[falaki]

Thanks for digging it up. I can shed more light on the meaning of the original word for Saffron. The article mentions Saffron comes from Arabic az-za’faran. That word is the Arabicized version of an older Persian word: Za-paran (Zayesh-paran), which means "causes abortion" (zaa/zayesh --> birth).

The most common source of Saffron in Iran is area in southern Khorasan called Ghohistan (from Kohistan) meaning mountainous.

Both of these facts corroborate the Akkadian sources.

[perihelions]

Thanks for those insights. It's fun to follow the the links in the Wiktionary etymology sections: I found myself on the page زعتر (za'atar, the herb) [0,1], which is apparently similar to Akkadian words found written in cuneiform, and possibly descends from them!

[0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/زعتر#Etymology

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za'atar#Etymology

- "However the oldest forms seem to be found in Akkadian 𒌑𒍝𒋼𒊒 (U2.za-te-ru / zateru, ṣateru /, “savory and the Origanum family”) found in lexical lists connected to Akkadian 𒌑𒈛𒈥𒌅 (U2.LUḪ.MAR.TU / šibburratu /, “an aromatic herb”) and Akkadian 𒍝𒄠𒁍𒊒𒊬 (za-am-bu-ruSAR / zambūru /, “thyme”)."

- "Of further curiosity is the possible attestation of the /ʕ/ preserved in cuneiform; it is common for the zero reflex of /ʕ/, to only be detectable in Akkadian by the e-coloring of an adjacent *a. The distance between Arabic and Akkadian and the lack of its presence in their likely intermediaries, possibly suggests a form of further common origin, albeit with a metathesis of /ʕ/ and /t/, and a retention of that form in Arabic, but not so in other Semitic tongues. "

[thisislife2]

Does that mean Saffron is dangerous for pregnant women?

[cess11]

If the dose is sufficiently large, possibly. In the doses commonly used in the Occident, not likely.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235659/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S02546... https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/1...

[falaki]

In Iran, pregnant women are advised to significantly reduce Saffron consumption. Note that the base level consumption is much higher in that country.

[pazimzadeh]

Yeah something tells me there is more to why Iran is a huge producer of Saffron than what the article says:

> Today, most saffron is grown in countries where workers are paid less than their Western European counterparts would need to be. The primary producers are Iran, India, and Greece.