•ill : ; 1
“ which springeth out o fth e wall ; ” ocloriferous and showy flowers, as the
hly of the Yalley, the calamus, camphire, spikenard, sattrou, and ™ a m k S t e
as the cedar, the pine, and the fir ; and the nchest fruits, as he fig
and DomciTi-anate. (Curtii Sprengel Historm Rei Herbariæ, lih. i. c. 1.) I t containea
wateiAn wells and in living streams, and, agreeably to eastern practices, aviaries, and
seraglio. The situation of Solomon’s garden was in all prohahility near the palace, as
wire those of Ahasuei-us and Ahah. (Esther, vii. 8.) Solomon says, “ I made mo
gardens and paradises, and I planted in fficm M kinds of frnit trees I n ^ e me pTO
Sf water, to water with them the groves flourislmig wifli trees. (Eccles n 6. 9 .) Ac
cording to Maumlrell (Travels, p. 8 8 .), the remains of the pools ? \ f 4 T ( Z o n , I
the reception and preservation of the waters of a spring stJl exist. As foi Solomon s
pools ” he says, “ they are tlu-ee in number, lying m a row above one aiiofficr ; being so
ffispo’scd as that the waters o fth e uppermost may descend into the second, and those of
S c o n d l Z S the third. Their flgTre is quac fran^la r ; in then; length thme is some
difference • the first bemg 1 26 paces, the second 2 0 0 , and the th u d 2 2 0 . Die bieacltli
r f X o f them is 9 0 paces They are all lined with walling plastered, and they contain
** ? 0 \ e horticulture o f the Jews we know little ; hut, like that of the ex te rn nations
in general, it was probably then, as it still is in Canaan directed to the growing of C(»lmg
fruits to allay tlinst, and to moderate h e a t; aromatic herbs, to give a tone to the stomach,
m l f i r in e lo refresh and invigorate the spirits. Hence, while their agrionltm-al produce
was wheat, barley, rye, millet, lentils, and b ean s; their gai-dens produced cucumheis,
melons gourds, onions, garlic, anise, cumin, coriander, mustard, and various spices.
Their vineyards were sometimes extensive; Solomon had one at B a i^ am o n which he
il r o u t a r i o o o pieces of silver per annum. (Cant., viii. 11, 12 .) Vines were raised
from seed (Jeremiah, ii. 2 1 . ) ; and it appears probable that
the effects of one flower being impregnated by the poUen of an o th e i; mZfi-iiitTf
(D eu t, xxii. 9.), “ Thou shalt not sow thy vmeyard with divers seeds ; lest the finut of
thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fniit of thy viueyaiff, be defiled.
2 1 . The cemeteries ofthe Jews may be considered as a species of g - i™ -
Abraham, when Sarali died, pm-chased from the children of Heth a field, and aU the
trees which were within its limits, or on its borders,” as a place of burial. It
from Abraham having declined the choice of any of the sepulchres of Heth, and
fixed on a spot ornamented with trees, that burial-places in those days wcic considered
scenes of beauty, as well as of mournful associations. This idea is confinnod hy the
eii-cumstance of the sepulchre in which Jesus Christ was laid, M - g placcfl in a gai-den.
We read of others formed under a tree, and sometimes hewn from the sides of a ro ck ,
so that, on the whole, it is clear, that, m th all who could afford it, fr™ rh e in l
place of burial was not only sacred, from its use, but mtorostmg, or beautiful, from bemg
accompanied by some striking or agreeable natural featui-es.
S e c t . V. Persian Gardens. 13. C . 5 0 0 .
22 The Persian kings were very fond o f gardens, even, as Sir John Malcolm tells us,
their first king Mahabad. Xenophon says that the Pcrsmn gai-dens were cultivated for
the sake of beauty as -well as fmit. “ Wherever the Persian king Gyms ^
whatever place he visits in his dominions, he takes cai*c that the paradises sM l be filled
with every thing, both beautiful and useful, the soil can produce. {S ir J .M a L , rersia;
and X e 7i., Memorah., lib. v. p.'829.) The younger Cyi'us was found by Lysandei, ^
Plutarch informs ns, in his gai-den or paradise at Sard is; and on its being praised by
the Spartan general, he avowed that he had conceived, disposed, and adjusted the whole
himself, and planted a considerable number of the trees with his own hands. {De Cyri
Exped., lib. i . ; Brisson, De Begio Persarum Principatu, p. 52., 8vo, 1595 ; Xenophon’s
(Economics; Diodorus Siculus, lib. x v i.; Plutarch in Vita Artaxerxis, &c.)
