Talk:Sula Benet

Kaneh bosm
"However, the words 'Kaneh bosm' are not in the KJV or the new international version of the bible. It is popular belief that Exodus chapter 30, verse 22 talks about using the oil of 'Kaneh bosm' or 'Kannabos', but this myth can easily be dispelled by simply opening a bible and looking. Furthermore, the text in Exodus does mention the following herbs/oils: myrrh, frangrant cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia and olive oil. None of these translates to Kaneh, Kaneb, Kannabus, Kannabos. I encourage everyone to seek their on truth here, do the research yourself and see what you find."

A response:

Regarding the KJV and NIV, remember that you are reading a translation. Qaneh bosem is Hebrew, not English. What is being discussed is proper translation.


 * Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweetH1314 calamusH7070 two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. (Exodus 30:22-25, KJV)


 * H1314 בֶּשֶׂם בּוֹשֶׂם besem (beh'-sem) (or bosem {bo'-sem}) n-m. 1. fragrance  2. (by implication) spicery  3. (also) the balsam plant. From the same as H1313 בָּשָׂם basam (baw-sawm') n-m.  1. the balsam plant  [from an unused root meaning to be fragrant]  Compare: H5561 סַם cam (sam) n-m.  1. an aroma  [from an unused root meaning to smell sweet]


 * H7070 קָנֶה qaneh (kaw-neh') n-m. 1. a reed (as erect)  2. by resemblance a rod (especially for measuring), shaft, tube, stem, the radius (of the arm), beam (of a steelyard).  From H7069 קָנָה qanah (kaw-naw') v.  1. to erect, i.e. create  2. by extension, to procure, especially by purchase (causatively, sell)  3. (by implication) to own [a primitive root]

What was translated as "sweet calamus" is qaneh besom or qaneh bosem in Hebrew, meaning fragrant/spice/aroma + reed/rod who's root meaning is to erect/create/procure. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anthropos44 (talk • contribs) 19:26, 22 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Remember that you are quoting an English translation of a Greek translation. The spice names and the text stem largely from the Septuagint, only the footnotes refer to the Hebrew text. The English archaisms "thou shalt" and "spake unto" suggest a derivative of the KJV.


 * BH1 מָר־דְּרוֹר֙ (mor-deror), LXX ἄνθος σμύρνης ἐκλεκτ̑ης, "pure myrrh"
 * BH1 קִנְּמָן־בֶּ֥שֶׂם (qinaman-besem), LXX κινναμώμου εὐώδους, "sweet cinnamon"
 * BH1 קְנֵה־בֹ֖שֶׂם (qaneh-bosem), LXX καλάμου εὐώδους, "sweet calamus"
 * BH1 קִדָּ֕ה (qidah), LXX ἴρεως/κασσιας/κοστος (depends on the manuscript); ἴρεως (sometimes written ἰέρεως, "priest") is probably a genitive of ἰρις, Iris L.; κασσιας is "cassia" (Arabic qasab al-dharira); κοστος is "costus" (Sausurrea lapa)?; Onkelos has qetsiyah (קְצִיעַה)? "cassia"
 * BH1 שֶׁ֥מֶן זַ֖יִת (shemen zayit), LXX ἔλαιον ἐξ ἐλαίων, "olive oil"


 * According to the Graf-Wellhausen documentary hypothesis, Ex. 30:23 and the chapter containing it (Activities and actors in the Sanctuary, Ex. 27:20–31:18) belong to a "priestly" (P) source, composed sometime between the 8th and the mid-6th century B.C.E.


