Top 20 Facts About The Ancient History of Alcohol

The ancient history of alcohol production was very rich. The purposeful production of alcoholic drinks is common and often reflects cultural and religious peculiarities as much as geographical and sociological conditions. Alcohol has wide-ranging effects on the body. There are many benefits, as well as pitfalls, to consuming alcohol. Here is a list of the top 20 unknown facts regarding the history of alcohol production.

01:The world's oldest brewery was discovered in 2018 in a prehistoric burial site in a cave near Haifa in Israel. Researchers have found residue of 13,000-year-old beer that they think might have been used for ritual feasts to honor the dead.

02:The Hebrew Bible recommends giving alcoholic drinks to those who are dying or depressed so that they can forget their misery.

03:Wine was consumed in Classical Greece at breakfast or at symposia, and in the 1st century BC, it was part of the diet of most Roman citizens. Both the Greeks and the Romans generally drank diluted wine.

04:The earliest evidence of wine was found in China, where jars from Jiahu which date to about 7000 BC were discovered and this early rice wine was produced by fermenting rice, honey, and fruit.

05:Alcoholic beverages were widely used in all segments of Chinese society. These were used as a source of inspiration, important for hospitality and also considered an antidote for fatigue.

06:Egyptian brewing began in the city of Heirakonpolis around 3400 BC.

07:Beer was the major beverage among the Babylonians, and as early as 2700 BC they worshiped a wine goddess and other wine deities.

08:Alcoholic beverages in the Indus Valley Civilization appeared in the Chalcolithic Era. These beverages were in use between 3000 BC and 2000 BC.

09:Sura, a beverage brewed from rice meal, wheat, sugar cane, grapes, and other fruits, was popular among the Kshatriya warriors and the peasant population. 

10:According to Hindu Mythology, Sura is considered to be a favorite drink of Lord Indra.

11:Ayurvedic texts concluded that alcohol was a medicine if consumed in moderation, but a poison if consumed in excess.

12:The two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, mention the use of alcohol.

13:In Greece, the first alcoholic beverage to obtain widespread popularity was mead which was a fermented beverage made from honey and water.

14:Cauim is a traditional alcoholic beverage of the Native American populations of Brazil since pre-Columbian times. It is still made today in remote areas throughout Panama and South America. It is made by fermenting manioc or maize, sometimes flavored with fruit juices.

15:Okolehao is produced by Native Hawaiians from juice extracted from the roots of the ti plant.

16:The Roman belief that wine was a daily necessity made the drink "democratic" and ubiquitous and it should be available to slaves, peasants, women and aristocrats alike.

17:Palm wine played an important social role in many African societies.

18:Thin alcoholic beverages have existed in traditional societies all across the African continent which was created by the fermentation of sorghum, millet, bananas. In modern days, they use maize or cassava to prepare alcoholic beverages.

19:The original grain spirit, whiskey, and its specific origins are unknown but the distillation of whiskey has been performed in Ireland and Scotland for centuries. The first confirmed written record of whiskey comes from 1405 in Ireland, the production of whiskey from malted barley is first mentioned in Scotland in an entry from 1494, although both countries could have distilled grain alcohol before this date.

20:In the early 19th century, Americans had inherited a hearty drinking tradition. Many types of alcohol were consumed by them and one important reason for this heavy drinking was the overabundance of corn on the western frontier, which encouraged the widespread production of cheap whiskey.