F. T. H.
J.
J.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
A. s. w.
PALM (Phmnix dactylifera): An evergreen tree
growing in tropical climates in a dry atmosphere.
The term for it, common to the Aramaic, Ethiopic,
and Hebrew, is "tamar" (iDn). The Arabic
"tamr" means more particularly the fruit of the
date-palm. The Aramaic has also the name "dil}la,"
and a feminine form, "dil~leta" (see Jastrow,
"Diet." s.v.). The stem of the date-palm is slender and very yielding, so that in a storm it sways
back and forth, but does not break; and throughout its length it bears marks showing where leaves
have fallen off. The tree is crowned by a mass
of branches from 40 to 80 in number, and on
these the fruit grows. There are distinct male and
female trees-hence the masculine and feminine
forms of the name in Aramaic-and artificial fertilization is necessary. The Assyrian monuments show
figures of a god having a pail in one hand, and with
the other spreading the pollen on palms.
When the fruit begins to grow it bas a green
color, which gradually changes, through yellow and
red, until it becomes quite dark; it hangs in bunches
from the stalk. The date-palm relies for nourishment upon its roots, which strike downward and
reach water under the soil; if this fails, irrigation
must be resorted to. Especially interesting in this
light. are the Babylonian contract tablets. From
these it is learned that trenches were dug around
the palms, so as to supply water to the roots. From
the tablets it is clear also that dates were used quite
frequently in payment of rent and of all kinds of
debts (sec "Babylonian Expedition of University of
Pennsylvania," ix.).
The tree was very plentiful in Palestine in ancient times, but now is found only at the Lake of
Gennesaret, near Jericho, and around the Dead Sea
(Nowack, "Lehrbuch der Hebraischen Archaologie,"
i. 62). At Elim (Ex. xv. 27; Num. xxxiii. 9) there
were seventy palms growing around the springs.
The date-palm was put to many uses. The fruit
was used for foocl, and from it a clrink was distilled.
The leaves were used as a roof-covering; the stem,
for building purposes and for fuel. Parts of the
stalk were used to weave ropes. From the better
quality of dates, according to Josephus ("B. J." iv.
8,""-3):a kind of honey was pressed: this was also
known to the Talmudic writers (Low, "Aram1iische
Pflanzenuamen," p. 124).
The qualities of the date-palm are referred to
quite frequently in a figurative sense in the poetical
books of the Bible. Together with another evergreen tree, the cedar, it is used to typify the prosperity of the righteous man (Ps. xcii. 13). Its tall,
slender, graceful, mobile stalk symbolizes the beautiful female figure (Cant. vii. 8, 9). In Joel (i. 12)
the date-palm is spoken of as languishing.
In the Temple service, branches of the date-palm
were used at the Feast of Booths (Lev. xxiii. 40;
Neh. viii. 15). A palm design was used as a decoration in the Temple of Solomon (I Kings vi. 29)
H. R.
Palma
Paltiel
!,I
and in the plan of Ezekiel's Temple (Ezek. xl., passim). A coin struck by Jaddua has on it the figure of the date-palm (De Saulcy, "Numismatique
Juive," plate 1, fig. 6). Several names in the Bible
give evidence of the plentifulness of the palm.
Jericho is called "the city of palm-trees" (Deut.
xxxiv. 3; Judges i. 16, iii. 13; II Chron. xxviii. 1/'i).
"Tamar" occurs in Ezek. xl vii. 19; and two other
place-names have the word as an element, viz.,
"Hazazon-tamar" (II Chron. xx. 2) and "Baaltamar" (Judges xx. 33); perhaps "Tadmor" (II
Chron. viii. 4) also. Three women bear the name
"Tamar" (Gen. xxxviii. 6; II Sam. xiii. 1, xiv.
27). linder a palm-tree Deborah sat and judged
Israel; and on this account it was called "the palmtree of Deborah" (Judges iv. 5; but see DEBORAH,
the nurse of Rebekah). For the part this tree played
in early Semitic civilization, see Barton, "Semitic
Origins," Index, s.v. "Palm," 1901. The Misbnah
(see L5w, l.o. pp. 109-125) mentions three kinds of
dates.
E. G. H.
G. B. L.
PALMA : Capital of the Spanish island of Majorca. As early as the Moorish period Jews were
living in Almudayna, the most populous part of the
city, which was surrounded by walls and contained
the "Castell dels J ueus," the Jews' castle. About
1290 Alfonso III. or James II. assigned them a special ghetto, surrounded by walls with gates for their
own protection. It was situated in the De Calatrava quarter in the parish of Santa Eulalia, and
com prised the Calle de Monte Si on and "el Calle,"
or the .Tews' street proper. In 1318 Sancho I.
granted the ,Jews, at their own request, this ghetto
as their habitation for all time. With the permission
of the king, the Jews had built a fine synagogue,
but it was hardly completed, in-1314, when Sancho
I. took it from them by way of punishment, and
converted it into the Church of Santa Fe. In 1331
James III. permitted them to build a new but plain
synagogue(" casa de oracion ")or school (" escucla ")
in the street in which their cemetery was situate<l,
and they gave a mortgage on this building, which
had not been entirely paid off in 1380. In addition
to this synagogue t-hern were two smaller ones,
situated between the churches of Santa Fe, Santa
Bartolome, and Santa Misericonlia.
The Jews, to whom James I., conqueror of the
Balearic Isles, granted privileges which were abrogated and renewed by subsequent rulers, formed in
their aljama almost a state within a state. At its
hean were five representatives, callen "secretarii"
or "reginores," a treasurer (" tesorero "),and a council consisting of eight, and at times of more, persons,
who were elected, according to an old privilege, by
the Jews themselves, and were confirmed hy the
king. Sancho I., after abrogating in 1314 all the
privileges granten the Jews, meddled with their
internal affairs also, and arbitrarily appointed acertain Astruc b, Nono as secretary or representative.
The other representatives protested l:o Sancho's
successor, whereupon the right of free election was
restored to the Jews ("Boletin Aca<l. Jlist." xxxvi.
197, No. 45). Only honorable and independent men
were eligible as "sccrctarii"; physicians, brokers,
and all persons who sought to gain office by influ-
506