(Psalm 92.12)

Palms used to be plentiful in Palestine as they are in Egypt. There was a seven mile long grove of palms near Jericho, the 'city of palms', in the days of Josephus in the first century and also the Jordan valley was covered with date palms, which could grow up to 100 feet high.

For the Jews it had a practical and symbolic significance. Its Hebrew name tamar symbolized grace and elegance and it was also a girl's name. One of David's daughters was called so as was one of Judah's daughters- in-law (Gen.38.6 & Ruth 4.12). It provided starch, sugar, oil, wax and fruit, and mats could be made from its leaves and the fibres could be used to make paper and thread. The fruit of the date palm is rich in minerals and vitamins such as potassium and iron. When it was found growing in the desert, it indicated the presence of water. The Israelites, on the journey from Egypt, "came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters" (Exo.15.27 NKJV).

When Solomon's Temple was built, there were carvings of palm trees on the walls, entrance and doors of the inner sanctuary (1 Kings 6.29‑35). Palm trees appear many times in the details of Ezekiel's Temple that has never been built.(Ezek.40 & 41)

During the 1960s excavations of Herod The Great's palace on Masada revealed an ancient jar with date palm seeds. In 2005 three of them were planted and one sprouted, which as stated by Wikipedia, had grown to 2.5 metres in height as of November 2011.

NAC