The Historical Corner: The Return of the Perfume of Persimmon

 The Historical Corner: The Return of the Perfume of Persimmon

The return of the perfume of persimmon (myrrh of Gilead) and frankincense - which were known for their healing properties and the perfume they spread in the Temple ("myrrh and frankincense") - during the First and Second Temple periods - and Jerusalem was perfumed with them

Published on: 24.5.25 12:47

מאת: אדם אקרמן

Since 2010, persimmon bushes, which were known during the Second Temple period and throughout the Byzantine-Roman period as a symbol of the Land of Judah, have been growing on a farm in Kibbutz Almog near Jericho and in Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Shup. The biblical persimmon was the most famous and expensive perfume plant in the world, whose prestige stemmed from the fact that it only grew in the Dead Sea basin.

Its plantations were grown in the desert glades of Jericho, Ein Gedi, Gilgal and Einot Tzukim (Ein Peshcha). These sites offer a combination of conditions for its growth – a hot, dry climate and a multitude of springs that provided water to fertile lands.

צנצנת קטנה עם דבש שהופק מפרחי לבונת הקטורת (צילום אדם אקרמן)

The perfume produced from it was considered the object of desire of women throughout the Roman Empire, and was also used for medicinal and incense purposes. The prestige of persimmon perfume also stemmed from the need for high technical skill in order to produce it. One libra of it (329 grams) was sold for a thousand gold denarii, a huge fortune in those days.

This perfume was an extremely important source of income for Herod and also for the Romans, after they conquered the region in 68 AD. It turns out that one of the reasons the Romans decided to lay siege to Masada in 73 AD was the raids by the Canaean Zealots from there on the persimmon bushes in the Ein Gedi area, in order to destroy them and harm an important economic resource for them.

The historian Josephus writes that the Queen of Sheba brought the perfume to King Solomon. It also tells of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, who demanded that her Roman lover, the general Antony, give her a gift of persimmon groves from the Dead Sea region. Herod was forced to agree to this demand (since then the perfume has also been called "Cleopatra's perfume").

The oil produced from persimmons was also used to anoint the kings of Judah, and its production has been renewed in recent years at the Almog Persimmon Farm, which, in addition to thousands of persimmon bushes, now grows about 2,500 frankincense bushes ("holy frankincense").

The persimmon bush, also known by its name as Zari or Balsam (the Hebrew name Afersmon is a decoction that was made from the juice of the balsam (apo-balsam) – and has no relation to the persimmon fruit of today. It became extinct as a cultivated plant about 1,400 years ago (with the Arab conquest of the country in 638). As a wild plant, it grew in southern Yemen, Ethiopia and southern Saudi Arabia, and originated in the Arabian Peninsula. Researchers almost certainly attribute it to a plant called the Gilead myrtle (Gilead Company). The perfume made from this plant has many synonyms, and in addition to the names balsam, balsam and Zari – it was also called Nataf. Sometimes it was simply called "the perfume", and the entire ancient world knew what it was.

It can be assumed that this was the perfume that the Queen of Sheba brought with her from Ethiopia, and it is written about it: "And there was no perfume like that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon: (1 Chronicles 9:9). On the floor of a synagogue in Ein Gedi from the 3rd century AD, an inscription was found threatening with a curse anyone who discovers the secret of producing persimmon perfume. Josephus, in his book "Jewish Wars," describes the Dead Sea region and writes: "There is the persimmon tree, the most precious of all the fruits of the land." The biblical persimmon, which is cultivated today, is a shrub that is between one and one and a half meters high, with feathery leaves and orange-red fruits. Persimmon oil is also mentioned by Maimonides as a medicinal oil with good medicinal properties. Persimmon, under its various names, is mentioned over 150 times in the Bible, as a perfume or as an oil. The prophet Jeremiah often mentions it: "There is no one in Gilead - if there is no physician there (8:22) or: "The leaves of Gilead and the feet of the Ishmaelites" (40:11). The book of Genesis tells of a group of Ishmaelites who came from Gilead and their camels were carrying persimmons (Genesis (Leviticus 17:25).

פכית בושם אפרסמון מימי בית שני (צילום באדיבות מוזיאון ישראל)

In 2004, its seeds were brought to Saudi Arabia and were first sown in the Botanical Garden in Jerusalem, but due to the city's cold climate, the attempt to grow them failed and they were distributed to nurseries in Ein Gedi and Arava. The founder of the Almog farm, Guy Ehrlich, a former member of the Jerusalem City Council, was honored to receive his first seedling from Dr. Elaine Solvay Mactoura, his agriculture teacher. Several dozen myrrh, frankincense and persimmon bushes grow in the Kibbutz Ein Gedi nursery, on which experiments were conducted by researchers from Bar Ilan University. Researchers Zohar Amar and David Iloz examined the medicinal potential inherent in these plants. The results proved that the ointment resin extracted from the persimmon has important properties for preventing bacterial infection, healing and healing wounds.

The persimmon farm, established by Ehrlich in 2010, currently grows about 20,000 persimmon bushes (of the genus Commiphora gileadii). From humble beginnings, he has grown to the largest private collection of biblical plants in the Middle East of biblical perfume plants. His nursery also grows dozens of types of myrrh and frankincense, and his crops already include Five of the 11 incense burners that were in the Temple.

Google Translation from: https://www.kolhair.co.il/arena/245114/