saffron crocus

Our experts agree on the identification of the Hebrew word karkom with the saffron crocus Crocus sativus, but there are others who identify it as the Indian plant Turmeric Curcuma longa on the basis of its Arabic name kurkum or kurkam. However, according to Moldenke (Plants of the Bible. Ronald Press. 1952), Arabic kurkum refers to the plant, and the product from it is called saferan, from which we get the English word “saffron” (compare Arabic asfar, meaning “yellow”). Saffron is now widely known as a food additive and dye, but in Bible times it was also considered a perfume and medicine. It comes from the reddish-purple flowers of the crocus, which grew throughout Asia Minor in Bible times. Since then it has been widely cultivated in Europe, England, and America. The English word “crocus” comes from Hebrew karkom via Greek krokos.

Archeological records indicate that saffron was cultivated in the seventh century B.C. in Assyria and later in Crete (Bronze Age). Saffron-based paint has been found in fifty thousand year old pictures in what is today Iraq. The Sumerians used saffron for medicine and magical potions and traded it with other kingdoms. International trade reached a peak with the Minoans in the second millennium B.C. Use of saffron spread into Asia via the Persians and/or the Mongol invaders, and today Buddhist monks in India wear saffron-colored robes. Merchants in the Middle East sell dried safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) as saferan, but real saffron comes only from crocus flowers. The fake saffron is appropriately called alazor bastardo in Spanish and safran batard in French.

Crocus plants have long, tapered grasslike leaves growing from an onion-like bulb under the ground. They grow to less than 13 centimeters (5 inches) in height and have beautiful reddish or purple flowers.

In Bible times saffron was used as perfume and as medicine, but today it is mostly known as a coloring agent for cloth and food. One reason why it was costly is that it takes about six hundred flowers to produce a few drops of oil.

Since Bible times the saffron crocus has been grown mostly in the Mediterranean basin, but it also thrives in India, Oceana, and North Africa, so in those places local words will likely be found. Elsewhere, transliteration from a major language is recommended.