23. A paradise in the island o f Panchcea, near the coast of Arabia, is described by
Diodorus Siculus as having been in a flourishing state in the time of Alexander’s immediate
successors, or about b. c. 300. I t belonged to a temple of Jupite r Ti-yphiHus,
and had a copious fountain, which burst at once into a river, was cased witli stone for
near half a mile, and was afterwards used for ii-rigation. It had the usual accompaniments
of groves, fruit trees, thickets, and flowers.
24. The gi'ove o f Orontes in Syria is mentioned by Strabo (hb. xvi.) as being in his
time nine miles in cii-cumference. It is described by Gibbon as “ composed of laurels
and cypress, which foi-med in the most sultry summers a cool and impenetrable shade.
A thousand streams of the pm-est water issuing from every hill preseriTd the verdiu-e of
tlie eaith, and the temperature of the a i r ; the senses were gi-atified with hai-monious
soimds, and aromatic odoui-s; and the peaceful grove was consecrated to health and
joy, to luxury and love.” {Decline and Fall o f the Roman Empire, chap. xiii.) Pigueroa,
who was ambassador ft-om the court of Spain to that of Persia in 1617, inibnns us
that at Shiraz the royal garden was so large that it appeai-ed like a forest, the trees
consisting of cypresses, planes, and elms, which were planted in squares and avenues,
intermixed with thickets of roses. The fruits were grapes, pears, pistacliia nuts, and
almonds. 7\.midst these plantations was a hu-ge and beautiful lake. {Archceologia,
vol. vii. p. 114.)
25. In Persian gardens o f a more limited description, according to Pliny and other
Roman authors, the trees were an-anged in straight lines and regular figui-es; and the
niai-gins of the walks covered -with tufts of roses, violets, and other odoriferous flowering
plants. In these plantations, the resinous sorts, the oriental plane, and, what may appear
to us remai-kable, the narrow-leaved elm, (now called English, but originally, as Dr.
Walker and others consider, from the Holy Land,) held conspicuous places. I3uildings
for repose and banqueting, fountains for cooling the air, aviaries for choice birds, and
towers for the sake of distant prospect, were introduced in the best examples. {G. L .
Meason.) I t is interesting to find, from Sir Robert Ker Portei-, that the same style still
prevails. “ The prevailing plan of Persian gardens is that of long parallel walks, shaded
hy even rows of tall lunbrageous planes, interspersed with a variety of fruit trees, and
every kind of flowering shi-ub. Canals flow down the avenues in the same uiideviating
lines, and generally tei-minate in some lai-ge mai-ble basins of squai-e or octagon shapes,
containing sparkling fountains. Formal as this may seem, and, therefore, the reverse
of picturesque, the effect was amazingly gi-and. The number of avenues and canals
formed so extended a sylvan scene, friat, when viewed fr-ora any point, it appeai-ed a
vast wood, with thousands of brilliant rills gliding amongst thickets.” “ I t should be
observed,” adds Meason, “ that the Persians are not content with one fountain, but often
have many small low jets, to keep the whole surface of the water in agitation, and to
lieighten the spai-kling effects through the foliage.”
26. A tower was a necessary appendage to an eastern garden, fi-om tlie most remote
era. Speaking of a vineyard, Isaiah says, “ He fenced it, and gathered out the stones
thereof, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst of it.”
{Isaiah, v. 2.) Seven hundred years afterwards, the custom was preserved in the Holy
Land ; as in the parable of om- Lord, in M a tt, xxi. 3 3 .; and again in Luke, xiv. 28.
Marcus Laiiatus tells us that the inhabitants of Ptolemais beat down the towers of theii-
gardens to the ground, and removed the stones, upon the approach of the Tartars, a . d .
1260. Sandys saw many towers between Jenisalcm and Betlilehem; and Maundi-ell
mentions the same kind of edifices in his account of the gardens of Damascus; which
confirms the description given by William of Tyre, of the gardens of the Levant in the
twelftli cciitm-y. Among the paintings found a t jPompeii are some supposed to be of
villas, each of which has its tower of safety hard by. Some of these towers are squai-e,
aud one has a shed or awning over the top, very similar to some of the towers in the
buildings of the great painters. One marine villa has near it a round embattled tower
wliich is sun-ounded by water. {Meason.)
27. Persian cemeteries. The tomb of Cyrus is described by Strabo as in a tower ; and
AiTiaii says it was situated in the royal gai-deus, amidst trees and running streams. {Rnd.)
S e c t . YT. Grecian Gardens. B. C. 300.
28. The Greeks copied the gardening o f the Persians, as they did their manners and
architectm-e, as far as the difference of climate and state of society would admit.
Xenophon, a Greek philosopher of the fourth century before Christ, admfred the gardens
of the Persian prince Cyi-us, at S a rd is ; and Diogenes Laertius informs us that Epicurus
delighted in the pleasures of the garden, and made choice of one as the spot where he