The Art of Drinking: A Historical SketchGervinus, Georg Gottfried
Philosophy
The Art of Drinking: A Historical Sketch
Gervinus, Georg Gottfried
Beer; Drinking customs; Wine and wine making
the vine, Strabo tells us that in Hyrcania _one_ vine was apt to yield
about thirty-three quarts of wine. In Margiana were said to be vines
measuring at the base of the stem two fathoms in circumference and
bearing grapes two yards long. In Asia the fruitfulness is said to be
still greater, and there the wine keeps, in unpitched vessels, through
three generations.
II.
WINE IS NOT DOMESTICATED AMONG THE NEGROES.
The course from east to west, marked by the higher culture of the human
race, has been also closely followed by the culture of the grape. Other
regions, north and south from the boundary marked out, may have had
a certain share in that civilization; but it seems now to be proved
that the negro races, the original inhabitants of Africa, have not
in any way been connected with it. In those regions of Africa always
inhabited by these races, no grape-culture is, up to the present
day, to be found; and, both in ancient and modern times, the grape
has been a stranger in Africa, and a stranger scarcely to be called
naturalized anywhere. To that king of the long-lived Ethiopians in
Herodotus, to whom Cambyses sent his gifts, wine, therefore, seemed
the only desirable thing they possessed, and to it he ascribed the
brief old age which, in the best case, it was given the Persians to
attain. His negroes, therefore, were not acquainted with wine, and in
this they were like all uncivilized people, as we shall frequently see;
nor did they ever accept it, any more than they accepted any other
part of civilization; they never advanced any further than to their
_Towak_, the palm-wine made of flower-stems; even the lotus-wine, of
the preparation of which Herodotus knew, seems to belong only to the
Libyans. Only emigrants, in the most ancient as well as most recent
times, have introduced the grape-vine at different times into Africa,
and we will briefly glance at this. First, the Egyptians must be
named, Caucasian races not autochthonically at home in Libya. The
ancient culture of the grape in Egypt is proved not only by historical
documents, but even by the ruins of old buildings, and I shall return
to the paintings in the vaults near El Kab, which represent, among
other things, the manner of gathering the grapes, and of preserving and
cooling the wine. Several regions are specially mentioned as celebrated
for their wine. Eleithya had grape-culture; the lakes of Mareos and
Taenia, where all is now a barren desert, were commended for their
wine; Alexandria exported wine to Rome, and Horace is acquainted
with that of Mareos. To the Epicureans, however, the Falernian wine
seemed better when treated in the Egyptian manner; and the wine of
Taenia was considered stronger and spicier than the Alexandrian. But
even in the time of Ahenæos this culture had almost disappeared, and
only that of Antylla still had a good name in those days. And even
in better times, the native wine does not seem to have sufficed for
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account