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Before
the Babylonians, the City of Sumer at the lower Euphrates
valley appears to have been the center of date cultivation in ancient
civilizations. Today the
Euphrates Tigris delta still has millions of date palm trees. In the ancient days, a deciding factor
was probably the natural flooding of the delta where high tides raise the
water level and then reseed, thereby causing a flooding of the groves
without human intervention.
In
the ancient Code of Hammurabi, when the greatest king of the first
Babylonian Dynasty was in power, legal code was based primarily on Sumer's
legal code. The code provided for
detailed records on the date palm tree and its cultivation. The code goes into great detail in
addressing the renting, sales, and cultivation of the date palm tree.
These
detailed records show how crop sharing schemes already existed back in
ancient times. The landowners for
example where permitted to lease their land to a tenant farmer who would
then have access to the young palm tree suckers, or offshoots. The owner would then wait four years
until the new trees started producing.
During the four year period the tenant farmer would take care of
the orchards. After the four years
they would both share equally in the production of dates. The typical date palm tree would
produce about 100 pounds of dates.
Besides
the date crop there were secondary crops that were grown in between. In modern Algeria, secondary crops
include oranges, apricots, nuts and vegetables. In ancient Babylonia
it have been sesame, grain, and clover, all of which the tenant farmer
could keep for himself. The four
year period shows that offshoots must have been planted, because trees from
seed take eight to ten years to produce their first good crop.
The
importance of the date tree in ancient Babylonia
was show in its laws which prohibited destroying date trees without the
consent of the owner. In ancient
times the punishment for destroying a date palm tree without the consent
of the owner was a fine equivalent about a half pound of silver. This was obviously intended to be a
strong deterrent.
In
ancient Babylonia the density of date
palm trees was very low. The date
palm tree was required to be planted about every 30 feet, which would
limit the density to about 50 trees per acre. Even so, a date orchard was about twice
as valuable as any other orchard.
The
date palm tree was so important that during wars were destroyed as a means
of weakening an opponent. Date
palm trees were a main source of food and the destruction of these trees
meant a significant decrease in food to the opponent.
Date
tree cultivation quickly spread from Mesopotamia
to adjoining arid regions. In
ancient Palestine
adopted the cultivation practices and it spread rapidly. The number or date palm tree groves
were large and the date palm tree influenced culture to such an extent
that it is mentioned in the Bible.
The date palm tree also became a very important symbol in ancient Palestine. Palm tree leaves were used in temple
services during religious celebrations.
They were carried as symbols of victory by kings. They were also used to hail Jesus
during His entry into Jerusalem. Today Christian's have Palm Sunday and
some priests consecrate palm leaves.
Muslims break their Ramadan fast each night by eating a date.
In
ancient times the date palm tree has many other uses besides the edible
date it produced. Among other
things the palm's wood and fibers were used as building materials. The edible dates were also used in a
variety of ways such pressing soft dates to create a kind of honey or
syrup. The Biblical references to
the land of milk and honey are believed to be a reference to this date
honey and not the honey produced by bees.
The wood is used to make the roofs of houses. The white palms are
used to manufacture baskets and other items. The dead palms are used as hedges in
gardens, and in the furnace of bakers, potters, and artisans. A juice called "legmi," a
syrup like juice is consumed fresh or fermented into an alcoholic
drink. The wood and leaves can
provide timber and fabric for houses and for fences. The leaves are used
to make ropes, cord, baskets, crates, and furniture. The bases of the leaves and the fruit
stalks are used as fuel. The fruit
itself is used to produce date vinegar, date chutney or sweet pickle,
date paste is made to use for bakery products and as additional flavoring
for oranges, bananas, and almonds.
There are dishes that used roasted date seeds and the heart of the
date palm makes can be added to salads.
Even in modern days the date palm tree is often the only available
staple food for the inhabitants of some desert and arid lands. To many North
Africa and Middle Eastern parts the date is still a vital
food. During the 1991 Gulf War the
surrendering Iraqis offered dates in exchange for water and for many
dates were the only food available to the Iraqis during the war.
In
ancient times it did not take long for the date palm tree to be
introduced to Egypt. Experts estimate the date palm tree was
introduced to Egypt
about five thousand years ago. The
date quickly grew in importance and ancient carvings show priests
irrigating palm trees and also offerings of the edible dates as a
sacrifice. The pollination stage
of the date tree was considered a very important part of the cultivation
of dates and was imported into fertility religious rites. The periodical flooding of the Nile was quickly implemented into the cultivation
of dates and the fruit thrived and continues to be an important part of
the Egyptian economy. The number
of date palm trees along the Nile
River in Egypt is in the
millions.
The
date palm tree was introduced to the Sahara Desert
about two thousand years ago by Semitic tribes. The camel was used extensively to
travel the desert, because of their ability to carry heavy loads and
travel great distances with minimum water. These camels are believed to have been
instrumental in carrying date palm tree shoots which were later used to
establish date groves in the desert.
