Pomegranate

3. Jewish and Islamic Pomegranates

On its lower hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple and crimson yarns, all around the lower hem, with bells of gold between them all around – a golden bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe.

Exodus 28:33–4

Pomegranates in Ancient and Modern Judaism

The above quotation is part of a descriptive passage from Exodus that records how the God of the Israelites commanded the way in which high priests’ garments were to be made. The pomegranate figures prominently in this design. But why would a fruit with such deep roots in pagan fertility cults decorate the garments of priests who worshipped a male monotheistic deity? Their appearance is probably a reference to sacrifice: the pomegranate is an elegant way of representing the blood of the offering, while the bells (also the shape of the pomegranate flower) recall the sounds that would accompany the religious experience. After all, the pomegranate plant already had an important role to play in sacrifice: a branch of pomegranate wood was traditionally used to make the skewer on which a paschal offering was roasted.[1] The pomegranate garment is also likely to be a patriotic display of Jewish heritage, for in Deuteronomy 8:8 we are told that the pomegranate is one of the plant species identified with the Land of Israel. The fruit was brought to Moses by scouts in a demonstration of the fertility of the Promised Land, and it was under a pomegranate tree that the first king of Israel, Saul, sought shade from the harsh sun (1 Samuel 14:2). The fruit became inextricably linked with Jewish identity and experience, the Midrash reflecting: ‘Thus were Israel in Egypt as a heap of stones … once they went out they became like a grove of pomegranates. All through the ages when mankind looked upon Israel they were praised.’[2] The Hebrew Bible cites many localities in the Holy Land that came to be named after the fruit, such as Ain-Rimmon (Spring of the Pomegranate) and Sela Rimmon (Rock of the Pomegranate). The death of a pomegranate tree in ancient Jewish culture was considered to be a negative omen, indicating that God was unhappy.[3] Today the pomegranate features as a ubiquitous motif on many items of Judaic art, from jewellery and utensils to protective, prayer-filled mezuzahs affixed to household doorways.

Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness, knowledge and wisdom because it is said to have 613 seeds, each representing one of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah. Torah scrolls are traditionally decorated with rimmonim,[4] a pair of pomegranate-shaped finials, usually made of silver, that are placed over the wooden scroll handles when the text is not in use. It is common practice among Jews to eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, in reference to the fruit’s erudite nature, but also as a guarantor of the productivity of the New Year. On this occasion a prayer is recited over the fruit: ‘May it be Your will O Lord our God and the God of Our Fathers, that our good deeds will increase like the seeds of the pomegranate.’

Although rimmonim Torah covers are found in a variety of shapes today, this example by Itzhak Luvation retains a traditional pomegranate form.

The pomegranate is also included among the fruits presented for Tu Bishvat, a festival that celebrates trees and environmentalism. There is a saying in the Talmud that ‘Even thy empty-headed ones are full of good deeds as a pomegranate is of seeds.’[5] The Talmud also gives advice for the dream interpretation of pomegranates: ‘Both Abiya and Raba dreamt about a ripening pomegranate. Abiya solved the dream – Thy transactions shall flourish like a pomegranate (meaning they shall be as many as the seeds of one).’[6]

The Jewish physician Rabbi Shabtai Donolo noted the importance of the pomegranate in medicine, suggesting a gargle of pomegranate juice mixed with wine as a remedy for laryngitis. He advised that earache could be treated by grinding up dried pomegranate rinds, mixing with water and pouring this solution into the affected ear.

The pomegranate appears on ancient coins of Judea. It is one of only a few images that appear as a holy symbol on currency, the ‘crowned’ fruit taking the place of a crowned ruler’s head. King Solomon is in fact alleged to have designed his crown based on the crown-like calyx of the pomegranate. The modern state of Israel still uses this pomegranate motif on coins and stamps.

Detail of mosaic in the 6th-century Maon Synagogue.

One pomegranate in particular, made of hippopotamus ivory that originates from the age of biblical Israel, has caused a stir in modern times. The 44-millimetre-tall pomegranate bears an inscription in Hebrew circling around the neck of the fruit: ‘holy to the priests, belonging to the House of Yahweh’. For this reason, it has been speculated that it originated from the sceptre of a high priest who resided at Solomon’s Temple, which was said to use the fruit motif heavily in its decorative programme: biblical accounts tell us that two hundred representations of the pomegranates were depicted on each of the two bronze pillars, known as Boaz and Jachin, that marked the entrance to the holy space. The unprovenanced ivory pomegranate itself is generally accepted as an authentic thirteenth-century BC artefact. Uninscribed ivory pomegranates of the same style have been found at the Israeli site of Lachish and in Cypriot tombs. It is the inscription that fuels ongoing debate, since it is considered to be a modern forgery applied to a genuine artefact. The historian Mary Abram sums it up best when she comments: ‘While a validated inscription might confirm its use in a temple setting, the fact that alleged forgers used the already-ancient ivory pomegranate to simulate a temple artefact supports its recognition (even by criminals) as a sacred symbol … no fruit but the pomegranate best combines the diversities of sensory pleasure, earth’s seasonal cycles, worldly kingship, and holiness.’[7] It is for this reason that the pomegranate is archaeologically represented in the Jewish art programmes of many ancient synagogues, notably in reliefs and mosaics at Capernaum, Hamat Tiberias, Beth Alpha and Maon.

