The pomegranate played a special role, cherished by middle eastern cultures and incorporated into the stories of many religions. The crown and flower of a pomegranate has six petals, and this was considered significant. Persephone, for example, ate six seeds of this forbidden fruit, and was banished to the underworld for six months of every year, then released, representing the cycle of life. Pomegranates also inspired the Babylonian number system: they counted in base 60 with their fingers, a system echoed today in geography, geometry, and our measurement of

time.