134 i Flora Unveiled
- Kramer, S. N. (1972), Sumerian Mythology. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- The ardat- lili bears some resemblance to the Jewish Lilith (Isaiah 34:14). Black, J., and
A. Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. - Wolkstein, D., and S. N. Kramer (1983), Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Harper & Row. - Dumuzi’s sentence is commuted to half a year when his sister, Geshtinanna, volunteers to
take his place during the other half. Echoes of this agricultural myth are evident in the classical
period, as exemplified by myths surrounding Persephone and Hades. - Wolkstein and Kramer, Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth.
- Sefati, Y. (1998), Love Songs in Sumerian Literature. Bar- Ilan Studies in Near Eastern
Languages and Cultures, The Samuel N. Kramer Institute of Assyriology. Bar- Ilan University
Press. The “mes- tree” is an unidentified sacred tree. - Quotes taken from: Black, et al., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.
59. Ibid. - The raven’s fructification of the date palm using a magical substance is reminiscent of a
belief, attributed to the Amorites, that unpollinated female date palms are barren because they
are ill. According to the Babylonian Talmud, barrenness was a device used by the palm tree to
elicit pity and prayers from passersby. The Babylonian Talmud goes on to describe the Amorite
cure for barrenness:
— Said Rab Judah: They brought fresh myrtle, the juice of bay- fruit and barley flour
which had been kept in a vessel less than forty days, and boiled them together and
injected it into the heart [female inflorescence] of the palm tree; and every tree which
stands within four cubits of this one, if that one is not treated, likewise immediately
withers. R. Aha the son of Raba said: A male branch was grafted on to a female palm
tree. (Pessahim 56a)Note, however, that Rab Aha, the son of Rab Judah, added that, “A male branch was grafted
on to the female palm tree,” which means, as discussed earlier, that a male inflorescence was
inserted into the female inflorescence. Presumably, artificial pollination was regarded by the
later rabbi as a more effective means of curing the tree of barrenness. See Goor, A. (1967), History
of the date through the ages. Economic Botany 21:332– 334.
- Quotes taken from Black, et al. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.
62. Ibid. - Roaf, Michael (2000), Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East.
- A pair of rays sometimes emanate from the ringed sun- disk terminating in fruit- like objects.
- Abdel- Salam, M. (1937), From Palestine days to the Moslem Invasion, in An Outline of the
History of Agriculture in Egypt. Grunberg, p. 35. - Because the vowels for ancient Egyptian words are not known, we can’t tell how they
were pronounced. However, the Russian letter з stands for a kind of glottal stop, whereas the
dots indicate the boundaries between signs, which are essential for understanding the words.
(Gonzalo Rubio, personal communication.) - Buhl, M. L. (1947),The goddesses of the Egyptian tree cult, Journal of Near Eastern Studies
6:80– 97; Garner- Wallert, I. (1962), Die Palmen im Alten Ägypten. Verlag Bruno Hesserling,
pp. 33– 49.