2), the place name in TCL 5 6041 is clearly copied as 6RxA.NA; in de Genouillac 1924, No. 36 the sign is shown with a combination of a vertical wedge with one or two Winkelhaken, and much the same applies to the Pinches text published by Sollberger in MVN 5 No. 289, which however also inclydes an apparently different thing written ~RxKUR.An.Or. 1 190 has just URxA]
.
20 Iraq 10 [I9481 93-100. 21 See Limet 1982, 26613. both are probably containers of some kind (see Landsberger 1967, 3812$ and Table 2, notes d and j)
.
21a I initially tried to support this proposal by suggesting that the mulberry would not have been dried, but the evidence for Afghanistan quoted below by Marvin Powell makes it clear that drying was perfectly possible and even likely. This does not necess9rily invalidate the mulberry suggestion, but another possibility for URxA.NA is Ziziphus (see footnote 44). 22 ITT IV 7707; also 7295. 23 Myhrman, BE 3 No. 54; cf. No. 105. 24 Jones & Snyder 1961, No. 198. 25 ITT I1 892 rev.i.20; RTC 221 rev.i.20':
giE-lug-9r-ma.
26 Unless it be EahZiig, according to Fahd 1977,336:14 "varigtg de prunier". 26a also probably attested (written KIBgunQ) in MVN 5 No. 289 and de Genouillac 1924 .No. 36; and as a tree (rather than fruit) in Hussey, HSS 4 (=STH 2) No. 6 rev.iii.14.
'1
'r(C
Postgate
Notes on fruit
Not
Postgate
c*tr
tbtr
I
rct
27 FZora of Iraq 2, 119.
42 For the translation "raisins" rather than wine, see note I 2 : ~ b o v ~ ,
28 UET 3, 1109 .ii: 1.1.0 g5n kirid Gr-ba giHnu-Gr-ma S3-ba gizgiHimmar gGna. For conversion of areal measures see BSA 1 [1984] 98 (1.1.0 = 8.64 ha.).
43 Limet 1977, 56.
29 G.A. Barton, Haverford Library Cobtection I11 391 :3-4. Gr-ba is surely correctly explained by Limet 1982, 26724 as against Oppenheim 1948 G7.
44 See Flora of Iraq 4, 433-7; Guest 1933, 10.
Mr. J .V. Kinnier W 1 l r l l I t \ makes the attractive suggestion that the tree titib/pu of the N ~ Assyrian sources could have been the nabuq (Ziaiphus spina-christi).
45 Van Zeist 1984, 124-5 (CeZtis cf. caucasica).
30 Cf. M.P. Charles, this volume, pp. 3-4. 31 4 iku [=1.44 ha. ] kirib geHtin Gr-ba giH-p2F 2 g i H - h a ~ u r ! UET 3 1368:l-2, cf. 10-11. See also MVN 8, No. 186, for orchards with "mixed trees" (gig-hi-a) and a pomegranate plot (Col. i.15). 32 gig-Xinig Gr-ba giggigimmar-tur UET 3 1416. M.P. Charles refers me to a modern case of interplanting with tamarisk:,"The planting 'system' consists of 1. growing melons and vegetables for 2 or 3 years (summer & winter), with an interplanting of tamarisk in the 1st or 2nd years; 2. after 2 or 3 years, the land between the tamarisk row planted wit11 alfalfa; 3. after 4 to 6 years the land is too salty for any crops between the tamarisk, but the trees are sufficiently deep rooted to tap sub-soil moisture, and no further irrigation is needed". This system was seen near Basra in the 1950's and is described after Smith & West 1957. 33 So UET 3 1371:15;
1f
Pinches, Amherst No. 54:3.
.
46 Theophrastus, Hist. Pb. IV ii. 10; F. Daumas , Lexikon der A'gypto20gie, 11, 344-8 S.V. Fruchte; Keimer 1924, 25-6. 47 See Wiseman 1952; I am much indebted to i4r. J.V. Kinnier Wilson for placing at my disposal his digest of the information in the Banquet Stele prepared for the meeting of the Sumerian Agriculture Group in July 1985. 48 Postgate 1980b, 68-9. 49 The Assur Temple offering lists are edited in van Driel 1969, 206-220 with table at end of volume. Another text from the Nineveh archives, which may refer to offerings, is ADD 942 (collations: see TCAE 321); possibly referring to deliveries to a palace are Dalley & Postgate 1984 Nos. 87 and 89. The ritual texts are especially BM 121206 (van Driel 1969; Menzel 1981, 11, T 59-72) and ND 1120 (van Driel 1969, 200-205; cf. Menzel 1981, 11, T.97).
34 ARM 22/ii, No. 329, reading haghur (for B ~ A )after Kupper on p. 530. In 1. 5 of this text we read gi~kCal-'z x'-ru ; Prof. Kupper has kindly shown me the surviving traces .o_f the uncertain signs, and they would in fact permit a restoration to glskCa-~Iu-~u-~u, acceptable in view of the attested Mari forms of kami66aru (see CAD K, 122).
50 Especially ABL 813, 814 and 938. My thanks to S. Parpola for permission to profit from his collations of these letters. Other texts are ND 2796 ADD 1052; Postgate 1973, Nos. 139 and (Iraq 23 [I9611 PI. XXV1I.d); 198.
35 Bauer 1972, Nos. 91; 92;
51 For the Assyrian terms in general the reader is referred to the two standard Akkadian dictionaries; I have only added the occasional reference not to be found there.
...
Nikolsky 1908, Nos. 144; 145; DP 105-108.
36 See M. Lambert, RA 54 [I9601 128-9 No. 30 ( = T ~ LNo. 72); Fish, CST 720; 734. 37 See also Sigrist 1984b, No. 293. 38 See Snell 1982, pp. 134-7 for the fruit. It is my opinion that the inclusion of gig-ma-nu in these contexts, and its mention in Gudea's Statue E, suggest that this plant, commonly used for wood and fuel, also had an edible product; but this is not the place to speculate on its possible identity. 39 Figulla 1953; Kingsbury 1963; Hallo and 1984a. 40 See the texts quoted in note 3. 41 Snell 1982, 30-31.
&
Levine 1967; Sigrist 1977; 1980;
52 With quince and almond (duqdu) in ABL 813; in the Banquet Stele; and in ND 2796 (Iraq 23). The only case where it may occur outside Neo-Assyrian seems to be in the lexical list Hargud which gives the equation (if correctly restored): kami6hru = an-gCa-gul (MSL 9, 166: 141.17d). 54 See Thompson 1949, 307, quoting LBw, FZora der Juden 111 165. 55 The Hargud equation quoted in note 52 is also unhelpful, since in the Banquet Stele the two trees are listed separately and obviously must be different species. Add to the dictionaries the reference to ka-me-guc ru in a medical text (RADP 47:l). 56 CAD S 311-312 for references; AHw 1037 S.V. serdu(m) CAD'S doubts about reading serdu rather than giddz
...
does not share
57 Both in administrative 1-ists and in historical inscriptions (see simply CAD S 374b-375a).
~
~
~
-
Postgate
Notes on fruit
Postgate
as emended in Menzel 1981; and in 58 In van Driel 1969, p. 100 col. 1 ADD 942:2 (correction not realized in TCAE).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
59 See AfO 18 11957-581 333:680; Wiseman 1952:43; ND 2796:6; ADD 1052:6. For walnuts growing in Assyria cf. Wirth 1962, 173 and Abb. 40: olives, figs, almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
Bauer , J 1972
60 Fales 1973; for fa)zamru see footnote 10.
Bleibtreut 1980
.
umerische Wirtschaftstexte aus Lagasch (Studia ~ o h l ,9). EI .
