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Objective of This Chapter. This chapter aims at ascertaining whether the preservation of grape juice in its unfermented state was possible or impossible in Bible times. Our investigation will show that the ancients were far more knowledgeable in the art of preserving fruits and wines than generally presumed.
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first considers the methods used by the ancients to preserve fruits and wines in general and the second, the methods used to prevent the fermentation of grape juice in particular.
Josephus’ claim that the Jews in Masada were able to preserve grain and fruits fresh for almost one hundred years is obviously an exaggeration. The statement, however, does suggest that the art of preserving produce was well known to the Jews. Unfortunately Jewish sources do not tell us what such technology was.
Classical Writers. Some classical writers, however, do offer us considerable insight into the methods used by ancient people to preserve grains, fruits, vegetables and wines. One of them is Columella, a renowned agriculturalist who lived in the first century A.D. In his treatise On Agriculture and Trees, Columella discusses at great length the various methods used by different people to preserve such produce as lettuce, onions, apples, pears, berries, plums, figs, olives, unfermented grape juice and fermented wine. We shall summarize briefly what he says first about the preservation of fresh produce in general and then about the preservation of fermented and unfermented wines in particular. This information should dispel the mistaken notion of the impossibility of preserving grape juice unfermented in Bible times.
Columella goes on to explain that instead of boiled-down must, some people used honey-water or bee’s wax-water for preserving fruits.5 The submersion of fruit in liquid honey was viewed as one of the safest methods of preservation, because as Columella remarks, "such is the nature of honey that it checks any corruption and does not allow it to spread."6 Today we use a similar method when we can fruit in a heavy sugar syrup.
The apocryphal Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew, a document which circulated in the second and third centuries of the Christian era, attests to the use of freshly pressed juice of grapes in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper: "Bring as an offering the holy bread; and, having pressed three clusters from the vine into a cup, communicate with me, as the Lord Jesus showed us how to offer up when he rose from the dead on the third day."16 This is a clear and positive testimony not only of the custom of making grape juice by pressing grapes, but also of using unfermented grape juice in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
There are indications that the practice of pressing preserved grapes directly into the Lord’s Supper cup continued for centuries. For example, the third Council of Braga (A.D. 675) reports Cyprian’s charge against those "who presented no other wine [vinum] at the sacrament of the Lord’s cup but what they pressed out of the clusters of grapes." 17 It is noteworthy that fresh grape juice is called "wine" (vinum). The charge was not against the use of unfermented grape juice as such, but rather against the failure to mix the grape juice with water.
The practice of mingling wine with water apparently originated, as Leon C. Field points out, "not necessarily in the weakening of alcoholic wine, but in the thinning of boiled wines and the thick juices of the crushed clusters."18 Instruction about this had already been given three centuries before by Pope Julius I (A.D. 337) in a decree which read: "But if necessary let the cluster be pressed into the cup and water mingled with it."19 Additional historical testimonies will be given in the following chapter, in conjunction with our study of the communion wine. Such testimonies show that freshly preserved grapes were used throughout the year to make pressed grape juice.
Here Columella indicates that unfermented, boiled-down grape juice, which generally kept better than fermented wine, was used to preserve the latter. Before discussing some of the techniques used in the ancient world to preserve wine, it is important to note how delicate and difficult it was in those days to preserve wine. A major reason was the lack of a precise technology for controlling the fermentation process.
The Discovery of Pasteurization. It was in the late nineteenth century that Louis Pasteur, the great French chemist, discovered the cause of fermentation and a remedy for it, known as pasteurization. Pasteur’s famous research, Études sur la bière (1876), was in fact conducted at the request of beer and wine producers who asked him to find a way to prevent the infections which spoiled their products, causing them enormous financial loss. This research led Pasteur to discover that fermentation was caused by the multiplication of microorganisms rather than by chemical change. To prevent or control fermentation, Pasteur discovered in 1876 a method known today as "pasteurization," which consists in the destruction of certain bacteria by exposing a liquid (wine, milk, beer) for a period of time to a certain temperature.
