The Hebrew word for “honey” is dvash, but in fact it does not necessarily refer to honey produced by bees and beehives. The sweet dates’ syrup, which was commonly used in biblical times, was much cheaper than the rarely found bees’ honey. In Antiquity, just like today, the popular dates’ honey was extracted from super ripe dates. Nowadays this fruit honey is still greatly enjoyed and is known in Israel by the name silan.
Male and Female Date Palms
The date palms are divided between male and female trees. Only after the pollination of a female date palm can this tree bear fruit. Professional workers climb every female date palm and place pollen inside the inflorescences, still developing in spathes, which will become clusters of dates.
Annually, an average mature tree can bear round 80-100 kg of fruit!
Jericho – City of Dates
The ‘city of palm trees’ (Deuteronomy 34:3; 2 Chronicles 28:15) refers in the Tanakh to the ancient town of Jericho, located in the Jordan Valley north of the...
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