How the Ancient Egyptians are Responsible for the Watermelons We Eat Today

by Shahinda Abdalla

With the arrival of the summer heat comes the arrival of summer’s favorite giant fruit — The Watermelon. It is everything you want and love about a summer fruit. Both sweet and juicy, both delicious and nutritious, it cools you down, feeds you and hydrates your body with its waters. All of this in one fruit. A miracle from God or the creativity of humans? Before there was a red, sweet, longish and large watermelon in the world, there was a wild version that was round, smaller, yellow and bitter. These wild varieties can still be found across deserts in Africa yet they are inedible due to their bitterness. The ancestor of the modern-day cultivated watermelon is believed to be the Kordofan melon from Sudan. They are believed to be the closest relative to the modern-day red variety as they both taste sweet and do not have the bitterness gene, but unlike the contemporary watermelon’s red pulp, the Kordofan melons have whitish pulp. It is believed that watermelons were first domesticated in north-east Africa by the ancient Egyptians beginning first in Sudan and then traveling up the River Nile until their cultivation reached the Nile Delta in Egypt and from there spread across the Mediterranean world during Roman times.

Kordofan Melons (Image Credit)

One of the main reasons behind the cultivation of watermelons by the ancient Egyptians was because of their high water content. They were a great source of water and hydration for people during the dry season, and was an ancient remedy for high blood pressure, which is not dissimilar at all to why we eat them today. In fact, today we know that watermelons are rich in an amino acid called citrulline that helps move blood through the body and thus lower blood pressure. So our hearts really enjoy all the cooling off perks of eating watermelon. Perhaps the only difference is that today we might have other ways of cooling down and hydrating, but for the ancients the watermelon was crucial during the heat which made it a very sacred fruit that decorated and adorned the walls of its temples and tombs. It was offered to the gods as a gift symbolic of their appreciation and deep connection to nature. Watermelons were buried alongside pharaohs to accompany them on their journey to the next life and to keep on sustaining and nourishing them wherever they may go.

Painted reliefs in Egyptian tombs show watermelon in ancient Egypt. The image here is from the tomb of Chnumhotep near Saqqara, which is dated to 2500 (BCE). Left of the watermelon are lotus flowers. (photos courtesy of S. Renner) (Image Credit)

In 2019, the genome of ancient leaves were analyzed by researchers at the University of Munich and they found indeed that like the modern watermelon, their ancient counterpart had a mutation in the gene responsible for the production of cucurbitacin which is the chemical responsible for the bitterness in the wild watermelon varieties. Another part of the genetic code that was analyzed showed that the production of the compound lypocene was being allowed. This compound is a carotenoid and antioxidant found in tomatoes and responsible for the color red. Hence, we can confidently say that the watermelons that the ancients ate were similar to the ones we consume today. Though how exactly they cultivated the domesticated watermelon remains a mystery, we just know that they did and why they did it. The next time you bite into a juicy, fleshy and luscious red watermelon slice, remember to thank both nature and your ancestors whose creativity still nourishes our bodies to this very day.