Today through pressure boilers, filters, separators, complex refrigeration and pasteurization, the wine industry (known as enology) is able to control the fermentation process. Such a control becomes especially necessary when the must contains too much water and too little sugar because the season has been cold or rainy, or because the grape has grown on moist lands. In such case, wine makers today correct the imperfect composition of the must by adding to it saccharin substances and by diminishing its water content through artificial evaporation. These modern technical procedures have freed wine growers from the constant fear that their vintage may become spoiled. Without such a technical knowledge and means, ancient wine makers faced the constant risk of losing their vintage.
Problems in Preserving Wine. Marcus Porcius Cato (234-150 B.C.), who is considered the father of both Latin prose and literature on agriculture, refers to some of the problems related to the preservation of fermented wine. In chapter 148 of his treatise On Agriculture, Cato alludes to such problems when he speaks of the terms "for the sale of wine in jars." One of the conditions was that "only wine which is neither sour nor musty will be sold. Within three days it shall be tasted subject to the decision of an honest man, and if the purchaser fails to have this done, it will be considered tasted; but any delay in the tasting caused by the owner will add as many days to the time allowed the purchaser."23 The fact that the purchaser was to taste the wine within three days of purchase or take it as it was, shows how quickly wine was subject to turn sour or musty.
In this statement Cato provides quite an insight into the variety of products used to preserve fermented wine: boiled-down must, salt, marble dust, and resin. Later we shall see that Columella mentions other preservatives as well. In spite of the use of such preservatives, problems still developed with fermented wine.
Apparently this treatment did not always prevent wine from turning sour (asperum). To sweeten the wine turned bitter, Cato offers this prescription: "Make four pounds of flour from vetch, and mix four cyathi of wine with boiled-down must; make into small bricks and let them soak for a night and a day; then dissolve with wine in the jar, and seal sixty days later."26 This procedure was to make the wine "sweet" and "of good odor."
The above examples of ancient remedies to cure problems caused by fermenting wine show how mistaken the assumption is that the preservation of fermented wine was a simple process in the ancient world. The sources indicate that the process was far from simple. The different means used to prevent spoiling the wine reveal the perplexity and uncertainty of vine growers regarding how to remedy the deterioration of fermented wine. To better appreciate the complexity and intensity of the problem, we shall consider briefly some of the methods used to preserve fermented wine.
Not all wine needed to be preserved with boiled-down must or other preservatives, but especially that produced from new vineyards, or vineyards located in less than ideal locations. "We regard as the best wine," Columella says, "any kind which can keep without any preservative."29 Such wines, however, were apparently rather rare, because Columella discusses extensively how to preserve wines from different kinds of vineyards and seasonal conditions.
Preservation of Wine with Pitch. Another substance used to preserve wine was pitch, in both its liquid and solid form. Columella devotes three chapters of his treatise On Agriculture (22, 23, 24) to the discussion of the various kinds of pitches used to preserve wine. Usually the pitch was dissolved in sea-water which was allowed to evaporate, and then such a solution was poured into the wine to be treated. The actual quantity of the solution used depended on the condition of the wine.
The foregoing discussion of the various methods used by ancient people to preserve fermented wine is by no means exhaustive. Other substances were used as preservatives such as marble dust, lime sulphur fumes or crushed iris. The examples cited suffice to show that the preservation of fermented wine in the ancient world was a far more complex process than is generally assumed. In fact, in some places the risk of preserving fermented wine was so great that, as we shall now see, all the vintage was boiled-down and preserved as sweet, unfermented grape juice.
Fermentation Process: The ancients were acquainted with the fact of fermentation, even though they did not understand its causes. Just what happens during the conversion of grape juice into wine was not clearly understood until the 1860’s, when Louis Pasteur undertook his study of fermentation. The ancients, however, were familiar with some of the methods by which fermentation can be prevented.
Grape juice contains two leading ingredients, glucose or grape sugar and albumen, both of which contribute to the fermentation process. The albumen, which is found in the lining of the skin and in the envelope of the seed of the grape, contains microscopic organisms which are the fermenting agents, known as ferments or yeast.
