Melons

(Num. 11:5) — a sweet, watery, and pleasant-tasting fruit, well known to everyone, mentioned in the Bible only in the passage cited: “We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely,” the Israelites complained to Moses in the wilderness, “the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.” That this garden plant has been cultivated in Egypt from remote antiquity admits no doubt, and it was perhaps brought there from India, where it still grows in abundance today.

The flesh of melons is in some varieties whitish, in others reddish, and the juice of both is very pleasant and refreshing, especially in hot weather. According to the testimony of some travelers, this fruit serves as food, drink, and medicine (in fevers). It grows in some parts of Palestine, particularly near Caesarea, chiefly on dry, sandy soil. According to Thomson, the leaves of the melon have the property of absorbing the moisture of the night dew — how else could one explain the excess of watery sap found in melons?

Given the pleasantness and general use of this fruit in Egypt, it becomes understandable with what regret the Hebrews recalled the melons of the wilderness of Arabia.