 * There is certainly no Spanish marijuana in the Torah, but there is Hebrew ha-shesh (הַשֵׁשׁ) "fine linen" (and also hashash (חַשַׁשׁ) "chaff"), bad and buts (בַּד and בוּץ) "byssus, linen", peshet and pishtah (פֵּשֶׁת and פִּשְׁתׇּה) "flax, linen", and karpas (כַּרְפַּס) "cotton". There is also Hebrew qaneh ha-tob (וְקָנֶ֥ה הַט֭וֹב) "good cane" (Jer. 6:20); cf. Akkadian qanū tabu ("aromatic cane") and Arabic tib, tibb "scent, medicine". Finally, there is Hebrew qaneh (קָנֶ֔ה) "cane, reed" (Isa. 43:24, Ezek. 27:19, So. 4:14); cf. Arabic qanat. There are also Hebrew kanepesh (כְּנֶפֶשׁ) "as the soul" (cf. Sumerian napishtu "soul"), and Hebrew ha-shishiy (הַשִּׁשִּׁי) "the sixth" (m.), pl. shishiyim (שִׁשִּׁים) "sixty"; cf. Arabic hashishiyya (assassins legends having much in common with the Jewish sicarii).

shesh is usually translated as "byssus" or "cotton", where it refers to a material of Levite priestly garments (and for sail). According to Hammer, assassins were preferably clad in white, possibly in allusion to the white ha-shesh of Levite (and Egyptian) priestly garments. --El Cazangero (talk) 10:51, 25 October 2014 (UTC) --El Cazangero (talk) 07:27, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

Hemp
What the HELL is this doing in this article? This is wrong on so many levels.

In 1980 the Hebrew University in Israel confirmed Benet's identification of Kaneh-Bosm as hemp. Why is this NOT on the page? Trying to cover up something? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.173.212.253 (talk) 01:04, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't know about covering up anything, but it's a bit concerning to me that the source for that statement isn't from Hebrew University, and doesn't have any citation itself for that information (The source can be viewed on Google Books).Dorvan (talk) 23:27, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Indeed, the "1980 Hebrew University" thing appears to be an urban legend. Thus: removing, for now. -80.221.21.115 (talk) 23:04, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Notability?
Is there anything else this author wrote on? In ictu oculi (talk) 04:39, 1 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, added. In ictu oculi (talk) 05:04, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Who hid away the hemp?
I'm surprised that Sula Benet's theory hasn't found wider recognition, considering that hemp was known in weaving and in medicine to most ancient peoples, and to virtually all of the Jews' neighbors, but apparently not to the Jews. If Sula Benet were wrong, there would be no reasonable explanation for the mysterious absence of hemp in early Jewish sources.

The oldest known words for hemp are Chinese ma, Egyptian šmšm t, Sumerian A.ZAL.LA (cognate to Syriac ʿazal "to spin"), GÁN.ZI.GÙN.NU (probably a combination of "robber", "soul" and "weaving"), Akkadian azallū, gurgurru (from garāru, "to roll, to twist"), qanū tabu, Persian gargarin dj , late Assyrian gurgurangu, šami nissati ("herb of grief"), Old Indic çanás, Sanskrit śaṇa, gañja, bhaṅgā.

The words for hemp among the Jews' neighbours in the period from the 7th to the 1st century B.C. are probably of semitic origin: Sargonid qunnabu, qunubu, Arabic qanib, Persian kanab, Greek kannabis, Latin cannabis (followed by Gothic hanaps, Anglo-Saxon hænep, Old High German hanaf, Slavic konoplja). The Hebrew word kanbus for hemp occurs later (2nd to 3rd century CE?) in the Mishnah (Kilayim).

Either the Jews had been oblivious of hemp in Biblical times, which is unlikely given the probable semitic origin of the word and its concurrent spread among their neighbours, or they had become so in Mishnaic times. Even more absurd is the idea that all ancient peoples except the Jews had actually mistaken hemp for calamus, a Latin word derived from Greek kalamos (a reed larger than the Greek donax, but also a reed-pen, reed-pipe or flute), Sanskrit kalama, Arabic qalam (Old High German, Anglo-Saxon halm, Slavic slama). More likely, hemp does appear among the many plants in the Bible, but has not been identified as such, for example qana bosem (Exodus 30:23 et al., which means "reed spice" or "scented cane" in Hebrew; cf. Hebrew qanā, Akkadian qanū, Aramaic qanyā, Arabic qanat, Greek kanna, Latin canna, "reed"; and Hebrew bosem, Arabic beshem, Greek balsamon, Latin balsamum "spice, perfume, balsam").

