For Armenians the pomegranate is one of the most recognizable symbols of the country. In Armenian mythology it symbolizes fertility and good fortune. It was a guardian against the evil eye.
At weddings in Western Armenia, a bride would throw a pomegranate and break it into pieces. Its scattered seeds ensured that the bride would bear children. In Van, Armenian women who wanted to have a son would eat bread made from dough mixed with pomegranate seeds.
Its importance is attested in historical Armenian manuscripts and stone carvings where it was used as a popular ornament. One of the most iconic Armenian art movies is that of Sergey Paradjanov named “The Color of Pomegranates”.
In the film, the red pomegranate on a table with its wrinkled skin and fresh pulp stands out as an embodiment of the invincible soul of Armenia. Until the very day pomegranate is a commonly used theme in Armenian art and culture including cuisine. In fact, it has turned into a national cliché. Go to any art exhibition, and you’re sure to see two or three (or more) paintings where the pomegranate is featured. Souvenir shops are filled with ceramic, metal, and textile pomegranates and pomegranate-shaped knick-knacks. During weddings in Yerevan a small dried pomegranate called taratosik is given by a bride to unmarried guests as a blessing. After the horrid events of the Armenian Genocide many Armenian artists have used pomegranates as a theme in their lyrics and poems to describe a wide range of emotions, from suffering to hope, rebirth and survival of a nation.
In closing I would like to recite a traditional ending for Armenian fairy tales:
“Three pomegranates fell down from heaven: One for the story teller, one for the listener, and one for the whole world.”
Source: Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore (2006) by Irina Petrosian & David Underwood
I opened my first pomegranate this weekend. I was making a “red” themed dinner and wanted the little seeds for my predinner drinks and the salad. What an interesting fruit! I thought you had to nibble the flesh off each of those little red globes… but my friend said, no, you eat the whole thing, hard centre and all. Live and learn!
haha nice to hear, and yes you can eat those pits as well. I have developed my own methodology though 😛 I break the pomegranate in several parts then peal the skin off and the thin white tissue (thingy) so only fruits remain. Then I bite them and make sure to grab as much as I can, and chew repetedly, until all the juice is gone and only a mash of pits remain. Those I spit out and go for another bite 😀
OOOH! It’s amazing what you learn on the Internet – thanks for sharing!
POMEGRANATE easy to say NOOR in Armenian Language Pomegranate name so hard to say yet write Translating thy name “seeded apple” somehow unkind No similarities seen between two in taste in heart I see much differences, I feel to put it right After crunching an apple, my cramp starts While after eating noor my brain ramps…! Look at it first enjoy the color in hexagonal mass Different shades pink, red, anemic- faint It has a crown like angles, when flying dawn Reminds me fresco painting inside the domes- reign. Wear apron, before you open the thick shell Expect to spray… Read more »
Thanks for using my photograph – glad you like it
http://www.Artsakh.Org.UK
I certainly do, it’s very artistic. Thank you for your permission! I’ll add a link to your site in the post and add your initials.
Reblogged this on A Few Extra Cubic Metres.
Reblogged this on Enticed.
[…] for fertility Arsen skilfully incorporates in his designs the traditional magic of pomegranate – the most widespread symbol of Armenia which, despite of the cliché, matches quite nicely with the natural colours of his coffee cups, […]
[…] the pomegranates of (the Song of) Solomon should also appear in the art and landscapes of Armenian spiritual culture recalls to the imagination the height, breadth, and depth of sacred Tradition–in which we […]
i am from armenia and i am 11 years old and i did not know they threw it on the ground to scatter the seeds. I am from eastern armenia so thats probably why. Es shat em sirum ko website!! Keep working on it so culini aveli lav!
The name of the church, please.
[…] See: https://www.peopleofar.com/2012/10/22/pommegranade-symbol-of-armenia […]