HALL - CARPENTER, CO.

By Edwin T. Scallon, Copyright © 1990, 1995, 2008, 2020 All Rights Reserved

ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION AND BAC CALCULATION PROGRAMS

ANCIENT HISTORY OF ALCOHOL

EGYPT

Evidence of wine appeared as a finished product in Egyptian pictographs around 4000 BC.
Brewing dates from the beginning of civilization in ancient Egypt and alcoholic beverages were very important at that time. Symbolic of this is the fact that while many gods were local or familiar, Osiris was worshiped throughout the entire country. The Egyptians believed that this important god 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 wine presses had a god whose hieroglyph was drawn on a winepress. The ancient Egyptians made at least 17 types of beer and at least 24 varieties of wine. Alcoholic beverages were used for pleasure, nutrition, medicine, ritual, remunerations and funerary purposes. The latter involved storing the beverages in tombs of the deceased for their use in the after-life.

CHINA

The earliest evidence of alcohol in China are wine jars from Jiahu which dates back to about 7000BC. This early drink was produced by fermenting rice, honey and fruit.

A variety of alcoholic beverages were used in China since prehistoric times. Alcohol, known in Chinese as jiu was considered a spiritual 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 ceremonies of birth, marriage, reunions, departures, death and festival banquets.

A Chinese imperial edict of Circa 1116 BC 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.

INDIA

Alcoholic beverages in the Indus valley civilization appeared in the Chalcolithic Era. These beverages were in use between 10,000 BC-2000 BC. Sura, a beverage distilled from rice meal, wheat, sugar cane, grapes, other fruits and soma drink was popular among Kshatriyz warriors and the peasant population.

Most of the peoples in India and China, have continued, throughout, to ferment a portion of their crops and nourish themselves with the alcoholic product.
 

BABYLON

Beer was the major beverage among the Babylonians, history shows that, as early as 2,700 BC they worshiped a wine goddess and other wine deities. Babylonians regularly used both beer and wine as offerings to their gods. Around 1,750 BC, 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.

GREECE

While the art of wine making reached the Hellenic peninsula about 2,000 BC, 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 BC, wine making was commonplace, and during the next thousand years wine drinking assumed the same function so commonalty found around the world: It was incorporated into religious rituals, became important in hospitality, it was used for medicinal purposes and it became an integral part of daily meals. In ancient Greece, by and large throughout their history, Greeks viewed intoxication (drunkenness) a sign of weakness and therefore, moderate consumption was accepted and lauded, but drunkenness was not accepted. Xenophon (431-351 BC) and Plato (429-347 BC) 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. However, among Greeks, the Macedonians viewed intemperance as a sign of masculinity and were well known for their drunkenness. Their king, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), whose mother adhered to the Dionysian cult, developed a reputation for inebriety.

THE REST OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

By and large, if one chooses to isolate each culture one would find that the manufacture and use of alcohol was widely approved. The foregoing is a sample of the ancient world since it demonstrates that the human experience with the use of alcohol is not a new phenomenon. It is interesting, however, to peer through the looking glass at where we were in history, where we are currently and where we are going. It is worth while describing the next period the "Modern Period" as that time between (1500 AD and 1800 AD). Since most of the users of this web site are located in North America we will turn our attention to the American Experience. Since anyone still alive who was born between 1500 and 1800 might disagree, I will cast caution to the wind and list this under Ancient History of Alcohol.

EARLY MODERN PERIOD (1500 - 1800)

During the early modern period, (just in case there is still someone alive), Protestant leaders such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, the leader of the Anglican Church, and even the Puritans did not differ substantially from the teaching of the Catholic Church: alcohol was a gift from God and created to be used in moderation for pleasure, enjoyment and health; drunkenness was viewed as a sin. This may or may not be a time for an editorial note, but let us not loose sight of why we are here. We are looking at what intoxication (drunkenness) IS !! Obviously, if a person smells of liquor, is slurring speech, blood shot eyes, unsteady on his feet, unsure in his gate HE IS OBVIOUSLY DRUNK RIGHT? WRONG.. . . . . He might be, but that is not where we stop in our analysis. From this period through at least the beginning of the eighteenth century, attitudes toward drinking were characterized by a continued recognition of the positive nature of moderate consumption and an increased concern over the negative effects of drunkenness. The latter, which was generally viewed as arising out to the increased self-indulgence of the time, was seen as a threat to spiritual salvation and societal well being. Intoxication was also inconsistent with emerging emphasis on rational mastery of self worth and on work efficiency. The say the Irish are tough drinkers. Well the recorded history published is as follows shows a different view. In spite of the ideal of moderation, consumption of alcohol was often high. In the sixteenth century, alcohol beverage consumption reached 100 liters per person per year in Valladolid, Spain and Polish peasants consumed up to three liters of beer per day. In Coventry, England, the average amount of beer and ale consumed was about 17 pints per week, compared to about three pints today; nationwide, consumption was about one pint per day per capita. Swedish consumption may have been 40 times higher than in modern Sweden. English sailors received a ration of a gallon of beer per day, while soldiers received two-thirds of a gallon. In Denmark, the usual consumption of beer appear to have been a gallon per day for adult laborers and sailors.

COLONIAL AMERICA

Alcoholic beverages played an important role in Colonial America from the very beginning. (Wait until I get to the Civil War). The Puritans brought more beer than water on the Mayflower as they departed for the New World. While this may seem strange for Puritans viewed from the modern context, it should be understood that drinking wine and beer at that time was safer than water - which was usually taken from sources used to dispose of sewerage and garbage. Their experience showed them that it was safer to drink alcohol than the typically polluted waste in Europe. Alcohol was also an effective analgesic, provided energy necessary for hard work, and generally enhanced the quality of life.

Well so much for the ancient world and the almost "modern world" next is the 1920's, but before we go there, the Civil War produced a few inebriates. Most notably is our 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant. In 1861 through 1863 the Civil War was not going too good for the Union, (the North). Grant who graduated last in his class from the Military Academy at West Point was in the West fighting Indians. President Lincoln decided to call Grant up to take over the Union Army. Grant responded and with a bottle of whisky and a cigar began winning battles for the North. In several battles he actually beat a fellow classmate, Robert E. Lee, who graduated 1st in the class where Grant finished last. Well the seasoned generals of the Union Army began writing Lincoln telling him that Grant was constantly drunk and not a good example of leadership. Lincoln wrote back to these generals and requested them to inform Lincoln what brand of whisky Grant was consuming. The generals inquired why Lincoln wanted to know the brand. Lincoln responded, "Because I want to send you guys the same brand of whisky, seeing how Grant is winning my battles and you're not, I just want to give you the same advantage."

If interested I'll see you in the roaring '20's

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