The Assyrians may have borrowed this image from the Babylonians where the date palm grew more abundantly in a warmer climate.
Here, the date palm is associated with Ishtar, who was not only the goddess of fertility, but also one of the first considered as an archetype of the Mother Goddess—she bears in hand one of the most ancient forms of a snake entwined caduceus. Scientific studies concerning the efficacy of the date palm on enhancing fertility unequivocally support this association. Research published in the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology Advances concludes that date palm pollen facilitates sexual arousal, stimulates erections, prolongs ejaculatory latency while improving sperm quality and motility.xxxix The date palm tree would assuredly maintain the sexual potency of the king which in turn promised an agricultural abundance for all.
The formal name of the date palm, Phoenix Dactylifera, has the obvious association with the Phoenix of resurrection—a mythological bird reborn from the ashes of destruction. It also etymologically references the date, both fruit and tree. Dactyls, from the Greek word for fingers, were an archaic mythical race of male beings associated with the Great Mother, who were healing magicians that disseminated art and science to mankind.
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