Barley (Hordeum vulgare) grows in over one hundred countries in the
world. It is a grain plant like wheat, cereal, corn and rice. Barley
used to be the most important crop. In the ancient times, barley was
regularly served in the variety of bread and porridge. It was Barley and
neither wheat nor rice that was the primary grain of the Egyptians,
Greeks, Romans and Hebrews during the old ages. Egyptian workers during
the ancient times refer to barley as nourishment having merely
three loaves of barley bread and beer made from barley a day. One
reason it is not surprising that it was mentioned several times in the
bible both New and Old Testament.
The immense importance of the
said crop in the olden times is irrefutable. A Vedic writing in the
Indus Valley mentioned barley and rice as "two immortal sons of heaven."
Emperor Shen Nung of China declared barley as one of the five sacred
plants in his country dated 2, 800 B.C. Rice, wheat, millet and soybeans
are the other sacred plants that he cited.
Barley is also much
selected by the Athletes as the Greeks regard to it as the most
strengthening grain. The gladiators of Rome are often named Hordearii or
Barley Men since their diet relied on Barley. Sumerians also use barley
as a form of money. Barley being used as a monetary exchange was also
recorded in Babylonians, Code of Hammurabi dating 1750 B.C. An ancient
town in Greece, Eleusis which is no longer in existence today rewards
sacks of barley for game winners.
