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A fruit tree common in both wild and cultivated forms throughout the Near East since ancient times. It is a beautiful shade tree whose large palm-shaped leaves were said to have been used to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:7). The pear-shaped fruit is eaten fresh or dried into cakes, which are storable and thus an ideal food for travelers (1Sam 25:18). A fig tree that failed in its purpose of bearing figs was cursed by Jesus (Matt 21:18-19), perhaps as a metaphor for the destruction of the Temple that similarly failed to bear proper religious fruit (Mark 11:12-25).