Flax is in the genus Linum and family Linaceae. It is indigenous to the area that spans from the eastern Mediterranean to India and is thought to be first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. Flax was cultivated in ancient Ethiopia and Egypt. In an archaeological finding in the Republic of Georgia, dyed flax fibres have been found that implicate it as one of the first domesticated species in human history (30,000 BC). Flax seed is a source of soluble and insoluble fibre, omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, manganese and thiamin.