THE DATE 199 



study of O. Beccari, 1 to be a native of western India or the 

 Persian Gulf region. Evidently, long before the dawn of 

 history, it was at home in Arabia, where the Semites seem to 

 have accorded it religious honors because of its important 

 place in their food supply, its dioecious character, and the in- 

 toxicating drink which was manufactured from its sap, and 

 which in the cuneiform inscriptions is called "the drink of life." 



Traditions indicate that when the Semites invaded Babylonia 

 they found in that country their old friend the date palm, 

 particularly at Eridu, the Ur of the Chaldees (Mughayr of 

 modern maps) whence Abram set out on his migration to 

 Palestine. It is even suggested that the Semitic immigrants 

 settled at Eridu, which was then a seaport, on account of the 

 presence of the date palms, one of which was for many centuries 

 a famous oracle-tree. Several competent orientalists see in the 

 date palm of Eridu the origin of the Biblical legend of the 

 Garden of Eden. 



In very early times the palm had become naturalized in 

 northern India, northern Africa, and southern Spain. From 

 Spain it was brought to America a few centuries ago. 



In the last quarter of a century, United States governmental 

 and private investigators have visited most of the date-growing 

 regions of the Old World in search of varieties for introduction 

 into this country, where, in California and Arizona, may now be 

 found assembled all the finest ones that cultivation, ancient 

 and modern, has yet produced. 



Orthodox Muslims consider that the dates of al-Madinah, in 

 Arabia, are the best in the world, partly for the reason that 

 this was the home of the prophet Muhammad, who was himself 

 a connoisseur of the fruit. Unbiased judgment, however, com- 

 monly yields the palm to the district of Hasa, in eastern Arabia, 

 where the delicious variety Khalaseh grows, watered by hot 

 springs. The district of greatest commercial importance is 



1 Malesia, ill. 



