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COVER ARTICLE BOTANICAL DETERMINATION OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN TREE OF LIFE J. A N D R E W M C D O N A L D Now that man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live forever.t . . . (so god) banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 2:21-24) Early myths and religious beliefs that account for the origin of life and human aspirations to attain immortality are often ignored or scorned by natural historians, as they tend to contradict modern Darwinian views of natural creation and current biological understandings of the aging process. Allusions to an immortalizing 'tree of life' in the mythic traditions of Mesopotamia, the Levant, and India are therefore thought to arise from the hopeful and imaginative yearnings of superstitious peoples rather than historical realities. Linguists and comparative mythologists have long recognized, nevertheless, that references to such a plant appear recurrently in
Economic Botany – Springer Journals
Published: Jun 1, 2002
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