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PREHISTORIC USE Chemical analyses of organics absorbed and preserved in pottery jars from the Neolithic village of planted a Vineyard on Mt. Ararat in what is now Turkey . In Samaria , beer and wine were used for medicinal purposes as early as 2,000 B.C. Alcoholic beverages were very important in that Ancient Egypt. Symbolic of this is the fact that while many gods were local or familial, Osiris , the god of wine, was worshiped throughout the entire country. The Egyptians believed that this important god also invented beer, a beverage that was considered a necessity of life; it was brewed in the home "on an everyday basis." Both beer and wine were Deified and offered to gods. Cellars and winepresses even had a god whose Hieroglyph was a winepress. The ancient Egyptians made at least seventeen varieties of beer and at least 24 varieties of wine. Alcoholic beverages were used for pleasure, nutrition, medicine, ritual, remuneration and funerary purposes. The latter involved storing the beverages in tombs of the deceased for their use in the after-life. Numerous accounts of the period stressed the importance of moderation, and these norms were both secular and religious. While Egyptians did not generally appear to define Inebriety as a problem, they warned against Taverns (which were often houses of Prostitution ) and excessive drinking. Beer was the major beverage among the Babylonians , and as early as 2,700 B.C. they worshiped a wine goddess and other wine deities. Babylonians regularly used both beer and wine as offerings to their gods. Around 1,750 B.C., the famous Code Of Hammurabi devoted attention to alcohol. However, there were no penalties for Drunkenness ; in fact, it was not even mentioned. The concern was fair commerce in alcohol. Nevertheless, although it was not a crime, it would appear that the Babylonians were critical of drunkenness. A variety of alcoholic beverages were used in China since prehistoric times. Alcohol was considered a spiritual (mental) food rather than a material (physical) food, and extensive documentary evidence attests to the important role it played in the religious life. "In ancient times people always drank when holding a memorial ceremony, offering sacrifices to gods or their ancestors, pledging resolution before going into battle, celebrating victory, before feuding and official executions, for taking an oath of allegiance, while attending the ceremonies of birth, marriage, reunions, departures, death, and festival banquets." A Chinese imperial edict of about 1,116 B.C. makes it clear that the use of alcohol in moderation was believed to be prescribed by heaven. Whether or not it was prescribed by heaven, it was clearly beneficial to the treasury. At the time of Marco Polo (1254-1324) it was drunk daily and was one of the treasury's biggest sources of income. Alcoholic beverages were widely used in all segments of Chinese society, were used as a source of inspiration, were important for hospitality, were an antidote for fatigue, and were sometimes misused. Laws against making wine were enacted and repealed forty-one times between 1,100 B.C. and A.D. 1,400. However, a commentator writing around 650 B.C. asserted that people "will not do without beer. To prohibit it and secure total Abstinence from it is beyond the power even of sages. Hence, therefore, we have warnings on the abuse of it." While the art of wine making reached the Hellenic peninsula by about 2,000 B.C., the first alcoholic beverage to obtain widespread popularity in what is now Greece was mead, a fermented beverage made from honey and water. However, by 1,700 B.C., wine making was commonplace, and during the next thousand years wine drinking assumed the same function so commonly found around the world: It was incorporated into religious rituals, it became important in hospitality, it was used for medicinal purposes and it became an integral part of daily meals. As a beverage, it was drunk in many ways: warm and chilled, pure and mixed with water, plain and spiced. Contemporary writers observed that the Greeks were among the most temperate of ancient peoples. This appears to result from their rules stressing moderate drinking, their praise of temperance, and their avoidance of excess in general. An exception to this ideal of moderation was the cult of Dionysus , in which intoxication was believed to bring people closer to their deity. While habitual drunkenness was rare, intoxication at banquets and festivals was not unusual. In fact, the Symposium , a gathering of men for an evening of conversation, entertainment and drinking typically ended in intoxication. However, while there are no references in ancient Greek literature to mass drunkenness among the Greeks, there are references to it among foreign peoples. By 425 B.C., warnings against intemperance, especially at symposia, appear to become more frequent. Xenophon (431-351 B.C.) and Plato (429-347 B.C.) both praised the moderate use of wine as beneficial to health and happiness, but both were critical of drunkenness, which appears to have become a problem. Hippocrates (cir. 460-370 B.C.) identified numerous medicinal properties of wine, which had long been used for its therapeutic value. Later, both Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and