 Citrullus colocynthis" may be a wild ancestor of the watermelon; its native range extends from north and west Africa to west India, and was observed growing wild in central Africa.Evidence of the cultivation of both "C. lanatus" and "C. colocynthis" in the Nile Valley has been found from the second millennium BC onward, and seeds of both species have been found at Twelfth Dynasty sites and in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.Watermelon seeds were found in the Dead Sea region at the ancient settlements of Bab edh-Dhra and Tel Arad.