The Amazing History of Watermelon

the watermelon it's safe to say it's one of the world's favorite fruits across the world three million four hundred thousand hectares produce over 100 million tons of watermelon each year consisting of over 1200 varieties it may surprise you to learn that there are over 5 000 years of history associated with the watermelon from the tombs of egyptian pharaohs to the medicine guides of ancient greece to the gardens of medieval italian nobility the fruit has frankly been on an incredible journey in this video we're going to discuss that story so let's get to it before we begin i'd like to thank kyle peterson toromino tomas bartvinck disciple carlo angelo camagie lauren spendler woodruff sandra gantner and martin kunetka for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters listed here who helped make these videos possible where did the watermelon come from it's clear that the ancestor of the watermelon originated in africa wild relatives of the plant with which we are today familiar can be found and are consumed across the entire continent the earliest archaeological remains of watermelon clearly intended for consumption are seeds in the archaeological site of uwan mahugiyag in libya dated to 5 000 years ago but these were again wild watermelons where did domestication begin even though africa is a very large continent which part of africa specifically produced the ancestor of cetrulis lonatis our domesticated watermelon and where domestication itself took place had not been narrowed down until rather recently it was often believed that the ancestor of our modern watermelons came from south africa however recent genetic research published in the spring of 2021 has shown that it is likely that it instead came from northeast africa specifically the kordofan region in modern day sudan the wild kordofan melon has been shown to be its closest living relative israeli researcher harry s paris is a leading expert on the history of the watermelon compiling evidence which shows that the fruit was domesticated by the nearby ancient egyptians at least four thousand years ago it was possibly first domesticated there or in nearby nubia the remains of watermelon seeds have been discovered in egyptian tombs such as that of tutankhamun who lived in the 1300s bc what's more the ancient egyptians left what are likely depictions of the fruit as well in the form of wall paintings such as in a tomb in sakura the oblong shape of the watermelons portrayed here noticeably differs from the typically round shape of wild watermelons which is very important this suggests that they had been subjected to artificial selection watermelons are like people however it's what's on the inside that counts these early watermelons were likely not too similar in taste to these sweeter modern varieties the green flesh of wild watermelons was often bland a trait which had likely only marginally improved in egypt why did anyone take an interest in them in the first place then well ancient egyptian farmers likely recognized what modern american gardeners recognize watermelons need a lot of water however as anyone who has ever eaten a watermelon nose they also store a substantial amount of water the fruit is in fact 91 percent water it is believed by some researchers that growing them may have begun for this specific purpose storing water in the drier seasons this was not unique to the ancient egyptians it appears that the indigenous peoples of the kalahari desert in modern day namibia and botswana for example have used wild watermelon for this purpose since before recorded history as the ages passed the watermelon spread slowly but surely to many other lands namely those surrounding the mediterranean sea written records and depictions of the watermelon become more common over time the watermelon is mentioned in the bible for example as one of the fruits the israelites longed for after their departure from egypt the rabble with them began to crave other food and again the israelites started wailing and said if only we had meat to eat we remember the fish we ate in egypt at no cost also the cucumbers melons leeks onions and garlic but now we have lost our appetite we never see anything but this mana the fruits trek across human civilization is difficult to track with precision partly because the word melon could also refer to other types of melons not only in english but even in other languages like latin however according to archaeological remains it seems to have reached places like ancient greece by at least 700 bc written evidence for its presence becomes more common a few centuries later records of the watermelon such as old records of recipes make it clear that it was a favorite in many cultures medical texts in ancient greece such as on medical matters by dioscoretes included watermelon as a remedy for many ailments as well such as heat stroke the greeks called the fruit papone today the word peppo is used to refer to all fruit of the cucurbita kei family which also includes things like cucumbers and pumpkins derek coquinaria an ancient roman cookbook likely first written in 100 a.d is another example of an ancient text listing the fruit the growing popularity of the fruit in this time was encouraged by the fact that it had been slowly bred for sweetness by mediterranean farmers for the past two millennia the gene responsible for watermelon sweetness is linked to its internal coloration thus as time passed its inside slowly changed from green to yellow to orange and had not yet but would eventually reach the pinkish red of today's watermelons meanwhile the sweetness of watermelons increased in lockstep mosaics from roman israel dating to about 425 a.d seemed to portray the fruit with an orange interior the book de absorbation epistola suggests that the watermelon was consumed in northern france by the 6th century a.d however it appears to have been less common although not entirely absent from northern europe from much of its history even into early modern history growing a proper watermelon took time and required a fair amount of warmth and sunlight which you are much more likely to encounter in the mediterranean world watermelons are first listed in islamic spain with much more clarity in 961 a.d it's not known with certainty when watermelons reached india but some suggest that it may have reached them around the same time during the period of islamic expansion though some speculate it arrived there in ancient times it seems to have reached china in the 10 or 1100s a.d it's hard to know when or where the watermelon gained its modern red coloration as dr paris points out red as an adjective has historically also been used to refer to what we would today more often specify as orange purple or brown 14th century italian depictions of the fruit show it as a true red however therefore it can be concluded that internally red watermelons were in existence and in southern europe by at least the late middle ages however as we can see by this mid 17th century depiction of watermelon by italian painter giovanni stanchi it was still not quite identical to its modern form on the inside it would continue to change and diversify as time passed by the early 17th century the watermelon had increased in popularity in northern european gardens this was also about the time that the fruit was making its way to the americas first traveling there aboard spanish boats according to jonathan d sauer they were reportedly first grown in florida in 1576 indeed they would soon be grown across spanish and portuguese america they were first grown by english settlers in massachusetts in 1629 from the european colonies it spread beyond to the indigenous peoples of america who also developed a fondness for this new fruit these were the first of countless watermelons to be grown in these lands as the nation which would develop here would grow to love this fruit especially in the american south following the american civil war in the mid-19th century watermelon was one of the crops southern american farmers began to grow and sell it became a kind of symbol of their liberation this association became the subject of mockery however and is today considered offensive today nearly two-thirds of watermelons grown throughout the world are produced in china with no other country coming close to such production levels there the seeds are traditionally consumed during chinese new year celebrations nearby japan has contributed to the story of the watermelon as well showing that the fruit continues to change japan is the birthplace of both seedless and square watermelons and so there we have it the watermelon what comes across as a simple yet favorited fruit in fact has a complicated history that stretches back many thousands of years perfecting the watermelon is a project that humans have worked on since practically the dawn of civilization and on which we will likely continue to work on for years to come a few times i've been around that track so it's not just gonna happen like that because i ain't no holla back girl i ain't no holla back girl a few times i've been around that track so it's not just gonna happen like that cause i ain't no holla back girl i ain't no holla batgirl

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 323,558

Rating: 4.9218626 out of 5

Keywords: Watermelon, Pepon, Pepo, Summer, Fruit, History, Gourd, Cucurbit

Id: Jn_38sYfA_c

Length: 9min 48sec (588 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 11 2021