Nannorrhops ritchiana: the dwarf palm tree of the king in the 24th-23rd century BC palace of Jericho

Tell es-Sultan, the Early Bronze Age city of Jericho is one earliest urban centers of 3rd millennium BC Palestine. The 2015-2017 excavations carried out by Sapienza University of Rome and the Palestinian MoTA-DACH have yielded charred botanical finds ascribable to the destruction of the palace by a fire in 2350 BC ca. The most enigmatic retrieved plant macro-remain is represented by a round fruit found in the subsidiary room behind the throne room of Royal Palace G, next to a vase, in the burnt filling overlying the platform. Classical archaeobotanical methods combined with a computed tomography scan allowed for it to be identified as a drupe of a dwarf palm. Two dwarf palms were taken in consideration: the Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis L.) and the Mazari palm (Nannorrhops ritchiana (Griff.) Aitch. native to the Saharo-Indian region), both with small, round/oval fruits, none of which currently growing nearby Jericho. A detailed analysis of herbarium samples of both species stored in Rome (RO), Florence (FIAF) and Edinburgh (E), has allowed to identify the charred drupe as Nannorrhops ritchiana. Iconography, archaeobotanical literature and archaeological data were crucial for its interpretation. The presence of the Mazari palm in the palace suggests the existence of an overland commercial track to the south-east, across the desert of Saudi Arabia, which only recent excavations and other finds have revealed. While the medical properties of such palm are widely attested, the specific context of retrieval suggests a sacred use of the plant, thus backdating its possible use as a religious symbol/cult object.