This volume publishes the papers given by invitation at the fifteenth Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, which was held at Cambridge in July 1995, under the Presidency of J.A. Emerton. The articles cover a wide range of subjects relevant to the study of the Old Testament, and reflect the ongoing debate on a variety of themes among the world's leading contemporary Old Testament scholars.
These volumes are an exhaustive source of information on the control and regulation of flowering. They present data on the factors controlling flower induction and how they may be affected by climate and chemical treatments. For each plant, specific information is provided on all aspects of flower development, including sex expression, requirements for flowering initiation and development, photoperiod, light density, vernalization, and other temperature effects and interactions. Individual species are described from the standpoint of juvenility and maturation, morphology, induction and morphogenesis to anthesis. All information is presented alphabetically for easy reference
Harmal: The Genus Peganum is an in-depth treatment of one of the most commanding plants in the botanical kingdom. Humble in appearance, modest in its needs, Peganum harmala has been venerated for millennia as a Deity-manifesting entheogen and a powerful medicine. This book traverses harmal’s medicinal chemistry, its possible role in the origins of religion, and its employment from ancient times to the present in the therapy of patients suffering from infections, infestations, metabolic derangements, neurological degeneration, visual weakness, and cancer. Its peculiar indolic compounds, known as harmala alkaloids, are now appreciated as exerting profound effects on the mind and on the body. These effects are the result of the alkaloids’ interactions with, and binding to, serotonin receptors on the cell surfaces of neurons in the brain and lymphocytes in the blood, the latter constituting the diffuse structural basis of the immune system. This biphasic modulation by harmala alkaloids has led to a novel pharmacologic re-visioning presented herein for the first time, the concept of a "lymphoneuric syncytium" and its possible long term tuning via "somatodelic" as well as "psychedelic" effects. The scientific rationale underlying the use of harmal in the medicines of the past and the healing technologies of our future is developed through exhaustive and meticulous explorations in both ethnopharmacology and modern phytochemistry. The presentation is enhanced through appraisals of the effects of harmal in two clinical cancer case scenarios, and of intentional inebriation and "provings" by one of the authors and a psychiatric colleague. The noted and esteemed botanically-trained physician Dr. Andrew Weil states in his Preface that this "monumental" volume will become the standard reference work in the field. Harmal: The Genus Peganum will be an invaluable addition to the personal libraries of professional pharmacognosists, botanists, physicians, psychologists, neuroscientists, and all persons interested in the interrelationship of consciousness, medicine, and coevolution.
LENTILS Understand the future of plant protein with this comprehensive overview Lentils are one of the oldest and most widely cultivated crop species in the world and a leading global source of protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber, as well as numerous micro-nutrients. In recent years, they have emerged as a leading candidate to form the basis of non-meat protein substitutes, a skyrocketing industry with immense climate and public health implications. There has never been a more urgent need to understand the cultivation and use of these flexible, resource-rich crops. Lentils provides a comprehensive overview of every stage in the lentil production chain, from cultivation to processing to sale to consumption. It focuses particularly on pre- and post-harvest processing, alerting readers to the possibilities of lentils in a newly health and environmentally conscious global food marketplace. The result is a thorough, highly accessible, and navigable introduction to a vital subject. The reader can also find: Detailed coverage of lentils including global production/trade, breeding practices, value-addition, nutrition, consumption trends, and quality assessment Innovative three-part structure to facilitate reader navigation Dedicated chapters on lentil-based meat analogs, engineering properties, and innovative processing technologies The book can be used as a useful reference for academics and researchers who are working in the fields of food science, food technology, food process engineering, and applied nutrition, as well as for food industry professionals and government regulators with an interest in food production, food security, and the global food market dynamics.
