cheryl ward – pomegranates in eastern mediterranean contexts during the late bronze age

7/24/2019 Cheryl Ward – Pomegranates in Eastern Mediterranean Contexts During the Late Bronze Age

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cheryl-ward-pomegranates-in-eastern-mediterranean-contexts-during-the-late 1/13

Pomegranates in easternMediterranean contexts during theLate Bronze Age

Cheryl Ward

Abstract

The recovery of botanical remains from the late fourteenth-century B C E U luburun shipwreck nearKaș, Turkey, provides a unique opportunity to examine the consumable components of an elite-oriented cargo, which included numerous pomegranate seeds, skin fragments and flower parts.Examination of pomegranate-shaped objects and botanical remains permits investigation of theestablishment and development of t he pomegranate a s part of t he ‘package’ of elite and luxury itemsexchanged by B ronze Age eastern Mediterranean cultures.

Keywords

Archaeobota ny; B ronze Age; U luburun shipwreck; pomegranate; luxury goo ds.

Introduction

The pomegranate bush raises its voice (tiny, insistent, and shrill): My seeds shine like

the teeth o f my mistress, the shape of my fruit is round like her breasts. I’m her fa vorite,

I know, sweetest tree in the orchard, loo king my best through every season.

(twelfth-century B CE Turin Papyrus, Foster 1992: 83–4)

The la te fourteenth-century B CE U luburun shipwreck excava ted by the Institute of Nauti-

cal Archaeology near K aș, Turkey, offers a rare o pportunity to examine the components

of an elite-oriented ca rgo (B ass 1986; B ass et a l. 1989; P ulak 1988, 1998). While nine o r

ten cultures are represented by finds on the wreck, the ship probably was Syrian or

C ypriot in origin, loaded f or its fi na l journey a t U garit (P ulak 1998: 216–18). The ship

itself, abo ut 15m long and capa ble of carrying some fourteen to fi fteen tons of cargo , was

built of cedar and represented a substantial investment. Its cargo included raw materials

and fi nished products of bo th elephant a nd hippopota mus ivory, precious metals, copper,

tin and coloured glass as well as a romat ic resin, amber, tort oise cara paces and o strich eggs,

World A rchaeology Vol. 34(3): 529–541 L uxury Foods

© 2003 Taylo r & Francis L td ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 online

D OI: 10.1080/0043824021000026495



all identifiable as luxury goods because of their presence in the administrative centres,

elite residences and elaborate graves of a relatively small portion of ancient eastern

Mediterranean cultures. The extensive investment in sea-borne traffic during the most

active t ra ding perio d, c. 1400–1200 B CE , is glimpsed through the rich textual record o f the

El Amarna tablets, which document exchange between rulers, and through the excava-

tion of palace sites and tombs throughout the eastern Mediterranean (e.g. Cline 1994;

Knapp 1991; Peltenberg 1991). The U luburun ship exemplifi es directiona l tra de by themost conspicuous consumers in Late Bronze Age societies, whose efforts to acquire

luxury goods seem to be particularly important in the development of intensified levels

of production and the extension of political and economic influence (Sherratt and

Sherratt 1991; Zaccagnini 1987).

The recovery of pomegrana te seeds, stamen and anther fra gments and skin fra gments

from more tha n 25 per cent of a ll sampled contexts on the U luburun shipwreck (Ha ldane

1993) suggested tha t th is non-staple fruit w ith elabora te symbolic associations in later times

might a lso b e classified as part of the elite-oriented cargo. The pomegranate is a b ota nical

curiosity with o rigins east of Mesopotamia, a nd its movement westwa rd o ver millennia can

be traced through archaeobotanical remains and iconography (see Tables below). Theassociation of pomegranates with a spects of life (fertility) and death through iconography

is well estab lished by the early I ron A ge in the eastern Mediterranean w orld, and is further

elabora ted by texts and images dating to C lassical times, although B ronze Age antecedents

are less clearly defined. Immerwahr’s thorough survey of pomegranate vases and fruit-

shaped artefacts from the Bronze Age suggests that, in the Aegean at least, the pome-

granate ‘played a symbolic role appropriate for those going on a journey to the

U nderw orld’ (1989: 408) as most finds of pomegrana te-shaped a rtefa cts come from to mbs.

As most of these pomegranate representations were made of imported glass, faience,

bronze, ivory, gold and finely painted ceramics, and these materials were closely linked

with status and prestige in the Aegean, it is clear that the pomegranate itself deservesconsideration a s to whether there may be sufficient evidence to group the fruit of the pome-

granat e w ith other, more f amiliar, luxury goo ds of the region. I shall first discuss the pome-

granate from a botanical perspective, outline its economic uses and review symbolic

associations before a ssessing its potential a s a luxury foo d a boa rd the U luburun shipwreck.

