, cider, palm wine, etc. It is found in many places in the Bible (Deut., Is., Prov., Lk., etc.). From Bible translations strong drink entered the Old Slavonic and Old Russian languages. In Russian, the word sikera in the meaning of “an intoxicating drink in general” fell out of use by the 15th century, and in modern Russian it is used in the church lexicon. The most famous and striking of the biblical warnings against drunkenness from the book of Proverbs of Solomon is:
Until the 14th century in Russia, one of the varieties of “created beer” was called strong drink - intoxicated, produced using the technologies of brewing, mead brewing or kvasogonka.
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An excerpt characterizing Seeker
- On dit que la pauvre comtesse est tres mal. Le medecin dit que c "est l" angine pectorale. [They say that the poor countess is very bad. The doctor said it was chest disease.]- L "angine? Oh, c" est une maladie terrible! [Chest disease? Oh, it's a terrible disease!]
- On dit que les rivaux se sont reconcilies grace a l "angine ... [They say that the rivals reconciled thanks to this illness.]
The word angine was repeated with great pleasure.
- Le vieux comte est touchant a ce qu "on dit. Il a pleure comme un enfant quand le medecin lui a dit que le cas etait dangereux. [The old count is very touching, they say. He cried like a child when the doctor said that dangerous case.]
Oh, ce serait une perte terrible. C "est une femme ravissante. [Oh, that would be a great loss. Such a lovely woman.]
“Vous parlez de la pauvre comtesse,” said Anna Pavlovna, coming up. - J "ai envoye savoir de ses nouvelles. On m" a dit qu "elle allait un peu mieux. Oh, sans doute, c" est la plus charmante femme du monde, - said Anna Pavlovna with a smile over her enthusiasm. - Nous appartenons a des camps differents, mais cela ne m "empeche pas de l" estimer, comme elle le merite. Elle est bien malheureuse, [You are talking about the poor countess... I sent to find out about her health. I was told that she was a little better. Oh, without a doubt, this is the most beautiful woman in the world. We belong to different camps, but this does not prevent me from respecting her according to her merits. She is so unhappy.] Anna Pavlovna added.
Believing that with these words Anna Pavlovna slightly lifted the veil of secrecy over the countess's illness, one careless young man allowed himself to express surprise that famous doctors were not called, but a charlatan who could give dangerous means was treating the countess.
“Vos informations peuvent etre meilleures que les miennes,” Anna Pavlovna suddenly lashed out venomously at the inexperienced young man. Mais je sais de bonne source que ce medecin est un homme tres savant et tres habile. C "est le medecin intime de la Reine d" Espagne. [Your news may be more accurate than mine... but I know from good sources that this doctor is a very learned and skillful person. This is the life physician of the Queen of Spain.] - And thus destroying the young man, Anna Pavlovna turned to Bilibin, who in another circle, picking up the skin and, apparently, about to dissolve it, to say un mot, spoke about the Austrians. Oksana asks
Answered by Alexandra Lantz, 09/21/2010
Question: "What do the verses from?"
Peace be with you, Oksana!
Let's carefully read the part of the chapter that has a clear bearing on the word "sickera":
"The words of King Lemuel.
The instruction given to him by his mother:
what, my son? what, son of my womb? what, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to the destroyers of kings.
Not for kings, Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine, and not for princes to drink strong drink, so that, having drunk, they do not forget the law and do not turn the judgment of all the oppressed. Give strong drink to the perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul; let him drink and forget his poverty and remember no more about his suffering. Open your mouth for the mute and for the protection of all the orphans. Open your mouth for justice and for the cause of the poor and needy."
Here we see the appeal of a mother to her son, who is a king, a prince: « Not for kings, Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine, and not for princes to drink strong drink.”, and we also see why they should not do this: so that wine and strong drink do not overshadow their minds and thereby turn them away from the most important thing, for which they became kings / princes: "lest, when drunk, they forget the law and turn the judgments of all the oppressed."
Thus, if we have a king / prince in front of us, then he can’t overshadow his mind with alcohol.
A very interesting moment follows: but for those who are grieved by the soul, who die, do not see a way out of their suffering, alcohol brings some relief: “Give strong spirit to the perishing, and wine to the bitter in soul; let him drink and forget his poverty and remember no more about his suffering.. Does it bring salvation? No, because it is said that these are perishing people: as they perished, they continue to stand on this path.
