תּוּת (Tut) — mulberry; strawberry
Etymology
The word tut is one of the oldest attested words for a fruit in the region, with its earliest record appearing in a Babylonian cuneiform inscription from 465 BCE (the 19th year of the Persian King Artaxerxes). The inscription mentions a "bench made of tuttum," referring to the wood of the mulberry tree. Linguists believe the word entered Hebrew and Babylonian via Aramaic, which had borrowed it from Persian.
While common in the region by the Persian period, the mulberry tree is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Its first appearance in Hebrew literature is in the Mishnah (compiled c. 200 CE), where it is discussed in the context of tithing laws. At this stage, and for many centuries after, tut referred exclusively to the tree-growing mulberry. In the late 19th century, the Zionist movement attempted to establish a silk industry in Palestine by planting hundreds of thousands of mulberry trees to feed silkworms, a venture that ultimately failed by the early 1900s.
The application of the name tut to the strawberry occurred much later. As Jews moved to Northern Europe, they encountered wild strawberries, sparking halakhic debates over whether the blessing should be for "fruit of the tree" or "fruit of the earth." In the early 20th century, as strawberries began to be cultivated in Eretz Yisrael, various names were proposed, including "French mulberry," "Earth mulberry," and "Garden mulberry." The modern standard, tut sadeh (field strawberry), was coined by Isser Yosef Einhorn in 1910 and became the dominant term after gardener Aaron Halevi began selling the plants commercially in 1925.
Key Quotes
"הָאוֹג וְהַתּוּתִים מִשֶּׁיַּאְדִּימוּ" — Mishnah Ma'asrot 1:2, c. 200 CE
"בַּמֶּשִׁי אֵינָם רוֹאִים כְּלָל סִמַּן בְּרָכָה זֶה אֵיזֶה שָׁנִים... וּכְמַעַט שֶׁעוֹמֵד הַתּוּת לְהֵעָקֵר" — HaZvi, 1900
"לקטנו התות הצרפתי אדם מדם! לקטנו ואכלנו הפרי האסור כמו שהוא" — Hemda Ben-Yehuda, HaHashkafa, 1906
Timeline
- 465 BCE: Earliest known attestation of the word in a Babylonian cuneiform inscription.
- 200 CE: The word appears for the first time in Hebrew literature (the Mishnah).
- 13th Century: Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (Maharam) discusses the blessing for strawberries (Erdbeere) in Europe.
- 1888: Large-scale planting of mulberry trees begins in Jewish colonies for silk production.
- 1910: Isser Yosef Einhorn coins the term tut sadeh in his book on agriculture.
- 1925: Commercial cultivation of strawberries is popularized by Aaron Halevi.
Related Words
- פֶּטֶל (petel) — raspberry (historically confused with or called a type of tut)
- מֶשִׁי (meshi) — silk (historically linked to the mulberry tree)
- תּוּת שָׂדֶה (tut sadeh) — strawberry (literally "field mulberry")