Sesame domestication
Domesticación del sésamo
- Date
- c. 2500 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Harappa, Punjab, Pakistan
- Credited to
- Indus Valley Civilisation
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Charred seeds of cultivated sesame at Harappa and Miri Qalat are the oldest evidence of this oilseed, domesticated from a wild ancestor of the subcontinent. It was one of the first vegetable oils traded over long distances.
The wild ancestor (Sesamum malabaricum) grows only in India, which rules out an African origin once proposed.
What it led to
- sesame oil exported to Mesopotamia
- cuisine and oil lamps in South and West Asia
- summer crop complementing wheat and barley
Built on
- domestication of wheat and barley at Mehrgarh