From Cedar to Hyssop
2. Miriamiya, 'Sage of Vertue,' and other Aromatic
Herbs
Salvia triloba L. Miriamiya. Sage of Vertue. (Plates
53, 54, 55)
On the first day that the ,authors of
this book began their work together, while they were sitting happily discussing
different plants of interest to the people of the village, a fair damsel of
Artas, just returned from the market at Bethlehem, came into the room with her
hands held awkwardly behind her back. "O lady," she began, in the
breathless tone of one who has considered what best to say while walking all
the way back home and must get it out at once, "O lady, I went to the
market for the meat for supper, just as you bid me, and there was none in the
market save that of a camel which had been run over by a motor car, and I knew
you wouldn't like that. But I have brought you this," and with a
great flourish she produced a plant of Sage torn up by the roots. "O
Miriamiya! O Blessed Thing" (Ya Miriamiya, Ya Mubarake) cried those
who recognised it. "Yes" (triumphantly) "and I had to carry it
back all the way under my dress for fear of the Government (this is because the
plant is too valuable for the bees to be rooted up carelessly), I knew if I
brought you this you wouldn't mind about the meat." A chorus of approval
from the botanists followed. "Truly plants are our meat and drink,"
they said, "and this one is blessed beyond all others. Thanks to you for
bringing it"; (negligently, as an afterthought), "we will have eggs
for supper."
But why is the Miriamiya so
blessed? This is the story of the Miriamiya. What time Our Lady Miriam
fled from King Herod into Egypt with Our Lord Jesus and he was yet a little
Child, she sat down, weary, under the shade of a shrub. And she broke a sprig
from the shrub and wiped the sweat from her face with the leaves until she
found refreshment because of its fragrance. Then she said to the plant "Be
thou blessed for ever" and since that day the plant is called Mir'iamiya
in her memory, and truly it is blessed.
So the women of Palestine value and
love the plant, believing it full of healthful virtue. The leaves are
sometimes used in an infusion with sugar or honey, but more usually they are
chewed while fresh. Sometimes the leaves are thrown on red hot charcoal to
cense a room "to keep illness away," a most reasonable disinfection,
occasionally the plant is used as one of the ingredients in the ceremonial
fumigation called "rakweh" and practised by wise women for
recovery of a child upon whom it is believed "the Eye has fallen.''[1] But
on the whole the feeling about the plant is not so much that it is curative as
that it has great power to give and preserve good health, especially in women.
[79]
The belief in the value of this Sage
is of peculiar interest because here the modem peasant lore agrees with the
wisdom of the ancients. There is an old proverb, said to have come from the
Arabs, "How can a man die who has Sage in his garden?" The very name
"Salvia'" from Salus (Health), shows in what esteem the family was
held; sometimes it was used punningly, Salvia Salvatrix, i.e., Sage the
Saviour. John Evelyn says of Sage, '' 'Tis a plant indeed with so many and
wonderful properties as that the assiduous use of it is said to render men
immortal."[2] But above
all its promises of "quickened minds" and "length of days"
was reckoned its more ancient promise of health and strength to women.
"Agrippa and likewise Aetius called it the Holie Herbe" and gave much
praise to it, promising to those women who drank of its juice "store of
children, which are the blessing of God, thus saith Agrippa."[3]
But of which Sage were the writers
speaking? The English herbalists no doubt especially of Salvia officinalis, the
Sage of English herb gardens, though they also ascribed the same virtues to
minor sages, such as Sage of Vertue, with the three lobed leaves ("leaves
with little eares") which is by some botanists identified with our S.
triloba. But it is quite possible that the older herbalists were actually
speaking of S. triloba, that it may be even the 'Elelisphakos' of Dioscorides
and his followers itself, for S. officinalis is not common in Greece.
Another 'property' of the Miriamiya
also links it with the Sages of the herbalists. Occasionally galls are found on
the plant caused by some fly, probably Aulax sp. (See Plate 52). These, coming
on the top of the plant and being in shape like little apples, are mistaken by
the people for its fruit. The name given to them is Habb el miriamiya
(Berry of the Miriamiya); they are picked while still soft, peeled and eaten,
and are considered to be both delicious and beneficial, having all the virtues
of the plant itself.
Now in the English herbals Apple
Bearing Sage of Candy (Salvia cretica pomifera) is often mentioned.[4]
Parkinson, speaking of Sages of Candy, says, "These kindes likewise beare
in the hot countries of Egypt, Candy, etc., at the joynts and sometimes between,
certain excrescences like unto small apples or berryes bigger than Pistack
Nuts, of an inch thickness at the least and covered with much down and
cotton... of a taste not so hot, but more binding than the Sage and not
unpleasant, which the people usually eat with bread, but in other colder
countries it never beareth any."
