A woman water pipe smoker “Kaliunchi” (‘nargilah’ in Arabic and Turkish) in a teahouse in Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran in 1932. Penn Museum Image #83371.
Iran was an important part of the Silk Road trading routes. One of the many food items traded along the silk road was pistachios, a main export of Damghan. At the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit opening feb 5 at the Penn Museum, you can trace the etymology of the word pistachio from its beginnings to its current usage today in one of many fun and (might I say, edutaining) interactives.
