Gourd

One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC.

Gourd is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons.

[1] More specifically, gourd refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita,[2][3] or also to their hollow, dried-out shell.

[7] Wild, poisonous gourds (Citrullus colocynthis) were unknowingly added to the company of prophets' stew according to a story of Elisha in the Hebrew Bible.

Since before human written history, they have had a multitude of uses including food storage, cooking tools, toys, musical instruments and decoration.

In regard to Christianity, several artists such as Frans Floris and Carlo Crivelli have depicted the gourd as a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ, juxtaposed with the Fruit of Good and Evil that was consumed by Adam and Eve.

Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals is also often depicted with a bottle gourd that contains a special medicine that he uses to aid the sick, poor, or needy.