The process of fermentation occurs only in the presence of certain conditions such as a moderate temperature, moisture and air in the grape juice. Now there are four major methods by which these conditions can be altered or eliminated and thus grape juice be preserved fresh and unfermented. We shall now consider each of these four methods, all of which were known to the ancients.
Moisture and Heat. The fermentation of grape juice can be prevented by reducing sufficiently its moisture content or by heating the juice at high temperature. The reason for this is that the growth of the yeast germs, which are the fermenting agents, slows or stops entirely when the moisture content of the grape juice is heated at 150º to 180º F. At such a temperature most of the ferments are destroyed. Both of these results are achieved by boiling the grape juice.
By boiling, the water of the grape juice evaporates, yeasts and molds are destroyed, and the sugar content increases, thus inhibiting yeast growth. This method of preserving grape juice unfermented by carefully boiling it down to a syrup was commonly and successfully used in the ancient world. When desired, the syrup would be drunk diluted with water. Several sources confirm this practice.
Pliny differs from Columella by calling defrutum the must boiled-down to one-half and sapa, the must boiled-down to a third. In discussing the various kinds of "sweet wine" (vinum dulce), he writes: "Siraeum, by some called hepsema and in our country sapa, is a product of art, not of nature, made by boiling down must to a third of its quantity; must boiled-down to only one-half is called defrutum."41 The difference in the names given to the different kinds of boiled-down must, only serves to confirm the common usage of this beverage.
It seems reasonable to assume that those wines which were diluted with twenty parts of water were the boiled, condensed grape juices mentioned above. A lover of fermented wines would hardly have enjoyed drinking a wine which had been diluted with 95% of water. Thus, the wines which were heavily diluted must have been primarily unfermented grape juices, thickly condensed through boiling.
Another issue discussed is whether boiled wine left uncovered became unfit for use. On this issue the renowned Rabbi Hiyya deliberated: "Boiled wine is not rendered unfit by being left uncovered."58 The reason given in the footnote is that "a snake does not drink it."59 The popular notion appears to have been that snakes were fond of fermented wine but did not touch boiled wine. Consequently fermented wine needed to be covered lest it be poisoned by a snake, but boiled grape juice could remain uncovered because snakes would not touch it. These incidental remarks provide an indirect and yet compelling evidence that boiled wine was produced and used by Jews.
The account of the spies in Numbers 13 may support the meaning of debash as the honey of grapes. The spies "came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they brought also some pomegranates and figs" (v. 23). In front of the fruits which the spies brought back as proof of the fertility of the land, namely, an enormous cluster of grapes with pomegranates and figs, they said: "We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey [debash], and this is its fruit" (v. 27). Since the fruits shown to prove that the land flowed with "milk and honey" were especially the incredibly large grapes, "honey" may refer to boiled grape juice, known as "grapes’ honey—dibs," produced with the kind of grapes displayed, and "milk" may signify the green pastures which nourished the milk-producing cows. The emphasis appears to be on the value of the natural products of the land.
Speaking of grape juice, the article continues, saying: "The early inhabitants of Canaan, however, as Bliss appears to have shown, were certainly acquainted with this manufacture. His excavations at Tell el-Hesy (Lachish) revealed two wine-presses with apparatus (as he judged) for boiling down the filtered juice (inspissation) into grape syrup."63 The preceding observations give us reason to believe that the boiling process was most probably used by the ancient Jews to preserve grape juice unfermented.
Separation of Albumen. Another method by which the fermentation of grape juice can be prevented is by separating the albumen, which is located in the lining of the skin and in the envelope of the seeds of the grape, from the other elements. The albumen, as noted earlier, contains the fermenting agents, known as ferments or yeast. By careful procedures the juice of the grapes can be separated from the fermenting pulp. The ancients understood this principle and applied it in two ways: (1) gentle pressing, (2) filtration.
