https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/caf797a36b/Recent content in Ein Gedi on Gardens of the Roman EmpireHugoen-usMon, 08 Jun 2026 07:34:03 -0400https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/828f403e58/Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/828f403e58/<h2 id="dates">Dates</h2> <p>6-135 CE</p> <h2 id="garden-description">Garden Description</h2> <p>The balsam groves of the Dead Sea region have been famous since the queen of Sheba (Egypt and Ethiopia) reputedly brought balsam as a gift to King Solomon (1 Kings 10:10; Josephus Ant.8. 6, 5-6.). From the time of Theophrastus, Jericho and Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea were renowned for their watered palm and balsam plantations (paradeisoi), described by Diodorus Siculus, Varro, Strabo, Virgil, Horace, Pausanias, Pliny the Elder, Solinus and Galen. They are described in some detail by Josephus (Antiquitates Judaeorum 14.54), who notes their water supply was destroyed during the Jewish Revolt. The balsam, however, is regarded as extinct and has not been identified archaeobotanically.</p> <p>Itzar Hirshfeld identified a possible balsam terrace near the oasis of Ein Gedi, along the ancient road that links the palaces at Jericho with the fortress palace at Masada. Further studies were carried out by Guy Stibbel. The only possible archaeobotanical evidence found to date for the plant itself comes from a cave at Qumran. Porath and Arubas report that a small Herodian-period juglet wrapped in palm fibers and carefully hidden in the rocks contains oil that does not correspond with any known modern oil and is consistent with ancient descriptions of balsam but analysis on the contents was less than conclusive. Date palm remains, by contrast, are commonly seen in the carbonized plant remains found in Jericho, Wadi Qelt, Masada,Kumran, and other excavations in the valley. In an astonishing recent development, botanist Elaine Solowey was able to use growth hormones to activate three dessicated date pits from excavated contexts at Masada. These were C14 dated to the Roman period. One seed successfully grew into a male palm. Subsequent work with desiccated pits from the Kumran area have produced female plants. (Sallon et al. 2020)</p> <!-- ## Maps --> <!-- ## Plans <figure> <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/roman-gardens/gre-images/main/content/place/judaea/ein_gedi/Latimer_fig_14_or_10.1a.jpg" alt="" onclick="fullscreen(this)"> <figcaption> Fig. 1: Plan of the residential building (A) with excavated bedding trenches (b) in its garden courtyard (G).<div class="credit">Credit: Adapted from Branigan 1971, fig. 20.</div></figcaption> </figure> ## Images <figure> <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/roman-gardens/gre-images/main/content/place/judaea/ein_gedi/Latimer_fig_15_or_10.1b.jpg" alt="" onclick="fullscreen(this)"> <figcaption> Fig. 2: Reconstruction of the house and garden.<div class="credit">Credit: Courtesy of K. Branigan.</div></figcaption> </figure> --> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul> <li>Patrich, J.,&quot;A Juglet Containing Balsam Oil (?) from a Cave near Qumran,&quot; Israel Exploration Journal 39 (1989):43-49 <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/310426513" target="_blank">(worldcat)</a></li> <li>Sallon, S., Cherif, E., Chabrillange, N., Solowey, E., Gros-Balthazard, M., Ivorra, S., &amp; Aberlenc, F. (2020). Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies. Science advances, 6(6), eaax0384. <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/title/8536654525" target="_blank">(worldcat)</a></li> </ul> <h2 id="keywords">Keywords</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="https://roman-gardens.github.io/search/?q=orchards">orchards</a> (<a class="id" target="_blank" href="http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300008890" title="Art and Architecture Thesaurus (Getty)">AAT:300008890</a>) </li> </ul> <!-- ## Places -->