Healing Properties of Saffron

Ferrence S, Bendersky G. Therapy with saffron and the goddess at Thera Perspectives in biology and medicine. 2004;47(2):199-226.

In approximately the mid-17th century, a devastating volcanic eruption buried the town of Akrotiri on the Greek island of Thera. In 1967, the excavation of the town under the auspices of the Archeological Society of America revealed many well-preserved wall paintings and frescoes, which were cleaned and conserved. The frescoes uncovered at this site ‘suggest that the Therans of ancient Akrotiri developed saffron (Crocus sativus) as a versatile medicine more than 3,600 years ago.’ The interpretation of the meaning of one of these frescoes, found in a building known as Xeste 3, is the subject of this article.

The Xeste 3 frescoes span two adjacent walls and, in one section, portray an elevated, jewelry-clad, woman (goddess) surrounded by animals and young girls in a landscape of crocuses (Crocus spp.). A basket of saffron sits at the feet of the goddess. A blue monkey is depicted extending crocus blooms to the goddess, whereas the girls in the frescoes are picking crocus blooms, carrying crocus blooms, or emptying crocus blooms from a small basket into a large basket on the ground. In another portion of the frescoes, a woman is seen extending one hand toward her bleeding foot as two crocus stigmas fall toward her foot. The artist of this painting depicted the female reproductive portion of the plant—the stigma—in elaborate detail. Although some scholars have interpreted the painting to represent fertility rituals, marriage ceremonies, or local industry, most researchers conclude that ‘crocuses and saffron are at the heart of the matter.’ The authors of this article propose that ‘the program of Xeste 3 does not merely include the secondary medicinal value of saffron as a secondary element, but, in fact, emphasizes its primary therapeutic function, and exhibits the production sequence in cultic recognition of its precious curative value.’

The focus of the Xeste 3 frescoes appears to be the women and the crocuses, which are linked to the healing properties of saffron. The Aegean crocus (Crocus cartwrightianus) is the species depicted, which is an autumnal flower with three large crimson stigmas that can be picked, dried, and ground to make saffron. Of the many medicinal plants developed in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, saffron has had the greatest number of applications over nearly four millennia. The proven safety, efficacy, and availability of saffron for a large variety of symptoms may be the reason for its prominent portrayal in the Xeste 3 frescoes. The authors ‘hypothesize that the frescoes express a divinely encouraged concept: the medicinal healing that is the major function of the crocus/saffron.’ This hypothesis is based on three observations: the crocus and its stigma are the dominant motif; the medicinal phytoactivity of crocuses is concentrated in the stigma; and the closeness of the basket of saffron to the goddess (which indicates the importance of this substance). Ancient Eastern Mediterranean healers and worshipers often invoked the help of a deity to potentiate a medicine; therefore, the painting may promote the belief that the goddess depicted has conferred curative properties to the saffron or has given the gift of saffron to humans. Thus, it may be interpreted that the introduction of saffron as a medicine may have originated at Akrotiri.

The first known mention of saffron (azupiranu) is in an Assyrian dictionary of botany written in 668-633 BCE, in which it is described as being used to treat dyspnea (breathing difficulty), painful urination, menstrual disorders, and ‘diseases of the head.’ Following the Bronze Age, the use of saffron for medicinal purposes has continued up to the present day. Saffron also has a history of use for the treatment of cutaneous ulcers, wounds, thrush, palpitations, smallpox, measles, jaundice, constipation, eye diseases, liver diseases, joint pain, earaches, diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches. In addition, saffron has long been valued for its effectiveness in treating gynecological conditions. Saffron concoctions have been used to regulate menses and fertility and to induce abortions. Studies conducted since the early 20th century have identified steroidal estrogens and non-steroidal substances in saffron that mimic female sex hormones. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, saffron or its derivatives (e.g., crocin and crocetin) were shown to have antitumor activity against different malignancies in humans and animals both in vivo and in vitro. Only in the past few decades, however, has the ‘potential success’ of saffron in the treatment of many of the abovementioned conditions been confirmed by phytochemical studies and experimental evidence.

The dominant portrayal of saffron in the Theran frescoes of Akrotiri likely implies that this culture had discovered medicinal uses for saffron. The women participating in the saffron activities in the frescoes ranged in age from young girls to older women. ‘This multi-generational spectrum is consistent with the age range appropriate for diseases extending from menstrual disorders to malignancy.’ On the basis of both modern pharmacology and ancient medical texts, however, saffron therapy is generally efficacious for non-reproductive-related problems as well and for disorders experienced by male patients. The Xeste 3 frescoes appear to ‘anthropomorphize the medicinal plant [saffron] into the persona of a female divinity of medicine.’ Betancourt1 suggests that the Theran artist who created the frescoes ‘created a powerful, unified composition that contains ‘the first true perspective in ancient wall painting’.’

—Brenda Milot, ELS

Reference
1Betancourt PP. Concept of space in Theran compositional systemics. In: Sherratt S, ed. The wall paintings of Thera: Proceedings of the first international symposium. Athens: Thera Foundation, 2000:359–63.

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