National Pomegranate Month – November 2024

History of National Pomegranate Month

The pomegranate plant is native to a region between modern-day Iran and Northern India. They have been cultivated for thousands of years in the Middle East, South Asia, and the Mediterranean region. It is also cultivated in the Central Valley of California and Arizona through its introduction by the Spanish settlers. Pomegranates were one of the first fruit plants to be domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean region, probably dating back to 5000 B.C.

In the early Bronze Age, the carbonized exocarp of the pomegranate was identified. A large, dry pomegranate was once discovered in the tomb of Djehuty, who was the butler of Ancient Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut. Other archeological discoveries of pomegranate remains from the Late Bronze Age have primarily been in elite residences, implying that it may have been considered a luxury item.

John Tradescant the Elder introduced the pomegranate as an exotic plant to England, however, it was repeatedly reintroduced to the American colonies because it did not originate from England. It was successful in the southern United States, where in 1764, John Bartram received a barrel of pomegranates and oranges from a correspondent in Charleston, South Carolina. In September 1765, he ate pomegranates with Noble Jones at the Wormsloe Plantation near Savannah, Georgia, in Colonial America.

The pomegranate plant is also widely grown in southern China and Southeast Asia, where it is distributed along the historic Silk Road trade route or imported by sea traders. Kandahar is well-known in Afghanistan for producing high-quality pomegranates.