Gideon Biger

The beginning of olive (olea europaea) cultivation in the old world: A reassessment

Abstract The olive was one of the first fruit trees cultivated by man. It has been claimed that cultivation of the olive began in Israel during the Chalcolithic Period. Careful botanical examination of pollen grains, stones and wood remains gathered from living trees and from archaeological contexts show that it is impossible to distinguish between wild and cultivated olives. The ample remnants of olive found in archaeological contexts, together with other finds, such as pottery vessels, oil lamps, and olive oil installations, indicate that the earliest widespread use of olives in Israel was in the Early Bronze Age.

Past distribution of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) in the mountains of Israel (Palestine)

It was widely accepted that, in the past, forests of Aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis (‘Jerusalem pine’ in Hebrew), were common in Israel-Palestine and covered vast areas of its mountains. However, an interdisci plinary research project, using botanical, historical and geographical evidence, shows a different picture. The pine is mentioned only once in the Bible, and rarely in other religious sources. Descriptions of pine forests, or even isolated stands, by pilgrims and travellers who visited the Holy Land up to and during the nineteenth century, are rare. Palynological investigations in the area do not reveal any significant amounts of pine pollen except for the twentieth century. Investigations of wood remains from archaeological excavations show that Aleppo pine was rather rare, and constituted only a minute percentage of the wood assemblage. It can therefore be assumed quite safely that the Aleppo pine, which covered in the 1980s about 50% of the planted forests of Israel, was rare in the native arboreal vegetation of Israel in the past.

Ancient dominance of the Quercus calliprinos-Pistacia palaestina association in mediterranean Israel.

. The natural Mediterranean maquis and forest vegetation of Israel is commonly considered to be composed mainly of four, roughly equal components: Pinus halepensis, deciduous oak, evergreen oak, and Ceratonia - Pistacia communities. They represent the past climax and subclimax of this region. Evidence accumulated from pollen analysis and wood remnant research in geological and archaeological excavations, as well as from written historical sources, shows that this view is wrong: the ancient vegetation in this area was dominated by Quercus calliprinos.

A Scotsman in the first Hebrew city: Patrick Geddes and the 1926 town plan for Tel Aviv

Abstract The most ambitious work that Patrick Geddes undertook was his little‐known plan for the development of Tel Aviv, Palestine, in the 1920s. In 1925, he drew up a master plan for the city of Tel Aviv. At that time Tel Aviv was a small town with a population of about 25,000. Geddes presented a report showing his concept of a large garden city of about 100,000. His plan received its final official approval in 1929, and was the first and only master plan to be approved for Tel Aviv.

The recent distribution of Pinus brutia: a reassessment based on dendroarchaeological and dendrohistorical evidence from Israel:

The distribution area of Pinus brutia today covers mainly the eastern region of the Mediterranean. Dendrohistorical research, based on the analysis of wood remains from archaeological sites and historical buildings in Israel, indicates that during ancient times P. brutia was absent from the natural vegetation landscape of Israel and may have been much less important in the eastern Mediterranean region as a whole. However, it was very common in the vegetational landscape of the Eastern Mediterranean from the nineteenth century onwards. This points to changes which have taken place only during the last few hundred years, influenced mainly by human activities rather than by changes in climatic conditions.

Physical geography and law: The case of international river boundaries

The delimination of international boundaries in rivers and lakes are open to some unique questions. The natural, physical qualities of those geographical phenomena, which, as a part of state territory, in contrast to the definition of territory, is not immovable but movable and is even naturally a fluid element, gives it its unique characteristics. There are geographical, cartographical, even mathematical problems which the legal world had to deal with while dealing with boundaries in rivers and lakes. The two main problems are the exact location of the line and the changeable character of every river and lake, which could change the location of the line.Part of the Iraki-Iranian border runs along the Shatt al Arab river and its history reveals problems concerning the delimination of a boundary in rivers.

On Nations and International Boundaries - The European Case

On Nations and International Boundaries - The European Case It seems that our world is made of mainly nation states - independent states based on one particular nation, sometimes with some minorities in that state. Thus the model seams to be ‘a nation is establishing its boundaries’. On the other hand, our world also has the ‘boundaries that made a nation’ model, in which a nation was created after boundaries were drawn. Most independent European countries belong to the first model but Spain, Belgium, and five tiny states belong to the second model.

A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel (review)

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies The above two volumes serve as an intellectual reservoir for historians among others to tap for insight into the passion of the daily exchanges that excited the rivalries of the different factions during the Mandate period in Palestine and among the East European Jewish youth who impatiently awaited their opportunity to relocate in the homeland. Unfortunately, most were caught up in the vicissitudes of Nazi aggression, and too many were murdered or died fighting in the various Resistance movements. Steven Bowman University of Cincinnati