The bushes, from which the
Crown of Thorns was made, grew, and still grow abundantly, in the outskirts of
Jerusalem. The monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai have identified a
thorn bush growing east of the large monastery wall as the same original Crown
of Thorns.
With regard to the origin and character of the
thorns, both tradition and existing remains suggest that they must have come
from the bush botanically known as Zizyphus spina Christi, more
popularly, the jujube tree. This reaches the height of fifteen or twenty feet
and is found growing in abundance by the wayside around Jerusalem. According to
Dr. G. E. Post, who is an expert on these matters, this plant grows in the
region of old Jerusalem, especially in the area where Golgotha (or place of the
Crucifixion) is said to have been. The crooked branches of this shrub are armed
with thorns growing in pairs, a straight spine and a curved one commonly
occurring together at each point. Application of the powdered leaves is
said to darken and lengthen women's hair.
Other sources refer to the
thorns as either of two nearly leafless, very spiny shrubs or small trees of
the southwestern North American deserts. Koeberlinia spinosa, with
green thorns at right angles to the branches, produces small, four-petaled,
greenish flowers and clusters of black berries. Another source says it could
be Euphorbia milii.
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