It has become nearly axiomatic that “cucumbers” were familiar to ancient Mediterranean civilizations. A number of authors specializing in cucurbits, almost a Who’s Who of Cucurbitology, have written that the cucumber, Cucumis sativus L., spread westward from its homeland in the foothills of the Himalayas some 3000 years ago. It is also understood axiomatically that since the English word “cucumber” looks so much like the Latin cucumis, that they must be one and the same. Upon closer examination, it can be seen that this “fact” is baseless.