Doum palm
Encyclopedia
Hyphaene thebaica, with common names doum palm and gingerbread tree, is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is native to the Nile
valley in Egypt and Sudan, and in riverine areas of northwestern Kenya.
Its fibre and leaflets are used by people along the Nile to weave baskets, such as in the material culture of the Manasir
.
, discovered eight baskets of 3,000 year old doum fruit in King Tutankhamun
's tomb. The fruit baskets are each 50 centimetres high, the antiquities
department said. The fruit are traditionally offered at funerals.
as Akat, or Akaat in the Tigrinya language
. The thin dried brown rind
is made into molasses
, cakes, and sweetmeats. The unripe kernels are edible. The shoots of the germinated seeds are also eaten as a vegetable. In Egypt
, the fruit is sold by street vendors, and is popular among children, gnawing its sweet yet sour hard fibrous flesh beneath the shiny hard crust.
A herb tea of doum dates is made in Egypt and believed good for hypertension. In Diu, Una
and Saurashtra region of Gujarat (India), the tree is known as Hoka Tree and the red ripe edible fruit is known as Hoka.
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
valley in Egypt and Sudan, and in riverine areas of northwestern Kenya.
Uses
Material Culture of the Manasir
The material culture of the Manasir is very basic and primarily relies on the by-products of palm tree cultivation . Date trees not only constitute the main source of income and an important supply of nutrition in Dar al-Manasir, but the Manasir also make intelligent use of all different parts of...
.
Sacred in tombs
It was considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians and the seed was found in many pharaoh's tombs. On September 24, 2007, it was announced that a team of Egyptian archaeologists led by Zahi HawassZahi Hawass
Zahi Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist, an Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert, and the Upper Nile Valley....
, discovered eight baskets of 3,000 year old doum fruit in King Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
's tomb. The fruit baskets are each 50 centimetres high, the antiquities
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
department said. The fruit are traditionally offered at funerals.
Food
The doum palm fruit-dates are also known in EritreaEritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
as Akat, or Akaat in the Tigrinya language
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
. The thin dried brown rind
Peel (fruit)
Peel, also known as rind or skin, is the outer protective layer of a fruit or vegetable which could be peeled off. The rind is usually the botanical exocarp, but the term exocarp does also include the hard cases of nuts, which are not named peels since they are not peeled off by hand or peeler, but...
is made into molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
, cakes, and sweetmeats. The unripe kernels are edible. The shoots of the germinated seeds are also eaten as a vegetable. In Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the fruit is sold by street vendors, and is popular among children, gnawing its sweet yet sour hard fibrous flesh beneath the shiny hard crust.
A herb tea of doum dates is made in Egypt and believed good for hypertension. In Diu, Una
Una, Gujarat
there is few main village like Sanakhada,Girgadhada,Delwada,Una is a town and a municipality in Junagadh district in Gujarat state of India. - Geography :...
and Saurashtra region of Gujarat (India), the tree is known as Hoka Tree and the red ripe edible fruit is known as Hoka.