(References: EJ2 s. v. BALSAM, CALAMUS, HEMP; Liddell/Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, s. v. βάλσαμον, κάλᾰμος, κάννα, κάννᾱβις; Huet, Dictionnaire sanskrit-français, s. v. gañja, bhaṅga, kalama, śaṇa; EI2, s. v. ḤA SH Ī SH, ḲALAM, ḲANĀT, ḲAṢAB; Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch, s. v. Hanf, Halm; Vasmer, Russisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, s. v. конопля, солома.) --El Cazangero (talk) 16:02, 14 October 2014 (UTC)
 * I think the venue for this is a blog. Here we only include academic published reliable sources. Rightly or wrongly in this case Benet's theories have been rejected by her peers. End of story as far as wikipedia goes. In ictu oculi (talk) 01:19, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Under the "Cannabis research" section the reference for citation number 4 leads to a dead link. I have a hard time accepting Linnaeus's identification of kanah as being Calamus. Calumus is widely considered by medical experts as highly toxic and the FDA has banned this substance as a result. The LD-50 of b-asarone is 8800mg/kg (so one pound could kill a 65kg person) and the formula in Exodus requires nine pounds of the stuff. I know for a fact that nine pounds of THC cannot kill you but nine pounds of calamus? I'm not so sure. TESLAKOIL (talk) 18:54, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Kaneh-bosem and hashish
Sula Benet wrote that Hebrew "qaneh" (קׇנֶה) had the double meaning of "hemp" and "reed". The word was mistranslated as "calamus" in the Septuagint, and the error was propagated by classical authors (see Kyphi) and the Talmud (Jastrow, II, 1388b–1389a).

The Hebrew word "qaneh" (קׇנֶה) is considered a cognate of the Ancient Egyptian "qenn, qennȧ" (Budge, II, 773a), signifying "reed". The word appears in the Hebrew Bible and in Egyptian recipes for kyphi (a kind of incense). Greek authors translate it as calamus, whenever some kind of "spicy reed" is meant, usually reed was used for building huts and houses. Similarly, Hebrew "bosem" (בֹשֶׂם) might correspond to Ancient Egyptian "besen", a kind of seed, some substance burnt at the inauguration of a temple (ibid., I, 223b).

Some scholars regarded the Ancient Egyptian word "shemshem-t" as hemp (Abel, 26), but more likely it denotes "sesame seed", as in Coptic ⲥⲉⲙⲥⲏⲙ and Arabic "simsim" (Budge, II, 740a; Brugsch, IV, 1392). On the other hand, "meshmeshm-t" is a kind of herb used in medicine (Budge, I, 330a).

As to the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Persian words for hashish mentioned in the Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), it suffices to quote Ernest Abel:

"[...] no hemp fiber or definite mention of hemp (Cannabis sativa) to the west of Turkey can be found until the time of the Greeks. [...] In his 'Dictionary of Assyrian Botany' (p. 220), Campbell identified the Sumerian term 'a·zal·la' and the Akkadian term 'azallu' as cannabis on the basis of their similarities to the Syrian 'azal', meaning 'to spin.' Campbell also took the Assyrian word 'gurgurangu' as another reference to cannabis because of its similarity to 'garganinj', the Persian word for cannabis. Building on these similarities, Campbell then identified the Sumerian drug 'gan·zi·gun·na' as hashish [literally, a robber (gan) who spins away (gun·nu) the soul (zi)). Campbell also felt that the similarity between gan·zi and the Hindu word 'qanjha' also support his arguments. However, in a later discussion of this issue (p. 229), he acknowledges the possibility that the Sumerian and Akkadian words he tentatively identified as hashish could just as likely be words denoting narcotics in general and opium specifically. [...] A letter written around 680 B.C. by an unknown woman to the mother of the Assyrian king, Esarhaddon, mentions a substance called 'qu-nu-bu' which also may have been cannabis, but again there is no certainty for this identification." (Abel, 25).