Gentle Pressing. The grapes were brought in from the vineyard and placed in wine vats. The first juice that flowed before the treading began, according to Pliny, was called protropum. "The name," he explains, "was given by some people to must that flows down of its own accord before the grapes are trodden."64 This juice, that flowed spontaneously from the grapes, was composed almost entirely of the sugar portion of the grapes. The high sugar content of the juice, combined with its relative freedom from yeast, would make its preservation in an air tight container relatively easy.
In this particular passage Pliny mentions that protropum was allowed to ferment. But this was not always the case. Other passages now to be considered indicate that the first juice as well as the subsequent juice which flowed from gently pressed grapes was preserved unfermented.
Polybius, an historian of the second century B.C., tells us that "among the Romans women are forbidden to drink [fermented] wine; and they drink what is called passum, which is made from raisins, and tastes very much like the sweet wine [gleukos] of Aegosthena or Crete. This is what they do to quench their thirst. But it is almost impossible for them to drink wine without being found out."67 It is noteworthy that unfermented grape juice made from sun-dried grapes was drunk especially by women in the Roman society.
The importance of pressing the grapes gently to prevent the escape of the albumen is emphasized also by Columella. Speaking of sun-dried grapes, he says, "Tread them on the fourth day and pour the must, which should have none of the last squeezing in it."68 The Latin verb used for "tread" is calcato, which means "trodden by foot." Thus the juice was to be removed after treading the grapes by foot and before their squeezing with the heavy beam (tortivo). The latter would release the fermenting yeast located in the lining of the skin of the grapes.
The importance of storing the juice in a cool place will be discussed later. At this point it is important to note the caution taken in utilizing "the freshest possible must" which flowed before the grape-skins were put to the press. This would ensure that the juice would be rather free of the fermention-causing yeast found in the lining of the skin of the grapes.
Filtration. When the fermentable pulp was pressed out together with the saccharin juice, a separation of the former was still possible by means of filtration. It is evident that the ancient means of filtration were far less sophisticated and efficient than those used by the wine industry today. Their basic method consisted of using a bag, called sacco, in which the grapes were placed. A vase was placed below the bag to receive the falling juice. Several Latin writers refer to the use of such strainers or filters in the preparation of wines.
The Roman poet Virgil (70-19 B.C.) mentions the sackcloth (cola) as one of the standard pieces of equipment of the wine press (prelum). Its purpose, as Pliny points out, was to remove the fermentable substances from the juice: "Wines are most beneficial when all their potency has been overcome by the strainer [sacco]. We must remember that wine is grape juice that has acquired strength by fermentation."71 In this statement Pliny clearly explains that the purpose of the strainer (sacco) was to remove the fermentable substances which give alcoholic potency to the wine.
A Biblical Allusion. Isaiah 25:6 may contain an allusion to the Biblical custom of filtering the must. The text reads: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow of wine on the lees well refined." The word "wine" present in the two phrases, "wine on the lees" and "wine on the lees well refined" (RSV), is not found in the Hebrew text. Instead, the Hebrew term used is shemarim, which means "preserves," a term which can refer to vintage-produce. Thus, a more accurate translation would be "a feast of vintage-produce" and "a feast of vintage-produce well cleansed." The Vulgate (Latin) translation respects this meaning: "a feast of vintage-produce (convivium vindemiae), a feast of vintage-produce well-cleansed (vindemiae defaecatae)."
In this verse God compares the blessings of the Gospel feast to His providing of two festal luxuries: fat things—rich, marrowy meats—and confections such as jellies and syrups. The former would be served in the most savory way and the latter in their purest state. The "vintage-produce well cleansed" could refer to the filtered grape juice, which on account of its purity and sweetness was regarded, as we have seen, as most pleasant to drink. This harmless nutritious drink fits the emblem of the blessings of salvation which here God promises to all the redeemed.
Below 40º Fahrenheit. The fermentation of grape juice can be prevented also by keeping it below 40º F (4º Celsius). Nearly all processes of fermentation cease at about 40º F. Fermentation is possible only between about 40º and 80º F(4º and 27º Celsius). Below the former point fermentation is inoperative and above the latter point the acetous supplants the vinous process. By lowering the temperature to about 40º F., the albumen settles at the bottom and the juice does not ferment.
