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History Of Alcohol Part One
One of the most popular beverages in today’s society, Alcohol is also one of the oldest mind-altering substances on the planet. Archeologists think that alcoholic beverages date back to the very beginning of civilization and that wines made from grapes have existed for at least 10,000 years. Two of the oldest known alcoholic beverages are mead and beer. Alcohol has been a social beverage since its creation and has served many purposes. Some of the more interesting include calming feuds, giving courage in battle, sealing pacts, celebrating festivals, and seducing lovers. Beer Before Bread Historians speculate that prehistoric nomads may have made beer from grain & water before learning to make bread. Other groups known to have produced and consumed alcoholic beverages include the Celts, Ancient Greeks, the Norse, Egyptians, and Babylonians. Alcohol also played an important role with respect to Egyptian burial provisions for the journey to the afterlife. Agricultural advances allowed for greater supplies of the raw materials necessary for the fermentation and distilling processes. Around 4000 BC, the Sumerians are regarded as the first civilization to form around a fixed agrarian lifestyle. Many of their cuneiform tablets are illustrated with images of alcohol being consumed. Additionally, there is a description of the making of beer on an ancient engraving in the Sumerian language. It is followed by a pictograph of bread being baked, crumbled into water to form a mash, and then made into a drink that is recorded as having made people feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful." For Beer You Can’t Beat Babylonia As civilized society and population grew dramatically, so too did alcohol production and consumption. We know that the ancient Egyptians were drinkers, because they invented the first straws, which were used for drinking beer that still contained wheat-husks. Interestingly, some Sumerian texts refer to social problems associated with drunkenness. Egyptian texts dating to 1600 BC contain 100 medical prescriptions using alcohol. Babylonia is another one of the earliest human civilizations. Beer was one of the Babylonian's favorite beverages. Recipes for brewing 20 different kinds of beer have been found on Babylonian clay tablets. All these early civilizations grew barley that may have been cultivated strictly for brewing. The Babylonians drew up the one of the world's first legal texts. Included in the law was a set of rules to regulating drinking houses. Chinese Vodka? Distilled spirits (hard liquor) have their origin in China and India in about 800 BC. While wine and beer are produced primarily through fermentation of a fruit or grain of some kind, distilling the products of this fermentation creates drinks such as brandy, cognac, and sake. With respect to alcohol content, they are far more potent drinks. Historically, it is interesting to note that the distillation process did not make its way to Europe until the eleventh century. Bacchanals and Drinking Orgies For the Greeks and the Romans, most of their drinks were often flavored with herbs such as balsam, dandelion, mint, and wormwood seeds, and even crab claws & oyster shells for flavorings. Both the Greeks and Romans worshipped the god of wine. For the Greeks it was the god Bacchus, the Romans, Dionysus. The form of worship usually took the form of an orgy of intoxication, and their literature is full of warnings against intemperance. One story describes how the Great Ramona Emperor Caesar toasted his troops after crossing the Rubicon, which began the Roman Civil War. It was the Roman legions that introduced beer to Northern Europe around 55 BC. Historically we do not know much about how well these groups handled their intake of alcohol. Surely, there were many who imbibed often and would be described as binge drinkers or even heavy drinkers. There is some evidence to suggest that alcohol problems were prevalent as far back as 10,000 years ago. Unfortunately, these groups did not have access to alcohol awareness classes, and with no Internet, they could not educate themselves via an online alcohol class. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Mike Miller is the Education Director at Online Alcohol Class, a website specializing on online alcohol awareness classes and minor in possession classes. You can visit his site at onlinealcoholclass.com |
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