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), Arabic "ḥashish" (ﺣﺎﺷﺶ) is from a verb "hashsha", which means "to dry" as with drug plants (Levey, III, 267a), an etymology like the English word "drug" from Dutch "droog", dry. But "hashish" might as well stem from Hebrew "ha-shesh" (הַשֵׁשׁ), a word used throughout the Torah (Brown, 1058b). Since it occurs with the definite article "ha-" ("the"), it must have been important.

The Hebrew "shesh" (שֵׁשׁ) has three meanings, all of which have cognates in Ancient Egyptian and other Semitic languages. First, "shesh" means a kind of linen (cloth), a material of priestly clothes and tabernacle hangings. There is a cognate in the Ancient Egyptian "shes" (𓍱, 𓈚𓋴), "cord, string, rope, tie, bind, cordage, linen" (Budge, II, 750b–751a), synonymous with "qes" (𓌟, 𓈎𓋴) "hollow reed, bone, to bury" (Budge, I, cxl–cxli), also occuring in the context of burial and embalming (𓍱𓀿). Second, Hebrew "shesh" means "white stone, alabaster", like in Ancient Egyptian "shes" (𓍱𓋴 𓊌) (Budge, II, 751a). Third, "shesh" also means "six" (6), cognates of which are found in Ancient Egyptian "sȧs" (𓋴𓇋𓋴, 𓏿), "six", Coptic ⲥⲟⲟⲩ, ⲥⲉⲩ; but also in "sȧs" (𓋴𓇋𓋴𓋳, 𓐉𓋳), "six-threaded stuff", of clothing (Budge, II, 643b); Syriac "shtya" (ܫܬܝܐ) a) "drink", b) "thread, the warp", a weaving term probably related to "sht" (ܫܬ) "six" (Smith, II, 600b). It would be interesting to know if there are any Ethiopic (Ge'ez) cognates.

The Septuagint translates Hebrew "shesh" with Greek βύσσος, Jerome uses Latin byssus. The Targumim translate "shesh" with Aramaic "buts" (בּוּצ), probably derived from Greek, an Aramaism also appearing in later books of the Hebrew Bible, but not in the Torah (Brown, 101a). In the Mishnah (Yoma 71b), "shesh" denotes a particular kind of cloth: "those things concerning which 'shesh' is used are woven of a sixfold thread, where 'moshzar' is added, of an eightfold thread" (Jastrow, II, 1636a).

As Hammer mentioned in "Geschichte der Assassinen", it appears that the medieval Syrian assassins were named for their white linen (or hempen) clothes rather than for their alleged drug habit, or for both, assuming that they wore (six-threaded) hemp, and "ha-shesh" appears to have preserved (or assumed) the meaning of hemp in medieval times. Sula Benet pointed out a Jewish religious requirement that the dead be buried in "kaneh" shirts, and centuries later, linen was substituted for hemp (referring to Siegfried Klein, Tod und Begräbnis in Palästina zur Zeit der Tannaiten, 1908). In my opinion, this supposed change of fibre corresponds to a change of words from the earlier Hebrew "shesh" to the later (post-exilic?) Aramaic "buts".

In the 19th century, it had been disputed whether Egyptian mummies were bandaged with linen or cotton. Morphological investigation with light microscopes had not been entirely conclusive, but the view prevailed that it was linen, conforming to the assumption that the Ancient Egyptian "shes" and Greek "byssus" was linen (flax), not cotton (Gilroy, 365–366).

"No mummy has ever been discovered wrapped in fabric made from cannabis. In the ruins of El Amarna, the city of Akhenaton (the Pharaoh who tried to introduce monotheism to ancient Egypt), archaeologists found a 'three ply hemp cord' in the hole of a stone and a large mat bound with 'hemp cords', but they did not specify the type of hemp. Many different bast fibers were called hemp and no one can be certain that the fibers at El Amarna are cannabis, especially since Deccan hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus) grows in Egypt." (Abel, 26).

