From Cedar to Hyssop
Introduction I
Most of the information given in this
book on the folk lore and folk uses of plants in Palestine comes from the rich store
of local knowledge gathered by Miss Baldensperger during her long life in the
country. The greater part of her life, as she tells us, has been spent in
Artas, which is a Moslem village near Bethlehem. Her relations with the village
folk are so friendly and sympathetic and their affection and respect for her so
marked that it is a delight to witness them. It adds not a little to the value
of this book that the details in it come from the observation of years spent
among the people rather than from the investigations of a passing student.
Though the field of her research has been narrow, much of the material holds
good for other parts of the country, and for Moslems, Christians and the older
communities of Jews alike, either because it is primitive and common to all
dwellers in the land of Canaan or because one community borrows from the other.
In the case of the plants used in
medicine I have observed a wider application still, for many of them and their
uses are similar to those given in the old herbals, especially in quotations
from Dioscorides.[1] The reason
for this may be that Dioscorides derived some of his knowledge from the same
common body of Mediterranean folk lore that we find here still surviving in Palestine,
or it may be that the present folk medicine has come down from a time when the
Greek herbals were used in the land, a suggestion that Dr. Singer (to the
inspiration of whose writings much of this part of my work is due) considers is
by far the most probable. I have made what research I could in tracing these
plants in the old herbals and have added notes taken from them wherever the
resemblance seemed most certain. The references to Gerarde's Herbal are from
the edition of 1633 unless otherwise stated.
I am responsible for the writing of
the book, the drawings and the photographs (except where otherwise stated), for
the actual wording of the translations, and the transliteration, a simple one,
but I hope sufficient for the purpose.[2] I
have to thank Mr. E. and Mr. P. Baldensperger for notes on Bee plants, Mr.
Haddad for assistance with the transliteration, and Mr. Stephan for help with
the elucidation of proverbs and songs. We are much indebted to Mr. Dinsmore and
The Royal Herbarium at Kew for the identifications of certain plants, and to
the Botanical Department of the Hebrew University for facilities so kindly
given in their fine Herbarium and for much valued help and encouragement. Our
acknowledgements are also due to the Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society
for leave to reprint the chapter on the Rose of Jericho and to the Palestine
Exploration Society for leave to reprint that on the Hyssop, and also for the
use of two blocks. Of writers on local folk lore we owe much to Dr. Dalman, Dr.
Canaan, Canon Hanauer and Mre. Einsler. Finally we feel sincere gratitude to
Mrs. Herbert Clark, of Jerusalem, for her interest and help, not only in inviting
us to work at her house, but also by herself sharing in our discussions and
contributing much of her own knowledge of Palestinian life.
May the readers of this book feel
some of the pleasure that the authors had in the making of it.
Grace M. Crowfoot
Jerusalem, May, 1931.
Introduction II
How did you make the acquaintance of
the wild vegetation? and how is it that you are living at Artas[3] on
the border of the desert? I have often been asked these questions.
My father came to Artas in 1848 as a
missionary, a worker on the land, to show to people the Christian spirit; two
years later my mother joined him; both came from Alsace, France. But soon
Bishop Gobat called them to the orphanage on Mount Zion as steward and matron.
The little house and property in the lovely village of Artas was kept and we
often went there, spending our holidays out in the country. The whole family
were lovers of outdoor life and we all observed and knew what every month
brings forth in fruits and wild flowers and vegetables, and learnt their uses,
medicinal and edible, and heard tales of plants that once could speak and other
folk lore. My brothers lived at Artas for a time, but afterwards left
agricultural work and began bee keeping; they were the first to introduce the
movable hive system into Palestine. They searched for honey producing plants;
when the orange blossom at Jaffa was over they would carry their hives to the
cactus at Ramleh, then further to the mint family which is at Bab el Wad, then
to the Gaza region where the wild acacia grows, and latest in the year, to the
hills for the wild thyme. After 45 years of labour on Mount Zion the old
parents and I came back to our own little house at Artas, where the wild
flowers are so near at hand and where the people know so much about them. I
still live there and my work is still among the wild plants from which I draw
my living, making collections of plants mentioned in the Bible, Herbariums for
schools, and little card souvenirs of the Holy Land.
When Mrs. Crowfoot, the lover of
plants, came to visit me at Artas, the day that a woman brought me the plant of
Miriamiya and told how the Virgin Mary blessed this plant, that day we planned
to gather up all we could of the plant folk lore and write it down. So to all
lovers of plants
I recommend this little book.
Louise Baldensperger
A daughter of Zion living in Solomon's Garden
Artas, May 18th, 1931 (Moharrem. Moslem New Year).
[1] Pedanius
Dioscorides was one of the greatest of the ancient herbalists. He was a native of
Anazarba in Cilicia Campestris and flourished in the early part of the second
half of the first century of our era.
[2] Certain
words, often repeated in the text, such as Artas, fellah, henna, are not
always transliterated, but appear as Artas, fellah, henna, being taken as if
they had passed into English speech. No attempt is made to show some of the
pecularities of the dialect of Artas; for insteance the villagers often use k
for q and ch for k, although they laugh at northerners for doing the same thing.
[3] Artas is
the traditional site of the gardens of Solomon. The village lies in the fertile
valley below the Pools of Solomon.