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Zaatar
Za'atar ( ; ar, زَعْتَر, ) is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices. As a family of related Middle Eastern herbs, it contains plants from the genera ''Origanum'' ( oregano), ''Calamintha'' ( basil thyme), ''Thymus'' (typically ''Thymus vulgaris'', i.e., thyme), and ''Satureja'' ( savory) plants.Allen, 2007p. 237. The name ''za'atar'' alone most properly applies to ''Origanum syriacum'', considered in biblical scholarship to be the ezov ( he, אזוב ) of the Hebrew Bible, often translated as ''hyssop'' but distinct from modern ''Hyssopus officinalis''. Used in Levantine cuisine, both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the Mediterranean region of the Middle East. Etymology According to Ignace J. Gelb, an Akkadian language word that can be read ''sarsar'' may refer to a spice plant. This word could be attested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thyme
Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenous to the Mediterranean region. Thymes have culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses, and the species most commonly cultivated and used for culinary purposes is ''Thymus vulgaris''. History Thyme is indigenous to the Mediterranean region. Wild thyme grows in the Levant, where it might have been first cultivated. Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage. The spread of thyme throughout Europe was thought to be due to the Romans, as they used it to purify their rooms and to "give an aromatic flavour to cheese and liqueurs". In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satureja
''Satureja'' is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. It is native to North Africa, southern and southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. A few New World species were formerly included in ''Satureja'', but they have all been moved to other genera. Several species are cultivated as culinary herbs called savory, and they have become established in the wild in a few places. Description ''Satureja'' species may be annual or perennial. They are low-growing herbs and subshrubs, reaching heights of . The leaves are long, with flowers forming in whorls on the stem, white to pale pink-violet. Ecology and cultivation ''Satureja'' species are food plants for the larva of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Caterpillars of the moth ''Coleophora bifrondella'' feed exclusively on winter savory (''S. montana''). Savory may be grown purely for ornamental purposes; members of the genus need sun and well-drained soil. Uses Bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satureja Thymbra
''Satureja thymbra'', commonly known as savory of Crete, whorled savory, pink savory, and Roman hyssop ( Arabic: ''za'atar rumi''; ''za'atar franji''), is a perennial-green dwarf shrub of the family Lamiaceae, having strongly scented leaves, endemic to Libya, southeastern Europe from Sardinia to Turkey; Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel (Palestine). The plant is noted for its dark-green leaves which grow on numerous, closely compacted branches, reaching a height of 20–50 cm. The plant bears pink to purple flowers that blossom between March and June. Habitat The semi-shrub grows mainly in Mediterranean woodlands and scrubland, adapting well to higher elevations, but also seen on rocky limestone gullies as an undergrowth, and alongside dirt roads. In Israel, the plant is commonly found in the Mount Carmel region, south of Haifa, as well as in the mountainous district of Upper Galilee, in Samaria and in the Judean mountains, thriving in areas where the soils are mainly terra rossa a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thymbra Capitata
''Thymus capitatus'' is a compact, woody perennial native to Mediterranean Europe and Turkey, more commonly known as conehead thyme, Persian-hyssop and Spanish oregano. It is also known under the name ''Thymbra capitata''. Description The plant has rising stems and narrow, fleshy, oil-gland-dotted green leaves that reach a length of . The pink, -long flowers are held in cone-shaped clusters at the ends of their stems in mid to late summer; they are protected by overlapping, -long, red-tinged bracts, edged in tiny hairs. In Eurasia, a species of leafless parasitic dodder ('' Cuscuta epithymum'') would often attach itself to the conehead thyme (''Thymus capitatus''), taking on the plant's pungency and from whence it also derived its host's Arabic name, ''al-ṣaʿitrah''. -- () ''Thymus capitatus'' is hardy from USDA Zones 7–10. In Israel, the plant ''Thymus capitatus'' has protected status, making it a criminal offence to harvest it.Avi Shmida, ''MAPA's Dictionary of Plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Ben Abraham I
Nathan ben Abraham, known also by the epithet ''President of the Academy'' () in the Land of Israel (died ca. 1045 – 1051), was an 11th-century rabbi and exegete of the Mishnah who lived in Ramla, in the Jund Filastin district of the Fatimid Caliphate. He was the author of the first known commentary covering the entire Mishnah. Biography A critical analysis of the time-frame in which the author of the Judeo-Arabic Mishnah commentary lived places him in the early 11th century. Assaf suggests that he was Rabbi Nathan the second, the son of Rabbi Abraham who was called ''the Pious'', a contemporary of Rabbi Abiathar, who served in the ''geonate'' of the Land of Israel in 1095 CE. This view has been rejected by more recent scholars, such as Gil (1983), Friedman (1990), Danzig (1998), Amar (2011) and Fox (1994), who put him two generations earlier. In around 1011, Nathan travelled to Qayrawan, to attend to his family inheritance, and while there he studied under the illustrious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. Born in Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain), on Passover eve, 1138 (or 1135), he worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He died in Egypt on 12 December 1204, when his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen. Yet, while Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, his writings also had vociferous critics, particularly in Spain. Nonetheless, he was posthumously ackno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonah Ibn Janah