The cultivated pomegranate

The cultivated pomegranate (Puni ca granatum L.) probably originated in north-eastern

Turkey a nd the south C aspian regions where its wild forms are found to day (Zohary and

Spiegel-R oy 1975). I t is a family of one genus and two species (Polunin 1969: 266; Z oha ry

and H opf 1988: 150–1; D avis 1972: 173–4). The w ild form prod uces a smaller fruit (5–8cm

diameter) than the cultivated (6–12cm). The other species, a dwarf form, is cultivated as

an ornamenta l plant. C ultivars are self-pollinating and usually propagat ed vegetat ively, but

may also be grown from seed in temperate and tropical areas. The pomegranate is

deciduous, with shiny, oblong leaves growing on many branches. It reaches 5m in height,

and is considered a shrub or small tree. Its fleshy, red flowers are up to 4cm wide and

solitary, and continue bloo ming even while the shrub is fruiting. The most remarka ble feature

530 Cheryl Ward



of the pomegrana te is its brightly coloured, swollen, leathery fruit, crowned by a persistent,

hard calyx tube. The denta te calyx has fi ve to seven triangular ‘teeth’ enclosing five to seven

petals and numerous stamens. The fruit forms as a large and fleshy berry conta ining many

arils, seeds surrounded by pulp with a characteristic deep pink to red hue (Fig. 1).

Tangy po megrana te juice and pa ste are regularly used in Middle E astern cooking. As

sweetened grenadine, the juice is a familiar cordial to Europeans and North Americans

and pro ba bly wa s known to the E gyptians at the end of the B ronze Age (Lo ret 1892: 78).The pomegrana te is nourishing a s well – nutritional a nalyses show tha t 100 grams of a rils

(pulp-encased seeds) conta in abo ut 8 per cent of recommended d aily a llowances for bo th

iron and vitamin C in ad dition to tra ce amounts of other vitamins and minerals. C lassical

writers appreciated and often referred to the pomegranate’s astringent qualities in

perfumery and medicine (for exa mple, D ioscorides D e M ateri a Medica I.110) and to its

use as a fl avouring for w ines and a s a favourite fruit (L ucius Junius M oderatus Columella

on A griculture 5.10.16). D ried pomegrana te rinds have a ta nnin content a pproaching 20

per cent. They are used toda y, as in the past, t o pro duce a bla ck dye in Turkey (E yübo glu

et al. 1983) and to tan leather in Morocco. Austen Henry Layard, active in exploring

ancient sites in Mesopotamia in the first half of t he nineteenth century, reported that raftmen on the Tigris preserved the suppleness of skins used to build their floats by rubbing

the skins with pounded pomegranate rinds (1854: 302). The rind also contains certain

fla vonoids which medical researchers are currently testing as potential ant i-ba cterial treat-

ments (Pra shanth et al. 2001; Schubert et al. 1999), expanding on ancient E gyptian and

Pomegranates in eastern M edi terr anean contexts dur ing the L ate Bronze A ge 531

Figur e 1 a) Pomegranate fruit withflowers and b) seeds. The seeds,4.6–6.2cm long, a re from the U lubu-run shipwreck.



C lassical medicinal use of the pomegrana te’s bark a nd rind a s a cure for stoma ch ills and

as a vermifuge (Manniche 1989: 140).

The brilliant red a nd yellow of its skin, blood-red juice and abundance of its seeds make

the pomegranate ripe for symbolic associations with human fertility – and thus life and

deat h – across time and space. In the recent past, Z oroa strian communities in Ira n planted

pomegranate trees in the courtyards of fire temples, and certain Zoroastrian rites and

customs a pparently req uired pomegrana te twigs and seeds (Modi 1922). Fecundity t herealso is related to the pomegranate: in some rural areas a groom will throw a pomegran-

ate o ver the head of his bride on the w edding night. In modern G reece, both wedding

celebrants and mourners use pomegranate arils to mark life’s passages: the seeds are

thrown behind a newly wedded couple, and a re an important part o f a traditional All Souls

D ay pudding, kolyva (pers. obs.; Du B oulay 1993). B elieved to a bsolve from sin those who

eat it, the dish is an importa nt a spect in ceremonies dedicated to remembering the dead.

Kolyva – boiled grain sweetened w ith pomegrana te seeds, nuts, sesame seeds, raisins and

sometimes cinnamon – is similar to așure or ‘Noah’s pudding’ of Anatolia, a dish now

associated with the month-long fast of Ramadan. Similar dishes are prepared today for

R osh H oshanah by Sephardic Jews and a s a memorial dish for B urbara (St B arba ra’s D ay,4 or 17 D ecember) in Pa lestinian C hristian communities.

