I learned something rather fascinating to me about wheat yesterday and it's thanks to my Uncle who's a spectacular farmer and also did my own googling a little.
Apparently a long time ago, wheat was not just a food source but also acted as currency in a way. Since wheat is a food source necessary for survival, it had a real value in society. Although the first farming communities developed thousands of years ago especially in the region known as the Fertile Crescent, they started trading wheat with one another for the goods or services they needed. Many researchers believe this was one of the first instances of currency that was established as a means of trade in history.
Anybody remember the era of Barter trade?
In what is now called Mesopotamia, approximately 5,000 years ago, people were documenting the transactions of wheat and tax payments to their governments via clay tablets and storing a lot of wheat in their temple and palace stores so that people could borrow wheat and repay it at some future date, sometimes paying a little more in interest. It is interesting to me that they created a banking like system for borrowing and lending wheat. The wheat I ate this morning which my sister wouldn't trade for her iPhone.
Wheat was also very important to the societies that existed throughout Egypt, Greece and Rome. In Rome for instance, soldiers were usually provided wheat rations or annona as a form of compensation, rather than coins for their service.
There are some clear drawbacks to using wheat as a form of currency. You know wheat can spoil or go bad very quickly and the weight of wheat makes it difficult to carry or transport large amounts at a time, even if you wanted to. Me with cash or crypto I can go anywhere.
Because of these drawbacks to using wheat as currency, people began using metal coins to make their purchases more convenient, and eventually transitioned to paper forms of currency, aka the mighty dollar.
Despite the fact that wheat is no longer being used as a currency or payment option today, as long as you pay attention to history, it'll remind you of the evolution of early human civilizations and economies, and the fact that early human civilizations looked to the things needed for everyday life as the basis for trade and organizing their societies.
Fresh ones planted not too long ago
Everything from everyday items, to agriculture and farming and specific crops, such as wheat, helped to establish the foundation for the development of currency as a means of trade. Agriculture is something an economy cannot do without regardless of the advancement.
Happy New Month by the way, a few days to Christmas
Hello Princess, kindly engage with others in the community whenever you make a post.
This is my first time hearing wheat had this much value back then. It’s really fascinating to know. Thanks for sharing.