History of Mead

[beeboy]

Hello everybody, I'm new to the board and mead brewing (currently have my first 5 gallons fermenting) but still feel the need to comment on this thread. There is a whole section of historians who attribute the change from a nomadic life style to a farmers life style was due to the need of our ancestors to have a steady source of fruits and grains so the could ferment it into beer or wine. It's a bit like the chicken or the egg, what came first. Did our ancestors start farming and then fermented the leftover grain or start harvesting to ferment the crop and realized that it was such a great deal that they began farming for more raw material. Chances are it was a combination of the two. Beeboy and his bees

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Hello Beeboy -- welcome to the board!

What you're referring to is the beer v/s bread debate and yes, it was a kind of which came first, the chicken or the egg discussion. Try these URL's for more info:

http://www.beerchurch.com/history1.htm

http://www.funet.fi/pub/culture/beer/homebrew/docs/ninkasi_article

Thanks for chipping in on the discussion!

 

[froglady]

Hi new to your website. What fun ,thought I would pass this on It's on the back of a bottle of bunratty mead I picked up in Ireland."The honeymoon drink.Discovered by the Irish monks in the middle ages.This honey-based drink was believed to have powers of virility and fertilityand it became custom for the bride and groom to drink mead for one full moon after the wedding, hence the word honeymoon.It is still a tradition today to toast the bride and groom with mead." It was also the drink of the high kings of ireland. Quite tasty I must say.

 

[pain]

Hi Froglady, and welcome to my world!

I'm glad you like the website. I'll try to keep it interesting for everyone.

The info you found on the Bunratty bottle is interesting. Several of the historians (like Dan McFeeley) that research mead history have discovered that the 'honeymoon' legend seems to be just that, a legend. There are no historical records that indicate that this was in fact a regular practice. Although I can certainly see where imbibing mead *during* a honeymoon would make one more pliant and willing!

The Irish monks may have discovered mead when they came to Ireland, but mead definitely has historical references that go back *long* before that. You might find the articles in the History section of Gotmead interesting. There's a great one I found on mead found in King Midas' tomb! They even reconstructed a recipe using modern ingredients to approximate the mead they might have served at his funeral feast. Very cool stuff.

If you're really interested in the history of mead, do a search on the Gotmead site for 'mcfeeley'. That will turn up many posts by Dan in the Mead Lovers Digest, a large number of which have to do with the history of mead. Dan has made an exhaustive study of this subject, and, frankly, I sort of consider him to be the main authority on mead history in our age.

Hope this info leads you to new and interesting knowledge, and welcome to the madness that is mead!

Vicky - Gotmead webmistress

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Yes, we all know the evils of alcohol... addiction to fine meads being very high on the list... I suppose I am a sinner in that regards... but it is the woman's fault! Eve drove us all to love mead!

I feel so much better knowing it's not my fault :

 

[Fortuna Wolf]

Just to clear some stuff up...
Homo neandertalensis didn't go extinct till ~30000 bc
Homo sapiens had evolved by 400,000 - 200,000 BC, although Homo sapiens sapiens evolved 130,000 years ago. So, Homo sapiens sapiens has had a large overlap of time with Homo neandertalensis.

I strongly doubt that Homo erectus (2-.4 mya) was capable of producing fermented beverages, although eating fermented fruits might have been common. There is no evidence that they ever produced anything like a "drinking skin" or pottery, and thus had no fermentation vessels. So, saying that the first drinks were around 700,000 bc is kind of ... ???

 

[Oskaar]

Hi Fortuna,

Thanks for the information. Please re-read my posts and you'll see that I'm not suggesting that the first drinks were at 700,000 BC, nor did I suggest that any species at that time produced "drinks" but probably could have stumbled across them and if they liked the effect, they might have even foraged for more. If you can positively refute that with some hard evidence, I'm eager to learn


You'll also notice that I did not suggest that Neanderthal man went extinct before 30,000 BC, rather it was that he was at the height of his evolutionary time between 70,000 and 43,000 BC. It would make sense that he would have trailed off before he went extinct so your date of 30,000 BC would seem to follow.

