TS'RI (41V), properly TSORI, translated balnz, occurs in Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; ; and in both passages is mentioned along with id and necoth, with the addition in the second of bottzint and shekadim. In Gen. xliii. Jacob 'thus ad dressci his sons : Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present : a little balm Peri), and a little honey (debasii), spices (tragacanth) [NEcont] and myrrh [laa'anrun ; Lur], nuts [Burring] and almonds' [SnEKAnim]. In the separate articles on these substances some general observations have been made, which will equally apply to tseri. This, therefore, like the other substances intended as presents, or forming articles of commerce, must have been a produce of Gilead, or of the northern parts of Syria, and would thus be suitable for con veying to Egypt on the occasion referred to.
Balm or balsam [BASAM ; BAAL-SHEMEN], we have seen, was an Arabian and Abyssinian plant cultivated in one or two places of Palestine, but at a later period than the transactions recorded in the book of Genesis. As we have before said, It is probable, therefore, that some other tree pro ducing a balsamic secretion is intended in the above passages, where the word balm has been COTI. sidered the equivalent of tseri.' But it is difficult to determine exactly what substance is intended : we may, however, adduce the other passages in which the word is found. Ezekiel (xxvu. 17) men tions /seri along with wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil,' as merchandise which Judah brought to the market of Tyre. That it was possessed of medicinal properties appears 1 from Jer. viii. 22 : Is there no balm in Gilead ?' 4 Go up into Gilead and take balm' (xlvi. ii). Take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed' (li. 8). It has been variously translated—cera, theriaca, cedri' resina, stacti ungnenta, medico. menta, resina, colophonia. Celsius and others state that zuroo in Arabic signifies mastic, and that tseri therefore is this resin : in which he is followed by Sprengel. In the Arabic and English Dictionary • is translated the gum of an Arabian tree, which I)) is called kamkam, and said to be found in the mountains of Yemen. In the writer's MS. Ma
teria Medica, klmshkhush, one of the names of the poppy, is given as the synonym of zuroo ; but this may be a mistake of transcribers. It is curious, however, that Avicenna mentions zuroo as a well-known g,um brought to Mecca, as being odorous, and having the power of laudanum.
Ls)) zuree, moreover, means `bleeding profusely,' as a vein, or according to Rosenmiiller, fluid or liquid in general, which equally applies to oil of every kind.' We are unable, however, distinctly to connect any of the above names with any product of Gilead. But there is a. product which, though little known to Europeans, is highly esteemed by the Arabs, according to the testimony of several travellers. This is the oil of the zackum tree, sometimes called the Jericho plum-tree, also the Jerusalem willow, oleaster or wild olive-tree, or El,eagnus angustifolins of Linnus. The fruit of one species is much esteemed in Persia, and known by the name of zinzyd. The Syrian fruit is ovoid, but oblong, fleshy, having an olive-shaped nut with a kernel containing oil. The oil is sepa rated by pressure and floating it on water, and a further portion by boiling. The Arabs are de scribed by Maundrell and Mariti as holding it in high esteem, and as preferring it to the balsam of Mecca, because they found it very efficacious against contusions and wounds. Formerly', if not now, when the Christian caravan advanced towards Jericho it used to be met by crowds of Arab women, offering the salutary oil for sale to the pilgrims, in small leather bottles' (Kitto, Palestine, ccxxiii.) This is supposed by some to be Myrobalanus of Pliny and other ancient writers ; but by some the fruit of Melia azadirachea, and by others again that nf Hyperanthera Moringa, or H. aptera, are con sidered the true Myrobalanus of the ancients. Of the last it is said : Oleum, e cotyledonibus ex pressum, in omni oriente usitatum, ea propter prze dicatur, quod non facile rancorem contrahat.' But, as we are unable to connect any of these with the (seri of Scripture, we need not further pursue this subject [AGRIELAIA].—J. F. R.