The Cucurbits of Mediterranean Antiquity: Identification of Taxa from Ancient Images and Descriptions

Abstract

Background A critical analysis was made of cucurbit descriptions in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica, Columella's De Re Rustica and Pliny's Historia Naturalis, works on medicine, agriculture and natural science of the 1st century CE, as well as the Mishna and Tosefta, compilations of rabbinic law derived from the same time period together with cucurbit images dating from antiquity including paintings, mosaics and sculpture. The goal was to identify taxonomically the Mediterranean cucurbits at the time of the Roman Empire. † Findings By ancient times, long-fruited forms of Cucumis melo (melon) and Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) were selected, cultivated and used as vegetables around the Mediterranean and, in addition, bottle-shaped fruits of L. siceraria were employed as vessels. Citrullus lanatus (watermelons) and round-fruited forms of Cucumis melo (melons) were also consumed, but less commonly. A number of cucurbit species, including Bryonia alba, B. dioica, Citrullus colocynthis and Ecballium elaterium, were employed for medicinal purposes. No unequivocal evidence was found to suggest the presence of Cucumis sativus (cucumber) in the Mediterranean area during this era. The cucumis of Columella and Pliny was not cucumber, as commonly translated, but Cucumis melo subsp. melo Flexuosus Group (snake melon or vegetable melon).

A short history of Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) in the Roman provinces: morphotypes and archaeogenetics

“…Besides the archaeological sources, bottle gourds are mentioned in the ancient literature, in particular in three 1st century A.D. texts: De Materia Medica by Dioscorides (Beck 2005), De Re Rustica by Columella (Ash 1941;Forster and Heffner 1955) and Historia Naturalis by Pliny the Elder (Rackham 1950;Jones 1951), and also in compilations of the Jewish laws of the 1st to 2nd century A.D., Mishna and Tosefta (see review in Janick et al 2007;Paris and Janick 2008). The ancient authors distinguish between the narrow, long-fruited cultivars that were used as vegetables and the broad, short-fruited cultivars that were used for a variety of purposes such as containers or as swimming aids.…”

“…The ancient authors distinguish between the narrow, long-fruited cultivars that were used as vegetables and the broad, short-fruited cultivars that were used for a variety of purposes such as containers or as swimming aids. In addition, they are illustrated for example in paintings, mosaics and sculptures from that period (Köhler 2002;Janick et al 2007;Paris and Janick 2008).…”

The PH gene determines fruit acidity and contributes to the evolution of sweet melons

“…Apparently, melon types were domesticated thousands of years ago and dispersed widely by early historical times. Elongate melons of the acidic Adzhur and Flexuosus groups, as depicted in ancient Egyptian wall paintings, were the most widely mentioned and illustrated cucurbit in Mediterranean antiquity 26 . Among the domesticated Cucurbitaceae, fruit elongation is strongly associated with the culinary use of immature fruits 27 and many elongated varieties of melon are grown for their young, immature fruits, which are consumed fresh or pickled, like cucumbers.…”

Medicinal bioactivites and allergenic properties of pumpkin seeds: review upon a pediatric food anaphylaxis case report

“…Cucumis and Citrullus species originated in Africa and Western Asia (India). Finds in Egyptian tombs dating from the 16th to the 12th century BC have revealed that sweet cucurbits were being eaten by pharaohs, as well as later on by Roman and Byzantine empires from the 2nd to the 6th centuries (3,5,9). In Austria and adjacent countries, pumpkins have been grown for production of oil for about three centuries.…”