Travels in Syria and the Holy LandBurckhardt, John Lewis
History
Travels in Syria and the Holy Land
Burckhardt, John Lewis
Palestine -- Description and travel; Syria -- Description and travel
Indigo is a very common production of the Ghor; the Ghowárene sell it to
the merchants of Jerusalem and Hebron, where it is worth twenty per
cent. more than Egyptian indigo. One of the most interesting productions
of this valley is the Beyrouk honey, or as the Arabs call it, Assal
Beyrouk (Arabic). I suppose it to be the manna, but I never had an
opportunity of seeing it myself. It was described to me, as a juice
dropping from the
[p.393] leaves and twigs of a tree called Gharrab (Arabic), of the size
of an olive tree, with leaves like those of the poplar, but somewhat
broader. The honey collects upon the leaves like dew, and is gathered
from them, or from the ground under the tree, which is often found
completely covered with it. According to some its colour is brownish;
others said it was of a grayish hue; it is very sweet when fresh, but
turns sour after being kept two days. The Arabs eat it like honey, with
butter, they also put it into their gruel, and use it in rubbing their
water skins, in order to exclude the air. I enquired whether it was a
laxative, but was answered in the negative. The Beyrouk honey is
collected only in the months of May and June. Some persons assured me
that the same substance was likewise produced by the thorny tree
Tereshresh (Arabic), and collected at the same time as that from the
Gharrab.
In the mountains of Shera grows a tree called Arar (Arabic), from the
fruit of which the Bedouins extract a juice, which is extremely
nutritive. The tree Talh (Arabic), which produces the gum arabic
(Arabic), is very common in the Ghor; but the Arabs do not take the
trouble to collect the gum. Among other vegetable productions there is a
species of tobacco, called Merdiny (Arabic), which has a most
disagreeable taste; but, for want of a better kind, it is cultivated in
great quantity, and all the Bedouins on the borders of the Dead sea are
supplied with it. The coloquintida (Arabic or Arabic), grows wild every
where in great quantities. The tree Szadder (Arabic), which is a species
of the cochineal tree, is also very common.
As to the mineral productions of the borders of the Dead sea, it appears
that the southern mountains are full of rock salt, which is washed off
by the winter rains, and carried down into the lake. In the northern
Ghor pieces of native sulphur are found at a small
DEAD SEA
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