Before us is an example of Jewish poetry, where the main technique is parallelism:
kings/princes
opposed
dying people
The Bible uses the words "king" and "prince" in several ways, so let's be careful when we try to understand the main meaning of the passage. After all, this passage clearly says that the kings / princes are great, and all the rest are perishing. If we apply these verses only to the earthly situation, “presidents” (those in power) and “peoples,” then somehow it doesn’t quite fit together, does it?
But let's take a closer look at the very important meaning of the words "kings", "princes", which flashes several times on the pages of the Bible.
If we endure, then with Him and we will reign...
and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on earth.
Blessed and holy is he who has a share in the first resurrection: the second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
And the night will not be there, and they will not need a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God illuminates them; and will reign forever and ever.
I think that it is not even necessary to comment on these texts, because from them one can definitely conclude that people saved for Eternity become kings/princes who are destined to reign on earth. By the way, in the light of this conclusion, the text takes on a deeper meaning than the one that lies on the surface: Christ is the king and Lord not only over ordinary earthly authorities, but also over saved people. People are kings and lords over that world that will be given to mankind once again, and Christ is the king of these kings and the Lord of these lords.
So, back to your question... the contrast between "kings, princes" and "perishing" is the contrast between the saved and those who rejected salvation.
The saved must always be in a state of constant sobriety of mind, in order to be able to clearly distinguish between good and evil and not hesitate to choose only good, which is why it is said “not for kings to drink wine, and not for princes to drink strong drink.” The saved one reigns, rules over his life, over his body (see), because he knows the Law of God well (when the Bible pronounces the word Law, in the vast majority of cases it is the Law of God), and this Law in every way protects the saved from the dangers that threaten eternal death.
And what to offer to the one who has chosen the path of death, to the one who walks with a grieved soul and does not want to respond to the call of the Savior, who is spiritually poor and naked, but thinks that he is full and clothed? If he finally refused salvation, where real joy and real peace reign, then give him at least strong drink so that it would not hurt so much to live out the days of his life. Let him, who has refused the Water of Life (), open his mouth for a potion, which, in his opinion, will bring him at least some relief. And the saved one will open his mouth not for this, but in order to intercede for the voiceless, to protect the orphans and the poor, and to do true justice.
There is an even deeper meaning in the texts you are asking about, and it opens up when you carefully study what is written in the book of Revelation about the Whore of Babylon. I will not comment here in detail on this line in the understanding of the words about strong drink, kings and perishing, but I will only quote two texts:
“Babylon, the great city, she is the furious wine of her fornication made all the nations drunk» ().
“The kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the inhabitants of the earth were drunk with the wine of her fornication.... and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, and held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the uncleanness of her fornication; and on her forehead was written the name: mystery, Babylon the great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Okr.17).
The text that interested you says that real kings do not drink lecherous wine from the cup of the "destroyer of kings", but leave this cup to those who finally and irrevocably like to drink from it.
Sincerely,
Read more on the topic "Interpretation of Scripture":
, cider, palm wine, etc. It is found in many places in the Bible (Deut. 29:6, Is. 5:11, Prov. 31:6, Luke 1:15, etc.). From Bible translations strong drink entered the Old Slavonic and Old Russian languages. In Russian, the word sikera in the meaning of “an intoxicating drink in general” fell out of use by the 15th century, and in modern Russian it is used in the church lexicon. The most famous and striking of the biblical warnings against drunkenness from the book of Proverbs of Solomon is:
Until the 14th century in Russia, one of the varieties of “created beer” was called strong drink - intoxicated, produced using the technologies of brewing, mead brewing or kvasogonka.
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An excerpt characterizing Seeker
Caraffa looked at me with all his eyes, as if he had heard something not entirely reasonable, which surprised him very much.- And you will not regret your beautiful daughter ?!. Yes, you are more fanatical than me, Madonna! ..
Having exclaimed this, Caraffa abruptly stood up and left. And I sat there completely dumbfounded. Not feeling my heart, and unable to contain the thoughts that fled, as if all my remaining strength was spent on this short negative answer.
I knew that this was the end ... That now he would take on Anna. And I wasn't sure if I could survive to bear it all. I didn't have the strength to think about revenge... I didn't have the strength to think about anything at all... My body was tired and didn't want to resist anymore. Apparently, this was the limit, after which the “other” life already began.
I madly wanted to see Anna!.. Hug her at least once goodbye!.. Feel her raging power, and tell her once again how much I love her...
