Crocus sativus[Safran ]
santorini greece saffron gatherers
Crocus sativus the famous and expensive spice,  appears often in the wall paintings and plays an intricate part  in the ritual activities of the Therans in Akrotiri.       In the Xeste 3 wall paintings Saffron is gathered and offered  to the goddess of Nature and fertility...                     This is the goddess described as ,            “Mogostokos”,  the Goddess of the birth pains           and " Dictina" the goddess of the amniotic fluid,                          " the life water" by Homer.              Nanno Marinatos describes the fresco ,             as the renewal of the Mistress of Nature.    Interestingly enough, saffron was prescribed by Hippocrates, Dioscourides and Gallinos to heal gynecological problems...        Today it is known to regulate the menstrual cycle (menagoge)                                    and to relieve PMS.         Eastern and western traditional herbal medicines , have used saffron for centuries...                     Saffron is named as Karcom  among the special herbs in the Song of Solomon 4:14*.         After about one century of Industrial Pharmacology,  the Medical and Agricultural school of Athens and Thessalonica  universities, are using it experimentally to heal serious diseases,  like leukemia and cardiovascular anomalies with promising results.  Since longevity is associated with nutrition, it should be necessary  to compare the longevity of Crete and Thera (Santorini),  to the case of the Hunja village ,witch till the middle of the 70s,  was the first longevity village on the planet.       Urban culture became familiar to Hunja, so they adapted                            a new dietary life... Today only one person is still alive more than 100 years old...       More about the Hunja relation with the prehistoric Therans               and Minoans you can find in the conclusion .          The religious importance of its pharmaceutical uses          should be known as far as the evidence of growing up                                       can show to us:        The Babylonians offered it to Astrate (Venus-Aphrodite),        the Egyptians used it also to preserve mummies,         but specially its importance is painted in the palace             of Malgata where Tututghamon was born...
santorini greece relation with dynastic Egypt
The plant was not identified in the 70s, now with the saffron          fresco we can understand why the mother of Tutughamon       an incarnation of HATHOR (Venus-Aphrodite) chose Saffron                    for the life- beginning apartment of her son... The Therans were apparently familiar with these important (religious-medical) uses of saffron, and therefore offered it to thank  the goddess of nature and fertility for her valuable gift. * Recent archeological researches in Israel,  by the Italian Emanuel Anati, changed the location  where "Taura" was delivered to Moses...  The new location, based on excavations in a prehistoric site  called Hab Karkom, is where prehistoric frescoes  of anthropomorphic content were found...  Karkom, as we already notice is saffron,  so this evidence is extremely important to show how valuable  are the frescoes of Santorini ancient Greece to excavation areas...