June3] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.
to its being generallyconsideredand calledthe fir-cone. TheAs
syrian drawing of plants is, however, rough and conventional,
and forms more or less like this do duty for several botanical
purposes,as appears in Plate II, where fig 10 shows the branches of
a tree, perhaps coniferous; fig. 1 2, a portion of a vine withleaves
and bunchesof grapes ; fig. 9, the heads of a marsh-plant —all from
Layard's" Monuments." Thepictorialresemblanceof the object in
the hands of the winged deitiesto a fir-cone is thus insufficientproof
of its being intendedas really such. Also, if the tree whichthe
winged deity approaches is admitted to be a palm, there is no
obvious motivein a fir-cone being presented to it, so that writers
whoadoptthis view of the scene havebeen obliged to treat the
wholeproceedingas a mystical ceremony. In such cases,however,
it is always desirableto look for evidence of that intelligiblemean
ing whichunderliesreligionas it does otherinstitutions. It occurred
to me that it might be connected with the artificial fertilization of
the date-palm, which has been remarked on by naturalists since
antiquity. Theprincipalancientaccountsof this processare the
following:—
Herodotus, describingthe Babylonian region, writes: " Palm-
treesgrow in great numbers overthe whole of the flat country,
mostlyof the kind whichbearsfruit, and thisfruitsuppliesthem
withbread,wine,andhoney. Theyare cultivated likethe fig-tree
in all respects ; among others,in this. Thenativestie the fruit of the
male-palms,as they are called by the Greeks, to the branches of the
date-bearingpalm,to let the gall-fly enterthe dates andripenthem,
andto prevent the fruit fromfallingoff. The male-palms,likethe
wildfig-trees,haveusuallythe gall fly in their midst." " E<V< li o0i
(jioiviKts 7re(puico7e1ttivatcuvto ireciov, ol ir\etri/e? aV7WVxapTroffidpoi,€K
Ttcvxat antakai oivov icaifiicXt7rotevv7at'toiwtruKcewv-rpoirov6epa~
Trevovffira Te dWff, Kai (froivticwv, toi'vtptrevav'EW/^evKaXeovfft,7oV7jv
rovKapvovvepiceovot71)01fia\avi]<fiopoiai7tiv0otp(W>j/,iva ireiraLvy)T6 tripi
« ^ry)v 7T}vfit'iXnvov iatvvttivKat i> 1] airopp€>] 6 Kapirb? \o]7ov(froivtKos•
y^ijvai'lapct) (frofieovei cV Tip Kapirw oi tpaevei, Karairtpfi] 01 o\vv6oi."
It is not necessary to criticize here the historian's erroneous com
parison of the fertilization of the date-palm withthat of the fig.
Whatis required fromhimis merely his record of the Babylonian
method. Thenextaccountis that by Theophrastus, whomentions
- Ilerodot., I, c. 193. Thetranslationis fromRawlinson's" Herodotus"; see
alsothe notes in Larcher.
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