Also please notice that I am speaking specifically of Egypt and the pre-history to history evolution in that area.

Thanks for your comments, I hope you'll re-read my posts and get a sense of what I am saying.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[David Baldwin]

Not intending to turn this into a religious discussion however...

The ancient Hebrews cultivated vinyards and made wine from it. The first Biblical record of wine is in the book of Genesis. It's not necessarily a happy reference and mentions that Noah grew a vinyard, got drunk from the wine and ultimately cursed one of his sons for having seen him naked.

Honey is repeatedly referenced throught the Bible and was obviously a very rich blessing to the Israelites. There are repeated references to the land of Israel as the "land flowing with milk and honey"

Honey throughout these texts is referred to as a food which was eaten. I do not doubt that they knew of the fermentation of honey, I do find it interesting that it is never mentioned.

 

[Oskaar]

Funny you mention that David. I've seen a lot of the references in the bible too.

I'm currently re-reading the History of Heroditus and there are several places where honey is mentioned. In ancient Babylon Heroditus mentions that there is wine made from the "Honey" of the date palm.

I've discussed and corresponded with a few people and there are conflicts over the translation of "honey" in the Ancient Near East Languages of that period. There is and has been a question about the use of "honey" in beers, and whether it was honey or dates from the date palms. During the building of the great pyramid on the Giza plateau between 2589 and 2566 the workers were given beer made from water, flat bread, dates, yeast and water.

It seems that the consensus of opinion is that "honey" means the consistency of the date palm material used in the beer. There is also similar anecdotal reference to figs being used in the same way. I think that Dan McFeeley might have some additional information on this topic.

Heroditus also mentions how the branches of the male palms were tied to the branches of the fruit bearing trees to allow the Gad Fly to enter the dates and ripen them. He relates that the Greeks practice the same technique with their fig trees.

There is also mention of the circular boats coming down the river (Tigris) which come from Armenia carrying their cheif product, wine, in casks made of palm wood. He also mentions "Palm Wine" being used to clean the internal organs of the bodies which were to be mummified.

Heroditus really got around in that ancient world!

Oskaar

 

[Jmattioli]

Actually since you mention the Bible, the first mention of honey is before the promised land in :
Genesis 43:11
And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

Of couse there is no mention of mead or honey wine. And in the 52 references to honey there is no hint of it being mixed with water or fermented although that doesn't mean somebody didn't figure it out and take a little nip now and then. They just never recorded it in our King James Bible.
Joe

 

[JamesP]

But the bible does mention a most unique BEE HIVE - the body of a dead lion:

5: Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
6: And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
...
8: .... and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
9: And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

So be careful if someone offers you honey from out of their hand. Ask where they got if from :

 

[Dan McFeeley]

I'm currently re-reading the History of Heroditus and there are several places where honey is mentioned. In ancient Babylon Heroditus mentions that there is wine made from the "Honey" of the date palm.

I've discussed and corresponded with a few people and there are conflicts over the translation of "honey" in the Ancient Near East Languages of that period. There is and has been a question about the use of "honey" in beers, and whether it was honey or dates from the date palms. During the building of the great pyramid on the Giza plateau between 2589 and 2566 the workers were given beer made from water, flat bread, dates, yeast and water.

It seems that the consensus of opinion is that "honey" means the consistency of the date palm material used in the beer. There is also similar anecdotal reference to figs being used in the same way. I think that Dan McFeeley might have some additional information on this topic.

Heroditus also mentions how the branches of the male palms were tied to the branches of the fruit bearing trees to allow the Gad Fly to enter the dates and ripen them. He relates that the Greeks practice the same technique with their fig trees.

I don't have much more to add other than discussion on the translation of the world's oldest brewing recipe, the Hymn to Ninkasi. Here's the passage in question:

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (...)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)

Most seem in agreement that this is processed date palm, not honey. You can find the text in it's entirety at:

http://www.beerchurch.com/history1.htm