Jonah ibn Janah or ibn Janach, born Abu al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ ( ar, أبو الوليد مروان بن جناح, or Marwan ibn Ganaḥ Hebrew: ), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in Al-Andalus, or Islamic Spain. Born in Córdoba, ibn Janah was mentored there by Isaac ibn Gikatilla and Isaac ibn Mar Saul, before he moved around 1012, due to the sacking of the city. He then settled in Zaragoza, where he wrote ''Kitab al-Mustalhaq'', which expanded on the research of Judah ben David Hayyuj and led to a series of controversial exchanges with Samuel ibn Naghrillah that remained unresolved during their lifetimes. His magnum opus, ''Kitab al-Anqih'', contained both the first complete grammar for Hebrew and a dictionary of Classical Hebrew, and is considered "the most influential Hebrew grammar for centuries" and a foundational text in Hebrew scholarship. Ibn Janah is considered a very influential scholar in the field of Hebrew grammar; his wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Ben Abraham Al-Fasi
David ben Abraham al-Fasi ( he, דוד בן אברהם אלפאסי) was a medieval Jewish, Moroccan lexicographer and grammarian from Fez, living in the second half of the 10th century (died before 1026 CE), who eventually settled in the Land of Israel where he is believed to have composed his magnum opus. He belonged to the sect of the Karaites, and displayed skills as a grammarian and commentator. Al-Fasi was the author of ''Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ'' ("The Book of Collected Meanings"), one of the earliest known Judeo-Arabic Dictionaries, a work which defines words in the Hebrew Bible. It is the first dictionary of biblical Hebrew. He classifies the roots according to the number of their letters, as did the grammarians prior to Judah Hayyūj. Method of elucidation Scholars have pointed out that David ben Abraham al-Fasi, in all the controversies between the Rabbanites (''rabbanim'') and the Karaites (''maskilim''), invariably sides with the latter, often criticizing th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; alternative English names: Rabbeinu Sa'adiah Gaon ("our Rabbi heSaadia Gaon"), often abbreviated RSG (RaSaG); Saadia b. Joseph; Saadia ben Joseph; Saadia ben Joseph of Faym; or Saadia ben Joseph Al-Fayyumi; 882/892 – 942) was a prominent rabbi, gaon, Jewish philosopher, and exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic. Known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy, he was a practitioner of the philosophical school known as the "Jewish Kalam". In this capacity, his philosophical work '' The Book of Beliefs and Opinions'' represents the first systematic attempt to integrate Jewish theology with components of ancient Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encompassing four languages: Judeo-Moroccan Arabic (aju), Judeo-Yemeni Arabic (jye), Judeo-Iraqi Arabic (yhd), and Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic (yud). ''Judeo-Arabic'' can also refer to Classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages. Many significant Jewish works, including a number of religious writings by Saadia Gaon, Maimonides and Judah Halevi, were originally written in Judeo-Arabic, as this was the primary vernacular language of their authors. Characteristics The Arabic spoken by Jewish communities in the Arab world differed slightly from the Arabic of their non-Jewish neighbours. These differences were partly due to the incorporation of some words from Hebrew and other languages and partly geographical, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyssopus Officinalis
''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expectorant, it has been used in traditional herbal medicine. Description Hyssop is a brightly coloured shrub or subshrub that ranges from in height. The stem is woody at the base, from which grow a number of upright branches. Its leaves are lanceolate, dark green, and from long. During the summer, hyssop produces pink, blue, or, more rarely, white fragrant flowers. These give rise to small oblong tetra-achenes. History A plant called hyssop has been in use since classical antiquity. Its name is a direct adaptation from the Greek ὕσσωπος (). The Hebrew word אזוב (''ezov'', ''esov'', or ''esob'') and the Greek word ὕσσωπος probably share a common (but unknown) origin. The name hyssop appears as a translation of ''ezov'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tānāḵh''), also known in Hebrew as Miqra (; Hebrew: ''Mīqrā''), is the Biblical canon, canonical collection of Hebrew language, Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim. Different branches of Judaism and Samaritanism have maintained different versions of the canon, including the 3rd-century Septuagint text used by Second-Temple Judaism, the Syriac language Peshitta, the Samaritan Torah, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and most recently the 10th century medieval Masoretic Text, Masoretic text created by the Masoretes currently used in modern Rabbinic Judaism. The terms "Hebrew Bible" or "Hebrew Canon" are frequently confused with the Masoretic text, however, this is a medieval version and one of several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
