The ubiquity of the vine and its products in the Old Testament gives sufficient testimony to the economic and social importance of wine in ancient Israel. In Numbers 13 the prodigious cluster of grapes that the two spies carry between them is symbolic of the prosperity of the Promised Land. Time and again in the prophets the vine, or its fruit, is used as a symbol of Israel.
Vines require an annual rainfall of between 400 and 800 millimeters, with most of the rain in winter and early spring. Temperatures need to be above 20°C during fruiting and below 10°C for some of the winter. Vines thrive best on loamy or stony soil that is not overly fertile. Most of Palestine is ideally suited for viticulture, and the vine had long been cultivated when the Israelite tribes first settled the land. Establishing a vineyard was a significant undertaking, and we are fortunate to possess a detailed account in Isaiah 5:1-7. The prophet describes the planting of vines and the building of a wall, tower, and winepress. Vines were cultivated in a number of ways, and we know that both allowing the vine to trail along the ground and training it upward were both used in Israel (Ezek. 17:6-8). It is likely that trailing vines were most common. After four or five years the vine would begin to produce a usable crop of fruit.
The grape harvest occurred around July and August. At the time the grape clusters were cut down and placed into baskets. With very little delay they were taken to nearby winepresses. Many presses carved out of rock have been discovered in Palestine. They are to be found out in the fields close to where the grapes were grown. At the presses the grapes were trodden underfoot, with the juice flowing through a conduit into a vat below. Mechanical means of pressing were probably not introduced until the Hellenistic or Roman period. A number of biblical texts refer to the joyful shouting and singing that accompanied the treating of grapes (e.g., Isa. 16:10; Jer. 48:33). The process of fermentation probably began in the collecting vats, and this first stage of fermentation probably took two to five days. After this the wine was purified, bottled, and placed in storage chambers for the second, slower stage of fermentation and maturing. This process lasted six months, during which time carbon dioxide was released through holes in the jars.
The frequent references to wine in the Old Testament suggest that it was not only the principle alcoholic beverage, but the principle drink, period. Whether it was watered down before consumption, as was the practice of the Greeks and Romans, or drunk undiluted is uncertain. Isaiah’s disparaging comparison of Judah’s righteousness to “wine mixed with water” (1:22) might suggest that there was a preference for undiluted wine. Estimates of the level of wine consumption in ancient Israel have been made on the basis of the remains of wine production facilities and storage rooms. Shimon Dar estimates up to a liter of wine per person per day. Even if wine was spoiled, it could still be used, as is evident from its use as an adjunct to bread in Ruth 2:14.
The climatic demands of the vine ensured that viticulture had a very small role in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Here beer was the principle beverage, and wine was restricted to the elites. Some scholars have equated the biblical shekar, which appears on a number of occasions in the Old Testament, with beer. It is perhaps more likely that this was a generic form for alcoholic drinks. The esteem of wine in Egypt and Mesopotamia led to wine being a profitable export for the Israelite states. At Ashkelon and Gibeon archaeological finds have demonstrated the existence of industrial-scale wine production in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. These were developed to supply the neo-Assyrian empire. In a later period it is striking that the biblical historians draw attention to vinedressers being exempted from the exile by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:12). It is likely, then, that Palestine was valued during the periods of the Assyrian and Babylonian hegemony principally for its ability to supply wine for consumption in the royal court and by elites.
Nathan MacDonald, What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat?: Diet in Biblical Times (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2008), 22-23.
No comments:
Post a Comment