What were these watermelons good for?

Monday, November 25th, 2019

Native to Africa, watermelons have been grown throughout the continent since ancient times — despite the fact that watermelons were not sweet until much, much later:

In southwest Libya, 5,000-year-old seeds were excavated, and watermelon remnants from 1500 B.C. have been discovered in the foundational deposits beneath walls of a Sudanese temple. Archeologists have also found seeds and paintings of various species of watermelon in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back from as long as 4,000 years ago. These species include wild watermelons, as well as the oblong predecessors of the “dessert” watermelon.

But if not a flavorful fruit, what were these watermelons good for? According to the work of Harry S. Paris, a horticulturalist at the Agricultural Research Organization in Israel, ancient Egyptians likely harvested the round fruit for its water. Wild, or “spontaneous” plants, Paris writes, can be sources of clean water during the long, dry season, and can provide food for livestock and animals.

[...]

Living travelers, too, needed reliable water sources to sustain them. According to Paris, it’s likely that travelers took watermelons with them as a kind of nature-made canteen. Along with trade, he writes, the watermelon’s role as a portable fresh water supply helped the fruit find its way into new regions.

Once the Greeks got a hold of the pepo (as they called it) around 400 B.C., they, too, put it to use. While some varieties were eaten (and others had to be boiled, fried, or simply avoided), the watermelon made a splash in the medical world. Pliny the Elder found pepones to be incredibly refreshing, and, according to one translation, “also laxative.” The first-century physician Dioscorides also noted that the pepon was cooling, wet, and diuretic.

[...]

But by the first few centuries A.D., posits Paris, the watermelon had likely sweetened up. Writings in Hebrew from the end of the second century, as well as sixth-century Latin texts, group the watermelon with other sweet fruits, including pomegranates, figs, and grapes.

Comments

  1. Adar says:

    Most all vegetables and fruit we consume has been genetically modified by selective breeding. The original as found in the field nothing as compared to what we find in the produce market.

  2. Sam J. says:

    Have you heard the story of the handled watermelon? Interesting is the guy in jail now for protesting them talking his land was instrumental in saving these seeds, Cliven Bundy.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0f5HxKinqc

    The story has been wiped by the seed company due to left wing threats but here’s a link with the basics.

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15869250

  3. McChuck says:

    While traveling to and from the -istans fairly recently, almost all of the locals on the aircraft were carrying small, round watermelons.

    And yes, there were chickens roaming the aisles. And a well-mannered goat on one flight.

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