What Happened to the Old World Plants? Part III

Continuing from the last post—why was there no wheat or barley growing when the Spanish arrived in the early 1500s? And if there was, why would the Spanish not know of it?

It should be remembered that the early Spanish, both the conquistadores and later priests, Jesuits, etc. had only two things on their mind: 1) gold, fame and wealth—many later returned to Spain to buy positions, and 2) conversion of the natives to Christianity—which meant to destroy anything non-Christian, which included records, artifacts, magnificent structures, and an entire society. The simple religious thinking of the time could not conceive of anyone accomplishing more than the Christian nations of Europe, thus, when they saw such magnificent structures, buildings, palaces, and cities beyond anything they had seen before, they assumed it had been built by the Devil and destroyed as much as possible.

These early Spanish were not looking for Old World grains, and even if they saw any would not have believed in their existence—they were in awe of everything foreign. These conquistadores were interested in gold, but were amazed at the achievements of the people they had conquered—of their constructions, their highways, their irrigation systems, their camelid animals—but mostly the amazing walls.

As Pedro Sancho de la Hoz recorded: “The most beautiful thing that can be seen among the buildings of that land are these walls because they are of stones so large that no one who sees them would say that they had been placed there by human hands, for they are as large as chunks of mountain. These are not smooth stones but rather are very well fitted together and interlocked with one another. And they are so close together and so well-fitted that the point of a pin could not have been inserted into any of the joints.” Another chronicler wrote of the Peruvian structures: “Neither the bridge of Segovia nor any of the structures that Hercules or the Romans made are as worthy of being seen as this.”

Quinoa and kiwichi, as well as corn, were grains not known in Europe at the time of the conquest and therefore were foods of interest to the Spanish. In addition, the conquerors saw very little of the country, traveling only main roads from city to city, and not even then doing more than fighting their way through the Inca Empire, remaining mostly in the north around Cajamarca and in the central highlands in Cuzco. What might have existed or grown in the back-country, small villages and subsistence farms would not have been known to them. There were several major cities the Spanish never even knew existed, such as Macho Picchu, Vilcabanba, and Vitcos, Liactapata, Corihuayrachina, Choquequirao, Cota Coca, and others. In fact there are those who believe that much of the Inca Empire never was discovered by the Spanish.

So what Old World plants that were brought to the Land of Promise died from such neglect and cultivation over those intervening 1000 years?

During the First Temple Period (1006 to 586 B.C.), the most basic food in Jerusalem, which constituted the staple of the common people, was bread. Now, barley was the most common grain in Palestine and was a founder crop, that is, a basic staple crop of Old World Neolithic food production and is still one of the main cereals cultivated in the Mediterranean agricultural belt. “Further, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer (a type of wheat). Put them into one vessel and bake them into bread" (Ezekiel 4:9). There were also legumes (beans and peas), mallow leaves, and some nuts. There were spices, such as hyssop, coriander, and mints like thyme. Jerusalem, however, was mostly known during this period as : "a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey" (Deuteronomy 8:8).

The usual Jerusalem diet contained few vegetables, mainly those that grew wild in the fields, such as garlic and wild onion. Meat was enjoyed only by the privileged and wealthy; ordinary people would have meat only at the Passover sacrifice or on particularly important occasions. Other foods of the common people included the eggs of wild fowl, milk, cheese, and butter. David, going out to his brothers who were in the camp of the army fighting the Philistines, brought them cheeses (1 Samuel 17:18). A late-morning meal, which also served as a break in the workday, would consisted of bread dipped in olive oil or in wine vinegar, toasted wheat, olives, figs or some other fruit, and water or a little diluted wine (Ruth 2:14). The main meal was taken in the evening, before dark, and consisted of a common pot of soup or a broth of seasoned legumes into which the diners dipped slices of bread to scoop out the helping.

The Land of Israel lies in the wheat belt where the culture of flour and bread as a universal food base developed. From the Bible we know of leavened bread and matzah, but also halah, wafers, bread morsels, and cakes. Other food-grains were damp green seeds ("carmel", "melilot"), wheat stalks of which the seeds were toasted in fire, such as David ate during his flight from Absalom in the desert, and gruel made of ground wheat, groats, or a baked mixture of ground wheat and meat. The foods might be seasoned with a little salt, which was produced mainly in the Dead Sea area, honey (from dates or of wild bees), or with juices, various fine herbs, and olive oil.

In Mesopotamia during the time of the Jaredites, they grew barley, beans, wheat, peas, olives, grapes, and flax for the community.

Thus, the Old World seeds of grains and vegetables that might have been brought to the Land of Promise by the Jaredites and the Nephites, would have been very basic.

So, once again, what happened to them by the time the Spanish arrived?

(See the next post, “What Happened to the Old World Plants? Part IV,” for additional reasons why Old World grains were not found in the New World when the Spanish arrived)