Sacred Bounty, Sacred Land: The Seven Species of the Land of Israel

Wheat and Barley, Grape, Fig, Pomegranate, Olive and Date

The Sacred Land to the ancient civilizations was the fertile earth. To the Assyrian-Babylonian cultures the earth was a round plateau; it was bounded by mountains on which rested the vaults of heaven. The mythology of Classical Greece states, "In the beginning there was Chaos, vast and dark. Then appeared Gaea, the deep-breasted earth.."

The ancient peoples believed that the earth was nourished by the Great Goddess, the Universal Mother, who is the spirit of life, and of inexhaustible creativity and sustenance. The Great Mother was the creator of the universe and the earth; who gave life to First Man and First Woman and taught them all their wisdom and lore. She was believed by the ancient peoples to be the giver of vegetation, "In the heavens I take my place and send rain, in the earth I take my place and cause the fruit of the earth to come forth.. " But ancient man's worship of the Great Mother Goddess was far deeper than any beliefs or creeds; it reflected the need of security in a then unfriendly world.

"For the Lord your G-d is bringing you to a rich land, a land of streams, of springs and underground waters gushing out in hill and valley, a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig-trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive, oil, and honey ..." Deutronomy 8:7-8

The essence of this Deuteronomic promise is repeated over the ages in literature and religious and cultural symbolism. Poets have celebrated these images in song, artists have taken them as their inspiration for works of art, religious ceremonies have revolved around them, mystics have delved into the secrets they represent.

When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they began the long, arduous process of clearing large sections of uncultivated hilly areas for farming. The Israelites built terraces of stone upon the hillsides to prevent soil from being washed down the slopes and planted vineyards and groves of fruit bearing trees. They continued their redemption of the land by clearing the lowlands from stone and debris for the sowing of cereal crops.