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| Name | Current message text |
|---|---|
| h English (en) | ===West Asia=== Documentation of saffron's use over the span of 3,500 years has been uncovered. Saffron-based pigments have indeed been found in 50,000-year-old depictions of prehistoric places in northwest Iran. The Sumerians later used wild-growing saffron in their remedies and magical potions. It was also known in [[ancient Egypt]], as indicated by a 2000 BC [[papyrus]]. Saffron was an article of long-distance trade before the [[Minoan palace]] culture's 2nd millennium BC peak. Ancient Persians cultivated Persian saffron (''Crocus sativus'' var. ''haussknechtii'' now called ''[[Crocus haussknechtii]]'' by botanists) in [[Derbent]], [[Isfahan]], and [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] by the 10th century BC. At such sites, saffron threads were woven into textiles, ritually offered to divinities, and used in dyes, perfumes, medicines, and body washes. Saffron threads would thus be scattered across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. Non-Persians also feared the Persians' usage of saffron as a drugging agent and aphrodisiac. |