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HomeRead, Watch, ListenArts & Culture
Plants of the BibleVideoArts & Culture

Wheat and barley: plants that mark time

In the first of a series of videos on the meaning-laden plants of the Bible, we learn about the influence of wheat and barley on the Jewish calendar.
Marlo Newton
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Wheat stalks.

Wheat is one of the basic Biblical crops (Pexels)

Published: 28 May 2025

Last updated: 12 June 2025

Wheat and barley are key Biblical crops, the first two of the archetypal "seven species" of the land of Israel.

The cultivation of these plants is etched into the Jewish calendar. Pesach marks the barley harvest, then we count the Omer until the wheat harvest, at the festival of Shavuot.

In this video from our Plants of the Bible series, Australian-turned-Israeli Elly Waller shows us how Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, explores the cultural meaning of these subsistence plants.

Watch more Plants of the Bible videos here.

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About the author

Marlo Newton

Marlo Newton

Marlo L Newton is an enthusiastic historian and Jewish educator. She is Head of Philanthropy at The Alfred Foundation, Melbourne.

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