61 For almond oil see Waetzoldt, BSA 2, 77 with notes 6-8.
Die Flora der neuassyrischen Reliefs. (Vienna: Wiener Zeitschrift fiir di.e Kunde des Morgenlandes, Sonderband 1).
62 CAD L 238.
Campbell ThcImpson (see u
63 MCS 9 232:lO.
Civil, M. 1960
64 St01 1979, 1-16; Guest 1933, 74. 65 MSL 5 p.lC3 iii.136. 66 ITT II/2 4658. 67 St01 1979, 1237.
351b-352a. The oil from this substance is attested in Middle "1 flask of oil of ki-ir-ki-ri!-a-ni (Iraq 35 119731 14, emendation by W.W. Rdllig) ; probably also kar-kirS-ia-ni! in 7:17.
70 Found in a tomb, see F. Daumas, Lexikon der ~ g ~ p t o l o g i11 e 344-8.
"Prescriptions m6dicales sum~riennes",Revue d'Assyriologie 54, 57-72.
Cocquerillat, D. "Aper~ussur le pheniciculture en Babylonie 3 116poque de la 1967 I r e Dynastie de Babylone", Journal of the Social and Economic History of the Orient 10, 161-223. 1968
Palmeraies et cultures de 2 'Eanna d 'Uruk (559-520) (Berlin: Ausgrabungen der Uruk/Warka, 8).
68 See Helbaek 1966. 69 See CAD K Assyrian: 1.27-t-29VS 19 No.
: Thompson)
1981-85
Deutschen
Forschungsgemeinschaft
in
-Compl6ments aux 'Palmeraies et cultures de l1Eanna dlUruk'", I; 11; I ; and IV, in Revue d'dssyriotogie 75 [I9811 151-69; 78 [I9841 49-70, and 143-67; 79 [I9851 51-59.
Dalley, S.M. & Postgate, J.N. The tablets from Fort Shalmaneser (London: Cuneiform Texts 1984 -from Nimrud 3). - r
71 He ha-lu-fib: ITT IV 7032; 7686 (=MVN 6 Nos. 30; 32); Forde 1967, No. 19:33-4. Also in the two Umma texts MVN 5 No. 289; de Genouillac 1924, No. 36. 72 He giH6-Huh5: MVN 5 No. 289. As a pine-cone it is quite well attested in later cuneiform traditions: cf. CAD A/ii 478 and AHw 1348-9 S.V. terinnatu. 73 Pinches, Amherst No. 7, 74 Howard Carter's non-specialist eye suggested birch or cherry to him, but this identification has not been checked by a botanist (W. McLeod, Corflposite Bows from the Tomb of Tut'ankhamun (Oxford [I9701 ), pp. 31-2 & 36-7). I am very grateful to Robert Miller for guiding me to this reference.
de Genouillac, H. Babyloniaca 8, pl. 111-XIII. 1924 Deimel, A. 1925
"Die altxumerische Baumwirtschaft", Orientalia 1-87.
[S.P.]
16,
Donbaz, V. & Foster, B.R. Sargonic texts from Telloh in the Istanbul Archaeologicat 1982 Museums (Pennsylvania: Occasional Publications of the Babylonian Fund, 5). Fahd, T. 1977
Fales, F.M. 1973
"Matgriaux
pour
l'histoire de l'agriculture en Irak: , in Handbuch der Orientalistik, I. Abteilung, VI. Band: Geschichte der Islamischen Lander, VI Abschnitt, Wirtschaftsgesehichte des Vorderen Orients in Islamischer Zeit, Teil 1, pp. 276-377.
AZ-FilZiha n-nabatiyya"
Censimenti e catasti di epoca neo-assira (Rome: Studi economici e tecnologici 2).
-
141
-
Postgate
Notes on frui
Figulla, H,bH. 1953 "Accounts concerning the allocation of provisions for offerings in the Ningal-Temple at U r , Iraq 15, 88-122, 171-192.
Landsberger , The Date Palm and its By-products acc 1967 Sources (Archiv fur Orientforschung,
Finet, A. 1980
Limet, H. 1970
"Le vin 3 Mari", Archiv fiir Orientforschung 25 11974-771, 122-131.
Forde, N.W. 1967
"L1organisation de quelques fDtes mensuellee A 1160-sum6rienne1', in A. Finet (ed.), Actes de Rencontre Assyriologique Internutionale, 1969, 59-7 pp. 70-71.
Nebraska Cuneiform Texts of the Sumerian Ur 111 Dynasty
"Les schgmas du commerce n6o-sumBrien", Iraq 39, 51-58.
(Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press). Gelb, I.J. 1982
"Sumerian and Akkadian words for 'String of fruit1", in 6 . van Driel et al. (eds.), Zikir e'umim (with Addendum on p. 484). .-P
.
Archives administratives sumgriennes. Guest, E.R. 1933
Notes on plants and plant products with their coZloquial names in 'Imq (Baghdad: Ministry of Agriculture)
"The plant remains from Nimrud", Appendix Mallowan, Nimrud and its Remains, 11, 613-8.
Jones, T.B. & Snyder, J.W. 1961 Sumerian Economic Texts from the Third (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press). Keimer, L. 1924
I
in M.E.L.
Ur
Dynasty
Die Gartenpflanzen im atten igypten (Berlin 1924; reprint
Kingsbury, E .C. 1963 ''A seven day ritual in the Old Babylonian cult at Larsa", Hebrew Union College Annual 34, 1-34.
.
RAI
.
The Sumerian tablsts in the Imperial University of Kyoto
Nikolsky, MeV 1908 Do'zumenty
khoaiaistvennoi otOetnosti drevneizei epokhi Khaldei (St. Petersburg: Drevnosti vostoZnyia, 3/11),
1914
ditto, Cast' I1 (Moscow: Drevnosti vostoZnyia, 5).
.
Oppenheim, A.L Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets of the Wilberforce Eames 1948 Babylonian Collection in the New York Public Library (New Haven: American Oriental Series 32). Owen, D.I. 1982
Neo-Surnerian archival texts primarily from Nippur
.....
Postgate, J.N. The Governor's Palace archive (London: Cuneiform Texts from 1973 Nimrud 2). 1980a
Documents administratifs sumzriens provenant du site de T e z o et conservhs au Mushe du Louvre (Paris: Editions Recherche
"Les archives de Urabba fils de Bazig", Revue dt~ssyriologie 54, 113-130. [Many of these texts now in copy in C. Virolleaud , Textes economiques de ~agae']
(=
(Kyoto).
"Palm-trees, reeds and rushes in Iraq ancient and modern", in M.-Th. Barrelet (ed.) , L 'arohhologie de 2 'Iraq (Paris: Colloques du C.N.R.S., No. 580) 39-110. Review
article
of
H.