[80]
Gerarde also mentions these apples
and in his description of the plant bearing them says,[5]
"The leaves also have sometimes little eares or appendices as in the
smaller or Pig Sage, and in Candy (the place of the natural growth of the
plant) it beareth excrescences or Apples (if we may so term them) of the
bigness of large Galls or Oke Apples whence Clusius hath given you two figures
by the same titles as I here present the same to your view."
Now the Salvia pomifera L. of
botanists is indeed an Apple Bearing Sage of Candy, for it is found in Crete
and is there often afflicted with galls, of which Sibthorp says, "These
preserved with sugar are regarded as delicacies by the Cretans." It is a
beautiful tall Sage, with larger flowers than S. triloba and has simple leaves,
much curled at the edges. Sibthorp also notes that S. triloba also often has
galls and considers it to be the Salvia pomifera of some herbalists, e.g., of
Clusius, rather than our Salvia pomifera L., and this becomes very convincing
as one reads Gerarde's description given above and looks at his illustration,
taken from Clusius, of a Sage, with three lobed leaves – His Apple Bearing Sage
for certain is our Miriamiya!
Our Palestinian Sage seems thus much
linked with these precious herbs of olden days. A later, but also interesting
link comes with the days of the Crusaders, for they took notice of the plants
of the Holy Land. Burchard of Mount Zion says, "The soil yields many
herbs. Fennel, Sage and Rue and Roses grow everywhere of their own accord on
the plains."[6] The sage he
saw must have been S. triloba, as there is no other wild sage in the country
that would have been likely to be so named by him.
So far as we know, no other Sage in
Palestine is credited with such virtues as S. triloba, it is certainly our
'Holie Herbe,' the Blessed one, "Miriamiya el Mubaraki." Such
herbs in olden days in Europe were not to be picked without a rune or charm
being said, – later on, a prayer. Perhaps the "Holie Herbe" for which
this very beautiful 14th century (or earlier) prayer was to be used
was a Sage of like virtue to our Miriamiya.
Haile be thou holie herbe
Growing on the ground,
All in the mount of Calvarie
First wert thou found.
Thou art good for manie a sore
And healest manie a wound;
In the name of sweete Jesus
I take thee from the ground[7]
[82]
Aromatic Herbs
Ocymum indicum. Rihan. Sweet Basil.
Rilhan is the name for myrtle in Syria, but
in Artas for basil.
This Basil is not indigenaus, out as
in Egypt is cultivated and kept in pots in the houses for its fragrance. The
variety most prized has white flowers and yellowish green leaves; it is
considered lucky for the grower if the leaves come fine and small, and we think
this is alluded to in the Wedding Song:
Solo |
Chorus |
Fine, fine |
O Basil, |
Smell and pick it, |
O women, |
Its leaves are fine; |
The Basil, |
Make a bunch of it |
O Women, |
For the Brides |
The Basil. |
And the Bridegrooms. |
The Basil. |
|
|
Solo |
Chorus |
Na'im
na'im |
Ya
Rilhan |
Shimmu
limmu |
Ya
niswan |
Waraqu
na'im |
Ha
r Rilhan |
Shakklu
minnu |
Ya
niswan |
Li l
'arrays |
Ha
r Rilhan |
W el
'ursan. |
Ha
r Rilhan. |
Thymus capitatus, L. Za'tar Farsi; Zuhef. Thyme of
Hymettus.[8]
This Thyme has some reputation in
medicine, even to curing the palsy, but is much more honoured as a honey plant
for the bees. This is the thyme of Hymettus itself, of which the poets have sung.
We think it is also Gerarde's "Time of Candy," described by him thus:[9]
"Time of Candy is in all respects like unto. Common Time, but differeth in
that this kind hath certain knoppie tufts like unto the small eares of Phalaris
and not much unlike the spikes of Stoecades,[10] but
much lesser, beset with slender flowers of a purple calour. The whole plant is
of a more pontick and gratiaus smell than any of the Thymes and of another kind
of taste as it were savoring like spice. The root is brittle and of a woodie
substance."
Satureia thymbra, L. Za'tar el hamir (Donkey's
Za'tar). Savory. (Plate 57)
People speak as if in olden days
potions were made from this plant; it is now more valued for the bees. The
Garden Savory, S. hortensis, still grown in kitchen gardens in England, was
once much valued as medicine. According to Culpeper, "Mercury claims
dominion over this herb... keep it dry by you all the year, if you lave
yourself and your ease, and it is a hundred pounds to a penny if you do.
not."
[82]
Calamintha incana S et Sm. Za'a. mane; Za'tar
Sidna Musa. Grey Calamint (Plate 61).
This is a favourite herb, both for
condiment and medicine. It grows in many places, but especially luxuriantly on
the Ras of Beit Jala near Jerusalem and that is fortunate for the women of that
charming village who. enjoy the walk up to the top of the hill in the evenings
to pick it. The leaves are often cooked in pancakes, and in that form or taken
in infusion are reckoned good for the stomach.
