Young Blonde Girl With Apricots In The Handbasket Reveals Her Top Outside On The Glade Field On The Hill

Its introduction to Greece is attributed to Alexander the Great; later, the Roman General Lucullus (106–157 BC) also would have imported some trees – the cherry, white heart cherry, and apricot – from Armenia to Rome. Subsequent sources were often confused about the origin of the species. John Claudius Loudon (1838) believed it had a wide native range including Armenia, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, China, and Japan.
Apricots have been cultivated in Persia since antiquity, and dried ones were an important commodity on Persian trade routes. Apricots remain an important fruit in modern-day Iran, where they are known under the common name of zard-ālū (Persian: زردآلو).
Egyptians usually dry apricots, add sweetener, and then use them to make a drink called amar al-dīn.
In England during the 17th century, apricot oil was used in herbalism treatments intended to act against tumors, swelling, and ulcers.