Since Herodotus it is known that flax (linen) and hemp are almost indistinguishable, because their fibres and chemical composition are similar. They can be distinguished only with modern analytical means developed in the 20th century (Wiener et al.). There are more than 2000 plants known for supplying cellulose fibres, and probably many of them could pass off as hemp or flax (linen), the most prominent contenders being jute, ramie, sisal and abaca (manila) (Krässig et al.). Modern chemical investigations of Egyptian mummies are rare (Davies, 48–51), and it might prove rewarding to re-examine them for hemp fibre, considering the mysterious findings of drugs (THC, cocaine and nicotine) in Egyptian mummies, published by Svetla Balabanova and others since 1992.

Early Sinologists in the 19th century (de Guignes, Palin, Birch) have pointed out many similarities between Egyptian hieroglyphs and old Chinese characters (Budge, I, p. XVI). The Chinese (and Japanese) glyph for hemp (ma, ⿇) is similar to the Egyptian hieroglyph "mes" (𓄠, 𓄟), a prolific Ancient Egyptian root with the early meaning "to wind, to turn, to spin" (Brugsch, II, 705). Shinto priests in Japan used to wear hempen clothes (Taima.org), which might be a distant remnant of the Levitical "shesh".

Paragraph.
Suggesting a few changes to this paragraph:

"Sulah Benet's claim has not found support in the academic community - neither among lexicographers nor botanists."

What about etymologists?

"The standard reference lexicons of Biblical Hebrew, and reference works on Hebrew Bible plants by scholars such as University of Jerusalem botanist Michael Zohary, do not even mention Benet's suggestion."

The use of the word "even" hints very strongly at exasperation. Hardly neutral.

"Celsius (Hierobotanicon) has suggested sweet flag (Acorus calamus), which grows in Egypt, Judaea, and Syria, containing in its stalk a soft white pith with an agreeable aromatic smell, and forming an ingredient of the richest perfumes.[4] Royle identified the "sweet cane" (A.V.) of Scripture with the Andropogon calamus, a plant extensively cultivated in India, from which an oil, deemed to be the famous spikenard of antiquity, is extracted.[5]"

Don't know how this person said that person said this qualifies as encyclopaedic. Where is the reference from Royle?

"Some biblical scholars and botanists believe that the qaneh is probably sugarcane.[6]"

The reference is unrelated to the preceding statement. To be honest, this page seems like the wrong place for discussion of what is just one of Benet's published works anyway. Wouldn't mention of her work in this area be best placed on another page dealing specifically with the subject of the importance of plants like cannabis to religion, rather than here?

I think the paragraph should be deleted. Thanks for reading.

86.176.154.1 (talk) 21:04, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Sula Benet
Good afternoon. I note that you say on the talk page: "Benet's theories have been rejected by her peers. End of story as far as wikipedia goes." Is there a source for this statement please (there may not be, if her peers simply did not agree with her). I ask as the article says "Sulah Benet's claim has found some support in the academic community among lexicographers and botanists. The standard reference lexicons of Biblical Hebrew, and reference works on Hebrew Bible plants by scholars such as University of Jerusalem botanist Michael Zohary mention Benet's suggestion, while others argue the word refers to an either different species of hemp or a different plant entirely." The claim of "some suppport" doesn't seem to be justified if the suggestions are merely mentioned by MZ and disputed by others. I am asking as I am trying to work out to what exent SB can be accetped as a RS here: [], but I also wonder if the article on SB is a bit of a house of cards. Friendly regards, Springnuts (talk) 13:58, 19 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Do you know what, I can't remember this - but looks a quick glance to be the usual fringe. What does ABD say about this subject? In ictu oculi (talk) 16:28, 19 February 2022 (UTC)

My ignorance, who or what is ABD? Springnuts (talk) 16:38, 19 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Anchor Bible Dictionary one the most standard reference works. In ictu oculi (talk) 07:41, 26 February 2022 (UTC)