Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
supplied by the many palm groves ( nl )
which are often the subject of the inscrip-
tions must have been one of the staple
foods. The sweet pith from the centre of
the trunk of the palm tree (in Arabic ulb,
alb, lubb , etc., often confused with ummār ,
palm-cabbage) seems to us to be the lbb
which was preserved in a temple. Wheat
was produced only in moderate quantities
and had to be imported. Taxes were paid
in flour. Flour ( n , flour in general, d , the
flour of cereals, perhaps r ?) was made
with wheat ( br ), barley ( r ), dates ( tmr ),
gt , which was perhaps a kind of wheat
(it seems difficult to translate it literally
as its Arabic equivalent aīa “wheat
husked and crushed”), and in addition
semolina ( sdl ). Vegetable gardens ( tblt ),
orchards ( mgrt ), and vineyards ( nb ) were
numerous. They produced vegetables ( bl,
translated “broad beans”) and fruit ( mr ).
The country produced sesame oil, but not
enough for its needs and had to import
it via Moscha. As a condiment they used
capers which they soaked ( kbr wl ), and
they imported saffron for the same pur-
pose. Cinnamon, also imported in transit,
obtained too high prices on the Roman
market to be used locally. The dbs which
was distributed in large quantities to the
workers on the dam of Mārib must have
been a treacle of grapes or of other fruits,
different from the honey which according
to Pliny was produced in abundance in
the kingdom of Saba. Eratosthenes men-
tions numerous apiaries (? μελιτουργεῖα )
in Southern Arabia.
The meat ( br ) was in the main that
of animals slaughtered ( b, cf. Hebrew
ib h åh ) probably according to the usual
Semitic rites. For the workers engaged
on the repairs to the dam of Mārib they
slaughtered thousands of cattle ( br ) and
probably also sheep, one sort of which
had the characteristic name of by (Ar.
abāi “victims”) and the other the enig-
matic name of r , and, on one occasion,
207,000 nt , which seems to represent
portions rather than head of sheep and
goats. They were given also 1100
(“lambs used for sacrifice” to judge from
Ar. aāī , pl. of aiyya ) and wd (perhaps
“fat lambs” to judge from Ar. aid ?). The
sheep were called elsewhere rf , and in
the Minean colony of the iāz n (in
contrast to the goats mzy ) called in Saba
sfr ). According to Eratosthenes they ate
also birds, except for geese and hens. On
the shores of the Indian Ocean, some com-
munities ate mainly fish and the nomads
lived on game. These people drank milk
and the workers of Mārib were supplied
with butter ( mt , Hebrew èmåh , Akka-
dian imētu , etc.).
The main drink seems to have been
palm wine, which was called mzr m -tmr m
(cf. Ar. mazar, mizr , the word for various
fermented drinks) or sy m -tmr m , per-
haps with a north Arabic gloss al-alab .
However, the numerous vineyards (cf.
above, and the popularity of the Dionysiac
themes making use of the vine in sculp-
ture) provided grape wine and a certain
amount was imported. The workers on
the Mārib dam were provided with more
of this than of palm wine. A distinction
was made between the fermented bever-
age ( sy ) made with the excellent grapes of
irbīb ( rbb , cf. the classical dictionar-
ies) and that prepared from dried raisins
( fy , cf. fua n ). The nn kept in a temple is
probably the anīn “whey or milk diluted
with water” known in various Arab coun-
tries. We do not know whether the ther-
mal springs of therapeutic value, which
according to Ammianus were numerous,
were used for drinking.
Almost nothing is known about the
ritual use of foods. Libations ( msty ) were
made on special altars ( mslm ), but we do
not know what was the liquid used. Nor
is anything known about the prohibitions
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