by
Paul
BenhaimHemp cropping made its first appearance during the
Neolithic (Stone Age) period around 5740 BC. Hemp is also
documented as the first known cultivated crop in Japan during the
Jomon period of 5500 BC. (In Japan, the Emperor wore hemp
clothes made by the imperial family named Shikoku in a ceremony
called Daijosai.)
Archaeologists have found evidence of hemp seed stored
as a grain in both Europe and China, alongside the familiar barley
and oats.
The western world’s first historian, Heodotes, recorded the
use of hemp in the manufacture on lines in Scythia. His record
was confirmed by the discovery of hemp seed at the ancient
Scythian city of Tractemino in approximately 800 BC.
The records of a Chou Dynasty state banquet (circa 1000
BC) show that boiled hemp seeds were served on cereal dishes.
Dishes of roasted hemp seeds were popular with the Jews in in
medieval times. Hemp is described in “The Li Qui”, an early
Chinese manuscript of social ritual (221-207 BC) as one of the ‘file
grains’ of China – ‘the land of Hemp and Mulberry”, along with
barley, rice, wheat and soybeans, thus placing it highly in terms of
the sustenance of the Empire.
Hemp is mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit manuscripts
under the name of Bhanga Indracana, meaning food of the Gods
and Ananada, spring of life. Locally grown and pressed hemp
seed oil was the sole domestic cooking oil in the outback of Nepal.
The Altai, nomads of Northern Russia, cultivated early hemp crops
in approximately 300 BC. They used hemp as a food source,
rather than as a fiber crop, mainly relying on the oil. Its
concentrated protein made it a valuable food that was also
relatively easy to transport.
Aesop’s Fables, Aesop, 550 BC
The Swallow And The Other Birds