According to the Talmud, balsam—a resin produced from the sap of a plant known as the biblical persimmon—was one of the ingredients of the incense used in the Temple rituals. The same substance, tsori in Hebrew, is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible, most famously in Jeremiah’s rhetorical “Is there no balm in Gilead?” Thus the discovery of an ancient seal bearing the oldest known image of the plant is of particular significance. The Times of Israel reports:

The 2,000-year-old amethyst seal, which was designed to be worn as a ring, has an engraving of a bird next to a branch of what appears to be the expensive biblical persimmon used to make the fragrance. The seal . . . was discovered at the foundation stones of the Western Wall. . . . According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the biblical persimmon plant is unrelated to the modern-day fruit.

The 1st-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that Mark Antony gave Cleopatra valuable persimmon groves that formerly belonged to King Herod. Scholars believe that this was so she could have an unlimited supply of the expensive balm extracted from the plant [to use as perfume].

Researchers [from the Israel Antiquities Authority] said in a statement that the seal depicts a bird, probably a dove, and a thick branch with five fruits on it, which they believe to be the persimmon plant.

“This is an important find because it may be the first time a seal has been discovered in the entire world with an engraving of the precious and famous plant, which until now we could only read about in historical descriptions,” said Eli Shukron, who carried out the excavation where the seal was found.

Surveying news websites and social media on Sunday morning, I immediately found some intelligent and well-informed observers arguing that Iran deliberately warned the U.S. of its pending assault on Israel, and calibrated it so that there would be few casualties and minimal destructiveness, thus hoping to avoid major retaliation. In other words, this massive barrage was a face-saving gesture by the ayatollahs. Others disagreed. Brian Carter and Frederick W. Kagan put the issue to rest:

The Iranian April 13 missile-drone attack on Israel was very likely intended to cause significant damage below the threshold that would trigger a massive Israeli response. The attack was designed to succeed, not to fail. The strike package was modeled on those the Russians have used repeatedly against Ukraine to great effect. The attack caused more limited damage than intended likely because the Iranians underestimated the tremendous advantages Israel has in defending against such strikes compared with Ukraine.

But that isn’t to say that Tehran achieved nothing:

The lessons that Iran will draw from this attack will allow it to build more successful strike packages in the future. The attack probably helped Iran identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Israeli air-defense system. Iran will likely also share the lessons it learned in this attack with Russia.

Iran’s ability to penetrate Israeli air defenses with even a small number of large ballistic missiles presents serious security concerns for Israel. The only Iranian missiles that got through hit an Israeli military base, limiting the damage, but a future strike in which several ballistic missiles penetrate Israeli air defenses and hit Tel Aviv or Haifa could cause significant civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including ports and energy. . . . Israel and its partners should not emerge from this successful defense with any sense of complacency.