AI Economy: And this perfume didn't come...

Chapter 11 in a series describing the economy of the Land of Israel during the Roman and Middle Ages

The perfumes and spices were a very expensive commodity in the ancient era both because of their rarity and because of their production methods, a large part of which was shrouded in a veil of secrecy, professional secrecy. Perfumes were intended for worship purposes (kinds of incense), for medicines, for repelling insects of all kinds, and for body fragrances, and this even from the biblical era, such as the extraction of the fragrant substance from frankincense and myrrh plants that were certainly used for worship purposes (incense) and for perfuming the female body in particular, as it is written in Song of Songs 12:13: "The bundle of myrrh . My uncle (we were my beloved) to me between the breasts of Yelin" and later it will be tasted: "The infidel cluster my uncle in the vineyards of Ein Gedi" (ibid. XNUMX). And more will be required for this place.

Persimmon gives a lot...

I will already emphasize the connection, long before Karl Marx's famous statement in his book "The Capital" (Der Kapitel), between political, social, cultural movements in general and the economy, and in our case between the cultivation of persimmon perfume and its production and the imperial Roman policy. More than that, and in my humble opinion, this is an idea that I have not yet expressed or written about until now: it may be, in light of various data that will become clear and will be clarified later, that the end of the great rebellion, the one that raises sharp questions and bewilderments is involved in our case. It should be noted that the question arises that bothers many researchers and I understand them, why the Roman siege was conducted around Masada, after the almost final suppression of the rebellion, when various claims and arguments were made regarding this, including mine. Lest perhaps, and not necessarily, it involved the strong desire, the deep ambition, of the Roman leadership in general and in particular the great desire of Lucius Flavius ​​Silva, from the position of command of the tenth legion, the legion that conducted a serious siege system around Masada, the stronghold of the rebels, to simply take control of an area The cultivation of plants and the production of perfume from them, and this in terms of paraphrasing ("delusional"?) of the classic Shakespearean sentence: A kingdom for a horse. Strange, but I am not at all far from Roman military moves much more serious than a siege on Masada's side, which were based on the intention of getting rich, like the destruction of Carthage at the end of the third Punic war with the Romans, when the position of the senate, headed by old Cato and many senators with him, repressed the pleasure of economic assets, was economic-zealous completely.

It is true that the whole issue of persimmon cultivation and the production of the rare and expensive perfume from it and its plants and leaves was long before under the direct control of the Romans, what was called the praedium caesaris was a private estate of the Imperial House, but over time and especially during the rebellion the rebels took control of the production areas of the condemned perfume, which The emperor's house must have been worried about this and therefore ordered, perhaps, to return "the crown to its former glory" and return to the Romans the economic control that was so important and profitable. Was this an explicit instruction of the imperial house or of the governor of Judea during the rebellion - Sextus Lucilius Bassus, to instruct Silva, the commander of the legion and the director of the Roman siege of Masada, in this way. Or whether it was Silva's quasi-personal plan to take over the persimmon growing areas and the production of the condemned perfume, in the name of managing the siege, we do not know. In any case, Silva's appointment as governor of Judea until 75/6 CE, definitely matched, in my humble opinion (perhaps a little fanciful), what I assumed above.

The midrashim dating to a later period, somewhere in the fourth and fifth centuries CE, state that the Land of Israel was blessed with many perfumes and spices that at that time had a universal echo, such as the praise of Rabbi Yehuda, for example, regarding the spice of cinnamon, which is confirmed in Hellenistic and Roman literature, and which explains, as we have already shown elsewhere, how they used The Romans monopolized the production of perfumes and spices as well as their distribution throughout the empire.

Among the rare and expensive perfumes, the persimmon perfume stood out in particular and earned him a wide-ranging reputation. This perfume was produced in the Ein Gedi and Jericho area due to the natural conditions and environmental climate in general. The Roman writer Pliny and the Greco-Roman Strabo and even Georgios Cyprios attest to this.

The growing area of ​​the persimmon plant, which despite the botanical efforts since then and even considering Pliny's attempt to draw its shape, the identification of the plant remains a mystery. The dimensions of the area, according to the testimony of Yosef ben Mattiyahu, were large: "70 ris by 70 ris", that is, 1400 meters by 400 meters, when the trees/plants were grown very densely.

