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SoSe 23: Agriculture and Nutrition in the Byzantine World

Omid Sadeghi Seraji

Kommentar

Agriculture and Nutrition in the Byzantine World “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are” Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1825) This course explores the history of how humans have produced, cooked, and consumed food, with focus on the Mediterranean region. It also examines how civilizations and their food-choices have been shaped by geography, native flora and fauna, and their political affairs. To quote Savarin on this matter again: “The fate of a nation depends on the way that they eat”. The scope of this course is geographically almost coextensive with the byzantine Empire. But historically we will start from much earlier to cover the period named after this empire, with an eye on our times, and how that past helped shaping it. Beyond the larger economic and social issues, the course will also cover the culture of food, the why humans made their food-choices, and what their food practices tell us about them and their world. In other words, food practices will be used as a window for viewing culture as a whole—just as one might study painting or literature. Syllabus 1 Prologue Quest for food as catalyst: language, religion, diseases. Typology of regional cuisine schools 2 Agricultural revolution, Nile, Mesopotamia Technical achievements: Preservation, Cooking. Fermenting. 3 Classical Greece - Wine, Olive Oil Symposium Platonic attitude: Faidon, Gorgias Archestratos:“Life of Luxury” (5th Century B.C.) 4 The Hellenistic era - Herbs and seasoning Trade and Internationalization of food The Humoral physiology from Galen to Avicenna Galen: “On the Properties of Food.” (2nd A.D.) 5 Republican and Imperial Rome Bread and Game Apicius: De re Coquinaria (1st A.D.) 6 Cato: de agri cultura Verro: de re rustica 7 Religion and food Cosher, Halal Pythagoreans Eating the Gods – Eucharist 8 Athenaeus of Naucratis “Deipnosophistae” (3rd Century A.D.) Connoisseur text as a genre Petronius “Cana trimalchionis” (1st Century A.D) 9 Persian cuisine: Middle Persian Text: Khosrow Ghobadan o Ridak (6th Century A.D.) Qabus-Nama 11th Century A.D. 10 Geoponica (10th Century A.D.) 11 Geoponica (continuation) 12 Sweats Drinking culture Hallucinators Food Metaphors 13 Eating and Calendar Public feasts 14 Table etiquettes 15 Symposium (drinking together) Schließen