number, and put forth nuh-like, swosd-diapsd, ent green (Psa. xcU, 18 ; comp. Shaw, p. ISiQ Itms, Am 2 inches broad, and 8 to 12 feet long. In tbt ndi of the topmost and youngest bfancbea is founds pso^ ed, pithy heart (iycs^ov, or bead), iMoxly two tk in length, which contains the boda <^ new tvigi a leaves (this, when cut off, was reliabed as s ^ article of food from the taste of the drvpee, lleqib PlanU.n,B; Pliny, xiii, 9 ; Mishnai, Ofaia, m, 7 ; li^ riti, Trav. p. 407). Staminate and pistiQatB ieve are upon separate stema. This renders aa sitiSai fsrtiliaation necessary in order to insure the inie (see Mishna, Pesacky iv, 8; Ammian. Marc xxiT,i;i 18, Bip.), for which the right time must be yma- actly observed* For in February there appetr <a& stem, at the jdnts of the lowest branches, bag ytm one yard) capsules, inclosed in a leathery skiB,vyej in May shoot up into male blossoms and §eaak t«- tons. The former are now plucked off (about Jbpk:, slit through the length, and inserted upon the fcm^ germs (Kimpfer, Amoen, p. 707 ; Haiwwlqiiist, ^ U, 228 sq. ; Shaw, p. 127 ; Thevenot, ii, 170> See B«a
Cluster of Date-palm FraiL
The trtdi (Talm. T^t?^, Snrenhnaiiia, liisdna^ I 258 ; vi, 91), which comes to maturity in abed i^ months (August and September, or October)^ bn^is clusters (Cant, vii, 7) together, in form like the smkl but mosUy larger, and with a fine ruddy (JXoL S:-
Ancient ^^yptlan Cake of premrvcd Dates, fbnnd by tnSi:- ■on at Thebes. At a is a Dale-slco&
ii, 63) or white skin. The best kmd is cMSkdjoL They were sometimes used in a fiesh state (B^s^ uEth, ii, 23 ; comp. Hasselquist, p. 540) as a thj coC' mon article of food (Burckhardt, Arab. p. 4^ ^ Harmar, iii, 415), sometimes dried as a dessertJnc: (Xenoph. AneA, ii, 3, 15), and sometimes their ^n was pressed out (comp. Jonathan's Tartan oe P^ viii, 8), which, as date^wine (olvoc ^wkw), wbs b^ use of fk-om ancient times (Herod, i, 198 ; in, 8S; X* oph. Anab. ii, 8, 14; Pliny, xui, 9; xiv, 19; Pkibff Apol, ii, 6, 1; Athen. xiv, 651; Stiabo, xvi, p. :Ci Dioscor. V, 40 ; Wilkinaon, iii, 174 aq.), or
DATHAN
688
DATHENUS
<»iled down into a kind of palm-honey (Targ, Jon. and 'erwtf. on Dent, viii, 8 ; Strabo, xi, 742 ; Pliny, xiii, 9 ; Lmmian. Marcel, xxiii, 10 ; JoBephoB, War, iv, 8, 3 ; Ihaw, p. 128; Heeren, Idem, I, ii, 4^. See WnvB; loNBT. The dates (ccaryoUB, ^iviicofSdkavoi) left »7 this last operation of squeezing, being still fur- her subjected to ihe action of hot water, and thus %ac€rcUedf are made into an inferior but palatable rine. The ripe dates are also at the present day iressed into large, firm, oaky masses, which serre the ravellers in carayans as a satisfying and refreshing Jiment (Sonnini, ii, 26; Burckhardt, Arab, p. 45). This is the form, similar to that of raisins or figs, in which they appear in modem commerce. From the wigs (ribs of the leaves) baskets are made (Mishna, TheL xxyi, 1), also bird-cages and other wicker-ware ; ;heiT fibres are twbted into ropes and thread, but the leaves themselves are manufactured into baskets, nats, and brooms (Horace, Sat, ii, 4, 83 ; Mishna, Ok- em, i, 8; Pococke, East, i, 306; Ddbel, Wander, ii, L94: hence the palm-twigs were called caXXvvr^pia nr KoXXwrpa; compare Sept. at Lev. xxiii, 42 sq., D"»'n«n riifiS ; accordmgly, hi Cant, vii, 8, by ta^^SppO, boughs, we are to understand the crown of the palm; ascetics used the leaves for clothing, Jerome, 0pp. ii, 10; they are now made into fans). The Jews em- ployed palm-branches on the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii, 40 ; Neh. viii, 15 ; like the Egyptians in honor of Osiris, Minutoli, p. 16), and on festive occa- sions they carried them before princes and distin- guished personages, and waved them in token of joy and triumph (Kev. vii, 9 ; comp. Virgil, Georg. ii, 47 ; jEtl V, 111 ; Plutarch, Syrnpos. viii, 4, 1 ; 1 Mace, xiii, 61; John xii, 13; Philo, 0pp. i, 101; Minutoli, Trav. tab. 13). Even the kernels of the dates are made use of at the present day as fodder for cattle (Burckhardt, Arab. p. 542). The seed of the male tr^, which sheds a fragrant odor, is greedily eaten by the modem Ar- abs (Wellsted, i, 200). The wood is very spongy, but it lasts pretty well as building material for inside beams (Xenophon, Cyrop. vii, 5, 11 ; Strabo, xv, 731 ; xvi, 739; xvii, 822. See generally Theophr. PlanU. ii, 6 (Sprengel, Erldut. ii, 73 sq.) ; Plin. xiii, 6 sq. ; Jiescr. de VEgypte, xvii, 108 sq. ; Celsius, ii, 445 sq. ; Oken, Lehrb. d Botanih, II, i, 1003 sq.— Winer, i, 252. See Palm-tbeb.
Da'^tban (Heb. I>aihan\ *;n^, wUed, q. d. Fonto- niw; Sept Ao^ai/; Joseph. ^ci^anvoQ, Ant. iv, 2, 2), a Reubenite chieftain, son of Eliab, who joined the conspiracy of Korah (q. v.) the Levite, and with his accomplices was swallowed up by an earthquake (Num. xvi, 1 ; xxvi, 9 ; Deut. xi, 6 ; Psa. cvi, 17 ; comp. Ec- dos. xlv, 18). B.C. cir. 1618. See Exodb.