Meanings behind myths. The Multiple Manifestations of the Tree of the Virgin

Meanings behind myths: the multiple manifestations of the Tree of the Virgin at Matarea Stefan Halikowski Smith* Department of History, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom Matarea – five ‘Lombard’ miles north of Old Cairo – was one of the most... More

Meanings behind myths: the multiple manifestations of the Tree of the Virgin at Matarea Stefan Halikowski Smith* Department of History, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom Matarea – five ‘Lombard’ miles north of Old Cairo – was one of the most popular stops on what Wade Labarge has called the ‘longer, complete circuit’ of medieval Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The garden there was purported to have sheltered the Holy Family on its flight from Egypt, but also occupied a strategic location on international thoroughfares and, via its famed balsam grove, offered visitors a glimpse at the source of production of one of the rarest and most valuable spices known in the West. Over the early modern period, the mythical history of Matarea was forced to alter its contents. The Tree of the Virgin there was, for example, variously presented as a sycamore, a fig and a palm. The purpose of this article is to trace the shifts in the metrics of the myth, explain them Less