2. Nelvth (rsrp) occurs twice in the book of Gen- esis, and no doubt indicates a product of Sj'ria, for in one case we find it carried into Egj'pt as an article of commerce, and in another sent as a present into the same country. Thus, in Gen. xxxvii, 25 we read, " Be- hold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels, bearing spicery {nek6th),A\\A balm (tzeri), and myrrh (lot), going to carry it down to Egypt." To these men Joseph was sold by his brethren, when they were feeding their flocks at Dothan, ascertained to be a few miles to the north of Sebaste, or Samaria. It is curious that .Jacob, when desiring a present to be taken to the ruler of Egypt, enumerates nearly the same arti- cles (Gen. xliii, 11), "Carry down the man a present, a little balm [tzeri), and a little honey {debdsh), spices, (nekuth) and myrrh {lot)." (See the several words.) IJochart {Hieroz. II, iv, 12) enters into a learned ex- position of the meaning of nekot/i, of which Dr. Har- ris has given an abridged view in his article on spices. Bochart shows that the true import of nekoth has al- ways been considered uncertain, for it is rendered wax by the paraphrast Jonathan, in the Arabic version of Erpenius, and in Bereshith Riibba (§ 91, near the end). Others interpret it very differently. The Sept. renders it 3rv[xiafjLa, pei-Jume ; Acpiila, storax ; the Syrian version, resin ; the Samaritan, balsam ; one Arabic version, khur- nub or carob; another, sumiiyha (or gum); Kimchi, a desirable thin;/ ; rabbi Selomo, a collection of several aromatics. Bochart himself considers it to mean sto- rax, and gives six reasons in support of his opinion, but none of them appears of much weight. Storax, no doubt, was a natural product of Syria, and an indige- nous product seems to be imjilied; and Jerome (Gen. xliii, 11) follows Aquila in rendering it styrax. Itosen-
mliller, in his Bibl. Bol. p. 165, Engl, transl., adopts trag- acanth as the meaning of nekvth, without expressing any doubt on tiie subject; stating that "the Arabic word neka or nekat, which is analogous to the Hebrew, denotes that gum which is obtained from the traga- canth, or, as it is commonly called, by way of contrac- tion, traganth shrub, which grows on IMount Lebanon, in the isle of Candia, and also in Southern Europe." Dr. Royle was not able to find any word similar to nekoth indicating the tragacanth, which in his own MS. Materia Medica is given under the Arabic name of kitad, sometimes pronounced kithad; and, indeed, it may be found imder the same name in Avicenna and other Arabic authors. In Kichardson's A rabic Diction- ary we find nakat, translated as meaning the best part of corn (or dates) when sifted or cleaned ; also mikayet, the choicest part of anything cleaned, but sometimes also the refuse. Tragacanth is an exudation from sev- eral species of the genus Astrayalus and subdivision Tragacantka, which is produced in Crete, but chiefly in Northern Persia and in Kurdistan, In the latter prov- ince Dr. Dickson, of Tripoli, saw large quantities of it collected from plants, of which he preserved specimens and gave them to Mr. Brandt, British consul at Erze- roum, by whom they were sent to Dr. Lindley. One of these, yielding the best tragacanth, proved to be A. ginnmifer of Labillardiere. It was found by him on Mount Lebanon, where he ascertained that trag- acanth was collected by the shepherds. It might therefore have been conveyed by Ishmaelites from (iil- ead to Egypt, It has in its favor that it is a produce of the remote parts of Syria, is described by ancient authors, as Theophrastus, Dioscorides, etc., and has al- ways been highly esteemed as a gum in Eastern coun- tries. It was therefore very likely to be an article of commerce to Egypt in ancient times. — Kitto. It is de- scribed by Dioscorides as a low shrub, with strong and wide-spreading branches almost lying on the ground, and covered with many small thin leaves, among which there are concealed white, erect, and strong thorns. Three or four species of the genus are enumerated as occurring in Palestine (see Strand, Flora I'alastina, No. 413-416). The gum is a natural exudation from the trunk and branches of the plant, which, on being "exposed to the air, grows hard, and is formed either into lumps or slender pieces curled and winding like worms, more or less long according as matter offers" (Tournefort, Voyaye [Lond. ed. 1741], i, 59), The gum having no smell, and being of a quite sweetish taste,
Astragalus tragacantha.
SPICE
928
SriDER
was not used for fumifiations, but, mixed with honey, was extensively used as a medicine. It is now chietiy em()li>yed for irs mucilaf,'inous property as a paste, es- pecial! v l)y druggists. See Tristram, Sat. Hist, of the /yiWf, p.3{«.
It is uncertain whether the word rr3, nekdth, in 2 Kings XX, 13; Isa. xxxix, '2. denotes sjtice of any kind. The A. V. reads in the text "ihe house of his jirecious things." the margin gives "spiccry," which has iliesui)- port of the Vidg., A<i.. and Syinrn. It is clear from the passages referred to that Ilezekiah possessed a house or treasury of precious and useful vegetable productions, and that mkolli may in these places denote, though per- haps not exclusively, tragacanth gum. Keil (^Cum- viml. loc. cit.) derives the word from an unused root (ri3, "implevit Inculum"), and renders it by "treas- ure."— Smith.