ABSTRACT
In many cultures the pomegranate figures prominently in various myths concerning life and various human aspirations. In Greek mythology, it served as a symbol of the indissolubility of marriage; in Persian mythology, Isfandiyar ate a pomegranate and became invincible; in Judaism, the number of pomegranate seeds in a single fruit are said to number 613, one for each of the Bible’s 613 commandments; in Buddhism, the pomegranate is one of the three blessed fruits; in Chinese ceramic art, the pomegranate is associated with fertility, abundance, posterity, numerous and virtuous offspring, and a blessed future; in Christianity and Bedouin tribes, it is associated with fertility; in Islam, the Koran describes a heavenly paradise that contains pomegranates.
