rhe Wines of the Ancient Orient. ly 



five days, and thence to Pelusium one day^ Since the difficul- 

 ties in the transportation of wine were great, it was completely 

 lacking in the earliest times; where local production was 

 limited, as in the case of Egypt, they were compelled to make 

 artificial wines. Pliny, XIII, 5 states that in the former times 

 figs, pomegranates, the myxa ^ and other fruits were used in 

 Egypt in the preparation of artificial wines. Datewine * appears 

 to have been a favorite beverage, according to Pliny (XIV, I9) 

 and Dioscorides (V, 4), who tell us that this wine was greatly 

 esteemed. Two modes of making this wine seem to have been 

 in use. The Egyptians either scratched the stem of the date- 

 palm with a sharp knife, and gathered the sap into jars and 

 let it ferment, 'or else they pressed the fresh dates, and the 

 juice thus gained was brought to fermentation. The first 

 method produced a wine which spoiled within a few hours, 

 while by the other method the wine could be kept for a con- 

 siderable period. Datevvine, which was used also for cleansing 

 the entrails of the dead, formed an excellent and cheap drink 

 for the poorer peopled For cheapness it was, perhaps, only 

 surpassed by the barley-beer. According to Xenophon^ date- 

 wine brought on severe headache ^. A beverage is frequently 



named in Egyptian inscriptions, called shedekh, ^"^ ' ^he 



of Dsds '^ "^ C^y] ; W and Kyim . t 



oases _ 



-*-\ ' <^ ' '"' AAAAAA -fi^ JS^ l^!=0 



i) Josephus, B. y., IV, ir, 5; Herod. Ill, 5, 6 and Strabo I, 3, 17. 

 2J Tlie cordia myxa of Linnaeus. 



4) Herodotus, II, 86. 



5) Cyr. II, 3. 



6) Datevvine was used for medicinal purposes. The fruits of the ed-Dom 



palm, mama. yj?. ^, ^"^v ^"^vO '^^yP^""" thebaua Mart. 



= Cuceifera thebaica Desfon.) were used for making beer. The dates of Egypt 

 were considered delicacies in Rome jGellius, VII, i6\ 



7) ^^ i" Diim., Kal. Inschr. 120, i. 11; cf. 119, i. 10; Pap. Anast. I, 



5, 24, 7, 4 and often. 



Lutz, ViticuJture and Brewing. 2 