And then, turning around at the noise at the door, I saw her! My girl stood straight and proud, like a reed that is trying to break an approaching hurricane.
– Well, talk to your daughter, Isidora. Maybe she can bring at least some common sense to your lost consciousness! I give you one hour to meet. And try to take up your mind, Isidora. Otherwise, this meeting will be your last...
Caraffa did not want to play anymore. His life was put on the scales. Just like the life of my dear Anna. And if the second did not matter to him, then for the first (for his own) he was ready to do anything.
- Mommy! .. - Anna stood at the door, unable to move. - Mom, dear, how can we destroy it? .. We won’t be able to, mom!
Jumping up from my chair, I ran up to my only treasure, my girl, and, grabbing it in my arms, squeezed it with all my might...
“Oh, Mommy, you will choke me like that! ..” Anna laughed loudly.
And my soul soaked up this laughter, as a condemned man soaks up the warm farewell rays of the already setting sun...
- Well, what are you, mommy, we are still alive! .. We can still fight! .. You yourself told me that you will fight while you are alive ... So let's think if we can do something . Can we rid the world of this Evil.
She supported me again with her courage!.. Again she found the right words...
Between the 9th and 14th centuries in Ancient Russia there were the following terms for drinks: full, wine, honey, kvass, strong drink, beer, ol, birch. Most of these drinks were alcoholic, hoppy. Only the first two were non-alcoholic, that is, water and sat, while the third - birch - was no longer completely non-alcoholic, since they distinguished between simple birch and drunken birch. The same applied to kvass. Thus, the line between alcohol and soft drinks was very mobile.
Even saty, that is, a mixture of water and honey, could also easily ferment and thereby turn into a low-alcohol drink that retains the same name as non-alcoholic. If we remember that wine, that is, grape wine, brought from Byzantium and the Crimea, was diluted with water in the same way according to the ancient Greek custom, it will become clear why water turned out to be closely associated with alcoholic beverages as a constant component during their use and why water was one of the drinks, and was not just a liquid for different purposes, which it is today.
This difference in the perception of water by an ancient person and our contemporaries, this old Russian view of water as the basis of many or even all drinks and, of course, all alcoholic drinks, must be borne in mind when we talk about why one of the strongest Russian alcoholic drinks people - vodka - was named after such a harmless drink as water.
There is no doubt that by the time vodka appeared, the ancient meaning of the term “living water”, although not used in everyday life, was nevertheless perceived by consciousness and therefore in Russia a new alcoholic drink did not receive the name "water of life" and "living water", as it was everywhere in the West and among the Western Slavs, who experienced Latin influence. It was in Western Europe that the first "vodkas", that is, wine spirits containing half or less than half the volume of water, received the Latin name "aquavita" (aqua vitae) (water of life), from where the French "clothes" (eau-de-vie) originated. , English "whiskey" (whisky), Polish "okovita" (okowita), which was a simple copy of the Latin name or its translation into one or another national language.
This did not happen in the Russian language, because the practice of producing vodka had not a Latin, not a Western European, but a different source - partly Byzantine and partly domestic. That is why in the terminology of Russian alcoholic beverages, neither before the XIII century, nor after it, akvavit found any reflection. And the term "living water" in Russian referred only to drinking water.
Wine
In the 9th-13th centuries, this term meant only grape wine, if it was used without other adjectives. Wine became known in Russia from the 9th century, even before the adoption of Christianity, and after its adoption, at the end of the 10th century, it became an obligatory ritual drink. Wine was brought from Byzantium and Asia Minor and was called Greek and Syrian (Sursky), that is, Syrian. Until the middle of the XII century, it was used only diluted with water, just as it was traditionally drunk in Greece and Byzantium. The source indicates: “Water is kneaded into wine”, that is, water should be added to wine, and not vice versa, not wine should be poured into a bowl of water. This made a deep sense, because always heavier liquids should be poured into the lungs. So, tea should be poured into milk, and not vice versa. The term "wine" itself was taken when translating the Gospel into Old Slavonic from the Latin word "vinum" (vinum), and not from the Greek "oinos".
