Facts about Barley
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.
