Saturday, May 26, 2012

Granada - Place of the Pomegranate

The seal of the city of Granada displays a pomegranate.  Scroll down and see it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Spain.  French for pomegranate is grenade.  The Romans had thought that the best pomegranates came from Carthage, and named it punicum, their name for Carthage.  The shape of the pomegranate perhaps inspired the grenade -- a hand-tossed explosive.  Apparently, when the pomegranate is tossed onto a hard surface, its seeds explode as the skin bursts. 

Its medicinal, wound-healing, indigestion and heart issue remedies, culinary and other health uses, are described at Natural Remedies of Arabia, Saudi Aramco World magazine September-October 2006, online at http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200605/natural.remedies.of.arabia.htm

Its stain is indelible.