History of pomegranate in Middle East

The pomegranate’s history dates back to biblical times. Its name is derived from the French pomme granate or ‘seeded apple’.

Taxonomists believe that man first began domesticating the pomegranate sometime in the fourth millennium BC in northern Iran and Turkey. It spread widely before recorded history, reaching India and the Mediterranean.

Archeological remains having been unearthed dating to 3000 BC in Jericho. The pomegranate was grown in Babylon and in ancient Jericho. From there, the pomegranate spread into Mesopotamia, India, Northern Africa, and China and then onto Mediterranean Basin.

In Egypt it was found in the tomb of the butler of Queen Hatseput and the first written references comes from the beautiful love poem, The Flower Song of around 1500 BC. In a 12th BC Egyptian papyrus preserved in the Turin Museum, a woman’s beauty is compared to a pomegranate.

Pomegranates are common in Mediterranean cooking for both their seeds and their juice. Pomegranates were introduced into North America in colonial times and thrived on the plains from South Carolina to Florida.
History of pomegranate in Middle East