Gerarde says of Calamint, "It is
called in Greek καλαμιυθη as though yee should say Elegans
aut utilis mentha, a gallant or profitable mint." He is speaking of a
near relation of the Palestinian plant, Calamintha officinalis, once, as its
name shows, a medicinal plant. The catalogue of its virtues was extensive,
ranging through "convulsions, cramp, shortness of breath, yellow jaundice,
sciatica... to the taking away of the black and blue marks on the face that
sometimes follow a heated argument... A valuable herb to keep by one if only
half the list were true."[11]
Thymbra spicata, L. Za'tar sabbale (Eared za'tar).
(Plate 56)
This plant has some medicinal virtue,
but is more thought of nowadays on account of its importance as a bee plant. Finnemore
mentions Oil of Thymbra spicata, "smelling of Thyme, and containing 66
p.c. carvacrol."[12] The
name 'sabbale' is given to it because of the shape of its spikes of purple
flowers, like that of ears of corn.
Teucrium chamaedrys, L. Kamendra. Wall Germander.
(Plate 59)
Kamendra, boiled or soaked in water,
was a favourite remedy for fever in Palestine before quinine became accessible,
and is still used a good deal. This recalls its French name, Chasse fievre.
Culpeper also mentions its use for fever: "The decoction, taken for four
days driveth away and cureth tertian and quartan agues." And to this day
the plant is sold at the Society of Herbalists in London and among its uses are
mentioned "an infusion... in intermittent fevers."
[83]
The plant has several names, Bride's
Comb, "Imshat el Arus" or "Misht el Arus,"
and the Scallopped Plant, "ishbi el Musharrafe," both no doubt
on account of its deeply cut leaves. The name Kamendra is that used in
and near Bethlehem, and is sometimes thought to be a relic of the Crusaders.
Really it comes, through the late Greek form Χαμαυολρα
from the earlier Χαμαι δρνς, Ground Oak, of whose medicinal qualities and sweet smell and
taste Theophrastus himself spoke.[13] The
Greek name no doubt refers to the leaves, which may be thought to look like
miniature oak leaves, and for the same reason one of the Speedwells has also
received its name, – Veronica
chamaedrys, the 'Gennander' Speedwell.
Teucrium rosmarinifolium, Lam. Kamandera; qu'ede;
zeijate (Dalman). Rosemary Germander. (Plate 60)
This Teucrium is also used as a
medicine for fever, according to Dalman,[14] but
its chief repute is as a honey plant.
Teucrium polium, L. Ja'de; Ja'det el Subyan.
Poly Germander. (Plate 58)
This Teucrium is a famous remedy for
stomach troubles in infants, also sometimes for colds and feverishness. The
favourite way of applying it is happily, in a steam bath, for it is extremely
nauseous. However, it is often put in a rag and given babes to suck. Older
invalids, stout of heart, will soak it and drink it in spite of what Parkinson
called its "loathsome bitterness." The scent of the plant is not
unpleasant, but rather strong, inclining towards a turpentine like flavour.
On February 24, 1929, women were
selling little bunches of the first young shoots of Ja'de and Miriamiya in the
streets of the Old City in Jerusalem, for such herbs are of greatest value when
their leaves are young and tender. In May, 1930, Ja'de was also observed being
hawked through the streets of Aleppo.
This is the Poley Mountain of the
herbalists, who much recommended it, for the ancients minded its bitterness as
little as modern Palestinians. In the Syriac Book of Medicines it is included
in seven different remedies; three for headache, one for bloodspitting, one for
coughs and also in the famous Metdoritos, which had nearly as many uses as its
forty-nine ingredients. The name in this book is given as Polion. Polion,
Polium was probably given to it because the plant is covered so thickly with a
white tomentum, from the Greek πογιον 'hoary.' "Because," says
Parkinson, "it is like the hoary hairs of a man's head." Ja'de
means curly, curly haired, but whether that is from the pretty little leaves,
so curled and crisped at the edges, or whether there is also here some allusion
to an old man's head of white curling hair, we must leave the reader to guess.
[84]
[1] Masterman,
"Hygiene and Disease in Palestine," p. 25.
[2] John
Evelyn, "Acetaria." 1699. t Germ'de (Ed. of 1597), ch. 252.
[3] Germ'de
(Ed. of 1597), ch. 252.
[4] John
Parkinson, "Theatrum Botanicum."
[5] Gerarde,
"Herbal" (Ed. of 1636), p. 766.
[6] Burchard
of Mt. Zion. Pal. Pilg. Texts, p. 99, c. 1283
[7] Rohde,
"A Garden of Herbs," p. 219.
[8] On a
specimen of T. capitatus (No. 63) at the Herbarium at Kew is written,
"This is the thyme so common on Mt. Hymettus."
[9] Gerarde,
Herbal, ch. 174, Ed. of 1633.
[10] Lavandula
Stoechas.
[11] E.
Step., "Herbs of Healing," p. 150.
[12] Finnemore,
op. cit. p. 763.
[13] Theophrastus,
ix.9.5.
[14] Dalman,
op. cit., p. 547.