Since the middle of the XII century, wine has meant pure grape wine, not diluted with water. In this regard, in order not to make mistakes, in the old and new terminology it was necessary to stipulate all cases when not pure wine was meant. “Eko taste the architriklin (i.e., the manager of the feast) of the wine that was from the water.” And in order to avoid lengthy reservations, they began to increasingly use adjectives to clarify which wine is meant. This is how the terms “ots'no wine” appeared, that is, sour, dry wine; “wine tainted”, that is, sweet grape wine, with spices: “church wine”, that is, red grape wine, of the highest quality, dessert or sweet, not diluted with water. Finally, at the end of the 13th century, under 1273, the term “created wine” appears for the first time in written sources.
Note that it occurs almost 400 years after the appearance of grape wine and 200-250 years after the written fixation of various epithets for different types grape wine. This circumstance alone indicates that we are dealing not with grape, not with natural wine, but with wine obtained in some other, artificial, production way, wine made, created by man himself, and not by nature.
Thus, the term “created wine” no longer refers to wine itself, as it was understood before the 13th century.
The second most important alcoholic drink of Ancient Russia was honey. It has been known since ancient times both as a sweet (lat. - mel) and as an alcoholic drink (lat. - mulsum). Honey was not, as is sometimes thought, exclusively an alcoholic drink of Russians. It served as the main ceremonial drink of most European peoples of the middle zone - between 40 ° and 60 ° N. sh. and was found among the ancient Germans (Meth), among the Scandinavians (Mjod), where it was considered the drink of the gods, and especially among the ancient Lithuanians (medus).
The basis of the word "honey" is not Russian at all, but Indo-European. In Greek, the word “medu” meant “intoxicating drink”, that is, the general concept of alcohol, and sometimes it was used in the meaning of “pure wine”, that is, too strong, too intoxicating, not drinkable according to Greek traditions and ideas. The word "madee" in Greek meant "drunkenness". All this suggests that the strength of honey is alcoholic drink was many times greater than the strength of grape wine, and therefore the ancient Greeks and Byzantines believed that the use of such strong drinks was characteristic of barbarians.
In ancient Russia, as far as it can be judged from folklore data, honey was the most common alcoholic drink, while wine is almost never mentioned in folklore. Meanwhile, documentary monuments seem to speak of something else. Of these, it is known about the use of imported wine from the 9th century, but honey is first found in Russia, and even then in the meaning of sweetness, only under 1008, and in Macedonia - under 902; in the meaning of an alcoholic beverage in Lithuania and Polotsk - in the 11th century, in Bulgaria - in the 12th century, in Kievan Rus - only in the 13th century (1233), in the Czech Republic and in Poland - from the 16th century. Only in the annals of Nestor under the year 996 is it mentioned that Vladimir the Great ordered to boil 300 boiled honey. Moreover, Ibn-Dast (Ibn-Rustam) - an Arab traveler at the beginning of the 10th century (921) - mentions that the Russians have a honey intoxicating drink, and that the Drevlyans in 946 give tribute to Olga not with bee, but with “drinking” honey .
At the same time, it is known from a number of indirect Byzantine reports that as early as the end of the 9th century, during the time of paganism, individual Slavic tribes, especially the Drevlyans and the Polyans, knew how to ferment honey and, after souring, turned it from mel into rnelsum, and also kept it like wine and overflows were used to improve its quality (i.e., repeated transfusion from one vessel to another - new and clean).
All this makes it possible to come to the following conclusions: honey as an alcoholic drink was at first most common in the most forested part of Ancient Russia, on the territory of present-day Belarus, in the Principality of Polotsk, where beekeeping flourished, that is, the extraction of honey from wild bees. From here, honey along the Pripyat and the Dnieper came to Kievan Rus. In the 10th-11th centuries, honey was used in Kiev in exceptional, emergency cases, and at the same time they made it themselves from the stocks of honey raw materials: honey was boiled. Boiled honey as a drink was of lower quality compared to the honey set.
The latter was kept for 10-15 years or more, and it was the result of natural (cold) fermentation of bee honey with the juice of berries (lingonberries, raspberries). There are cases when, in the 14th century, 35-year-old honey was served at princely feasts. Since the widespread use of honey (boiled and set) falls on the 13th-15th centuries, the idea that in ancient times the main drink was honey was reflected primarily in folklore, whose works were created precisely at this relatively late time, when the formation of a national Russian culture.
