Find Out Your Vegetable Sign

The vegetable zodiac was created in the 6th c. CE by Alexandrian merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes for his Christian Topography. He replaced the familiar signs of the zodiac, perceived as too pagan, with vegetable produce. The ring we see here is divided into twelve parts for the twelve months of the year, each featuring a crop corresponding to a zodiac sign.

At the top-centre of the ring we find garlic. Its Greek name, skoroda, is written below, and above it is the name of the Coptic month, Pharmouthi, which corresponds to March–April (Aries). This is when garlic ripens, which means that the choice was made based on the month in which a crop was harvested. 


Aside from its ideological Christian significance, the vegetable zodiac is also important for including relative newcomers into the Egyptian diet, like apricots for May–June, introduced in the Roman Period.

Pharmouthi 
(March–April)  
Garlic (skoroda)

Phaophi
September–October
Dates (phoinikes)