ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

What Does Arabic Literature Bring to the Table of Ethnobotany and Holy Botany?

• In Event: Plant Humanities 3 - Case Study: The Eastern Mediterranean Plants

English Abstract

It is well established that literature reflects society and culture. This is especially true in the case of Arabic literature, which played and continues to play a central role in Arab societies in general, and Eastern Mediterranean Arab societies in particular. In this study, I demonstrate that Arabic literary sources contain a wealth of information on the identity and use of native and naturalized Eastern Mediterranean flora, including some plants of the Bible and the Quran. I assess the utility of classical and modern Arabic literary texts, including dictionaries, as sources of information on the identity and use of plants in the Eastern Mediterranean by focusing on a few plants of the Holy Scriptures that are central to Eastern Mediterranean Arab societies (fig, grape vine, olive, pomegranate). I illustrate how contextual information from the scriptures, coupled with information from literary sources, allows confirmation of such plants’ botanical identity and sheds light on their uses, which sometimes change with time. I then re-evaluate the identity of some elusive plants of the Bible and the Quran, in light of contextual evidence and information from various literary and religious sources.

Author

• Mohammad Al-Zein, American University of Beirut