Yosef ben Matthew points out that "the soil in the area of ​​Jericho is the most fertile in all the land of Judah and grows mostly date trees and persimmons" (Wars 138:469) and continues there and notes that "the juicy persimmon bush is more valuable than all the other fruits that grow in the place, and kaffir and myrrh (perfume)" ( Ibid. 138) and that "in the trunk of the persimmon tree (artisans) carve slits with a sharp stone (in a stone fragment or pottery as the testimony of Theophrastus) and store the resin that drips from the slits" (Ibid. XNUMX:XNUMX).

Chazal sources confirm the symbolic work of the Jewish cradles in their midrashic way in this way: "From the gate of the land Nebuzaradan left the cooks (in the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians and the beginning of the Assyrian Babylonian exile) for the growers and the Jobim (from Jeremiah Neb 16). 'To the vinedressers' give (year, sermon) Rav Yosef: These are those who pick persimmons from Ein Gedi to Ramat(A)H", which is located on the other side of the Jordan River right in front of Jericho (Talmud Babili Shabbat, XNUMX p. XNUMX). The interpretation related to the Roman economic management is obvious, because until the Babylonian period they did not produce the persimmon perfume at all.

Bariata in the Babylonian Talmud (Berachot Mag p. XNUMX) emphasizes that "there is no blessing from the Creator of trees in the heavens, but on the persimmon of the house of Rabbi and the persimmon of the house of Caesar." This source, one of the rare ones in Sage literature, indicates in the "Persmonic connection" the financial connection between the house of the presidency of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and one of the emperors of the late second century CE or the beginning of the third century, when we have already mentioned more than once in the previous chapters about political connections /economic/social/cultural between the Presidency and the Roman Emperor Antoninus the Syrian. And the administrative relationship between the Roman Empire, which was certainly interested in developing the subject of persimmon perfume, and Beit Rabbi. The above-mentioned source bothers to indicate the historical point of time, which is not always prominent in sage literature, namely - from the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi there was a production and perhaps marketing change in the production process of the upgraded persimmon perfume, which may even have surpassed the Roman production centers in the region.

It did not begin during the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, but long before him. Not for nothing, due to its rarity, its prestige, its value (when according to a Roman estimate the value of half a liter of persimmon-Bashmi was between 300 and 1000 dinars, which are truly astronomical sums) and its secret production method (we will see later), weighty political factors fought for control over its growing area , and to prove it, the condemned territory was transferred to the disposal of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra at the initiative of the Roman Marcus Antonius as a sign of his love/lust for her, straight from the properties of King Herod and from there to the possession of the Roman Empire under private res caesaris.
Pliny the Elder says that during the Great Rebellion around the year 70 CE, the Jews sought to consume their anger in the persimmon bushes in the southern region, which led to severe military conflicts between the Jews, including the rebels in general, and the Roman legions (probably from the tenth Partensian legion), who prevented the destruction of the bitter plants expensive Furthermore, Pliny the Elder says that in the procession of the Roman victory over the rebels (i.e. the "Triumph") led by Vespasian and Titus in Rome, the persimmon plants and their fruits were displayed in honor of the cheering crowds.
And where is the economic effect perhaps hidden in this matter, Pliny continues and reports that in the 5 years since the suppression of the rebellion in Judea and Galilee (until 78 AD approximately), persimmon production in Judea brought in about 800,000 sesterces to the Roman treasury, even here we are talking about astronomical sums.

As mentioned, this preceded a long time before Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, but the upgrading of the perfume and its marketing began and gained great momentum starting from the days of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi. And in this context it is appropriate to quote the words of the same Rabbi Yehuda in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat Seg p. XNUMX) about the policy of the Roman Empire in order for the price of perfume to increase many times over and this by artificially reducing the area of ​​cultivation and in his language - "decimtsmai malkta", which is confirmed by an interesting midrashic testimony.

The Roman involvement in organizing the production and marketing of the persimmon perfume finds its linguistic expression, in the examination of the nomenclature of terms embedded in Sage literature such as "balsam" according to Rabbi Yehoshua Deschanin, "apobalsamon", "balsamon", "applesmon" and more. In the archaeological literature of the Land of Israel, it was found that jars saturated with perfume have survived and on them the inscription "balsana" or "balsema", that is, persimmon from the Greek language. President Rashbagh referred to the symbols of the incense that appear in the Bible in connection with the temple and noted that "the incense is nothing but resin that drips from the Kataf trees". "Kataf" is a biblical Hebrew name for the persimmon tree. And this is to know that the geographer Strabo testified that persimmons were grown and produced in the Bekaa region in two gardens: "the balsam garden and the king's garden", perhaps to testify to two types, two species.

