The Plants of the Bible and the Koran

In her lecture, Béatrice Sommer revealed herself to be an expert in both botany and sacred history. With a slide show, she captivated an audience of around fifty people by presenting the results of her research, limiting herself however to the gardens and orchards of Alsace. She observed that, in the Koran, only 23 plants are mentioned, whereas in the Pentateuch of the Bible as in the Torah, 130 species of plants are mentioned, including few flowers.

She spoke of the emblematic ones, such as the olive tree whose branch is a symbol of peace which is mentioned fifty times in the Bible and six times in the Koran, showing as an example the image of that of the Bastberg.

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The vine is mentioned 54 times in the Bible and 11 times in the Koran. According to Genesis, "Noah was the first winegrower, he planted a vine" sometimes a symbol of female fertility. The third was the fig tree. “If, in the West, we talked for a long time about vine leaves to cover the nudity of the first couple in paradise, it was fig leaves that it was,” she added mischievously.

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In the category of vegetables, the speaker presented a nice range of examples ranging from onions to watermelon, including lentils. She still identified eight aromatic herbs including coriander and nigella, flowers such as roses, lilies, thistles and brambles.

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After hearty applause, she concluded by inviting the participants to go to their garden, a place of wonder, relaxation and meditation.

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Extract from the DNA of April 17, 2016