Hebrew University Expedition to Sinai Brings Back Valuable Data on Manna

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

A statement outlining the results of the expedition of the Hebrew University to the Sinai Peninsula to investigate the origin and substance of the manna on which the Israelites subsisted in the desert according to the Bible, was issued by the Hebrew University to the correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here.

The expedition, consisting of Dr. F. Bodenheimer, director of the ethomological department of the station in Tel Aviv, Dr. Carmin and Dr. Theodore, Associate Professor in the Microbiological Department of the Hebrew University, returned from the Peninsula following a stay of nearly a month.

According to the statement, the research established the fact that the substance believed to be the manna, which is to be found wherever Tamarisks grow, is the excretion of the Coccido, a parasitic germ living on the Tamarisk, and is not the secretion of the Tamarisk, itself as was believed hitherto.

The secretion of the manna was observed during the entire course of the expedition, including localities not mentioned in the literature. The expedition brought back rich material on the subject.

The attention of scientific observers in Palestine had for some time been directed to the Tamarisk, an evergreen shrub of the Mediterranean region, frequently mentioned in the Bible under the name of Eshel. During the months of June and August it was noticed that the Tamarisk produces a substance resembling manna. Ancient Hebrew and Arabic legend has it that the substance of the Tamarisk contains ingredients capable of producing the taste of many kinds of fruits. The Tamarisk is frequently found in several valleys of the Mid-Sinai. There are years in which the substance is not produced by the Tamarisk, particularly in meagre years.