Oases throughout the desert were used to water the date
groves. In the deserts of the North Africa this fruit, the edible date, became
the bread of the desert for large populations.
Among
Arab tales there is one story in the Qur'an that describes Mary as
experiencing sharp labor pains while near the base of a palm tree, and
when she was suffering greatly Jesus spoke from inside her body and
ordered her to shake a date tree and eat the dates. She did as instructed and ripe dates
fell on her lap, even though it was not the season for dates. She ate the dates and her pain went
away. "Shake the trunk of the palm tree towards thee: it will drop
fresh, ripe dates upon thee. Eat, then, and drink, and let thine eye be
gladdened!" (Qur'an 19:25-26).
Mohammed the Islamic prophet advises that all expectant mothers
nourish themselves with dates. The
reason being that it will increase the quantity and quality of her milk
to feed to her new born child, and apparently modern medicine
concurs. The fruit is also
believed to have other medicinal values.
One
ancient Muslim story describes edible dates as the primary food created
by God to nourish Adam in the garden of Eden. The palm tree is also believed to have
been the primary material used to build Mohammed's home. The Qu'ran references the date fruit
about 26 times.
All
palms, including the date palm, belong to a group of plants that are
known as monocotyledons. These
plants include grasses, lilies, and orchids. The most common feature about these
plants is that they all start with a single leaf when they germinate from
a seed. During the first year a
date palm tree looks more like grass than a date palm. There are many different varieties of
date palms. The Mallortiea does
not exceed 2 feet and then there is the Ceroxylon of Colombia which can
measure two hundred feet.
Thickness of the palm tree can vary from a few inches to a several
feet. There palms that grow like
vines for several hundred feet and others grow like bushes. Palms can grow in many different
habitats. From seashores, to the
mountains, to the deserts. Some
bear tiny fruit the size of a berry and some 40 pound double
coconuts. Even though we more
commonly referred to palms as palm trees they are not trees and the
characteristics of palms are very different trees.
The
vast majority of palms do not have branches, but there are some palms
that do have branches, such as the palm commonly known as the gingerbread
tree, and called the African doum palm which does produce branches. The gingerbread tree name came about
because the pulp of the fruit resembles the gingerbread.
Palm
trunks can be smooth, rough, and pitted.
When new leaves grow the old die and sometimes fall off. In some palms the leaves do not fall
and form a protective exterior.
Unlike a tree the trunk of the palm has no annual growth rings. The palm leaves are of two different
types some resemble a fan and some resemble a feather, called palmate and
pinnate. The longest palm leaves measure about 65 feet and the broadest
measure about sixteen feet. The flowers are always very small. Almost every single palm fruit
regardless of size contains just one seed. There are about 4,000 different species
of palms and about 1,200 grow in the Western
Hemisphere. There are
only 14 species of palms that are native to the United States.
The palmettos are the most common and grow in South
Carolina and Florida. The heart of the cabbage palmetto has
an edible bud which is often sold as the heart of palm. Some of the palmetto fibers are used to
make brushes and whisk brooms which are resistant to hot water and
caustic materials.
In
the wild the date palm tree pollinates naturally, but production is
low. Artificial pollination
increases production substantially. The date palm tree grows from seed,
but there is an even distribution of males and females. For farming purposes the distribution
ratios are not efficient as it takes one male to pollinate about fifty
females. The date palm tree also
produces off shoots which can be cut and planted which produce fruit
about five years earlier than from seed.
This also allows for the control of the male to female ratio. The off shoots can be all male or
female depending on the needs.
Offshoots are only produced under certain conditions. There is a strong correlation between
the amount of fruit produced and the number of shoots produced. When there is an increase in date palm
shoots there is a decrease in fruit and the same is true in reverse if
there is an increase in fruit there is a decrease date palm shoots. If at least one offshoot is left on the
tree it continues to produce offshoots, but if all the offshoots are
removed the date tree will not produce anymore. The quantity and quality of the date
palm fruit is also affected by the number of fruit clusters. Too many clusters will produce poor
quality fruit so the date clusters need to be removed.
The
date fruit needs approximately six months to ripen. In ancient civilizations in the middle
east there were different stages of ripening. These four stages of date ripening were
named kimri, khalal, rutab, and
tamar. The kimri stage is where the dates are
green, at the khalal stage the
dates have grown to their maximum size and turn yellowish or reddish
depending on the specific variety of date. The date begins to soften and loses the
bright color at the rutab stage. The fruit is ripe at the tamar stage.
Dates
are classified as soft, semidry, and dry.
The dry dates are the bread dates commonly used in the middle east
for everyday consumption. The
sweeter dates are used as a dessert in the Middle East as well as the United States. Among the sweeter dates is the Medjool
Date which is considered the king of dates and which was once reserved
for royalty.