Freydank, VS
19, in Bibtiotheca
OrientaZis 37, 67-70.
sur les grandes civilisations, MBmoire 61). Lambert, M. 1960
Hirsch
Assyrische Tempel (Rome: Studia Pohl, Series Maior, 10).
(Winona Lake, Indiana). Hildesheim 1967).
Lafont, B. 1985
Menzel, Be 1981 Nakahara , Y 1928
Hallo, W.W. & Levine, B .A. 1967 "Offerings to the Temple Gates at Ur", Hebrew Union College Annual 38, 17-58. Helbaek, H. 1966
"Les Sum6riens et les plantes" in H. Hunger & H. (eds. ) , Archiv fiir Orientforschung, Beihef t XIX
Renger, J . 1982
"Zur bewirtschaftung der Dattelpalmen wahrend der altbabylonischen Zeit", in G. van Driel et al. (eds.), Zikir gumirn: Ass.ziriological Studies presented to F.R. K m u s (Leiden),
Postgate
Notes on fruit
Sigrist, R.-M. "Offrandes dans le temple de Nusku 2 Nippur", Jountal of Cuneiform Studies 29, 169-183. "Offrandes aux dieux 2 Nippur" , J o u m l of Cuneiform Studies 32, 104-114. 1984a 1984b
THE TREE SECTION OF urg( M.A. Powel
(Northern Illinois
Les sattukku dans Z'~8umega durant la pkriode d'lsin et Larsa (Malibu: Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 11) Neo-Sumerian Account Texts in the Horn Archaeological Museum (Andrews University Cuneiform Texts, Vol. I: Berrien Springs, Michigan).
Smith, J.B. & West B.G. 1957 ~rrigation and drainage in Southern Iraq (Iraq College of Agriculture, Abu Ghraib). ["short booklet of approx. 15 pp."] Snell, D.C.
edgers and prices: Early Mesopotamian Merchant accounts (Yale Near Eastern Researches, 8) Steinkeller. P. "A note on sa-bar = sa-parq/par 'Casting net'", Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie 75, 39-46. Stol, M. On trees, mountains and millstones in the Ancient Near East (Leiden: Ex Oriente Lux). Thompson, R.C. 1949 Dictionary of Assyrian Botany. (London: British Academy). van Driel, G. 1969 P Studia Semitica Neerlandica 13). The cult of A ~ ~ U(Assen: van Zeist, W. & Vynckier. J. "~alaeobotinical investigation of Tell ed-Der", in L. de Meyer (ed.), Tell ed-DZ~ I V (Leuven), pp. 119-133. Wirth. E. ~grargeographie des Iraks (Hamburger Geographischer Studien 13). Wiseman, D.J. 1952 "A new stele of AEXur-nasir-pal II", Iraq 14, 24-44 [plus some collations given in Postgate 1973, No. 2 6 6 1 .
Trees and woody plants are treated in Tablet 111 of the bilingual encyclopaedic list HAR-ra=hubullu. B. Landsberger's edition (MSL 5 119571 83-142 + MSL 9 [I9671 159-167) draws together disparate sources to reconstruct a text ( c . 550+ lines) that includes most of the trees and woody plants that a cuneiform scribe of the 1st milllennium B.C. would have been required to know or write. Not all entries record distinct species: many are variant names for the same plant, variations in orthography, names for parts of plants, etc. Though not a perfect paradigm of 3rd millennium cultivated species, the tree section of HAR-ra 111 provides a working model for investigating what once existed. At present it is still impossible to trace the history of ~AR-ra=hubuZl~in detail, in particular the part of its history that goes back beyond the Old Babylonian period. Its origin must, however, lie in the Sumerian period, making it an important source for investigating 3rd millennium agriculture, horticulture, and arboriculture. In using it for this purpose one must keep in mind possible losses and additions, though at present we have no way of estimating the extent of these. Though one cannot exclude the complete loss of well-established cultivars due to political and social changes that resulted in a breakdown in the system of cultivation (see Postgate, this volume pp. 125-6), this seems less likely than losses of plants known to Babylonia (alluvial southern Iraq) only through trade or introduced from abroad and grown only in special gardens of the elite. Most of the cultivated fruits attested in 3rd millennium records are also recognizable in HAR-ra=hubuZZu, suggesting that additions, reflecting the expanding horizon of the cuneiform tradition, may be more likely than real losses. Changes in Sumerian orthography (changes in the way a Sumerian word or phrase was written) are well known from the post-Sumerian period, and it is sometimes difficult to identify the new form of writing with the old. Thus, apparent losses are not always real; however, total omission of such an anciently attested tree as the plane (dulbu, Platanus orientalis, already known as a loan-word, tu-lu-bu-um, in 3rd millennium Sumerian) reminds us that HAR-ra=hubuZZu (or our present edition of it) is not complete. Because of the many uncertainties in interpretation of individual entries and of the (necessarily) composite nature of Landsberger's edition, the following breakdown of HAR-ra 111 lays no claim to definitive analysis. Its purpose is pragmatic: to facilitate the use of HAR-ra=hubullu in investigating arboriculture and horticulture and to provide the basis for criticism and discussion. H~~-ra=hubuZZuis organized in two-column format: "Sumerian" on the left opposite Akkadian on the right; "Sumerian" includes both genuine
Powell
Tree section of HAR-ra
=
hubuZZu
Sumerian that goes back to the 3rd millennium and "academic sumerianV from the post-Sumerian period. The "Sumerian" column is written predominantly in logographic/ideographic script, the Akkadian in phonetic (syllabic) Each of the "Sumerian" entries begins with the sign g i ~ script. which in most Cases functions as a determinative (omitted in the discussion below). The following analysis prefers citation of ~ k k ~ d i ~ ~ equivalents rather than the Sumerian for two reasons: ( 1 ) the sumerian reading (pronunciation) is not always certain; ( 2 ) non-specialists who want information about a particular word will find the Akkadian words with their Sumerian equivalents) ordered alphabetically in W. Soden's Akkadisches Xandwarterbuch [1959-1981] or in the published volumes (A-N, Q , S, $, Z ) of the Assyrian Dictionary (Chicago ~1956- 1 1. cognate Or words are cited by von Soden. In the discussion of fruits "Arab*" means that a related word exists in Arabic; n ~ r a betc.ll means that it also exists in One Or more other Semitic languages. no Arabic word exists, reference is provided to one of the ancient Semitic languages.
Analysis of HAR-ra-hubuzzu 111 1 - Title line:
tiaarin
=
taskarinnu (boxwood ?).