Sage sources attest to the properties of the persimmon perfume and at the same time the Greek and Roman authors seem to strengthen their claims. From this we learn, and probably not exaggerating, how strong the scent of the produced perfume was, pulsating like snake venom and potentially causing dangerous reactions to the perfumer in excessive quantities. In one midrash it is told about the great distance between Jerusalem and Jericho, about ten furlongs, yet the goats in Jericho often sneezed at the smell of the balsamic incense that was lit in the temple. In another place, it is told how the maidens used to place the shoe/sandal in the space between the heel and the sole, and when the side of the belly of a cute elm would perform a strong step in the heel area, raising a perfumed cloud and waiting for the romantic pairing.

Some used to mix the persimmon perfume with other oil juices and even with different markers such as the fragrant tree branches, perhaps for profitable economic reasons or to add a special personal garnet touch to the perfume, and perhaps even a professional one, considering a more pleasant body pin. Midrash Tanhuma mentions the phrase "barrel of persimmons", and it is probably a mixed perfume or one that is sold in small packets.
It is worth emphasizing that Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi was a respected conductor (lessee) within the Roman Empire's assets. And he received a lease of at least part of the Roman imperial property in the Land of Israel, and from that he was obliged to supply the production of perfumes, especially persimmons) to the house of the Roman Empire.

Due to its high price, the Romans needed to guarantee and secure the production of the perfume in question, its storage and of course its marketing. Therefore, in my opinion, the testimony of the historian Eusebius about Bela, is she a cadet, should be placed in our sources near which the persimmon grows and where there is evidence of the presence/presence of a Roman military guard, and perhaps also in Migdal Sana where the perfume was produced. All of this depends on the importance of the persimmon and its bushme production. And perhaps also as another factor in the stretching of the Roman fortified defense line that stretched between the southern Dead Sea and the Gaza/Rafih area and was called the Palestinian limes (limes palaestinae).

We will conclude this section by citing two interesting testimonies. One involves the production of the perfume and the other is indirectly related to it.

Well, in the archaeological excavations conducted in the Ein Gedi area, an instructive inscription was discovered on a mosaic floor in the Jewish Synagogue in Ein Gedi and it dates to the sixth century AD. The inscription, which is located in the synagogue as an integral part of it, and from that acquires great importance and sanctity. The inscription highlights a vigorous curse against anyone who steals any objects from his friends and who will give/leak "Reza Dekarta" (the city's secret) to the Gentiles. And what is the secret of the city? It seems that this is a concern that the secret of persimmon production will be leaked out and harm the local residents' economy. It is thus similar to a professional association, Collegia Professionalis, under the foreign rule, in the previous time, the Roman, probably on a family-communal basis as is customary, and the sacred place of the mosaic in question. The seriousness of the theft of the objects/instruments/tools also involves the Roman monopolization that took care of all the professional equipment of the workers, and the theft of one or another tool was considered a violation of the Roman rule and thus the severity of the curse placed on the potential criminal.

The fear in general of passing on trade secrets and especially among professional associations is emphasized in a short story embedded in the Jerusalem Talmud (Foreign Work, Chapter XNUMX, p. XNUMX) about the Glaziers' Association that did not leak its secrets to outsiders and did not suffer any harm, while on the other hand, the Scarf Weavers' Association was severely punished for keeping its secrets to the point of disappearance.

During the Great Revolt, around the year 70/71 AD, the Sikray battalion, which was fortified in Masada and became a "mafioso tax collector", used to raid the Jewish center in Ein Gedi and abuse it, perhaps against the background of the Jews' refusal to pay "patronage fees". These, in the arms of Elazar ben Yair, raided the residents of Ein Gedi one day during Passover and slaughtered no less than seven hundred people there, women and children, and horrific evidence of this was found in the place of shattered skulls dating back to that period.

