Arab Subsistence Ecosystem Series Vol. 2
『Date Palms』
Edited by Shun Ishiyama, Hiroshi Nawata
RINSEN BOOK CO., Kyoto, 315 pp.
December, 2013（in Japanese）
This book describes the deserts, oases and patterns of human subsistence
in the arid lands of Africa, focusing especially on the historical, geographical,
botanical, and anthropological aspects of the important species of date palm,
Phoenix dactylifera. Humankind has interacted with date palm for more than
5000 years, and this experience has been an important source of indigenous
knowledge and social relations—such as water conservation and communal
sharing—enabling survival in arid lands. The date palm is not just an important
source of food, but also a keystone species providing shade which creates
micro climate conditions for cropping in very dry and hot environments.
The date palm culture remains important today even despite the transformation
of Arab societies under modernization.
