TlK' Metiupulitdn Mu.iuiii ^i Alt 



THE RITUAL OF FERTILIZING THE DATE 



The ancient Assyrians knew that the date palm never bears fruit unless the flower- 

 dust of the "male" plant reaches the stigmas of the "female" plant. The king started 

 the work of transferring pollen in a religious ceremony, which was recorded in stone 

 tablets or monuments. Date-growers in California use essentially the same method 

 systematically, but without ceremony. (Stone tablet from the palace of Ashur-nasir-pal 

 II, king of Assyria, 885-860 B.C.) 