Zeno (cir. 336-264 B.C.) were very critical of drunkenness. Among Greeks, the Macedonians viewed intemperance as a sign of masculinity and were well known for their drunkenness. Their king, Alexander The Great (336-323 B.C.), whose mother adhered to the Dionysian cult, developed a reputation for inebriety. The and Nazarites , two conservative Nomadic groups who practiced abstinence from alcohol. In 586 B.C., the Hebrews were conquered by the Babylonians and deported to as it is now known, and they can be said to have become Jews . During the next 200 years, sobriety increased and pockets of antagonism to wine disappeared. It became a common beverage for all classes and ages, including the very young; an important source of nourishment; a prominent part in the festivities of the people; a widely appreciated medicine; an essential provision for any fortress; and an important commodity. In short, it came to be seen as a necessary element in the life of the Hebrews. While there was still opposition to excessive drinking, it was no longer assumed that drinking inevitably led to drunkenness. Wine came to be seen as a blessing from God and a symbol of joy (Psalms 104:15; Zachariah 10:7). These changes in beliefs and behaviors appear to be related to a rejection of belief in pagan gods, a new emphasis on individual morality, and the integration of secular drinking behaviors into religious ceremonies and their subsequent modification. Around 525 B.C., it was ruled that the Kiddush (pronouncement of the Sabbath ) should be recited over a blessed cup of wine. This established the regular drinking of wine in Jewish ceremonies outside the Temple . King Cyrus of Persia frequently praised the virtue of the moderate consumption of alcohol (cir. 525 B.C.). However, ritual intoxication appears to have been used as an adjunct to decision making and, at least after his death, drunkenness was not uncommon. Between the founding of Rome in 753 B.C. until the third century B.C., there is consensus among historians that the Romans practiced great moderation in drinking. After the Roman conquest of the Italian peninsula and the rest of the Mediterranean basin (509 to 133 B.C.), the traditional Roman values of temperance, frugality and simplicity were gradually replaced by heavy drinking, ambition, degeneracy and corruption. The Dionysian rites (''Bacchanalia'', in Latin ) spread to Italy during this period and were subsequently outlawed by the Senate . Practices that encouraged excessive drinking included drinking before meals on an empty stomach, inducing vomiting to permit the consumption of more food and wine, and drinking games. The latter included, for example, rapidly consuming as many cups as indicated by a throw of the Dice . By the second and first centuries B.C., intoxication was no longer a rarity, and most prominent men of affairs (for example, Cato The Elder and Julius Caesar ) were praised for their moderation in drinking. This would appear to be in response to growing misuse of alcohol in society, because before that time temperance was not singled out for praise as exemplary behavior. As the republic continued to decay, excessive drinking spread and some, such as Marc Antony (d. 30 B.C.), even took pride in their destructive drinking behavior. ALCOHOL AND CHRISTIANITY With the dawn of Christianity and its gradual displacement of the previously dominant religions, the drinking attitudes and behaviors of Europe began to be influenced by the New Testament . The earliest biblical writings after the death of Jesus (cir. A.D. 30) contain few references to alcohol. This may have reflected the fact that drunkenness was largely an upper-status vice with which Jesus had little contact. Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine at a wedding (John 2:1-12). Jesus used wine (Matthew 15:11; Luke 7:33-35) and approved of its moderate consumption (Matthew 15:11). On the other hand, he severely attacked drunkenness (Luke 21:34,12:42; Matthew 24:45-51). The later writings of St. Paul (d. 64?) deal with alcohol in detail and are important to Christian doctrine on the subject. He considered wine to be a creation of God and therefore inherently good (1 Timothy 4:4), recommended its use for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23), but consistently condemned drunkenness (1 Corinthians 3:16-17,5:11,6:10; Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 13:3) and recommended abstinence for those who could not control their drinking. However, late in the second century, several Heretical Sects rejected alcohol and called for abstinence. By the late fourth and early fifth centuries, the Church responded by asserting that wine was an inherently good gift of God to be used and enjoyed. While individuals may choose not to drink, to despise wine was heresy. The Church advocated its moderate use but rejected excessive or abusive use as a sin. Those individuals who could not drink in moderation were urged to abstain . Alcohol played an important role in religion and worship in the ancient world. Alcoholic beverages also served as sources of nutrients and food energy and were widely used for their medicinal, antiseptic, and Analgesic properties. SOURCES
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