The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the “onions and garlick of Egypt” (Num. 11:5). This was the betsel of the Hebrews, the Allium cepe of botanists, of which it is said that there are some thirty or forty species now growing in Palestine. The onion is “the ‘undivided’ leek, unio_, _unus, one.”

This product is mentioned only in (Numbers 11:5) as one of the good things of Egypt of which the Israel regretted the loss. Onions have been from time immemorial a favorite article of food among the Egyptians, The onions of Egypt are much milder in flavor and less pungent than those of this country.