The pomegranate, common in all these regions toda y, does not seem to be a common food

in maritime communities of the Aegean until long after the Late Bronze Age (Immerwahr

1989), and is not found in coastal Levantine sites until the fourteenth century B CE (Tables 1

and 2). Its expansion can be t raced along the inland tra de route from northern Mesopota mia

to northern Sinai if the plant remains accurately indicate its range, but, for some periods,

there are more representations of the pomegranate on Crete and in Egypt (Table 1). The

association of pomegranates with ritual belief in texts and a rtefacts in the B ronze Age is less

clear than evidence for the ninth to eighth centuries B CE (Muthma nn 1982; Immerwahr 1989)

when Iron Age use of pomegranate fruits as decorative motifs charged with symbolicmeaning in both the core and peripheral lands of ancient Mesopotamia a bounds.

Pomegranates in the Bronze Age

Luxury items are those identified as being coveted, lusted after and in short supply. For

example, Wallerstein (1974: 306) described t he ro le of exotic goo ds imported f rom b eyond

a society’s borders as a way to examine the demarcation and maintenance of barriers to

status change. This fits the conception most o f us share a t lea st on the subconscious level

about luxuries. It is clear, however, from looking at traditional human societies and at

archaeological examples of the redistribution of wealth and ‘scarce’ materials and privi-

leges, that it is the a bility to conduct the red istribution tha t is the true luxury rather tha n

the goo ds or symbols or resources. E lite consumption is a complex interaction of b estowa l,

receipt a nd sharing the wea lth, and a number of studies of the L ate B ronze Aegean make

it clear tha t its more pow erful residents were intent upon o bta ining high-value objects and

materials from the more cosmopolitan Levant.

As Sherratt and Sherra tt observe, ‘B ronze Age G reece was not just engaged in material

exchanges with the O rient: it w as absorbing also the language of o stentation and display,

532 Cheryl Ward




Table 1 Artefa cts and images of pomegranates in the ancient world prior to the Iron A ge

Site/D ate Context Pomegranate finds Source

U ruk, Mesopotamia elite residence vase decoration Muthmann (1982: 13)4th millennium

Susa, Iran elite residence ceramic, fruit-shaped Mecquenem et a l.

ca . 3300 B CE [U ruk IV] tokens (1943: Figs 23, 46)TT168, Thebes, E gypt tomb of I neni tree in list of fl ora L oret (1892: 76–8)18th D yn. [late 16th c. B CE]

Thebes, E gypt tomb of 19 fa ience fruits Immerwahr (1989: 400)18th D yn. [late 15th c. B CE] A menhotep I I

Thebes, E gypt tomb glass fruit G oldstein (1979: 63, fig. 32)LB A

Karnak, E gypt temple wall tree in ‘botanical garden’ Loret (1892: 76–8)18th D yn. [late 15th c. B CE]

Abydos, E gypt tombs fruit-shaped fa ience Immerwahr (1989: 400)18th D yn. votives

Sebkhotep, Egypt tomb painting fruits in basket, on string D avies (1936: pl. 44)18th D yn.

Mena, E gypt tomb painting bouquet with fruits D avies (1936: pl. 52)18th D yn.

Thebes, E gypt tomb of fruit-shaped silver vase Carter and Mace18th D yn. [late 14th c. B CE] Tutankhamun (1933: 130)

A shur, Meso pota mia elite resid ence bo ne or ivory inla ys Mut hma nn (1982: 13)La te 14th c. B CE

U garit, Syria elite residence gold bowl w/fruits Schaeffer (1949: pl. 8)14th/13th c. B CE

U garit, Syria elite residence jewelry mold w/fruits Schaeffer (1939: 43, fi g. 32)14th/13th c. B CE

Lachish, Syria temple 2 ivory rods w/fruit fi nials Tufnell et a l. (1940: 62)13th c. B CE

H ama, Syria tomb ivory rod w/fruit fi nial R iis (1948: 173, fi g. 217)LB A

Megiddo, Israel unspecifi ed glass fruit H arden (1981: 37)LB A

Jericho, Israel tomb B 35 fruit-shaped wooden box Kenyon (1960: 371, pl. 17)MB II [17th c. B CE]

Tel Nami, Israel burial gold bud-shaped earrings, Artzy (1991)13th c. B CE 1 bronze rod w/fruit fi nial;

1 bronze rod and incenseburner with possible fruits

Alakh, C yprus elite residence ivory pyxis w/fruit- Courtois et al. (1986: 151)15th c. B CE crowned woma n’s head



in architecture, f ood and drink, clothing, and bodily appea rance and smell’ (1991: 354). The

process and the effect of devolving privilege, rank, status and access to ‘elite’ goods such

as the labour of stonemasons or woodworkers was a normal part of the ancient world, as

Ka naw ati’s (1977) study of burial practices in the late O ld K ingdom cemeteries at G iza,

E gypt, demonstrates. The expansion o f privilege ultimately contributed to broa dening the

meaning of those status-enhancing symbols and goods and increasing access by a larger

portion of the population, a situat ion that seems to be pa ralleled in burial goods present

in tombs of the La te B ronze Age C ypriot maritime cultures. A la ter, but very clear example

of providing luxury goods is identifiable in archaeobotanical studies in Egypt’s Eastern

Desert at Mons Claudianus, a Roman quarry from the later first to the mid-third century

CE , where Van der Veen’s (2001) studies show an unexpected pattern of consumption of

luxury-level foods such as artichoke, citron, pepper, walnuts and other imports including

534 Cheryl Ward

Table 1 Continued


Enkomi, Cyprus tombs gold jewelry with fruits Murray et a l. (1900: 43,14th–13th c. B CE 2 ivory rods w/fruit finial pl. 10); G jerstad et al.

