Cistus Incanus

New Year 2010 !! New photos from first flower of Cistus Incanus

Plain of Sharon

Shar'un "a plain" (Acts 9:35). Extremely fertile coastal plain between Joppa on the S. and Mount Carmel on the N. Sharon and was noted for its flowery beauty (Isa 35:2; Song 2:1). It was famous for its forests and lush vegetation (Is 33:9; Song 2:1), rich pasture and David appointed his overseer for the herds that grazed there (I Chr 27:29). The Via Maris (a favorite caravan route) passed through the Plain of Sharon, connecting Egypt to Palestine and Syria, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia with many cities along the road (according to the lists of the Egyptian Kings). Amenophis II traveled this route on his way to northern Syria (according to his list).

In the Persian and Hellenistic periods there are many Phoenician colonies built along this coast. In the Roman period it was called drymos which means "forest", with some of the major cities at that time built along the coast.

Some well-known biblical cities located in this plain were: Dor, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, Rakkon, and Antipatris.

Today the area is filled with citrus farms and numerous settlements.

Isa 35:1-2 "The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

NKJVIt shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, The excellency of our God."

1 Chr. 5:16; 27, 29; Isa. 33:9


Mount Carmel’s rich red soil is covered by a typical Mediterranean shrub forest. There are beautiful Kermes Oak groves and not only flowering trees and delicious fragrant herbs, but all the flora of the North of Israel seems gathered in this favored spot.
So early as November, the crocus, narcissus, pink cistus, and large daisy are in bloom, and the hawthorn in bud.
In spring, wild tulips, dark red anemones, pink phlox, cyclamen, purple stocks, marigolds, geranium, and pink (Cistus salvifolius) and white (Cistus creticus) rock-roses make it spectacular.

The last day of Spring

Welcome Spring (part 3). There are a lot of flowers and perfumes ... everywhere.

Photo from North Crete.

Welcome Spring (part 2). There are a lot of flowers and perfumes ... everywhere.

Photo from Mediterranean Sea (My village North Crete).
My village has a lot of Citrus tree.
There are everywhere Natural Fragrance.
It is a Natural Spa Studio.

Welcome Spring. It has a lot of flowers and perfumes... (May Day)

Pollen, plant traces bolster case for Shroud of Turin.

Shroud of Turin.

CNN News

June 15, 1999

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Plant imprints and pollen found on the Shroud of Turin support the premise that it originated in the Holy Land, two Israeli scientists say.

"In the light of our findings, it is highly probable that the shroud did in fact come from this part of the world,"

said Avinoam Danin, a botany professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The botanists, whose findings were reported in Tuesday's Haaretz newspaper, did not address the issue of the age of the linen cloth, believed by many to be the burial cloth in which Jesus was wrapped after his crucifixion.

The shroud was brought to France by a 14th-century crusader and has been enshrined since 1578 in a cathedral in Turin, Italy. About 13 feet long and 3 feet wide, it bears the faint image of a man with wounds similar to those suffered by Jesus.

In 1988, scientists tested scraps of the shroud with Vatican approval and concluded it dated back to between 1260 and 1390. They couldn't explain how the image was made, and some experts have said contamination might have affected the carbon-14 dating tests. Danin and his colleague Uri Baruch refused to discuss the authenticity of the shroud itself.

The shroud also includes the images of some plants, and Danin identified one as the bean caper (Zygophyllum dumosum), which he said grows only in Israel, Jordan and Egypt's Sinai desert.

Cistus Incanus

Two other plants whose images were found on the shroud were the Rock Rose (Cistus creticus) which grows throughout the Middle East; and the Goundelia tournefortii tumbleweed, believed by some Christians to be the material of the crown of thorns.

Traces of pollen grains taken from the shroud are from plants found in Israel and neighboring countries, including the bean caper and the tumbleweed appearing on the shroud, said Baruch, a pollen specialist at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The flowers "could have been picked up fresh in the fields.

A few of the species could be found in the markets of Jerusalem in the spring," Danin said. The shroud also contains the imprint of a coin minted in the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, who ruled at the time of the crucifixion.

The Roman Catholic Church has never claimed the cloth as a holy relic, but the cloth has attracted pilgrims to Turin since the Middle Ages. Pope John Paul II, who knelt in silent prayer before the cloth last year, urged scientists to do more testing of the linen.

The shroud went on display in a bulletproof case for several weeks last year and will go on view next in 2000, for Holy Year celebrations