In addition, the heyday of mead making in the XIII-XV centuries was associated not with its occurrence at that time (for it arose in the X-XI centuries), but with a reduction in the import of Greek wine due to the first Mongol-Tatar invasion (XIII century), but then the decline and collapse of the Byzantine Empire (XV century). Thus, the historical situation, including not only changes in the system of international relations and international trade, but also changes of a purely geographical nature (moving the territory of the Russian state to the northeast, moving the capital from Kiev to Vladimir, and then to Moscow), led to a change the nature of the alcoholic beverages consumed. All this removed Russia from the sources of grape wine and forced to seek local raw materials and local methods for the production of alcoholic beverages.
Honey, although it was an ancient drink, but in the XIII-XV centuries, as a product of local raw materials, it came to the fore mainly in the everyday life of the nobility, wealthy strata. The duration of the production of good, real delivered honey limited the circle of its consumers, undoubtedly, increased the cost of the goods. For mass gatherings, even at the court of the Grand Duke, they used cheaper, faster cooked and more intoxicating - boiled honey. Thus, the 13th century is a milestone, marking the transition to drinks, firstly, from local raw materials and, secondly, to drinks much stronger than in the previous five centuries.
There is no doubt that the habit of drinking stronger, more intoxicating drinks in the 13th and 15th centuries set the stage for the introduction of vodka.
At the same time, a developed, widespread mead production was simply impossible without the presence of wine alcohol as a component of cheap but strong honeys. Already in the 15th century, honey reserves were greatly reduced, it became more expensive in price and therefore became an export item due to a reduction in domestic consumption, because it finds demand in Western Europe. For local use, it is also necessary to find cheaper and more common raw materials. Such a raw material is rye grain, which has been used since ancient times for the production of such a drink as kvass.
Kvass
This word is found in ancient Russian monuments simultaneously with the mention of wine and even before honey. Its meaning, however, does not quite correspond to the modern one. Under the year 1056, we find a clear mention of kvass as an alcoholic drink, since in the language of that time the word "kvass" was used in the meaning of "drunkard".
In the 11th century, kvass was brewed like honey, which means that by its nature it was closest to beer in the modern sense of the word, but it was only thicker and more intoxicating.
Later, in the 12th century, they began to distinguish kvass as a sour, low-alcohol drink and kvass as a highly intoxicating drink. Both of them, however, had the same names, and only by the context can one sometimes guess what kind of kvass they are talking about. Apparently, in the second half of the 12th century or at the very end of the 12th century, strongly intoxicating kvass began to be called tvorchenny kvass, that is, cooked, specially made, and not arbitrarily sour, like ordinary kvass.
This created kvass was considered the same strong alcoholic drink as pure wine, they were equated in strength. “Wine and kvass is not to be drunk,” one of the church prescriptions says. “Woe to those who persecute kvass,” we read in another source, and this clearly indicates that we are not talking about a harmless drink. Of all the varieties of created kvass, the most intoxicating, the most "strong", intoxicating was "unfulfilled kvass", which is very often accompanied by the epithet "disastrous". In the Old Slavonic language, the word “unfulfilled” meant unfinished, not completely ready, not completed, of poor quality (opposite to Latin - perfect).
Thus, it was probably an unfermented or poorly distilled product, which contained a significant proportion of fusel oils. Apparently, the word “kisera”, which is rarely found in the sources, as a highly stupefying drink, also belonged to this kind of “kvass”. If we take into account that the word “kvass” meant “sour” and it was sometimes called kvassina, sour, kissel, then the word “kisera” can be considered as a disparaging form of unfulfilled, incomplete, spoiled, bad kvass. But there are indications that kisera is a distortion of the word "sikera", which also means one of the ancient alcoholic beverages.
Seeker
This word fell out of use in the Russian language, and from the active everyday language, just in the XIV-XV centuries, at the very turn when there was a change both in terminology and in the essence of the production of Russian alcoholic beverages. Since this word disappeared from the language completely without a trace, leaving no replacement, analogue or other lexical rudiment, we will try to clarify its meaning and original meaning as carefully as possible, because it sheds light on the history of Russian alcoholic beverages. The word "sickera" entered the Old Russian language from the Bible and the Gospel, where it was mentioned without translation, as translators at the end of the 9th century found it difficult to find an equivalent in the Slavic languages, including the Old Russian language.
It was used and understood as the first general designation for alcoholic beverages in general, but at the same time it was clearly separated from grape wine. In the Greek language, from which the Gospel was translated, "cikera" also meant an artificial "intoxicating drink" in general, and any intoxicating drink, except for natural wine. However, the source of this word was the words in Hebrew and Aramaic - "shekar" ("shekhar") and "shikra".
