Babylonian Spiced Date Wine

Ancient Mesopotamian fermented date wine with cinnamon and spices

Origin: Ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)

From the journey of Cinnamon.

The earliest written records of spiced wine come not from Greece or Rome but from Mesopotamia, where cuneiform tablets from Babylon document cinnamon as an ingredient in ceremonial drinks and anointing oils as early as 1200 BCE. The Babylonians had no vineyards, wine was an import, a luxury. What they did have in extraordinary abundance was dates, and date wine (sikarum) was the everyday drink of Mesopotamia, flavoured and preserved with whatever spices Arab and Phoenician traders brought through. Cinnamon, arriving from the east at enormous cost, lent these drinks a sacred quality, its use in drinks was inseparable from its use in temple rituals. This recipe is a historical recreation based on tablet records and archaeobotanical evidence, producing a naturally fermented date wine spiced in the Babylonian manner. It can also be made as a non-fermented date shrub for immediate use.

Ingredients

Base

  • 500 g Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
  • 1 litre water

Spices

  • 2 sticks cinnamon (Ceylon)
  • 4 whole cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 1 pinch ground myrrh (optional, food-grade)

Sweetener

  • 2 tbsp raw honey

Method

  1. Place dates and water in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, mashing the dates with a spoon as they soften. Simmer for 15 minutes until the dates have completely broken down into the water.
  2. Strain through a fine sieve or muslin, pressing hard on the solids to extract all liquid. Discard solids. Return liquid to the pan.
  3. Add cinnamon sticks, cardamom, cloves, and honey. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes as it cools.
  4. Strain again through a fine sieve. Add the myrrh if using: a tiny pinch adds a resinous, ancient quality that transforms the drink.
  5. Serve warm as the Babylonians would have: in a clay cup, alongside roasted meat or flatbread. Or cool completely and refrigerate; it keeps for up to 5 days.

Notes

This is a culinary recreation, not a strict historical reproduction: the exact Babylonian formulas were never fully preserved. The flavour is surprising: deep, spiced, naturally sweet, with the cinnamon and dates working together in a way that feels simultaneously ancient and completely familiar.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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