Zawan and tares in the Bible

Farmers in Jordan and Syria refer to two weeds in wheat fields as zawan in Arabic. These are Cephalaria syriaca (L.) Schrad. (Dipsacaceae) and Lolium temulentum L (Poaceae). The Greek word zizanion in the parable in Matthew 13 is translated variously as tares, darnel, and weed. According to the biblical text, tares must have a life cycle like wheat and easily contaminate wheat seed. To better understand which plant is zawan, field and threshing sites in Jordan and Syria were surveyed. Four grain fields and four threshing sites had Cephalaria, one field and one threshing site had Lolium. Early botanical explorers noted C. syriaca as a weed in wheat in Syria. There are few records of C. syriaca as contaminants of grain caches at archeological sites while L. temulentum is common.