Some scholarly traditions have identified the pomegranate as the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. It is the pomegranate that best represents decadent and sensuous beauty in passages from the Song of Songs, the narrator at one point flattering his beloved with the simile ‘Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.’ Another story in the Talmud also equates the pomegranate with temptation.[8] This tale concerns Rabbi Hiyya ben-Abba who, being a pious man, prays daily for respite from temptation. His wife overhears him and wonders why he prays so, given that he has abstained from being with her sexually for many years. She thus decides to test him. The wife decks the disguise of a prostitute, walking to and fro in front of the rabbi in order to arouse his attention. She remarks that if the rabbi desires to be with her, her price is a pomegranate retrieved from the highest branch of a certain tree. The rabbi immediately climbs the tree, picks the pomegranate and brings it back to her. Only now, the wife reveals her true identity. Filled with shame at being led into temptation, the rabbi fasts for the rest of his life, until death. The pomegranate functions in the tale as the symbol of his transgression, marking his movement from the spiritual towards more bodily concerns.

Pomegranates for Muslims

Islamic tradition shares with Judaism a great reverence for the pomegranate. Those who eat a pomegranate are considered to have their hearts cleansed and filled with n¯ur (light), rendering them free from sin and able to repel Satan’s temptations for forty days. As representations of God, Muhammad and other religious personages are forbidden, stylized images from nature are common in religious art and architecture, and the pomegranate is a popular emblem. As well as being a favourite in manuscript border ornamentation, the pomegranate is a common iconographic trait of Islamic pottery. The styles of pomegranates on different types of Islamic pottery are demonstrated by three very different examples of vessels, all of which share the pomegranate motif. A common Islamic vessel type is a bronze ewer, characterized by its globular belly, tubular neck and slender beaded handle topped with a thumb-piece cast in the form of a pomegranate. The pomegranate also features on many painted Islamic blue-on-white glazed ceramics, both vessels and tiles. A third type is a unique mould-made vessel adorned with relief decoration featuring images of growing pomegranate trees beneath an upper register bearing a line of Qur’anic poetry. The pomegranate likewise enjoys popularity in Middle Eastern textiles, commonly appearing on both garments and carpets. The reason for the respect given to the fruit may be the result of a Hadith which claims that the Prophet Muhammad told his companions that each pomegranate contains an aril from heaven itself: ‘There is not a pomegranate which does not have a pip from one of the pomegranates of the Garden (Jannah) in it.’[9] The consumption of arils for the pre-dawn meal of suhoor during Ramadan is thus considered to be an appropriate prelude to fasting.

Mould-made ceramic bowl from Susa, Iran, 7th–8th century.

Bronze ewer from Iran, 11th century.

Blue and white ceramic bowl with a central motif of a pomegranate, Iran, c. 1500.

Like Judaism, Islamic tradition attributes to the pomegranate a dangerous, seductive side. The transgressive effect of the fruit is found in a fable about the eighth-century AD caliph Yazid II. Being particularly fond of his singing slave girl Hababa, Yazid shuts himself away with her and orders that he not be disturbed. Together they spend the day eating until Hababa chokes to death on a pomegranate seed that had been playfully thrown into her mouth by the caliph. Abd al-Majid ibn Abdun’s retelling of the tale speaks of the seed as being ‘preordained’. Yazid is heartbroken and dies a few days later. The seductive nature of the fruit makes it a suitable means for the downfall of the caliph, who has rejected duty in favour of the company of a low woman. Although the Prophet Mohammad advised pregnant women to eat pomegranates if they wanted beautiful children, an anecdote concerning Allāmah Majlisi, the compiler of a Hadith collection, notes that the fruit needs to be from an appropriate source. When he was a child, Allāmah Majlisi was taken to a mosque with his father. While his father was inside praying, the young boy remained in the courtyard. On finishing his prayer, the father discovered that his son had poked a needle into a water skin that belonged to the mosque, and all the water had spilled out. On hearing of her son’s behaviour, Allāmah Majlisi’s mother related to her upset husband how this incident had came about. Years before, while she was pregnant with him, she had gone to a neighbour’s house and seen a pomegranate tree. She made a prick in one of the pomegranates and sucked out the juice. It was this act that led to the later occurrence at the mosque. The pomegranate has the potential to be a powerful omen both in Islamic and Jewish tradition.

Islamic carpet from the Silk Road settlement of Kashgar, 18th–19th century.