Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/313

267 :

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

267

Physical Aspects The various Pliysiciil Aspects of Agricultiirr iiiiintig the Jews may iiropt-rly i)e troatcil in their natural (irder of ((iiisiileratioii: firet as to the soil and eliiiiate; next as to the operations neeessarv to produee and seeure crops, Tlie soil of I'aUstine is of a most varied character and eoniiiosition. consisting of alhivial deposits in the maritime l>laiiis and in the Jordan valley, and of the products of cretaceous limeSoil stcjiie and basjiltic rocUs in the more Conditions, elevatid regions. The natural fertility of the former districts was carried into mountain regions hy l)uilding low walls of

"shoulder-stones" (Mishnah Shell, iii. !, and tilling in the rock- ledges t«-hind them with the inexhaustible alluvial earthof the valleys (ih. iii. 8). In this manner the UKiuntainous districts of Samaria, Gilboa, Carmel, and other nuiges were celel)rate4l in ancient times for their fertility. Rut such artiticial arrangements needed constant attention to keep them in condition and to protect them a.gainst heavy rains (see Anderlind, in "Zeit. Deutscii, I'ah'lst, Ver," . 37); so that warfare and the sulisequent depopulation have considerably diminished the productiveness of such reirions.

The

lofty

plain

lie

was

foiuid to be beneficial but such land R-quired irrigation (Josh. xv. 1(1, Men, H.JK). In contrast with Egyjitian agriculture (which depended solely upon the river Nile), in Canaan the "tirst rains and the latter rains" became neces.S!irily matters of especial importance and significant bles-s;

ing (Lev. xxvi,

a-.j;

Deut.

xi,

i;i.

14).

the Ilaiu'an range on the east, with its m derlying volcanic substratum, proved a most fiTtilesoil for wheat. as many as two and three crojis a year being gathered. The most

however,

were

liable to be more or less ihiekly strewn

The

first

(autumn) rains began in the middle of Climate. Novcinber (Heshwan, or Kislew) and were called yunh or iimrch (Deut, xi, 14, Jer. V, 24), These were succeeded by the lieavy and contimious winter rains, and, linally, by the or spring showers, in the month of Ni,san 23 Taanit, C"), So important was the rain after the long Syrian summer of extreme lieat had liarched the land, that the blessing asked for in the fornuda of Deut. xxvi, l.jwas interpreted as a petition for rain and dew prayers for which were likewise interpolated inlhedaily ritual (Mishnah Taanit. i, Fast-days were a|)pointed in timesof drought 1), iiKitkon/i,

(Joel,

ii,



—

(ifi.

4-7).

The

fall rains

were considereil

re(|uisite to

soften the ground preparatory to plowing and seeding; and the spring rains were equally neces,sary for the tilling uj) of the gniin in the ear, asexpres-sed by the feUahin's proverb of today " .shower in April is worth more than a jilow and a yoke of oxen" (Klein, in •Zeit,I)eutsch.Palast. Ver." iv, 72, (juoted by Vogelstein, I.e. 4, note 2;J), The transition from the rainy period of spring to the drought of summer is gradual, the showers growing lighter and

tween Lake Gennesaret on the west and

fertile lleld.s,

Agriculture

iiss

A

The

freiiuent.

with boulder's (Matt,

mountain

and i)arallels; MLshnah Kil. ii. 10, vii. 1), till' Mishnah mentioning that oht.l.,t^aph by BuDtiU,)

use that could be made of the troublesome smaller stones which abounded in rich, rocky soil was to lay them up in fence rows, as protection against roaming catll<-: such stone-rows were numerous in theexireme if one may judge from the tieldsof to-day (see illusliation on p. 'iiV-. In some regions stones were so abundant that lliiy had to he removed after each annual plowing (see Vogelstein. "Die Ijuulwirlsehaft in I'alilslina," p, 10, note 14), In iMislinaic times various kinds of soil were distinguished and classilird. such as iilil. soil of first

—

'

quality;

liiii"iii't,

medium and ;/W'i/n7,


 * io(ir soil (Git.

also according to digric of moisture, "dry." "middling," and "arable" (Haraita, Taanil, 2.V<). V.

Xisjin to Tisliri a niinst<irm is rarity, a moisture being fur-

Wuter-wlieel iu Palestine,

and best

1);

Stones were held to show the fertility of the soil: if they were hard and Hint like (I'liiiiiint). tin- soil was good; if of clayey consisleiHV Oi'ir'il). it was likely to be poor, forming hard clods anil baking in the sun binil whi<'li (N'uin, |{, xvi,; Tan. Siielah I.eka. Vi). naturally produced thorn bushes was good for wlwat if it grew weeds, it was tit for liarley only (Yalkut, Job, 55 IMS: (i.mpare .br. .vii. l:b. .V soil which had produced a crop of llax was held lo be excellent for wheat; and lanil was sometimes testeil liy .sowing a small piece in llax (Kil. ii. 7). A soulhern exposure

streams,

nishe<l by the heavy night-dews, which sometimes wet the ground to such an extent as to give it the appearance of having been rained upon. Of all the crops iilanted wheat (//(«<(/ was the most important in Palestine aselsewheri': so great was the fertility of the huid that more wheat was ju'oduced than was reCrops. quired f: .Mi-hnah Neg, xiii. 9),

and was also

useil for feed for animals (Tosef. .Sofah Spill (/(/« //(I n, nil intermediate grain belweeii wheal and barley, was customarily sown in the IjorOats (Ji/i(y<'/i) Were not much gniwn. ders of lields, iii,

.

4).

Millet {ih'/fiiii). beaiis(/i«/), and lentils('oil(ll Sam, xvii.2X, Ezek. iv. It), Flax (iiintitiih) was certainly grown (Josli, ii. See B.Mil.KV, Bk.vns, ft), and possibly cotton (Xiiryxi*). l,i-.NTii.s,

The

Mii.i.KT, Si"Ki,T,

and

AViik.vt,

crops planted weri' the iiulse varieties, early in Heshwan (October); liarley followed a few davs later, and wheal last of all. A iioleworlhy first