The book "Alien Invasive Plants in Israel" by Dr. Jean-Marc Dufour-Dror, is now available in a new 2012 English-language edition, which has been updated since the publication of the 2010 edition in Hebrew. This full color, soft-cover book is divided into three chapters: The first chapter is dedicated to the definitions of several basic concepts required for understanding the topic of invasive plant ecology. An overview of the main ecological and biological characteristics typical of invasive plants is presented in this chapter, with all examples taken from invading taxa in Israel. The second chapter presents a brief analysis of the major characteristics of the phenomenon of invasive plants in natural areas in Israel. The first section of this chapter discusses the factors underlying the spread of invasive plants in Israel. The second section reviews their main effects on local ecosystems, focusing on habitats that are particularly susceptible to invasion. In the third section we present a summary of the control techniques and methods currently implemented in Israel to cope with the proliferation of invasive plants in natural areas. The third chapter that makes up the bulk of this book provides detailed and up to date information on the 50 most significant species of alien plants that invade natural and semi-natural habitats in Israel. The information includes a short description of the plant, information on its natural range (origin), background related to its introduction to Israel, information on its known biological and ecological traits, a description of its invasive status in Israel and an explanation of how it affects local ecosystems. Existing and relevant control methods are described for each species. The main regions in the world invaded by the species are mentioned, and a list of references is presented for each species. Finally there is an appendix with a current list of all the alien plant species recorded in natural and disturbed areas in Israel up to early 2010.
This volume marks a departure from earlier descriptive archaeological summaries of the Holy Land. Taking an anthropological and socio-economic perspective, many of the leading archaeologists who work in Israel and Jordan today present timely and concise summaries of the archaeology of this region. Chronologically organized, each chapter outlines the major cultural transitions which occurred in a given archaeological period. To explain the processes which were responsible for culture change, a review is made of the most recent research concerning settlement patterns, innovations and technology, religion and ideology, and social organization. The material culture of every period of human history in the Holy Land is explored from the earliest prehistoric hominids, through the Biblical and historical periods and up to modern (20th century) times. Each chapter is accompanied by settlement pattern maps and a plate highlighting the major artifacts which archaeologists use to identify the material culture of the period. In addition, windows are presented which focus on major social issues and controversies such as "The Agricultural Revolution", the "Israelite Conquest of Canaan" and "Ancient Metal Working and Social Change". This volume should provide students and the general reader with a useful reference volume concerning the archaeology of societies which lived and live in the Holy Land.
This book is one of a series of more than 20 volumes resulting from the World Archaeological Congress, September 1986, attempting to bring together not only archaeologists and anthropologists from many parts of the world, as well as academics from contingent disciplines, but also non-academics from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. This volume develops a new approach to plant exploitation and early agriculture in a worldwide comparative context. It modifies the conceptual dichotomy between "hunter-gatherers" and "farmers", viewing human exploitation of plant resources as a global evolutionary process which incorporated the beginnings of cultivation and crop domestication. The studies throughout the book come from a worldwide range of geographical contexts, from the Andes to China and from Australia to the Upper Mid-West of North America. This work is of interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists and geographers. Originally published 1989.
The first Flora specific to Israel and surrounding areas. Its four parts, each comprising one volume of text and one of plates, treat some 2,470 species to be found at this meeting point of four phytogeographical regions. Many of the species and varieties included are described here for the first time or renamed since the second edition of Post's Flora. The descriptions, with few exceptions, are based on plants deposited in the Herbarium of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Extensive regions of the world have a climate which, whilst permitting development of a continuous vegetative cover, is too dry for successful annual cropping. These are the semi-arid areas where land use is based on the natural vegetation. Easily degraded and difficult to maintain, they are under increasing pressure as expanding human populations move in and endeavour to force a living from them. As a result they contain some of the worst examples of resource degradation. This book examines the problems and opportunities involved in man's use of semi-arid areas. The authors are all actively involved in research and land management in the areas discussed. Each chapter begins with a detailed, up-to-date account of the ecology of the region (its climate, soils, vegetation, fauna and main ecological characteristics). This is followed by a history of land use, problems involved in its management, a review of current research and recommended land use practices. The common features of semi-arid ecosystems are brought together in a final section.