2' trees, mythic, literary and real; identifications often uncertain: (ebony ?), samutzu (white sandalwood from India ?), hatuppu (an ?; cf* Postgate, p* 135), hkkuttu (a willow ?), tarad$; kigkan$ trees ( ? Y a literary topes): whitelbright, dark, red-brown, varicolored, green-~ellow; its inner bark (sihpu; cf. postgate, p. 135); "dark woodm (isgi satmi).
ugc
3 * Vines, grapes, etc* It begins with "grapevine" (geHtin = karanu), It is a series of grape (geztin) entries, qualified as glr-ra (=amurdinnu~ "thorn grape" = blackberry ? ) , bil (=pillu, llsourgrapes11 ?; cf- bfl-15 = e m W , "sour"); kag-a (=kaen &libi, *'fox grape*'; used in medicine); and 36-uH-ru (=g~s'r$; unidentified type of grape). hi^ is followed by words which seem to refer to the fruit: "Ox' eyen, "raisin" (ini gahtu, mu2Zqu). Then come four Akkadian synonyms (ka?'an e/Zani, kippab/tit tat karZni) for the stock or of the grape vine (gegtin gurum-ma). The section ends with cluster of grapes (ishunnatu) and Parts of the vine: "stock1*(tittatu), "branch" (papallu), "branch", "shoot" (pirJu), "stock" (ummu/kannu) with about a dozen sumerian equivalents, some of which look like academic sumerian. 4 * Figs ( ~ e a e= tittu, related to Arab. t&, etc.) including regional varieties: from Mari (maritu), Assyria (Lburrztu), Elam (elamztu), Gutian (q"titu; from northwest Iran?; the Syrian recension from Ras shamra/ Ugarit has Amorite fig); words for string of figs (gerk~)and for parts of
the stock (ummu, kannu).
5. "Apples" At the top of the list is hanur = haghuru (usage corresponds roughly to Greek mZZon/rnaZon, Latin malum, "apple", and to some extent Latin pomum, "fruit"; for related words see below, pp. 153-156. This is followed by "mountain" (or perhaps "foreignv) (haaur kur- 146
-
Powell
Tree section of HAA-rr m
hUbl(t2~
ra), which includes pears (kamiZgaru, related to Arab* k u m l ! ~ ;angdru, related to Arab. in;@ ?), quinces (S~p~rgitlu/gapargiltu,related to Arab* safar$al, etc.), and armnnu (there seem to be an incense-~roducing tree [a-nnu = argiinu/argannu ?I and a fruit tree [ a w n 5 0 perhaps am*jul conflated under this name; the fruit appears in the 1st millennium incantation for toothache, where the worm is offered for food the "ripe fig and the amanaju-apple [ar-m-nu-a i3iHhaXhu1-1; the parallel with Syriac baaz z a&mjz, ~ "Armenian apple" i.e. "apricot", is striking, and it has been translated that way in the past without question [see, with bibliOgraphy, E.A. ~peiser, in J.B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts (3rd ed., [1969]) 1001; see also below, p* 155-6). This is followed by a series in which the term "apple" (haaur) func,-ions as a still broader generic classifier: a conifer (argznu, perhaps two species of ~ucurbitaceae,kuridentical with the a m n E u conifer); dillu (elsewhere identified with Zatikki/nassabu; the latter [ "waterpipe"?1 suggests some type of squash or cucumber; it is not clear that this is really a tree) and dam8itlu/tam8iZlu (perhaps a type of coloc~nth;elsewhere equated with peqir/peqqt, related to Arab. faqqz', etc*); "sea a dead(?) apple tree (haHhur (haghur a-ab-ba = tame, identity uncertain); ba-an-za = pissc/abiltu); two unidentifiable "apples" associated with the grains geguzHu and arsuppu (see Powell, BSA 1 [I9841 59f 1; a "fig apple" this shares with pomegranate the coefficient 20 (hafiur peae = tinin$; L = 0;20 = 113 ? I and is therefore probably a cultivar); "pear apple" (l*~umerianna corrupt; perhaps haghur ma-da, "apple of the land"; Akkadian: kmii(zaru); and "Sippar apple" (not a fruit tree; gig UD*KIB*NUN~~ = pirG is probably based on a folk etymology that identified sibbirru [also simbirru, gatc,, a spice or incense-producing tree ?I with the town sippar [written UD.KIB.~UN~~,read zimbir in Sumerianl , perhaps also conflating KJ-B,UD[=xennur.babbar, "bright Hennur" ? ] = k m i g h r u , "pear")*
6. This section (perhaps really three sections) seems to be based on - ' ' ~ ~ ~ ~ r i awords n ' ' containing the signs SE (grainlseed)~ graphic N E . ~ ~ . and ~ ~ ,L A M ~ R ,much of which may be "academic Sumerian": ze-ng-a = v SunG (related to Syr, zucjz, "chaste tree", Vitex agnus-cast~s; used in ge-d3-a = g&u (related to Arab. sPS, etc., "licorice", Gtycyrrhiaa gtabra; steinkeller 1987, glf., argues for identifying Gt~c~rrhiza 9tabra with gazi = ka&; which fits contexts well, but it is strange that gazi/kasG is never identified with ~ U H Uor any of its synonyms; this Probably means either: erroneous identification, or: major break in the traHe-S~S (etymologizing academic Sumerian dition) and sU~zt~ (a juniper ?); for "bitter seed" ? ) = gaggugu (mentioned elsewhere with fruit trees; used for crossbeams; c. 5 meters long; see section 15); NE*DU*KU = h r h b i t t u (unidentified; also includes a dark [suzmu] variety equated with NE .DU .KU; used for making beds ? ) ; eH, (=LAMxKUR) = giqdu/giqitt~/~uq~~ (all words for almonds; Akkadian column poorly preserved at this point)* ~h~ following entry is academic Sumerian, giH LAMxKUR (to be read giXlamx as the gloss SU-mu shows) equated with gigtammu (a synonym of 1-lampwick*8),perhaps mullein, Verbascum thapsus) ; this has attracted to this giH sikil ("bright/shining tree/bushW ? ) = gigtammu (and a broken Akkadian entry containing another variety of the same)* 7. This section (actually several separate sections, but here treated as one) begins with Hinig = bznu (tamarisk), includes coniferous and resin or incense-producing plants, and ends with Him = riqqu (incense). - 147 -
Powell
Tree section of HAR-ra = hubuttu
8. Fruit trees of the Fennur (=KIB) = Zatturu (Zannuru) category. "Big" (gal) 3ennur are identified with hahhu (related to Arab. baub. etc., plum; dialectal also peach), kamis'garu (pear) and marmahhu ("thicket", so CAD~AHW S.V. armahhu, seems a bit too general, but one might consider "plum thicket") "Mountain" (kur-ra) Hennur are identifled with kamisYsvaru (pear), supurgiZZu (quince). and marmahhu.
.