Shikra (sikra) in Aramaic meant a kind of beer, this word gave "siker". Shekar (Schekar) in Hebrew - "every drunken drink, except vine wine." This word gave in Russian "seeker". Therefore, in some sources there is a "siker", in others - "siher". The coincidence of both these words in sound and very close in meaning led to the fact that even linguists considered them to be variations of the same word. However, these were not only different words, but they also meant different concepts from a technological point of view.
The fact is that in Palestine and among the Greeks, “siker” was made from the fruits of the date palm and was, in fact, date vodka. The Aramaic concept of “ciker” meant a drunken, intoxicating drink, technology close to honey or brewing, without race.
There is no doubt that in the ancient Russian monasteries, learned monks searched for the true meaning of the Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew words mentioned in the Bible and the Gospel and thereby received a complete picture of technological processes and their differences.
Beer
In addition to the alcoholic beverages listed above - wine, honey, kvass and strong drink - beer is often mentioned in the sources of the 11th-13th centuries. However, it is clear from the texts of that time that beer originally meant any drink, a drink in general, and was not at all considered as an alcoholic drink of a certain type in our modern understanding. “Bless our food and beer,” we read in an 11th-century monument. Later, however, the term “created beer” appears, that is, a drink, a drink specially brewed, created like wine.
Created beer, as can be seen from the sources, was very often called strong drink, and sometimes another drink - ol. Thus, the term "beer" retained its broad meaning for the XII-XIII centuries. If in the 10th-11th centuries every drink, every drink was called that, then in the 12th-13th centuries every alcoholic drink was called like this: strong drink, kvass, ol, created wine - all this was generally created beer or an alcoholic drink artificially created by man himself . Beer in the modern sense had a different term, a different designation - ol.
In the middle of the 13th century, a new term appeared for the first time to refer to another alcoholic drink "ol", or "olus". There is also evidence that in the 12th century the name "olui" was recorded, which, apparently, meant the same thing as "ol". Judging by the meager description of the sources, ol was understood as a drink similar to modern beer, but only this beer-ol was prepared not just from barley, but with the addition of hops and wormwood, that is, herbs, potions. Therefore, sometimes ol was called a potion, a potion.
There are also indications that ol was brewed (rather than brewed like strong drink or kvass), which further confirms that ol was a drink similar to modern beer, but flavored with herbs. Its name is reminiscent of English ale, also made from barley with herbs (for example, with the addition of heather flowers). The fact that ol was later identified with korchazhny beer further confirms that ol in the 12th-13th centuries was called a drink similar to beer in the modern sense of the word.
At the same time, it is clear that the term “ol” was given to a very high-quality and rather strong and noble drink, because even at the end of the 13th century, the Nomocanon indicates that ol can be brought to the temple “in a place of wine”, that is, it can be a full-fledged replacement church, grape wine. None of the other types of drinks of that time enjoyed this privilege - to replace wine.
Birch drunk
This term is absent from the written monuments of the Old Slavonic language, but from the reports of the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan, who visited Russia in 921, it is known that the Slavs used drunken birch, that is, spontaneously fermented birch sap, preserved for a long time in open barrels and intoxicating after fermentation.
The first mention of alcoholic beverages or their terms in Ancient Russia of the 9th-14th centuries (Chronological table)
This created kvass was considered the same strong alcoholic drink as pure wine, they were equated in strength. “Wine and kvass is not to be drunk,” says one of the church prescriptions. “Woe to those who persecute kvass,” we read in another source, and this clearly indicates that we are not talking about a harmless drink. Of all the varieties of created kvass, the most intoxicating, the most “strong”, intoxicating was “unfulfilled kvass”, which is very often accompanied by the epithet “deadly”. In Old Church Slavonic, the word "unfulfilled" meant unfinished, not completely finished, not completed, of poor quality (opposite to the Latin perfect). Thus, it was probably an unfermented or poorly distilled product that contained a significant proportion of fusel oils. Apparently, kvass, which is rarely found in sources, also belonged to this kind of kvass - a highly stupefying drink. If we take into account that the word "kvass" meant "sour" and it was sometimes called kvassina, sour, kissel, then the word "kisera" can be considered as a disparaging form of unfulfilled, incomplete, spoiled, bad kvass. But there are indications that kisera is a distortion of the word "sikera", which also means one of the ancient alcoholic drinks.