The connection between the persimmon perfume industry/production and the bully activity of the aforementioned battalion with the knowledge and responsibility of Masada's commander, Elazar Ben Yair, with the flashing enrichment of the Ein Gedi community in the background is quite clear and logical. But you have to wait for something more solid. Well, in the cliff springs near Qumran, two installations for the production of the perfume were uncovered, no less and no more: a large soaking pool and a collection pit for placing the persimmon tree trimmings that contained branches, leaves, bark and seeds. The pruning is crushed by using large grinding and grinding stones.
The distilled liquid extract flowed through a hewn channel to a collection pit where it was stored in clay jugs and from there it was transferred to a special cooking facility.
In the Masada itself, ostracones (shards of pottery) with an inscription called "Katfi" were uncovered. Perhaps in the nameless spelling "Namalau" we will get "Kotfi", or simply "Katfi" which is well associated with the persimmon perfume and its linguistic identification.
In one of the Roman siege camps around Masada, namely the XNUMXth "Iron" legion, two pieces of papyrus were found, which were probably taken from the area or during the climb to the summit of Masada. The papyrus was engraved with the inscription "balsam (persimmon) from wood" for incense and medicinal use.

The whole affair of the production of the persimmon, the very expensive perfume, at least in this case, may possibly be related to the Roman siege of Masada after the control of the Jericho area and the surrounding area was covered, when the intention of Silva, the commander of the Roman legion, perhaps covertly, perhaps secondary, was to take control of the whole matter of growing the tree , the development of its fruits and the production of its special perfume. After all, at least from then on, its employees were eris or tenants on behalf of the Roman Empire. And let's not forget that after the Great Revolt, the great Roman construction project of a line of fortifications from the south of the Dead Sea to the Rafah/Gaza strip begins, with the easternmost line of fortifications being weak on Jericho and the Ein Gedi area.
Also, it was not for nothing that the persimmon plant was presented at the great Roman triumph held in the city of Rome after the suppression of the Jewish rebellion and immediately after, to present and emphasize its economic importance and Rome's ability to take over its perfume production centers.

resin

Another perfume produced from the date fruit was called resin, which was also expensive, however secondary of course to the persimmon perfume. This perfume was produced from the date tree and its fruits. Here too, due to the weather conditions and the nature of the soil, Jericho, which was known as a Roman imperial estate, became famous for growing dates for food, for potions, for the production of a kind of silan, and for perfumery. President Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel was required to state that "no dates are brought except from Jericho" (Talmud Yerushalmi Bikurim, chapter XNUMX, seg, p. XNUMX). This ruling testifies to the subordination of the President of the Land of Israel to the Romans, who actually praises the Jericho dates, and as if forces the public to purchase the date fruits specifically from the Roman imperial estates in Jericho, considering a production-marketing monopoly in the region.
Among other things, the "Nicolaus Palm" grows in this area, which is explicitly mentioned in "The Description of the Whole World", and is named after Nicolaus of Damascus. Regarding it Rabbi Meir teaches that there is a prohibition against selling it to Gentiles (Mishnat Avoda Zerah 5:XNUMX), also for the above reasons. And in another testimony it was found that "Rabbi Meir says: Even a palm of Tab and Hasad and Nekleves (it is a "Palm of Nicholas") must not be sold to Gentiles. Rabbi Hama bar Ukba said: Caryota (these dates are similar to nuts and are called caryotis by the Roman writer Pliny). Rabbi (a) Lazar me Rabbi Yossi says: He is a species and his name is Chazda..." (Yerushalmi Talmud Avoda Zerah Chapter XNUMX Lt p. XNUMX). It is possible that the meaning here is the prohibition of selling the fruit to Gentiles (Greeks), due to it being grown under the supervision of the Roman Empire. However, Rabbi Meir's prohibition may actually testify to the permissibility of selling it to foreigners at that time on the basis of the historiosophical rule that none of us learn about them.
And perhaps the next midrash quoted in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai may describe the image depicted above as follows: "An anti-Caesar king of Babylon (referring to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius who ruled together with Lucius Varus), sits in Jericho, and sends dates to Babylon" (Genesis Rabbah XNUMX:XNUMX) . If the reference here is to a Roman emperor, then the importance of the fruits of the Land of Israel marketed to Babylon, which was actually abounding in dates, and it suffices to mention Palmyra, aka Palmyra in Greek (an oasis of palms and dates) on the border of Syria and Babylon. And perhaps the reference is to the identification of Babylon as Rome, and from this we find a reinforcement for the Midrash that alludes to the transportation of the produce to Caesarea, and for the Jerusalem Talmud that indicates the presence of dates in Rome. And also, a special meaning lies in the words of Rabbi Hanina bar Sissey, who tells about "Haven Ilin Danshaya meshalchin liya naklusin" (Yerushalmi Talmud Baruchot chapter XNUMX, XNUMX, p. XNUMX) (meaning (Act XNUMX) the agents/people of the President of Israel who send "naklusin". "Naclevosin" is a garbled expression (as was customary in those days) for the palm/date of Nicholas of Damascus, as mentioned in the previous section.
Dates also grew in the city of Tzoer (the city of dates), as Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov testifies: "I will eat dates until the last straw in Tzoer" (Tosefta 15:XNUMX). In other words, the cadet's dates were so fine and durable that they marked a chronological line for the cultivation of dates in general in the context of Halachot Shaviat. Other places that were praised for growing dates were in connection with the imperial estates such as Abel, Hamtan, Beit Rima, Petzalis and Beit Shan.