9. Nut trees: al-la-an = aZZdnu (oak, acorn; related to Hebr. atZ5n, oak); lam mar/hal/gal/tur = attZnu, Zupdnu (equated elsewhere with Ziqdu matqu, "sweet almond"), bututtu (related to Arab. butm, etc., terebinth, Pistacia terebinthus) , turJazu/8erJ azu (identification uncertain). 10. "poplars" (probably PopuZus aZba or nigra); itdakku, adiEru and various qualifications of "poplar".
ildag2 (=A.AM)
=
11. This small section of 6 entries (perhaps related semantically to the previous and following sections) begins with "mountain tree" (gig kurra = gigkurrii / iq gad?). Then follow two varieties of gi3 a-ab-ba = kugabku, one native (with Steinkeller 1987, 91f., probably a small hardwood, used to make tools; an Old Babylonian letter orders cutting 7200 of these that are c. 1.5-2 m. tall and c. 20-35 cm. in circumference), and one from Meluhha (India ? ) . It ends with a normal and a mountain variety of mi-par4 = lipdru. The occurrence of tipdru here in the midst of timber trees is noteworthy and suggests this also as a possible candidate for the mulberry (Morus nigra; see Postgate, pp. 120-1, suggesting another possibility), a timber tree whose fruit can be eaten fresh or preserved by drying (Hedrick 1919, 369 referring to Morus atba: "In Kashmir and Afghanistan, the fruit furnishes a considerable portion of the food of the inhabitants and much of it is dried and preserved"). 12. Willows and groves. This begins with ma-nu = eJru/Sru, which because of its uses and growing patterns is likely to be a type of willow The "willow" (with Steinkeller 1987, 91f., probably SaZix acmophytta). section (which seems to include other species also) is followed by "groves" (tir) of trees, including: cedar (eren = ergnu), fir (3-suhg = as'~hu), cypress (Fur-mfn = gurm~nu), a type of conifer (ha-Fur = has'iiru), a poplar (asal = qarbatu, prob. PopuZus euphratica), and finally, returning to its semantic departure point, willow (ma-nu = eJru). 13. The pomegranate section consists of 14 entries, beginning nu-Gr-ma nurmc (also turmii; related to Arab. rummiin, etc. and prob. to Greek rhoa, rhoia) followed by descriptive epithets and adjectives: 131 dar-ra, "honey dripperw(?), al-FQr-ra, "who has become manyw(?); ku7-ku7 = kuduppanu (= matuqtu in the commentary Hg 26; cf. CAH MI1 413 for collation results), "sweet one" and matqu, "sweet"; al-hab-ba = fa)tappanu (=matuq emu? in Hg 27; CAD, l.c.), "sweet (and) sour"; zag-ga = dasYpu "honey-sweet"; zaggar-ra = emistu, "sour"; bfl-la = en+, "sour"; and d3g-ga = tabu, "good/sweet". =
14. Words for sprouts, shoots, etc. (Zedii, niplu, ziqpu, s'ittu, ziqpu Zitlu nadGtu, "fallen twigs/sprouts") perhaps referring to the pomegranate section.
Tree section of
Powell
15. rnes = mBsu trees. ~eslmgsu(related to Arab. mai8, @fac austraZis, a type of hackberry, also known as nettle-tree). In tha ian" column it functions like a generic classifier, including men 0 (= musukkannu), of Meluhha (India ? ) , of Sumer. Other mes-trees (a# abbreviation from A.TU.GAB+LIS ? ) seem to come from the region of Urmia (kuZZaru) and from Crete (kaptaru); these two are also c 1 "mes-poplar" (mes-asal, section 21). There are also "mes-oak (me8 halu of the road" (=duprZnu, probably a juniper) and "mes-oak (mes halub) Magan" (tatz'du) Light (mes babbar = tijZtu; called "honeylfield poplar" [asal lGl/a-Fa-gal in section 21) and dark (mes mi = suZZmu, suzum me's;) varieties are distinguished, which does not have to refer to the wood but could describe the fruit. Noteworthy for fruits is that mes-g3m ("bent rnes ? ) is here equated with ZaZZugu (possibly a fruit tree, used for crosspieces; see section 6 and below) and that ~ Z S also U turns up among what appear to be berries (section 17).
.
Both the rnes and the "mes of Magan" (= musukkannu) are recorded growing in Babylonia. A Neo-Assyrian letter (ABL 566, see Powell, ZA 72 [I9821 101) shows that these can also be relatively small in size (6-7 inches in diameter); it requests: '*6 Magan-mes trees (=logs) (giFmes.ml-gan-na), each 6 cubits (c. 3 meters) long and 1 cubit (c. 50 cm.) in girth; 1 haluppu - - tree (gigha-lu-Gb) 5 cubits (c. 2.5 m. ) long and 1 cubit in girth; 10 Magan-mes trees that are 2 sfla thick (i.e., 1 cubit or cay 50 cm. in girth) and 5 or 6 cubits long (c. 2.5 to 3 m y 1 good boxwood (gixtinarin) that is 2 sfla thick, 20 ZaZZugu-trees for crosspieces that are 10 cubits long (c. 5 m.)." Species of Cettis, one producing yellowish one blackish fruit, are reported- from India in 19th century literature Speaking of the Zotos tree, generally identified with (Hedrick 1919, 155). Cettis austratis, Theophrastus says that it is a good timber tree in some places and notes its close, even grain, lack of knots, heaviness, durability almost imperceptible core, tendency to turn black with age, as well as its use for making images (agatmata, i.e. statues, both human and divine) and door pivots (Hist. Plant. 1.5.3, 6.1, 8.2; IV.2.5 [this passage seems to imply that both the persea and the totes were used to make images, beds, tables etc.), 2.9, 2.12; V.3.1, 3.7 (used to carve images), 4.2, 5.4, 5.6, 8.1). The cuneiform evidence shows that rnes wood was used to make furniture and carved objects including figurines, which perhaps explains the obscure reference to the rnes tree being the "flesh of the gods" (Zzr Species of Cettis (hackberry, nettle) should be considered for both rnes That their fruits are not expressly mentioned could and mes of Magan. imply that the tree was raised primarily for timber (and shade). This includes cypress (Eur-mTn = ~urme'nu), 16. Cedars (eren = ergnu). juniper ( ? sup?itu), and probably other conifers. The division between this and the next section is unclear. 17. Berries(?). Gi-ri-nGm = girinnum, a phonetic variant of girim = girimmu (the dictionary form). This is followed by gi-ri(var. rf)-zum = SU-zum (i.e., girzzu or girzeu); this may be a phonetic variant of girimmul girinnu or an ancient spelling error that has crept into the tradition (the There follows signs LUM/N~Mand ZUM/SUM could conceivably be confused).
