Barley

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, a member of the grass family Poaceae. Barley is the fifth largest cultivated cereal crop in the world (530,000 km² or 132 million acres). Its germination time is anywhere from 1-3 days.

History

Cultivated barley is descended from Wild Barley (Hordeum spontaneum), which still can be found in the Middle East. Both luder forms are diploid (2n=14 chromosomes). All variants of barley produce viable seed when crossed and are thus considered to belong to one and the same species today. The major difference between wild and domesticated barley is the brittle rachis of the former, which is conducive to self-propagation. The earliest finds of barley come from Epi-Paleolithic sites in the Levant, beginning in the Natufian. The first domesticated barley has been found in the aceramic neolithic layers (PPN B) of Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria. The domestication seems to be contemporaneous to that of wheat.

Related Topics:
Wild Barley - Middle East - Diploid - Chromosome - Rachis - Paleolithic - Levant - Natufian - Neolithic - Tell - Syria - Wheat

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Barley, seen as an ancient and central gift of the earth, had ritual significance, probably from the earliest stages of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The preparatory kykeon or mixed drink of the initiates, prepared from barley and herbs, was referred to in the Homeric hymn to Demeter, who was also called "Barley-mother".

Related Topics:
Earth - Eleusinian Mysteries - Kykeon - Herb - Homeric hymn - Demeter

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Greek practice was to dry the barley groats and roast them before preparing the porridge, according to Pliny the Elder's Natural History (xviii.72). This produces a malt that soon ferments and becomes slightly alcoholic.

Related Topics:
Groats - Pliny the Elder - Natural History - Malt

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