Exodus 16.
What is it? Let's think a minute.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/is-manna-real.amp
Maybe L. esculenta
Granted it's found in Turkey, and a similar lichen in Iran.
Or:
Quote:
Diyarbakir (or Diarbékir in French writings) is a district in south-eastern Turkey. Leo Errera, professor of botany at the University of Brussels and a member of the Academy, examined the sample and published a paper about it. He began his report with the observation that it was easy to see...
...that this substance is nothing other than the lichen known by the name Lecanora esculenta...found first by Pallas in the arid, calcareous and gypsum mountains of the desert of Tartary. Ledebour and Eversmann found it abundant in the Kirghiz steppes, near the southern part of the river Jaďk at the foot of gypsum hills around the salt lakes. This lichen has also been reported from Persia by Parrot, where it is thought to fall from the sky. To summarise, it is common in Asia Minor and is found also in Palestine and in Algeria. In some parts of Asia Lecanora esculenta covers the soil to such a degree that, according to Parrot, it forms beds 15 to 20 centimetres thick.
|
Seems like mixed with flowering desert grasses, wheat, and honeydew, maybe from insects. A small band of people could subsist on it. And whatever other scraps they could find. It'd make good bread. Lichen are rich in vitamins and minerals?
They were told not to gather too much. If they did it didn't regrow as much. Lichen, bacteria, and algae could grow back exponentially under the right conditions?
https://www.anbg.gov.au/lichen/case-...kir-manna.html
https://herbarium.usu.edu/fun-with-fungi/lichens
Consider climate change.
Consider environmental change. Perhaps the Sinai and Levant was much different ecologically, richer, and even some species have been lost in ~2000 years.
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Quote:
Natural Uses
Lichens can be an important food source in extreme environments. The Lapp people, who live above the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and Russia, harvest lichens as winter food for their reindeer, just like farmers in temperate zones stockpile hay. Sheep in the deserts of Libya survive, in part, by eating crustose lichens growing on rocks.
Lichens are also important in making soil. Soil is made up of organic matter, such as decayed plants, and minerals. Species that grow on rocks infiltrate and wedge apart pieces of the rock by both pressure and chemical action. Some of their acidic secondary products dissolve the rock’s surface, freeing mineral grains. This is an extremely slow process, but the resilience and endurance of the lichen fungi puts time on their side.
|
Pretty sad people ignore the Biblia on life IMHO
To me, manna is life, from God. Adonai. It's bacteria. It's algae. It's living. And working together in mutual symbiosis to turn rocks into soil. We should grow this stuff with our wheat. Promote its growth and make it free to all.