Powell
Tree section of KAR-ra
=
hubutzu
gi-rim (probably "berry/berries/berry tree"), identified with inbu, "fruits", itturu, "berries(?)", mZsu (see section 15), hu~amzsu,probably a type of berry, and sirdu, "olive"; almost the identical sequence (but without the "tree" determinative), occurs in the lexical series Aa I/2:3238 (M. Civil. MSL 14 [I9791 209) minus g i r i ~ uand ~ mSsu. Almonds (giqdu, giqittu) and one uninterpretable entry (ZerbiZLu) are appended at the end. Both almonds and olives are treated as Akkadian loanwords in the Sumerian column. Noteworthy is the occurrence of the mZsu tree among words for what appear to be berries (see section 15). One expects the mulberry in this but, if mZsu is the hackberry, this leaves only girimmu or hutasection, misu. The Sumerian word girim is equated elsewhere with 6a.mtu "carnelian", and in the series called "Stone whose appearance", carnelian is said to look like the eddetu (boxthorn, scil. berry). "Berry tree" would be conceivable, but neither girimmu nor hu'Lamz'su is attested as a timber tree. This could mean: (1) we must look elsewhere for mulberry (but where?); or (2) the wood is called by a different name (doubtful, however, given the proclivity for citing synonyms in the lexical texts); or (3) the text of HAR-ra = hubuZZu is incomplete (possible but not likely); or (4) mulberry was unknown (also unlikely; Theophrastus knows it as sukaminos and comments on its good timber qualities, comparing it with hackberry; Hist. Plant. 1.6.1; V.4.2). Solution unclear. 18. Apparently entries for which the name was considered to be the same for both Sumerian and Akkadian. Most appear to be post-3rd millennium loans into academic Sumerian. The only recognizable fruit and nut trees are mZsu (mes tree, sect. 15, 17), altZnu and bututtu (oak and terebinth, sect. 9). 19. Words for shoots and sprouts: pir'u, gittu, arkat k i r v l i t . "inheritance of the orchard"), tigimm5, niptu, ziqpu. 20. Dates (giFimmar = gi&bnmaru): all aspects of the date palm and its uses. It takes up about one-fourth of the entire tablet and is over five times the size of the grape and "apple" sections, underscoring the predominance of the date in the economy of southern ~eso~otamia. 21. "Poplars" and related (last section of trees proper). Its organizing principle seems to be words (or combinations of signs) based on the Sumerian for (probably) Poputus euphratica: asal (written A.TU.GAB+LIS) = garbatu, including some trees of foreign origin, and at the end "willows" (hilzpu), including a "dark willow". 22. Thorny plants(?). It begins with Mandrakel~andragora( ? nam-tar = piZL2) and includes agEgu (probably modern Iraqi s'auq, Prosopis stephaniana) and eddetu (boxthorn ? ) both identified with puquttu. 23. Beginning with 6amZnu (white sandalwood ? ) , it contains some 40-50 entries, ending with g i ~ q u(a type of thorn) and Zarmadu (a plant used for medicine). It may be linked semantically to the previous section, but the principle of organization is unclear. 24. Parts of trees and woody plants (including words for fruit, inbu, illuru), beginning with kisittu, "base/stump", and ending with qilztu, "firewood".
Powell
Tree
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERE Hedrick , U.P. Sturteuant's notes on edible pta~ 1919 Steinkeller, P. in M.A. Powell (led. ) , Labor 1987 (=American Oriental. Series 68),
CLASSICAL SOURCES AND THE P M.A
Powe
(Northern '2 Zino
Anc:ient Greek and ILatin source the ancient history of cultivat !d plants. Greek authors especially were studied and translated in the Roman and Mediaeval period into Semitic languages, chiefly Aramaic (Syriac) and Arabic, creating a source of polyglot synonyms, which have also survived in the form of glosses, explanations, and polyglot lists, preserving the names for plants in Greek, ati in, various Romance languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Persian, and even Turkish. Many sources of this type known in the 19th century were studied and sifted by I. L6w in his works on plant names in the Jewish tradition [Aramaeische Pflanzennamen, 1881; Die Flora der Juden, 1926-19341. Other information of this type has accumulated in the meantime, especially in the form of editions of Mediaeval translations into and out of Arabic, that has not been incorporated into the reference works. The great progress made in the last generation toward comprehensive lexicographical treatment of Akkadian and in editing the Sumerian-Akkadian bilingual dictionaries offers the possibility of extending systematic historical investigation of human knowledge of and use of plants back into the 3rd millennium. As we attempt to do this, it is vital that we keep in mind not only the expanding data derived from archaeobotany but also of the important linkages with Near Eastern traditions provided by the classical sources. Temporal and spatial separation from anything that one might term Res rusticae sumeriacae has not prevented Theophrastus, Columella, and Pliny from being acquainted with all of the identifiable fruit bearing species analysed above (pp. 146-150) as HAR-ra = hubullu sections 3 (vines), 4 (figs), 5 ("apples", including pears, and quinces), 8 ("medlars?", including plums, pears, and quinces), 13 (pomegranates), and 20 (dates). This pattern of acquaintance with Near Eastern cultivars provides us on the one hand with a corpus of what cultivars might have been known in the cuneiform tradition, on the other with a means of excluding certain species from consideration. We shall naturally not expect to find all of Theophrastus's, Columella's or Pliny's cultivars mentioned in the cuneiform tradition. On the other hand, proposed identifications of "cuneiform" cultivars which do not appear in any of these authors, or which appear only peripherally and which are poorly or not attested at all elsewhere, are apt to be mistaken identifications. The apricot is a case in point. *I wish to thank Astrid Kaiser for much assistance in collecting and sifting the classical sources.
Powell
Classical sources & problem of the apricot
Powell
Classical sources & problm
A few years ago, I.J. Gelb revived a proposal of M. Lambert to identify haXhurlha3huru with apricot (see Postgate, this volume, p. 118). The apricot had been proposed as a candidate for biblical t p ~ $for reasons similar to those which must have prompted Lambert and Gelb: the sparsely grown apple seems today a poor competitor beside the ubiquitous apricot. M. Zohary represents this point of view: "Among the various identifications none is more plausible than that of the apricot. It fits the context completely. The apricot tree is twelve to twenty feet tall, its spreading branches and dense foliage affording much shade; its leaves are heart-shaped and ovate at the base. It blossoms in spring, producing white-pinkish flowers in profusion. The fruit, not unlike a plum, is very aromatic and delicious in taste" [in "Flora", Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (1962) 11, 2861. However, as J.C. Trever remarked ["Apple", Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (1962) I, 175f. ]: "Botanists agree that the apricot best fits the biblical references but the uncertainty of its origin has made biblical scholars hesitant". With good cause: I. Low [Aramaeische Pflanzennamen (1881) 155f.l in rejecting the meaning apricot for tpw@ calls attention to the complete absence of evidence for this meaning in Mishnaic sources.
apple", "Armenian plum" or merely an "Armenian". These have, reason, usually been interpreted as referring to the apricot, comments in an offhand way that "Sorbs and Armenians and (= qeaches) are also nice" [Sorbi quoque et Armeniaci atque Per minzme est gratia; Res Rusticae V.10.191 and mentions "Armenians and wax plums and Damsons" [Armeniisque et Damasci; X.4041. Pliny speaking of plums, after m savs. almost as an afterthought "but also (we Armenian from abroad [ab exte4e gente Armeniaca], the only one which also commends itself by smell" [Nat. Hist. XV.411. Pliny's mention of its unusual aroma, together with his comment that the almond flowers in January followed by the "Armenian" [Armeniaca; XVI.1031, in agreement with Columella [XI.2.96], who says that such early flowering trees as "cherries, tuberes, Armenians [Armeniacae], and almonds" can be grafted in the latter half of December, point toward the apricot. Dioscorides' statement [Materia Medica I. 1151 that "Armenian apples" (m8la armeniaka) were known to the Romans as praikokia, i.e., Latin praecocia, "early ripe", secures the identification. The Latin term "Early-Ripener" ultimately won out and has survived in our word "apricot".