(1934: pl. 78, 240–1)16 glass fruits Immerwahr (1989: 410)

near Larnaca, Cyprus tomb glass fruit H arden (1981: 37)LB A

Ayios Iakovos, C yprus tomb ivory rod w/fruit fi nial G jerstad et a l. (1934: 33113th c. B CE sa nctua ry gold neckla ce w /fruits pl. 63, 357, pl. 67)

Kourion, Cyprus tomb glass fruit Immerwahr (1989: 400)13th c. B CE

Kition, Cyprus tomb ivory rod w/fruit fi nial B uchholz and13th c. B CE Karageorghis (1973: 479

no. 1746)

P ha ist os, C ret e elit e resid ence cera mic f ruit -sha ped va se I mmerw ahr (1989: 404)

MMII ?, ea rly 18th c. B CE

K nosso s, C rete elite resid ence bo ne inla ys: bud s, fl ow ers E va ns (1921: 496, fi g.MMII I, late 18th c. B CE 354b)

P ha istos, Crete elit e residence cera mic f ruit -sha ped va se L evi (1976: 346, pl. 180)MMII I, later 18th c. B CE

Mycenae, G reece Shaft G rave I I I 12 hollow gold beads Immerwahr (1989: 404)c. 1500 B C E

Vaphio, G reece tomb silver pin w/fruit-shaped Immerwahr 1989: 404Early 15th c. B CE head

M ycena e, G reece cha mb er tomb go ld f ruit -sha ped pendant I mmerwa hr (1989: 404)

Early 15th c. B CE

Athens, G reece tomb X XVI ceramic fruit-shaped vase Immerwahr (1989: 397)La te 14th c. B CE

U luburun, Turkey shipw reck tw o fruit-sha ped ivory P ula k (1994: 12–13)End of 14th c. B CE finials



pomegranates. The Roman emperors brought almost the entire output of Mons Claudi-

anus directly to R ome to benefi t from the prestige associated with the diffi culty of extract-

ing the finished stone products. The array of elite foods demonstrates their commitment

to keeping their well-paid, a nd well-fed, wo rkers satisfied by providing them with a surpris-

ingly comfortable life and consumable luxuries far from the civilized world.

There are two types of evidence for pomegranates in the Bronze Age, plant remains

and representa tions, both primarily from elite residences or tombs of individuals whose

high status is indicated by artefacts buried with them. Pomegranates appear early in

Mesopotamia where archaeological and linguistic evidence for the pomegranate dates,

respectively, to t he fourth and third millennia B CE , but, somewha t surprisingly, most fi nds


Table 2 Archaeobota nical fi nds of pomegrana tes in the ancient world prior to the I ron Age


E bla , Syria elite residence sporadically a ttested Wachter-Sarkady (1995:E B A/MB A 251)

Tell B rak, Syria elite residence entire charred fruit Charles and B ogaard

c. 1275 B CE (1998: 130)Arad, Israel walled town 2 charred seeds H opf (1978: 74)early 3rd millennium

Jericho, Israel tomb 6+ entire fruits Kenyon (1960: 392–3;MB II [17th c. B CE] H opf 1969: 357)

Tell G ezer, Israel unspecifi ed unspecifi ed Lipschitz (1989: 272)late 3rd millennium

Tell H esi, Israel unspecifi ed unspecifi ed Lipschitz (1989: 272)late 3rd millennium

Tell es-Sa ’id iyeh, Jo rd an ‘scullery a rea ’ ent ire cha rred f ruit C a rt wright (1997: 73)late 3rd millennium

Shiloh, Israel storerooms at 3 seeds Kislev (1993: 355)c. 1750–1615 B CE Ca naanite shrine

Tell el-D ab’a , E gypt elite residence seeds Thanheiser (in press)SI P [c. 1780–1550 B CE]

Tell el Amarna, Egypt elite residence unspecifi ed Murray (2000: 625)18th D yn. [late 14th c. B CE ]

Tomb of D jehuti, E gypt tomb entire desiccated H epper (1990: 62, 64)18th D yn. fruit

Thebes, E gypt tomb of leaves G ermer (1989: 11–15)18th D yn. [late 14th c. B CE ] Tuta nkha men

