DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0087
71
barley, a kind of French bean called Kirchengeck; and the Colo-
quintida, which grows on small moist spots in the Desert, and is
called Handel. Of trees, besides the Date, and Domiu or Fan-
Palmtree, a kind of Acacia with very small leaves, called Saiali,
is common, as well as the Nubgh, or Rhamnus Napica, the tim-
ber of which is one of the most serviceable in Egypt, the greater
part of the Persian wheel being made of it.
The skirts of the Desert produce a great many very strong aro-
matic plants, to most of which the people with us attributed
salutary qualities, either as medicine or as charms. The most
conspicuous among the Desert shrubs is the Occlira, which grows
to the height of about three feet, has a stem which is used lor levers
or poles, a broad rial round leaf, and a very beautiful fruit resem-
bling a large lemon, puffed up with air, having only a kind of
small fir apple in the centre, which when ripe expands itself into
a tuft of silky thread. The fruit is entirely useless, and, as it
abounds in the mountains and ravines of the Desert, serves only
as it were to tempt the parched traveller's thirst. The same
plant grows in great numbers on the banks of the Dead Sea,
where it has given rise to a fabulous story of the Jerusalem
priests, that in that spot grows a fruit most beautiful to the eye,
but which when opened presents nothing but cinders : they call
it there the Apple of Sodom. At Es Souan the people make use
of the branches by sticking them up at the windows of houses
where women have been delivered, to frighten away the owls.
This town seems to have been very early inhabited by a large
portion of Christians, perhaps even from the reign of Diocle-
tian; by whom they were driven from CoptOS, where they had
first taken refuge from persecution. Several monasteries still
exist in the environs. The hill above the town is called the quarter
of
barley, a kind of French bean called Kirchengeck; and the Colo-
quintida, which grows on small moist spots in the Desert, and is
called Handel. Of trees, besides the Date, and Domiu or Fan-
Palmtree, a kind of Acacia with very small leaves, called Saiali,
is common, as well as the Nubgh, or Rhamnus Napica, the tim-
ber of which is one of the most serviceable in Egypt, the greater
part of the Persian wheel being made of it.
The skirts of the Desert produce a great many very strong aro-
matic plants, to most of which the people with us attributed
salutary qualities, either as medicine or as charms. The most
conspicuous among the Desert shrubs is the Occlira, which grows
to the height of about three feet, has a stem which is used lor levers
or poles, a broad rial round leaf, and a very beautiful fruit resem-
bling a large lemon, puffed up with air, having only a kind of
small fir apple in the centre, which when ripe expands itself into
a tuft of silky thread. The fruit is entirely useless, and, as it
abounds in the mountains and ravines of the Desert, serves only
as it were to tempt the parched traveller's thirst. The same
plant grows in great numbers on the banks of the Dead Sea,
where it has given rise to a fabulous story of the Jerusalem
priests, that in that spot grows a fruit most beautiful to the eye,
but which when opened presents nothing but cinders : they call
it there the Apple of Sodom. At Es Souan the people make use
of the branches by sticking them up at the windows of houses
where women have been delivered, to frighten away the owls.
This town seems to have been very early inhabited by a large
portion of Christians, perhaps even from the reign of Diocle-
tian; by whom they were driven from CoptOS, where they had
first taken refuge from persecution. Several monasteries still
exist in the environs. The hill above the town is called the quarter
of