Ancient Method. The ancients were familiar with this method of preservation. When they desired to preserve grape juice in its sweet, unfermented state, they would take an amphora and coat it with pitch within and without. Then they would fill it with mustum lixivium—the must that flowed before the grapes would be pressed with a heavy beam—and they would seal it carefully with pitch. It was then immersed in a pool of cool water or a cistern and allowed to remain undisturbed for six weeks or two months. After this process the grape juice could remain unfermented and hence it was called semper mustum, that is, permanent must.
In the method described by Columella fermentation was prevented in two ways: (1) by the exclusion of the air, (2) by the reduction of the temperature. The yeast germs are introduced by the action of ordinary air into the fermentable juice. Thus, by placing the grape juice in air-tight wine jars, fermentation was unlikely to occur, especially since the jars were kept in a cold pool.
Gibeon’s Wine Cellars. It seems reasonable to presume that the Jews knew and used the Roman method of preserving grape juice in air-tight jars, stored in a cold place. The various techniques for making and preserving wine, according to the Roman authors cited earlier, seemed to have been well known throughout the Mediterranean world. Explicit information about Palestine, however, is lacking.
Some indirect information is provided by James B. Pritchard, who excavated the ancient Gibeon where sixty-three storage wine-vats were found, with a holding capacity of 25,000 gallons. His reconstruction of the process of wine making at Gibeon includes the filtration of the pressed juice into two cylindrical tanks 2 ft. in diameter and 2 ft. deep. After filtering the wine was stored in cool cellars in large jars sealed with olive oil.79 Pritchard tested a suggestion of a local wine maker that wine would keep from turning into vinegar in the cellar, if it was sealed with olive oil. The excavators stored a jar of wine sealed with a film of olive oil for a month in the cellars of Gibeon. To their delight they found at the end of the month that the wine was perfectly preserved.80 The reason was that the oil provided a practical barrier preventing the oxidation of the wine.
The success of the experiment suggests the possibility that the same method could have been used for preserving unfermented grape juice. Freshly pressed grape juice, after being filtered to eliminate glutinous material, could have been stored in cool cellars in jars sealed with olive oil. To some extent this method was used by my father when I was a boy. I recall helping him to filter the grape juice through a thick linen sack and then pouring the juice into bottles which were sealed with a film of oil and a tight cork. The bottles would be stored in a cool cellar. Today, with the availability of bottle caps which seal bottles hermetically, my father follows a simpler procedure. He boils the must and pours it into bottles which he seals immediately with bottle caps pressed tight by a simple machine. He then stores the bottles in a cool cellar.
The frequent linkage in the Old Testament of olive oil and wine may suggest not only the common use of the two products, but also the dependency upon the former to preserve the latter.
Sulphur Fumigation. The fermentation of grape juice can also be prevented by the fumes of sulphur dioxide. The method consists in filling the jars nearly full with fresh unfermented grape juice, then burning sulphur dioxide in the empty portion, and while the sulphur fumes are present, the jars are tightly closed. Another possibility is to pour the must into jars or bottles which have been strongly treated with sulphur fumes. The sulphur absorbs the oxygen of the air and inhibits the formation of yeast germs. Sulphur dioxide is widely used today in the wine industry to deal with some of the infection to which wine is subject.
The study conducted in this chapter on the ancient methods of preserving both fermented wine and unfermented grape juice should help dispel two major misconceptions: (1) In the ancient world it was easy to preserve fermented wine because all that it takes is to let the pressed juice ferment naturally; (2) In the ancient world it was impossible to preserve the grape juice unfermented because people had neither the technical knowledge nor the means to prevent fermentation.
We have found that both of these popular notions are unfounded. The problems the ancients encountered in preserving fermented wine were as great as, if not actually greater, than, those faced in preserving unfermented grape juice. To prevent wine from becoming acid, moldy, or bad-smelling a host of preservatives were used such as salt, sea-water, liquid or solid pitch, boiled-down must, marble dust, lime, sulphur fumes or crushed iris.