An
author by the name of Henry Simon in North African Diary of 1913
described the handling of Rhars dates in Arabic countries including
Tunisian and Algerian Oases were the growers trampled the soft dates with
their unclean bare feet on animal skins.
Another type of date which was dry called the Meshi Degla was
transported by camel in pairs. The
sacks were left on the ground which as often soiled with animal manure
from donkeys and camels and then reused again. The Deglet Noor was treated
substantially different, because it was primarily an export product. It was packed in wooden crates and
shipped to other countries.
There
are many other varieties of dates grown throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but most are not cultivated for
export or in large quantities. In Algeria and Tunisia the three main
varieties are the Rhars (vigorous grower), the dry Meshi Degla(purgative
seedling) which is a basically a bread date; and the semidry Deglett Noor
(date of light). In the United States
the Deglet Noor is one of the dates commonly cultivated.
One of the rarest and most prized varieties is the
Menakher (Nose Date) which as never sold for export and the few palms
that existed where jealously guarded by their growers.
Morocco, Egypt,
Iraq
and the other Persian Gulf Countries have their own distinct
varieties. Many of those varieties
are never exported, because they are soft dates. Among them is Hayany of Egypt; the Khalas(quintessence) of Arabia;
and the Barhee, Halawy(the sweet), and
Khadrawy(the verdant) of Iraq
and Syria. A few of these dates are also grown in California in
small quantities.
The
Medjool (unknown) of Morocco
is known for its unusually large size and it is renowned for its
flavor. The Medjool date is a
large and dark and can grow to about three inches and even though it is
classified as a soft date it is much firmer and more resilient than other
soft dates and handles better. The Medjool date made its way to the United States
through the United States Department of Agriculture. There was a disease in Morocco that was spreading quickly among
the Medjool date palm trees and a Moroccan official gave some shoots to a
representative from the USDA which in turn were taken and planted in California. The Medjool is now thriving in California as one
of the top varieties of dates.
Date
palm trees can yield from about 100 to 300 pounds of dates per tree. One of the most important factors is
the amount of water they receive.
The date palm can absorb a lot of water. Date palms can also resist very cold
weather and have known to survive in subfreezing temperatures. The date palms are usually insect and
parasite free, but can be attacked from time to time by fungi and scale
insects. The cultivation of dates
was very labor intensive and even to date continues to be labor intensive
and dangerous. Before planting
enormous holes were dug measuring eight feet deep and were eight feet
square. Often the holes were dug
on hard materials including limestone. The holes were then filled with
manure and top soil for about five feet and the remainder was slowly
filled around the newly planted date palm tree. The date palm was below
ground level, but this allowed for better watering and it provides
protection from the hot winds and the sun. Arabs traditionally harvested by
cutting the entire cluster, but many American farmers hand picked each
individual date as the fruit ripens.
Prior to harvesting in many American farms the dates are first
prepared by cutting down the amount of fruit on each cluster to allow the
air to circulate and permit more uniform ripening of the date. This means that the date will
necessarily cost more cultivate and harvest in American farms and will
necessarily result in a higher price.
Generally speaking imported dates are not as good as American
grown dates, because of the more labor intensive cultivating techniques
used on American farms, but this is not always the case.
The
date palm tree can grow in many different areas, but for the date palm to
produce quality fruit it is necessary that the climate be one of very
little rain and the climate also needs to be hot. At the same time the date palm requires
large amounts of water. In many
American farms the fruit from the date palm tree is protected against
possible rain, birds and insects by placing a parafined paper bag around
the date cluster. This done
because of the ease with which rain can ruin dates. There is an opening around the wrapping
to permit air to circulate inside the wrapping to allow the dates to
ripen properly. In California
date farms a bell shaped paper cloak is placed around the fruit. Almost California date farms utilize this
technique to protect the date. California grown dates can be seen with this
seemingly peculiar wrapping throughout the Coachella Valley. The Medjool Date as well as other
varieties is protected using this same technique throughout the Coachella Valley. Upon reaching the final stage and fully
ripening the date is no longer as susceptible to rain and humidity. A few date varieties are much more
vulnerable to moisture and usually not economical to cultivate and
therefore not cultivated on a commercial scale or at all. In the United
States the Rhars date is not grown commercially in
the United States
because of its susceptibility to damage from moisture or rain. Soft dates are much more difficult to
handle and cultivate and require extensive care and handling.
Dates can be grown
from offshoots and seeds, but are almost always grown from
offshoots. The primary reason is
that there is a shorten time period to harvest if the date is grown from
an off shoot and the date palm from seed rarely has the same qualities as
the parent plant. The seed can in
fact be used successfully for creating new varieties of dates, but just
as it can create a superior variety it can also create an inferior
variety.
History of the Date Part III
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