Tiryns, G reece elite residence 2 seeds Kroll (1982: 470)c. 1200 B CE

H ala Sultan Tekke, well seeds H jelmq vist (1979: 112)Cyprus, c. 1200 B CE

U luburun, Turkey shipwreck seeds and skin H aldane (1993)end of 14th c. B CE fragments



date t o the La te B ronze and Iron A ges (Muthmann 1982). As Zoha ry and H opf point out

(1988: 151), pomegra na tes do no t grow wild in the L evant, so their presence in that region

suggests their introduction and spread. They also are not found in the wild in Egypt,

Cyprus or the Aegean. More Middle B ronze finds are tabulated in Egypt and the Aegean

than in the Near East, with the earliest remains in Egypt from Tell el-Dab’a, a northern

D elta site proba bly inhabited by the ‘H yksos’ culture (Thanheiser in press). At J ericho,

a Hyksos tomb of c. 1600 B CE included a wooden pomegranate-shaped box and at leastsix entire, desiccated fruits (Tables 1 and 2). Traditionally, Thutmose I, whose courtier

Ineni has the fi rst written reference to pomegranat es in Egypt (lat e sixteenth century B CE),

is thought to be the earliest Egyptian link to the fruit (Loret 1892: 76–8); his son, Thut-

mose III, included the pomegranate tree with other Syrian exotics in his contribution to

the religious complex at Karnak that is popularly known as the botanical garden.

The circumstantial evidence suggests that the pomegrana te w as an introduced plant in

E ighteenth D ynasty E gypt, probab ly from Syria through the agency of wa rtime exposure

or perhaps through tra de w ith Syro-Palestinian peoples operating or t rad ing via ships like

the luxury-laden U luburun vessel. Its presence in the tomb of pha rao h Amenhot ep II (late

fi fteenth century B CE) in the form of nineteen fa ience votives (Immerwahr 1989: 400) linksit to continued elite appropriation in Egypt. In the Aegean, a few po megrana te represen-

tations date to slightly earlier Middle Bronze Age palaces on Crete, but the majority can

be found in the tombs of the Lat e B ronze Age, on Cyprus and the G reek mainland but

not on Crete (Table 1). Along the Levantine coast, gold jewellery and pomegranate-

topped rods in tombs date to the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries B CE (Table 1).

P ulak (1998: 216–18) tent at ively identifi es the U luburun ship as Syr ian in origin, and

places its sinking at the end o f the fourteenth century, towa rds the close of the E ighteenth

536 Cheryl Ward

Figure 2 Ivory pomegranate finials KW 4086 and KW 5156 in association with an incised rod.(Photo graph by L . R . Martin used by permission of the Institute of Na utical A rchaeology.)



D ynasty in E gypt. While its ultimate destinations are unknown, personal items with M yce-

naen G reek para llels and fi nds of raw ma terials at pa lace workshops suggest tha t the

vessel’s route might have led it west along the southern Ana tolian coast perhaps to R hodes

or C rete (P ulak 1998: 215). Thousands of pomegra nat e seeds and fruit fragments in sedi-

ments from the U luburun shipwreck attest to an a bundant supply of them aboard . B ota n-

ical remains from shipwreck sites tend to include a greater percentage of f ruits, nuts, spices

or condiments and, for example, organic packing materials, tha n staple crops such as grains

and legumes, which domina te terrestrial a ssemblages (H aldane 1990, 1991). Pomegra nat e

appears in about 25 per cent of samples from ceramic containers, but large, open shapes

such as a kra ter produced more tha n a thousand seeds and epidermal fragments, as did a

collared-rim storage jar over 1.5m in height, suggesting the fruits were stored inside it.


Figur e 3 Tel Nami rods with (left) a poppy or pomegranate fi nial and (right) a pomegranate fi nial.(D rawing by R . Pollak, used by permission of M . Artzy.)



What is unclear is whether t he pomegrana tes themselves should be considered as an elite-

level, luxury cargo or as a common food.

The separa te d iscoveries of two small, carved, ivory finials (KW 4086 and KW 5156) with

basal holes, one in association w ith an ivory rod , from near t he centre of the U luburun ship

(Pula k 1994: 12–13) point t o the pomegra nat e as more tha n a foo d source (Fig. 2) and link

the vessel even more closely to C ypriot a nd Syria n cultures. The finials show two different

forms. One (KW 5156) is probab ly a fully formed fruit1 while the other is in development,with its elongated calyx atop a slightly swollen body. Ivory and bronze rods with pome-

granat e finials are, in fact, one of the most common artefa cts to include pomegrana te motifs

in the LBA eastern Mediterranean (Table 1), second only to glass fruits from tombs

(Immerwahr 1989: 400). The rods are found in tombs, as at Tel Nami in Israel (Fig. 3), on

Cyprus, and in Syria, where they a lso occur at L achish, in clear cultic associat ions although

their precise contextual meaning is unclear (Artzy 1991, 1994, 1995; Tufnell et al. 1940: 62).

