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Pomegranate trees are native to the region from the Iranian/Persian plateau eastward to northern India and parts of Central Asia

In Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Caucasus and adjoining areas. Wild progenitors occur
Indicating this broad middle eastern/central asian belt as its center of origin

Earliest secure archaeobotanical evidence of pomegranate comes from the bronze age in the Levant and Mediterranean
Carbonized fruit rind, or exocarps from Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) in the West Bank; and, from late bronze age contexts at Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus), and Tiryns (Greece).

Pomegranate use was pre-agricultural but clearly significant once farming and long-distance trade networks were established
As early as the fifth millennium BC, (around 4 to 3000 BC) in the eastern Mediterranean/Central Asia region. It was being traded. And, when transitioning to more bronze and copper age artifacts.

It is mentioned in Egypt and Mesopotamia mid-third millennium BC
Verified by cuneiform records.

Farmers selected for: Larger fruit size and juicier arils compared to wild sour small fruits; Sweetness and flavor improvements; Resistance to splitting; and, Seed characteristics, (softer seeds preferred for eating).

Pomegranate cuttings, seedlings, or seeds could be transported by humans on pack animals such as horses, donkeys, or camels. As well as human transport
Especially once they were part of horticultural systems and long-distance trade networks.

Considered one of the earliest fruit trees brought into cultivation in the Old World. Pomegranate or punica granatum was a great tree cultivated for its seeds and juice. Check it out with some more neolithic architecture.

Bibliography: “Pomegranate — Afghan Agriculture” (https://web.archive.org/web/20161205174822/http://afghanag.ucdavis.edu/a_horticulture/fruits-trees/pomegranate). afghanag.ucdavis.edu. University of California at Davis, International Programs. 2013. Archived from the original (http://afghanag.ucdavis.edu/a_horticulture/fruits-trees/pomegranate) on 5 December 2016

Slonimsky, A., Lovky, O., Harel-Beja, R. et al. The pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. ‘Wonderful’) genome and P. protopunica shed light on pomegranate domestication. Is Daru a wild stock?. BMC Genomics 26, 928 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11993-0

Zeynalova, A. M (2017). “Origin, taxonomy and systematics of pomegranate” (https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/60611784/Aydan_Zeynalova_220190916-115529-q1rp9m-libre.pdf?1568636012=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DORIGIN_TAXONOMY_AND_SYSTEMA
TICS_OF_POMEG.pdf&Expires=1767701105&Signature=OGyCkr0GlrYV6Ds722vk5SMYKv~B7
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Q~OH~tWCxfRTBDi3-FgKaN7poxXoaS2BT~mlF8-YDYEHPHzH2KPztzyMcURHjreh0b5NnXHb1
7HjePHaT477bWEKM35ik2yqO58~OgOs~GhSSZX7KjeSqg0Cm1~M3caejsUJIppjowD50XKm-zvoSdXSqMIioQzEz3MtwoY3GvcEY3536KEpsr8sRQIgqn3zVuk3xBztuh4zGWl1xeqQzQdA-zqrcayYpXMI~ta1L9DQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA) (PDF). Proceedings of the Institute of Botany. 37: 20–25

Shafer-Elliott, Cynthia (2022), Fu, Janling; Shafer-Elliott, Cynthia; Meyers, Carol (eds.), “Fruits,Nuts, Vegetables, and Legumes” (https://www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9780567679826&tocid=b-9780567679826-chapter8), T&T Clark Handbook of Food in theHebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, T&T Clark Handbooks (1 ed.), London: T&T Clark, pp. 142–143, ISBN 978-0-567-67982-6

Still, D. W. (2006). “Pomegranate: A botanical perspective” (https://books.google.com/books?id=2yGXy6jVFbYC&pg=PA168). In Seeram, Navindra P.; Schulman, Risa N.; Heber, David (eds.). Pomegranates: ancient roots to modern medicine. CRC Press. pp. 199–2010. ISBN 978-0-8493-9812-4.