In his book exploring the origin of viniculture, Dr. Patrick E. McGovern pointed to a number of ancient wine origin stories and highlighted the Persian entrant. According to the tale, one King Jamshid, king of the world, was such a lover of grapes that he had them placed in a jar (to ensure a year-round supply) and had that jar labeled "poison." One of the harem consorts had been suffering with a terrible headache and, to end the misery, drank the liquid that had pooled in the jar. After a long, deep sleep, she awoke, miraculously cured of her condition. She relayed the story to the king who recognized the medicinal benefit of the brew and ordered that it be made in greater quantities for broader consumption.
Archaeological finds at two Iranian sites (the Neolithic Hajji Firuz Teppe and the Bronze Age Godin Tepe) attest to an early association of wine with Iran.
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| Red oval highlights archaeological sites where proof of winemaking in ancient Iran (Persia) was unearthed. |
Hajji Firuz Tepe, an ancient town located in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran, was the subject of an archaeological excavation in 1968 at which five 2.5 gallon (9 liter) jars were found embedded in an earthen floor along a wall of a Neolithic mud brick building. Two of these jars had a yellowish residue on the bottom which, after being subjected to infrared liquid chromatography and wet chemical analysis, proved to be a combination of calcium tartrate and terebinth tree resin. Tartaric acid in the amounts found can only be associated with grapes and the amount of wine that would be housed in the five containers would be much more than required for a single family's use. Clay stoppers that perfectly fit the openings at the top of the clay jars were found in close proximity to the jars and was assumed to have been used to prevent the contents from turning to vinegar. These factors led the archaeologists to tag this site as a wine-production facility -- playfully called "Chateau" Hajji Firuz by Dr. McGovern. As wines in Greece even today are resinated, the assumption is that resin was added to Neolithic wines either as a preservative or for medicinal purposes.
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| Jar from Hajji Firuz Tepe (Source: alaintruong.com) |
While the Hajji Firuz Tepe finds prove wine production in Persia in the Neolithic -- and pretty close to the dawn of winemaking -- another Persian site shows winemaking further south in the Zagros Mountains; and at a later date. Godin Tepe is a site located high up in Iran's Central Zagros Mountains. In its heyday it was located along a major ancient trade route that later became the famed Silk Road, the route that linked China to the Mediterranean.
The McGovern team subjected a reddish residue -- obtained from jars found at this site and dated to 3500 to 3000 BC -- to liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectroscopy testing and showed evidence of tartaric acid -- a fingerprint for grapes -- and tree resin, an antioxidant which is known to restrain wine aging.
Grape wine was a known and widespread product in the pre-Islamic Middle East where "the highly developed wine cultures in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, and the Syrian-Palestinian region created a trade route network not only in the Middle East but westwards to Europe ... and eastwards to India" (Brinkman).
Pre-Islamic Mesopotamia was "the land of wine-soaked royal banquets, of alcohol-induced divination, and of prophecy inspired by intoxicating drinks" (Matthee). Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest religions, served as the state religion of ancient religious temples from 650 BC until the Muslims conquered the country in the mid-7th century. In Zoroastrianism, "wine symbolized liquid gold and the flowing fire of the liquid sun, and as such had a ritual function, being part of the libation ritual in which it is a substitute for blood."
The advent of Islam in 7th-century Iran formally made wine drinking illegal in the lands but did little to interrupt its consumption in the newly conquered greater Iran (Mesopotamia, the Iranian plateau, the Caucasus, and Central Asia as far as the Oxus River). This "native" habit of wine/alcohol consumption was reinforced by an influx of Turkic Mongol peoples from Central Asia who, collectively, had a reputation for "dipsomania." According to Matthee, both the Seljuks and Mongols were notorious for their binge drinking and "subsequent dynasties continued the habit of elites indulging in alcoholic excesses in flagrant violation of Islamic law."
The Safavids took power in 1501 and ruled until the 18th century. In that period wine drinking was mostly tribal and "wedded to outdoor spaces." Grapes were locally cultivated and pressed by foot or a heavy press before fermentation in vats. The completed wine was stored either in small vessels or large basins.
Alcohol consumption in large quantities by the Shah and his entourage "continued to have a spiritual, even sacral dimension reminiscent of the ancient libation rite." The king was supposed to drink --- a sign of his stature as a big man and a way to "demonstrate his own autonomous moral space" beyond the strictures of Islam (Matthee).
Wines were not restricted to grapes for raw material. Rather, raisins, dates, and a variety of fruits were pressed into service as raw material and the juices of these material could all be mixed into the finished wine.
In Safavid Iran the person in charge of the wine cellar was called a wine steward. Implements used in the enjoyment of wine were kept in wine cellars and included cups, goblets, long-necked flasks, and musical instruments. For the wealthy, the cups and bowls were made of gold, silver, and glass while the commoners would utilize containers made of clay, wood, or copper. Wineskins were used for the transport of wine or outdoor consumption.
In 1979 Iran's new Islamic rulers banned alcohol consumption, shut down wineries, ripped up commercial vineyards and "consigned to history a culture stretching back thousands of years" (BBC.com, 2/3/17).
Bibliography
Stephanie Brinkman, Wine in Hadith -- from Intoxication to Sobriety, in Bert G. Fragner, Ralph Kauz and Florian Schwarz (eds.), Wine Culture in Iran and Beyond, ORW, 2014.
Rudi Mathee, The Ambiguities of Alcohol in Iranian History, in Bert G. Fragner, Ralph Kauz and Florian Schwarz (eds.), Wine Culture in Iran and Beyond, ORW, 2014.
Dr. Patrick E. McGovern, Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origin of Viniculture, Princeton University Press, 2003.
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