These LBA finds have Iron Age parallels with clear cultic association. A small, ivory

pomegranate probably dating to the eighth century B CE has been the focus of some

controversy (Avigad 1994; Anon. 1992), but of more relevance to this discussion is the

object itself. About 4cm tall, the ivory represents a still-maturing pomegranat e, with t heelongated calyx occupying half its height. As is the case for earlier LBA pomegranate

fi nials, its base is slightly hollowed, and proba bly originally fit ted o nto a rod (A non. 1992).

A number o f other I ron A ge examples of bronze, iron and ivory rod s or pins with pome-

granate-shaped heads are known from C ypriot to mbs at E nkomi and L apithos (G jerstad

et al. 1934: 187, 197–202, 245, 262–3).

The business of luxuries

Can we classify pomegranates in the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean as luxuryitems, or at the least as items of elite consumption? Almost every find of a pomegranate

fragment o r representat ion of a pomegra nate has come from a modera tely high- to high-

status location, with carefully crafted artefacts of rare materials. Iconography also tends

to illustrate elite, rather than lower status, themes. Because pomegranate remains and

representations in the Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean occur exclusively in elite

contexts, it is appropriate to consider the pomegranates from the Uluburun ship as a

luxury food . In a ddition to its value as an exotic product una vailable to most individua ls,

the pomegranate may also have borne symbolic associations related to death because of

its relatively frequent presence in tombs, either as an actual fruit or as a glass, ivory or

bronze imitation.

Acknowledgements

I should like to tha nk Cemal Pulak and G eorge Ba ss of the Institute of Nautical Archae-

ology, and its many volunteers, who provided access to and support for research on

Uluburun shipwreck materials. Michal Artzy, Jennifer McKinnon, William Parkinson,

and Daniel Pullen and Michael Uzendoski and two anonymous reviewers read earlier

drafts of this article and have my gratitude for their thoughtful comments, but all errors

this may contain are my o wn.

538 Cheryl Ward



Flor ida State University,D epartment of A nthr opol ogy, 1847 W.Tennessee St.

Tall ahassee, Fl 32306-4531, USA

Note

1 Pulak (1994: 13) ident ifies KW 5156 as an opium capsule, however. See Merrillees (1962)for a discussion of a comparison of some features of opium capsules and artefacts.

References

Anon. 1992. The pomegranate sceptre head – from the Temple of the Lord or from a temple ofAsherah? Bibl ical Archaeology Review, 18(3): 42–5.

Artzy, M. 1991. Pomegranate scepters and incense stand with pomegranates found in a priest’sgrave. Bibl ical Archaeology Review , 16(1): 49–51.

Artzy, M. 1994. Incense, camels and collared rim jars: desert trade routes and maritime outlets inthe second millennium. Oxford Journal of A rchaeology , 13(2): 121–47.

Artzy, M. 1995. Nami: a second millennium international maritime trading center in the Mediter-ranean. In Recent E xcavations in I srael: A Vi ew to the West (ed. S. G itin), Archaeological I nstituteof A merica Colloq uia & Conference P apers, 1, pp. 17–40.

Avigad, N. 1994. The inscribed pomegra nate from the ‘H ouse of the Lo rd’. I srael M useum Journal ,8: 7–16.

B ass, G . 1986. A B ronze Age shipwreck at U lu Burun (Ka ș): 1984 campaign. American Journal of A rchaeology , 90: 269–96.

B ass, G . F., Pulak, C ., Collon, D . and Weinstein, J. 1989. The B ronze Age shipwreck at U lu B urun:1986 campaign. American Journal of A rchaeology , 93: 1–29.

B uchholz, H. G . and K ara georghis, Y. 1973. Prehistoric G reece and Cyprus . New York: Phaidon.

Carter, H. and Mace, A. C. 1933. The Tomb of Tutankhamen. Amen , Vol. 3. Lo ndon: Cassell.

Cartwright, C. R. 1997. Interim report on the archaeobotanical material from the 1996 season ofexcavations of the Early Bronze Age complex at Tell es-Sa’idiyeh, Jordan. Palestine Exploration Quarterly , 129: 72–5.

Cha rles, M. and B ogaa rd, A. 1998. Pa laeobota ny. In Excavations at Tell B rak , Vol. 1, The M itanni and Old B abylonian periods (eds D . Oat es, J. Oa tes, and H . McDo nald). London: B ritish School ofArcha eology in Ira q , pp. 128–30.

Cline, E. H. 1994. Saili ng the Wine-Dark Sea: International T rade and the L ate Bronze Age A egean .Oxford: B ritish Archaeological R eports BA R International Series 591.

Courtois, J.-C., Lagarce, J. and Lagarce, E. 1986. Enkomi et le bronze recent àChypre . Nicosia: A.