4. Seeker. This word fell out of use in the Russian language, and from the active everyday language, just in the XIV - XV centuries, at the very turn when there was a change both in terminology and in the essence of the production of Russian alcoholic beverages. Since this word disappeared from the language completely without a trace, leaving no replacement, analogue or other lexical rudiment, we will try to clarify its meaning and original meaning as carefully as possible, because it sheds light on the history of Russian alcoholic beverages.
The word "sikera" entered the Old Russian language from the Bible and the Gospel, where it was mentioned without translation, since translators at the end of the 9th century found it difficult to find an equivalent in Slavic languages, including Old Russian.
It was used and understood as the first general designation for alcoholic beverages in general, but at the same time it was clearly distinguished from grape wine. "Wine and strong drinks must not be drunk". In the Greek language from which the Gospel was translated, "cikera" also meant an artificial "intoxicating drink" in general, and any intoxicating drink, except for natural wine. However, the source of this word was the words in Hebrew and Aramaic - "shekar", "shekhar" and "shikra".
Shikra (sikra) in Aramaic meant a kind of beer, this word gave "siker". Shekar (Schekar) in Hebrew - "every drunken drink, except vine wine." This word gave in Russian "seeker". Therefore, in some sources there is "sicker", in others - "sicker". The coincidence of both these words in sound and very close in meaning led to the fact that even linguists considered them to be variations of the same word. However, these were not only different words, but they also meant different concepts from a technological point of view.
The fact is that in Palestine and among the Greeks, "siker", made from the fruits of the date palm, was, in fact, date vodka. The Aramaic concept of "ciker" meant an intoxicating, intoxicating drink, similar in technology to medo - or brewing, without race.
There is no doubt that in the ancient Russian monasteries, learned monks searched for the true meaning of the Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew words mentioned in the Bible and the Gospel and thereby gained a complete understanding of the technological processes and their differences.
5. Beer. In addition to the alcoholic beverages listed above - wine, honey, kvass and strong drink - beer is often mentioned in the sources of the 11th - 12th centuries. However, it is clear from the texts of that time that beer originally meant any drink, a drink in general, and was not at all considered as a certain type of alcoholic drink in our modern sense. "Bless our food and beer," we read in an 11th-century monument. Later, however, the term "created beer" appears, that is, a drink, a drink specially brewed, created like wine. Created beer, as can be seen from the sources, was very often called strong drink, and sometimes another drink - ol. Thus, the term "beer" retained its broad meaning until the 12th - 13th centuries. If in the 10th - 11th centuries every drink, every drink was called that, then in the 12th - 13th centuries every alcoholic drink was called like this: strong drink, kvass, ol, created wine - all this was generally created beer or an alcoholic drink artificially created by man himself . Beer in the modern sense had a different term, a different designation - ol.
6. Ol. In the middle of the 13th century, a new term for the designation of another alcoholic drink appeared for the first time - "ol", or "olus". There is also evidence that in the 12th century the name "olui" was recorded, which, apparently, meant the same thing as "ol". Judging by the stingy description of the sources, ol was understood as a drink similar to modern beer, but only this beer-ol was prepared not just from barley, but with the addition of hops and wormwood, that is, herbs, potions. Therefore, sometimes ol was called a potion, a potion. There are also indications that ol was brewed (rather than brewed like strong drink or kvass), which further confirms that ol was a drink similar to modern beer, but flavored with herbs. Its name is reminiscent of English ale, also made from barley with herbs (for example, with the addition of heather flowers). The fact that later ol began to be identified with korcha beer further confirms that ol in the 12th-13th centuries was called a drink similar to beer in the modern sense of the word.
At the same time, it is clear that the term "ol" was given to a very high-quality and rather strong and noble drink, because at the end of the 13th century, the "Nomocanon" indicates that ol can be brought to the temple "in a place of wine", that is, it can be a full-fledged replacement church, grape wine. None of the other types of drinks of that time enjoyed this privilege - to replace wine.
7. Drunk birch. This term is absent in the written monuments of the Old Slavonic language, but from the reports of the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan, who visited Russia in 921, it is known that the Slavs used drunken birch, that is, spontaneously fermented birch sap, stored for a long time in open barrels and acting after fermentation intoxicatingly. .
An analysis of the terminology of alcoholic beverages of the 9th-14th centuries gives reason to draw the following conclusions.