Myrrh and Frankincense

These as sheep and signs are mentioned in the Bible, for example in the Song of Songs. The frankincense was produced by natural drying of the resinous liquid of the frankincense trees. It is used as incense and medicine. The lavender was grown in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area. It is said that the Roman Emperor Nero burned the entire stock of frankincense in the fire at the funeral ceremony of his wife Popaea and Achilles, aka Onclus Hagar, burned huge quantities of fine oil when Rabbi Yehuda the President passed away.
The myrrh perfume was produced from the resin of the myrrh tree, which was one of the hallmarks of incense. In the Talmud he is called "the head of all heavens."
The evidence in the Sage literature about the two aforementioned perfumes implies that these perfumes were supplied both to the Roman Empire and to the merchants of the Hellenistic polis cities in the Land of Israel. Their growth and production was increased as a result of the increase in urban-Hellenistic settlements in the Land of Israel. In this spirit, the following source testifies: "Of all of them, they (foreigners) were familiar with a package (a measure of the volume and weight of perfumes). And how much is a package? (The Tosefta asks) Rabbi Yehuda ben Fatira says: There are no less than three recognized species of lavender for tea..." (Tosefta Avoda Zerah 21:XNUMX).

Both Tiberias and Tzipori as well as Beit Shaarim became famous for the production of perfumes, and in light of the above-mentioned line of reasons and arguments, such as the policy of encouraging production forces, great importance must be attributed to the economic impetus given during the period in question to the cultivation and cultivation of perfume plants on a considerable scale.

Spices

Apart from perfumes, the ancient Land of Israel was blessed with spices, as the Tosefta tells us (Avodah Zerah 1:XNUMX): "There is no treasurer in the Land of Israel of things that have life in them, such as wines, oils and baskets (and) fruits. But things that have no soul in them, such as cumin and spices, it is allowed, and they are prohibited for three years on the eve of Shabbat..." Beyond the fact of the intervention of the sages of the Sanhedrin in such economic matters, for better or for worse, the distinction between, for example, oils and spices in the context of the export trade, and especially in relation to the values ​​pertaining to the two types of the fertility of the Land of Israel, is interesting. And not this one, but also this one, which we never learn about.
The field of the production of spices, just like the perfumes, touched the economic interest on the one hand and the medical, health interest on the other, so it was important for the Romans to encourage its production and monitor it as much as possible. The center of spices and perfumes in general was in the Far East and Rome purchased its products in exchange for silver and gold, all this when the metallic reservoir of the Roman Empire was at its worst by the third century AD, due to domestic and foreign wars and the export of silver coins as a result of international trade, the multiple expenses of the emperors and their courts. That is why the development of the spices and perfumes industry in the Roman province, as for example in the Syrian one and the Judean one, was extremely important for the center of the empire.

In conclusion, it was said that due to the formation of a considerable audience for perfume and spice products such as the imperial court, these industries flourished significantly, also due to the almost direct involvement of the centers of the Roman government in their production. The eras of urbanization also contributed to the production of perfumes and spices. Important consumers were the worship centers, the baths, the gymnasiums and more. A significant consumer in the Land of Israel was the wealthy presidency, the needs of the temple and the residents of the various cities mainly on the coastal plain. The economic symbiosis between the different production streams, such as perfumes and spices from this and the production of ceramics and glassware from this, in the Ha Baha Tlia view, contributed well to the development of the various industries mentioned here. And the sages of the Sanhedrin in Donam on issues involving those products only contributed to their development. The improvement of pottery and glass led to adequate storage conditions and their preservation and export outside the borders of the province.

And once again we will recall what I expressed as a hypothesis at the beginning of the discussed article: it can be assumed that one of the motives for the Roman siege of Masada, if not the most important of them, was the hidden ambition of the commander of the tenth legion and later the commissioner of the defeated Judah, to take control during the military campaign of the centers of the production of ephemera in the ancient Land of Israel .