G . Leventis.D avies, N. de G . 1936. A ncient Egyptian Painti ngs , Vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

D avis, P. H . 1972. Flor a of Turk ey and the East A egean islands , Vol. 4. Edinburgh: University ofEdinburgh Press.

D u B oulay, J. 1974. Portrait of a Greek M ountain Vill age . Oxford: C larendon Press.

Evans, Sir A. J. 1921. Palace of M inos , Vol. 1. London: M acmillan.

E yübo glu, Ü ., O kaygün, I . and Yara , F. 1983. D ogal boyalarla yün boyama . Istanbul: UyugulamaliEgitim Vakfi.

Foster, J. L. (trans.) 1992. L ove Songs of the New Ki ngdom . Austin, TX: U niversity o f Texas P ress.




G ermer, R . 1989. D ie Gartenpflanzen im alten Ägypten: Ägyptologische Studi en/L udw ig K eimer .Hildesheim: Olms.

G jersta d, E ., Lindros, J., Sjoqvist, E . and Westholm, A. 1934. The Swedish Cypr us Expedition: Finds and Resul ts of the Excavations in Cyprus 1927–1931 . Stockholm: Cyprus Expedition.

G oldstein, S. M. 1979. Pre-Roman and Earl y Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of G lass .Co rning: Corning Museum of G lass.

H alda ne, C . [Ward] 1990. Shipwrecked plant remains. Bi blical A rchaeologist , 53: 55–60.

H aldane, C . [Ward] 1991. R ecovery and analysis of plant remains from some Mediterraneanshipwreck sites. In New L ight on Ancient Farmi ng (ed. J. Renfrew). Edinburgh: EdinburghU niversity Press, pp. 214–23.

Haldane, C. [Ward] 1993. Direct evidence for organic cargoes in the Late Bronze Age. World A rchaeology , 24: 348–60.

Harden, D. B. 1981. Catalogue of G reek and Roman G lass in the Br iti sh M useum. Vol. 1. London:British Museum.

Hepper, F. N. 1990. Pharoah’s Flowers: The Botanical T reasures of Tutankhamun . London: HMSO.

Hjelmqvist, H. 1979. Some economic plants and weeds from the Bronze Age of Cyprus. Studies in

M editerranean A rchaeology, 45(5): 110–33.Hopf, M. 1969. Plant remains and early farming in Jericho. In The D omestication and Exploitation of P lants and A nimals (eds P. J. U cko and C . W. D imbleby). London: D uckworth, pp. 355–9

Hopf, M. 1978. Plant remains, Strata V-I. In Early Ar ad , Vol. 1 (ed. R. Amiran). Jerusalem: IsraelE xploration So ciety, pp. 64–82.

Immerw ahr, S.A . 1989. The pomegra nate vase: its origins and continuity. H esperia , 58: 397–410.

Kanawati, N. 1977. The Egyptian Admini stration i n the O ld K ingdom: Evidence on its Economic Decline . Warminster: Aris & Phillips.

Kenyon, K. 1960. Jericho I. Jerusalem: British School of Archaeology.

Kislev, M. 1993. Food rema ins. In Shil oh: The A rchaeology of a Bibli cal Site (ed. I . Finkelstein). Tel

Aviv: Institut e of Archaeology, Tel Aviv U niversity, pp. 354–61.Knapp, A. B. 1991. Spice, drugs, grain and grog: organic goods in Bronze Age east Mediterraneantrade. In Bronze A ge Tr ade in the M editerranean (ed. N. H. G ale), Studies in MediterraneanArchaeology 90. Jonsered: Paul Aströms Förlag, pp. 21–68.

Kroll, H. 1982. Kulturpflanzen von Tiryns. A rchäologischer A nzeiger , 32: 467–85.

La yard , A. H . 1854. A popular a ccount of discoveries at Nineveh. New York: J. C . D erby.

Levi, D . 1976. Festòs e la civi ltàM inoica , Vol. 1. Rome: Edizioni dell’Ateneo.

Lipschitz, N. 1989. Pla nt economy and diet in the E arly B ronze Age in Israel: a summary of presentresearch. In L ’u rbanisation de la Palestine àl’ age du B ronze ancien (ed. P. de Miroschedji). Oxford :B ritish A rchaeological R eports I nterna tiona l Series 527, pp. 269–77.

Loret, V. 1892. L a flore pharaonique d’ apres les documents hiéroglyphi ques et les specimens décou- verts dans les tombes . P aris: E rnest L eroux.

Ma nniche, L . 1989. A n Ancient Egyptian H erbal . London: British Museum.

Mecquenem, R. de, C ontenau, G ., Pfi ster, R . and B elaiew, N. 1943. M ission de Susiane , Memoiresde la Mission Archéologique en Iran, 29. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Merrillees, R. S. 1962. Opium trade in the Bronze Age Levant. Antiquity , 36: 287–92, pls 12–13.

