Naturalists are alarmed. Dried apple slices are found on saucers in the tomb of Queen Pu-Abi at Ur near Basara, in Southern Iran, linking royalty to the irresistible seduction of apples . Hittite Law Codes specify a three shekel penalty for anyone allowing a fire to destroy an apple orchard. He then proceeds to coin a new Greek word from the Persian pairidaeza , or walled garden, later becoming the Latin paradisus , and finally the English paradise. Theophrastos describes 6 varieties of apples and discusses why budding, grafting, and general tree care are required for optimum production and says seeds almost always produce trees of inferior quality fruit.
Agriculturalists are charmed, naturalists are alarmed.
Latin emerges from a localized dialect in Central Italy to a full and precise language still used in biology, law, medicine, and religion. Apples moved west with the rise of the Roman empire as the Romans adopted the apples and orchard skills of the Greeks and Persians before them. They proceeded to carry apples to the far reaches of the Roman Empire including continental Europe and the British Isles where previously only crab apples were known. They even created a deity of the fruit trees, the goddess Pomona. Like the Persians and the Greeks, the Romans and many cultures since have responded to the basic human longing for a time and place where men and women are free from the battle with nature for food and shelter.