In comparison to preserving fermented wine, the keeping of grape juice from fermenting was a relatively simple process. It was accomplished simply by boiling the juice down to a syrup, or by separating the fermentable pulp from the juice of the grape by means of filtration, or by placing the grape juice in sealed jars which were immersed in a pool of cold water, or by fumigating with sulphur the wine jars before sealing them. The use of such techniques clearly indicates that the means of preserving grape juice without fermentation were known and used in the ancient world.
The fact that the documentation comes mostly from the classical world rather than from the Old Testament world does not mean that the art of preserving grape juice was unknown in ancient Israel. The Jews were not less knowledgeable in the art of preserving fruits, cereals and juices than were the surrounding nations. We found that, according to Josephus, the Romans were astonished to find in the fortress of Masada, wine, oil, fruits and cereals freshly preserved, though they had been stored for several years.86 Furthermore, rabbinical sources mention specifically the use of boiled wine.
The reason for the silence of Scripture on the means used for preserving grape juice is to be found in the nature of the Bible itself, a book which deals primarily with those aspects of life which are related to salvation history. In the Bible we find no treatise on agriculture, as among classical writers. The reason is not a lack of interest or of knowledge of farming, but a reluctance to deal with issues unrelated to the religious life of God’s people.
No mention is made in the Bible of the means used to prevent the spoilage of fermented wine, yet the Jews must have known them. The same holds true for unfermented grape juice. The Bible attests that God’s people did have and did use unfermented grape juice. We are not told how the Jews preserved the grape juice unfermented. We have reasons to believe that they knew some methods of preservation known and used in the ancient world. This conclusion will be confirmed in the next two chapters, which examine the teaching of Jesus and of the apostolic church regarding alcoholic beverages.
1. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1939 ed., s. v. "Wine," by Burton Scott Easton, vol. 5, p. 3086.
2. Josephus, Jewish Wars 7, 8, 4, trans. William Whiston, Josephus Complete Works (Grand Rapids, 1974), p. 599.
3. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 10, 3, trans. E. S. Forster and Edward H. Heffner, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachussetts, 1955). All the quotations from Columella are taken from this edition. Henceforth only the title of Columella’s work will be given.
4. Ibid., 12, 10, 4.
5. Ibid., 12, 11, 1-2; 12, 12, 3.
6. Ibid., 12, 47, 4.
7. Ibid., 12, 46, 6.
8. Ibid., 12, 46, 5.
9. Ibid., 12, 44, 1.
10. Ibid., 12, 44, 2.
11. Ibid., 12, 44, 3.
12. Ibid., 12, 44, 4.
13. Ibid., 12, 44, 8.
14. Pliny, Natural History 14, 3, 16, trans. H. Rackham, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1960). All the quotations from Pliny will be taken from this edition. Henceforth only the title of Pliny’s work will be given.
15. Cited by Louis Ginzberg, "A Response to the Question Whether Unfermented Wine May Be Used in Jewish Ceremonies," American Jewish Year Book (1923), p. 409.
16. Acts and Martydom of St. Matthew the Apostle, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, trans. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids, 1978), vol. 8, pp. 532-533.
17. Joseph Bingham, The Antiquities of the Christian Church (London, 1852), vol. 2, p. 760.
18. Leon C. Field, Oinos: A Discussion of the Bible Wine Question (New York, 1883), p. 91.
19. Gratian, De Consecratione, Pars III, Dist. 2, c. 7, cited by Leon C. Field (n. 18), p. 91.
20. Pliny, Natural History 14, 26.
21. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 20, 1.
23. Marcus Cato, On Agriculture 148, trans. William Davis Hooper, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1960). All the quotations from Cato will be taken from this edition. Henceforth only the title of Cato’s work will be given.
28. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 20, 1.