Modi, J. J. 1922. The Reli gious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees . New York: G arla nd, 1979.

Murra y, A. S., Smith, A. H . a nd Walters, H . B . 1990[1969]. Excavations in Cypr us . London: B ritishMuseum. B ritish Museum reprint 1969.

540 Cheryl Ward



Murray, M . A . 2000. Fruits, vegetab les, pulses and cond iments. In A ncient Egyptian Materials and Technology (eds P. T. Nicholson a nd I . Shaw ). Ca mbridge: Camb ridge U niversity P ress, pp. 609–55.

Muthma nn, F. 1982. D er G ranatäpfel: Symbo l des L ebens in der alten Welt . Fribourg: A begg-StiftungBern.

P eltenberg, E . 1991. G reeting gifts and luxury faience: a context fo r orienta lising trends in LateMycenaean G reece. In Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean (ed. N. H. G ale), Studies in

Mediterranean Archaeology, 90. Jonsered: Paul Aströms Förlag , pp. 162—79.Polunin, O. 1969. Flowers of Europe . Lond on: O xford U niversity Press.

Pra shanth, D ., Asha, M. K. a nd A mit, A. 2001. Antibacterial activity of Puni ca granatum . Fitoter- apia , 72: 171–3.

P ulak, C . 1988. The B ronze A ge shipwreck at U lu B urun, Turkey: 1985 campaign. American Journal of A rchaeology , 92: 1–38.

P ulak, C . 1994. 1994 Excavat ion at U luburun: the fi nal campa ign. IN A Quarterly , 21(4): 8–16.

P ulak, C . 1998. The U luburun shipwreck: an o verview. The I nternational Journal of Nautical A rchaeology, 27: 188–224.

Riis, P. J. 1948. H ama: Fouil les et r echerches 1931–1938 II, iii, L es cimetières àcremati on . Copen-

hagen: Fondation C arlsberg.Schaeffer, C. F. A. 1939. Ugaritica I : Études relati ves aux decouvertes de Ras Shamra . Paris: PaulG uenther.

Schaeffer, C. F. A. 1949. Ugaritica II: Nouvelles études relatives aux decouvertes de Ras Sham ra.Pa ris: Paul G uenther.

Schubert, S. Y., Lansky, E. P. and Neeman, I. 1999. Antioxidant and eicosanoid enzyme inhibitionproperties of pomegranate seed oil and fermented juice flavonoids. Journal of Ethnopharmacology ,66: 11–17.

Sherrat t, A. a nd Sherrat t, E . S. 1991. From luxuries to commo dities: the nature of t he Mediterra neanB ronze Age trad ing systems. In Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean (ed. N. H. G ale), Studiesin Mediterranean Archaeology, 90. Jonsered: Paul Aströms Förlag , pp. 351–84.

Thanheiser, U. in press. Ü ber den Ackerbau in dyna stischer Zeit. E rgebnisse der U ntersuchungenvon P fla nzenresten aus Tell el-D ab’ a. In Tell el-D ab’a , Vol. 8, I nterdi szipl inaere Studien (eds M.Bietak, J. Dorner, J. Boessneck, A. Van den Driesch, H. Egger and U. Thanheiser). Vienna:Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Tufnell, O., Inge, C. H. and Harding, L. 1940. L achish II: The Fosse Temp le . London: OxfordU niversity Press.

Veen, M. van der 2001. The botanical evidence. In Survey and Excavations at M ons Claudianus 1987–1993 , Vol. 2, The Excavations: Part 1 , Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire:D ocuments de Fouilles, 43 (eds V. A. Maxfi eld and D . P. S. Pea cock). Cairo: Institut Fra nçaisd’A rchéologie Orienta le du Ca ire, pp. 174–247.

Wachter-Sarkady, C. 1995. Ebla e le condizioni materiali della produzione agricola nell’anticoOriente. In Ebla: Al le ori gini della civil tàurbana (eds P. Matthiae, F. Pinnock and G . S. Matthiae).Milan: E lecta, pp. 242–51.

Wallerstein, M. 1974. The M odern Wor ld-System . New York: Academic Press.

Z accagnini, C. 1987. Aspects of ceremonial exchange in the Nea r East during the late second millen-nium B C. In Centre and Peri phery in the A ncient Wor ld (eds M. R owlands, M. Larsen and K . Kris-tiansen). Ca mbridge: Ca mbridge U niversity Press, pp. 57–65.

Zohary, D. and Hopf, M. 1988. D omestication of Plants in the O ld World: The Or igin and Spread of Cul tivated Pl ants in West A sia, Europe and the Ni le Valley . Oxford: C larendon Press.

Z ohary, D. a nd Spiegel-R oy, P. 1975. B eginnings of fruit growing in the O ld World. Science, 187: 319–27.


cheryl ward – pomegranates in eastern mediterranean contexts during the late bronze age

Documents