Saffron slowly propagated throughout much of Eurasia and was later brought to parts of North Africa, North America, and Oceania. Saffron was detailed in a 7th-century BC Assyrian botanical reference compiled under Ashurbanipal. Documentation of saffron's use over the span of 3,500 years has been uncovered. Saffron-based pigments have indeed been found in 50,000-year-old depictions of prehistoric places in northwest Iran. The Sumerians later used wild-growing saffron in their remedies and magical potions. Saffron was an article of long-distance trade before the Minoan palace culture's 2nd millennium BC peak. Ancient Persians cultivated Persian saffron ("Crocus sativus" 'Hausknechtii') in Derbent, Isfahan, and
Trade and use of saffron saffron in "biryanis", which are spicy rice-vegetable dishes. (An example is the "Pakki" variety of "Hyderabadi biryani".) Saffron spices subcontinental beef and chicken entrees and goes into many sweets, particularly in Muslim and Rajasthani fare. Modern technology has added another delicacy to the list: saffron ice cream. Regional milk-based sweets feature it, among them "gulab jamun", "kulfi", "double ka meetha", and "saffron "lassi""; the last is a sweet yogurt-based Jodhpuri drink that is culturally symbolic. Saffron's folkloric uses as an herbal medicine are legendary and legion. It was used for its carminative (suppressing cramps and flatulence) and emmenagogic (enhancing pelvic