Had the apricot been a millennia1 cultivar, one would expect some mention of it in early Greek literature. The garden of Alkinoos in the Odyssey [VII.114-1161 is full of tall, luxuriant pears (ogkhnai) and pomegranates (rhoiai) and "bright-fruited" apples (meleai) and "sweet" figs (sukeai) and "luxuriant" olives (elaiai). M a e a is used in Greek somewhat like hamur in the cuneiform sources, but surely no one will wish to argue the case that it really represents the apricot in Alkinoos's garden. Sappho knows such typically Near Eastern imports as "myrrh and cassia and frankincense" [murrha kai kasia libanos t': D.A. Campbell, Greek Lyric I (1982), Sappho 44:30], and that quintessentially Sumerian-Babylonian plant the date palm is well known to other sources from the Odyssey onward, and not merely to that Babylonian traveler Herodotus but also to Hellanicus, Antiphon, inscriptions, etc. [references in Liddell-Scott-Jones, But not a word Greek-English Lexicon (1940) 1947 under phoinik- , etc ] about anything that could reasonably be identified as an apricot. Grape, fig, apple, pear, quince, medlar, pomegranate, and date are all discussed by Theophrastus (4th c. B.C.), but apricot is hard to find, perhaps lurking under the "spring apple" (m8lea he earin8, Hist. Plant. II.1.3), described somewhat tangentially as having a fruit about the size of the boll of a cotton tree (IV.7.7), being short-lived (IV.13.2) and having a weak constitution (IV.14.7).
Both Cato (d. 149 B.C.) and Varro (d. 27 B.C.) are silent about apricots. This silence and the peripheral way they are treated by Columella and Pliny is hard to imagine if apricots had been cultivated in the Near East since the 3rd millennium. Southern Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean region are at least as suited to the apricot as southern Iraq, and many varieties are reported from north Africa and in Syria in the early Islamic period [A.M. Watson, Agricultural innovation in the early Islamic world (1983) 1, 149 n. 21. It is difficult to conceive that the Phoenicians would not have also known apricots if they had been cultivated in Mesopotamia already in the 3rd millennium and especially if they had been known to the Hebrews. Had apricots been widely known in the Near East (as would have been the case had the Sumerians been cultivating them in the 3rd millennium), it is hardly conceivable that the Phoenicians would have failed to bring apricots to north Africa and the west and that Mago, whom Columella calls the "father of farming" [rusticationis parentem] would not have treated such a tasty and versatile fruit somewhere in those 28 volumes on agriculture that were, according to Columella [I.1.10, 1.1.131 translated from Punic into Latin by a decree of the senate and which had also been translated into Greek by Dionysius of Utica and abridged by Diophanes of Bithynia.
...
...
..
It is possible that "spring apple" [also attested in the Zenon archive, 3rd c. B.C.; C.C. Edgar, Zenon Papyri (1925-1931) no. 59033:13, 59486:2] may indeed be the apricot, though this is by no means certain. Whatever "spring apple" may be, Theophrastus's treatment of it speaks for a minor cultivar of peripheral importance, not for an important fruit tree cultivated since Sumerian times that could be used as a generic term to describe diverse species. The same picture of the little-known apricot emerges in sources of the Roman period. The first certain occurrences of apricot are from the 1st century A.D. Columella, Pliny, and Dioscorides refer to an "Armenian
J
-
I
In sum, the classical sources by their silence speak uniformly for a relatively late date for diffusion of the apricot in the Mediterranean area, but, as all of us who deal with antiquity are well aware, the argument from silence is even more circumstantial than most of our modes of argumentation. However, there is more direct evidence. The Hebrew-Aramaic and Aramaic words for "apple" cited by I. Low [Aramaeische Pflanzennumen (1881) 155f.1, hzwr and hxwr', are translations of Greek mZlon/m&ea, "apple_". The bridge between Aramaic hawr and SumerianIAkkadian haEhurlhashuru is provided by the synonym list malku = garru ("king" in West Semitic = "king" in Akkadian)", which glosses henziiru (variants: hinzZru/inzEru) with haZhEru, which in Akkadian is attested only
Powell
Classical sources & problem of the apricot
as a synonym of Sumerian hanur, i.e., apple (both dictionaries have the Aramaic form in mind when they mark the final vowel in haZh~r-long: there is no other binding evidence for this [but cf. Assyrian ZahZiiri (not *ZahZiri, expected if the u were short), J.N.P.]). Finally, to complete the circle of argumentation, Greek mBZa armeniaka is translated into Aramaic as bzr' 'rmn.?, "Armenian apple", and this is [ I. Lsw, Aramaeische Pftanzennamen (1881) identified with brqwqJ and 150f.I. Since brqwqJ is etymologically identical with praecox/praecoc(i)a, the ancestor of "apricot", and since miZmiZ has continued to the present day as the word for "apricot" in Arabic, the identification of haFhur with apricot has minimal probability of being correct.
FRUITS FROM ANCIENT IRAQ: THE PALAEOETHNOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE Jane M. Renfrew (Lucy Cavendish Cottege, Cambridge)
rnzrns'
The following species have been found in archaeological deposits on ancient sites in Iraq: acorn (Quercus) , apple (Pyrus malus) , caper (Capparis spinosa), date (Phoenix dactytifera), fig (Ficus carica), grape (Vitis vinifera), hazelnut (Corytus avettam), olive (Otea europaea), pistachio (Pistacia attantica), pomegranate (Punica gramtum) and prosopis (Prosopis stephaniana), and it appears that all these species were used as human food.
1. Acorn
-
QuercUS sp.
Part of a broken cotyledon of Quercus sp. was found in an Akkadian oven at Tell Taya, associated with Lathyrus sativus, Vitis vinifera, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vutgare, OZea europaea and Vicia No further details are given. faba.l
2. Apple
-
P y ~ u sr?tdus
L.
Crab apple rings which appear to have been dried, possibly to have been threaded on a string, and subsequently to have become charred, were found on saucers in Queen Pu-abi's grave at Ur. Eleven of them ranged in size It is quite likely from 11.5 to 18 .OO mm in diameter, averaging 15.5 mm.* that they were brought to Ur from some considerable distance already dried and threaded on strings.
3. Caper
-
Capparis spinosa L.
The earliest finds of caper seeds come from the Samarran levels at Choga Mami, where five seeds were identified. No further details are given.3 A more substantial find of 300 whole or crushed caper seeds is known from Tell es-Sawwan at the same period. The seeds are round and 2.5-3.0 mm in diameter .4 Two caper seeds are also reported from ~imrud.5 The caper is a fairly large straggling shrub densely clothed with curved thorns, growing in semi-steppe and desert environments. Its fruits look like small, long-pedicelled figs and when ripe are filled with a red
Renfrew
Fruits from ancient Iraq
jelly-like substance in which the seeds are embedded. They are eaten by shepherds in the autumn. Usually very few seeds are found in archaeological deposits, suggesting that they were eaten straight from the bush rather than being brought home for consumption later.
8. Hazelnut
-
9. Olive
L. 14.1 B. 7.2 Th. 6.7
-
-
5.0 4.9
6.1 5.9
vinifera, Lathypus sativus, Vicia faba, Triticurn dicoccum, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vuzgare and Quercus sp.
-
mm 5.1mm 4.8mm
Three other olive stones were also recovered from Well NN in the NW Palace at Nimrud. They were probably introduced to the site from the east and north where they are still grown (cf. Postgate, p. 130).
