A type of fruit with a red, hard, exterior and a white, pulpy interior with small seeds throughout. The seeds are surrounded by juice and are edible. 

Most likely Iran and Egypt.

Pomegranates spread to India and China through trade routes linking Asia with the Middle East. 

Pomegranates are central to the Greek legend of Persephone, the goddess of vegetation and wife of Hades. While in the Underworld, she ate the seeds of the pomegranate, condemning herself to live half the year in the Underworld, thereby creating winter.

New Oxford Book of Food Plants by John Vaughan et al. (2009) 

The Oxford Companion to Food. 3rd ed., by Alan Davidson and edited by Tom Jaine (2014) 

“Persephone” by Mark Cartwright (2016) https://www.ancient.eu/Persephone 

“What is Pomegranate?” by Peggy Trowbridge Filippone (2020) https://www.thespruceeats.com/pomegranate-measures-and-cooking-tips-1807864