29. Ibid., 12, 19, 3.
30. Ibid., 12, 20, 5.
31. Ibid., 12, 20, 6.
32. Ibid., 12, 25, 1.
33. Ibid., 12, 25, 4.
34. Ibid., 12, 23, 3.
35. Ibid., 12, 23, 2.
36. For information on the process of fermentation of wine, see Robert Rasor, Alcohol Distiller’s Manual (San Antonio, Texas, 1980), pp. 104-109. Also Albion Roy King, Basic Information on Alcohol (Washington, D. C. 1964), pp. 22-24; Charles R. Carroll, Alcohol:Use, Nonuse and Abuse (Dubuque, Iowa, 1975), pp. 31-34.
37. Virgil, Georgics 1, 295-296.
38. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 19, 1.
39. Ibid., 12, 19, 1.
40. Ibid., 12, 21, 1.
41. Pliny, Natural History 14, 11, 80.
42. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 19, 3-4.
43. Ibid., 12, 20, 8.
44. Ibid., 12, 26, 1.
45. John Kitto, Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, 1845 ed., s. v. "Wine," vol 2, p. 956.
48. Several travel accounts of the Near East are cited by William Patton, Bible Wines. Laws of Fermentation (Oklahoma City, n.d.), pp. 30-32.
49. Cited by William Patton (n. 48), p.32.
50. Sir Edward Barry, Observations on the Wines of the Ancients (London, 1775), p. 165.
51. Aristotle, Metereologica 4, 10.
52. Athenaeus, Banquet 1, 25.
53. William Patton (n. 48), p. 50. For a discussion of the practice of diluting wine among the Romans, see Robert H. Stein, "Wine-Drinking in New Testament Times," Christianity Today (June 20, 1975): 9-11. A more extensive treatment is found in Jimmy L. Albright, "Wine in the Biblical World: Its Economic, Social, and Religious Implications for New Testament Interpretation" (Ph. D. dissertation, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), pp. 176-178.
54. See also Henry J. Van-Lennep, Bible Lands: Their Modern Customs and Manners Illustrative of Scripture (New York, 1875), p. 120; also Edwin Wilbur Rice, Orientalism in Bible Lands, 3rd edition (Philadelphia, 1929), p. 154.
55. John Kitto, Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, 1845 edition, s. v. "Passover," vol 2, p. 477.
56. ‘Abodah Zarah 30a, trans. I. Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud (London, 1936), p. 148.
59. Ibid., p. 148, note 8.
60. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 1962 edition, s. v. "Honey," vol. 2, p. 639.
61. Dictionnaire de la Bible, ed. Ch. Meygruiess, 2nd edition, 1865, s. v. "Vin et Miel."
62. Encyclopedia Biblica, eds. T. K. Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, 1903 ed., s. v. "Honey," vol. 2, p. 2105.
64. Pliny, Natural History 14, 11.
66. Ibid., 14, 11, 85; a similar recipe is given by Columella, On Agriculture 12, 51, 1.
67. Polibius, Fragments 6. 4 (6. 2).
68. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 37, 1.
69. Ibid., 12, 29, 1.
70. Virgil, Georgics 2, 240-245.
71. Pliny, Natural History 23, 24.
72. Plutarch, Symposiacs 8, 7.
73. Pliny, Natural History 14, 28.
74. Horace, Carminum Liber 1, 11, 6, trans. C. E. Bennett, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1946). All the quotations from Horace are taken from this edition. Henceforth only the title of Horace’s work will be given.
75. Columella, On Agriculture 12, 29, 1.
76. Ibid., 12, 30, 1.
77. Pliny, Natural History 14, 11.
78. Marcus Cato, On Agriculture 120, 1.
79. James B. Pritchard, Gibeon: Where the Sun Stood Still (Princeton, 1962), pp. 90-98.
81. Pliny, Natural History 14, 25, 129.
82. Horace, Carminum Liber 3, 8, 9-12.
83. Ibid., 3, 8, 6.
84. Cited by John Kitto’s Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, 1845 edition, s. v. "Wine," vol. 2, p. 956.

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