10. Pistachio (terebinth)
Ficus c a e c a L .
11. Pomegranate
A well in the NW corner of the Burnt Palace at Nimrud yielded many uncarbonized fig seeds.5 6. Grape
-
7. Hackberry
-
-
12. ~rosopis/shok I
CeZtis cf. caucasica L.
Fruits of CeZtiS cf. caucasica are reported from Tell ed-Der. They were probably brought to the site from the Zagros f~othillsc. 150 kms to the NE, where they can still be found as constituents of the Zagros oak forest .7
P i s t a c h attantica Desf.
Punica granatum L.
Seeds of pomegranate were found in Well NN in the NW Palace at ~ i m r u d ,but ~ no further details are given.
V i t i s v i n i f e r a I,.
The same well at Nimrud also produced a large number of uncarbonized grape pips, but no further details are given.5 Grape pips are also reported from Tell Taya, where 4 carbonized pips were found in an Akkadian oven together with Lathyrus sativus, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vutgare, OZea europaea, Vicia faba and Quercus sp.1
-
This bush grows at heights of over 600 m in the Zagros today in the oakpistachio woodland belt. The small nutlets, rich in oil, were used by the early farmers in this region to supplement their diet. Carbonized nutlets have been found at Jarmo,s Choga ~ a m i 3and Tell ed-Der .7
Dates are important in the Near Eastern diet as they contain sugar, and can be kept dried for considerable periods. Date stones may also be used as a form of charcoal fuel.
-
- OZea europaea L.
-
-
Both carbonized and uncarbonized date stones were found at Tell ed-~er,7 and a single date stone was reported from Well NN in the N.W. Palace at ~ i m r u d . ~ Foundation deposits at Nippur and 'Ubaid levels at Eridu are also said to have contained dates.
5. Fig
CoryZus aveZZana L.
Nine olive stones, all carbonized, were recovered from an Akkadian oven at Tell Taya, west of Mosul in northern Iraq. They measured 7.0-10.0 mm long and 4.0-6.0 mm broad. It is difficult to know where they could have come from, olives being very particular as to the conditions in which they will possibly from the East Mediterranean or the area to the NE of Nimrud grow where they still grow today. They were found here associated with V i t i s
Phoenix d a c t y Z i f e ~L.
Many fragments of date stone were found in Queen Pu-abi's grave at Ur only a few were complete enough to measure:2 -
-
Uncarbonized hazelnut shells are known from the fill of Well NN in the NW Palace at Nimrud. They were probably collected in the forests to the north.5
Nowadays the flower buds are pickled and used as spice for flavouring. Pliny (iVaturaZ History XI11 xliv.127) describes the seed as a well-known article of food. They are said to have a peppery flavour. In Egypt they were added to wine to keep it sweet, and were also used as a condiment.6 For a suggested identification in the cuneiform sources see Civil 1960.8
4. Date
Fruits from ancient Iraq
Renfrew
I
-
Prosopis stephaniana L .
Seeds of prosopis are the most frequently found fruits on archaeological sites in Iraq, being known from the Samarran and Early Dynastic levels at ~ ~imrud.5 Choga ~ami,3from Tell es-~awwan,~Tell e d - ~ e rand
A store of unripe pods was found at Nimrud and the Tell es-Sawwan find includes a deposit of 15 ccs of Prosopis seeds. Prosopis is widely distributed in the arid zone, both in mountainous and low steppe areas. The shrub is an almost ineradicable weed, spread by grazing animals eating the It is extremely pod but not digesting the very hard, thick-shelled seeds. deep-rooted. In dry steppe this plant of ten alternates with camel tho.rn, AZhagi maurorum, and steppe farmers know that the camel thorn areas are too saline for cultivation, while the prosopis areas may be exploited. The shrub is important as an animal food because it matures late and endures the summer heat when most other vegetation is shrivelled up. Many early
Renfrew
Fruits from ancient Iraq
finds prove that the pods were collected and eaten by man. The pods are thumb-shaped and inflated, containing 1 to 5 hard seeds with a horse-shoe shaped incision on the flat side of the seed coat.
The following table summarizes the rather few finds of archaeological contexts in ancient Iraq.
fruits from
Renfrew
REFERENCES G. Waines 1973, "Appendix 6: Plant remains from Tell Taya, f 35, 185-187.
J.M. Renfrew et al. 1978, "Some food offerings from Ur excavate Leonard Woolley and previously unpublished", JournaZ of Archae Science 5, 167-177. H. Helbaek 1973, "Samarran irrigation agriculture at Choga Mami, Iraq", Iraq 35, 35-38.
-
-
-
X
-
x
x
-
-
-
Fig Grape
-
-
-
-
Hackberry
-
Hazelnut
-
Olive
-
Pistachio
x
-
I -
-
-
x
x
Acorn Apple Caper Date
Pomegranate Prosopis
-
-
-
-
X
X
-
-
X
-
X
-
-
-
-
-
X
X
X
-
X
x
-
-
H. Helbaek 1965, "Early Hassunan vegetable food at es-Sawwan near Samarra", Sumer 20, 45-48. H. Helbaek 1966, "The plant remains from Nimrud", Appendix I in M.E.L. Mallowan, Nimrud and its remains, 11. W. Darby et al. 1977, Food, the gift of Osiris, Vol. 11. W. van Zeist & J. Vynckier 1984, "Palaeobotanical investigations of Tell ed-DZr", in L. de Meyer (ed. ), TeZZ ed-DZP, IV (Leuven), 119-133.
X
.,
X X
X
-
-
X
x
x
(in addition Dates are also reported from Nippur and Eridu)
M. Civil 1960, "Prescriptions d 'Assyriozogie 54, 57-72.
medicales
sum6riennes",
Revue
A NOTE ON VEGETABLES FROM ANCIENT IRAQ: THE PALAEOETHNOBOTANICAL FINDS Jane M. Renfrew
(Cambridge)
There are notably few finds of vegetable s;eeds from ancient sites in Iraq: the principal finds are of cucumber seeds and bulbs of garlic, A Z Z i w n
sativum. 1. Cucumber
-
EcbaZZiwn e l a t e r i m L.
In Two seeds were found at Nimhud in Sample XI dating to 617-600 B.C. general, cucumbers are eaten young when the seeds are soft and easily chewed up, and so it is rather exceptional to find the seeds, which must have come from mature fruits to have survived. (
2. Other Cucurbit sp. Ten seeds of an unknown Cucurbit species were found at Tell Taya, on an Akkadian floor. They measured 6.0-8.0 mm long amd 4.0-5.( 1 mm broad.
3. Garlic
-
AZZium sativwn L.
Large numbers - over 350 cloves - of garlic bulbs we!re found at Tell The ed-Der (W. van Zeist in L. de Meyer (ed.), TeLZ ed-DZr IV, 125-7). cloves may not have been full grown, but the :24 most cc)mplete carbonized specimens measured: length 1.47 (1.0-1.9) cm, gr'eatest wicith 0.67 (0.5-1.0) cm, which is somewhat smaller than the 2-3 cm long mode!rn garlic cloves. This is the first archaeological find of this pl.ant in thc Middle East.
