What is the history of barley?

Answer 1

Barley is one of the oldest cultivated grains in the world, with its cultivation dating back to ancient times. It was first cultivated in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East around 10,000 years ago. Barley played a significant role in the development of early civilizations, such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Greeks, who used it for food, brewing beer, and as a form of currency. Today, barley is grown worldwide and is primarily used for animal feed, human consumption, brewing, and malting.

Answer 2

Barley was one of the first domesticated grains in the Fertile Crescent in Western Asia and near the Nile river of northeast Africa. The earliest domesticated barley was found in Syria. Barley beer was probably the first drink developed by humans, before 4500 BC. Barley has also been grown on the Korean Peninsula since at least 850 BC. Barley was used as currency, and it was a staple cereal of ancient Egypt, where it was used to make bread and beer. In ancient Greece, the practice was to dry the barley groats and roast them before preparing porridge, according to Pliny the Elder's Natural History. Roasting produces malt that soon ferments and becomes slightly alcoholic. Pliny also noted barley was a special food of gladiators known as hordearii, or "barley-eaters." By Roman times, wheat had replaced barley as a staple. According to Deuteronomy 8:8, barley is one of the "Seven Species"of crops that characterize the fertility of the Promised Land of Canaan, and it has a prominent role in the Israelite sacrifices described in the Pentateuch. The "adultery test" prescribed in Numbers 5:11-31 is similar to alphitomancy in the Greek and Roman world and the corsned in Anglo-Saxon England: all are forms of divination or trial by ordeal involving barley. Barley has been a staple food in Tibet since the fifth century AD, where it is still made into a staple flour product called tsampa. In medieval Europe, bread made from barley and rye was considered peasant food, while wheat products were reserved for the upper classes. Potatoes replaced barley in Eastern Europe in the 19th century.