Greco-Roman One of the earliest mentions of grape syrup comes from the fifth-century BC Greek physician
Hippocrates, who refers to (), the Greek name for the condiment. The fifth-century BC Athenian playwright
Aristophanes also makes a reference to it, as does Roman-era Greek physician
Galen. The main culinary use of was to help preserve and sweeten
wine, but it was also added to
fruit and
meat dishes as a sweetening and souring agent and even given to food animals such as
ducks and suckling
pigs to improve the taste of their flesh. was mixed with
garum to make the popular condiment .
Quince and
melon were preserved in and
honey through the winter, and some Roman women used or as a
cosmetic. was often used as a food preservative in provisions for Roman troops. There is some confusion as to the amount of reduction for and . As James Grout explains in its
Encyclopedia Romana, authors informed different reductions, as follows:The elder Cato, Columella, and Pliny all describe how unfermented grape juice (, must) was boiled to concentrate its natural sugars. "A product of art, not of nature," the must was reduced to one half () or even one third its volume () (Pliny, XIV.80), although the terms are not always consistent. Columella identifies as "must of the sweetest possible flavour" that has been boiled down to a third of its volume (XXI.1). Isidore of Seville, writing in the seventh century AD, says that it is that has been reduced by a third but goes on to imagine that is so called because it has been cheated or defrauded () (Etymologies, XX.3.15). Varro reverses Pliny's proportions altogether (quoted in Nonius Marcellus, De Conpendiosa Doctrina, XVIII.551M).''''
is mentioned in almost all Roman books dealing with
cooking or household management.
Pliny the Elder recommended that only be boiled at the time of the
new moon, while
Cato the Censor suggested that only the sweetest possible should be used. In
ancient Rome, grape syrup was often boiled in
lead pots, which sweetened the syrup through the leaching of the sweet-tasting chemical compound
lead acetate into the syrup. Incidentally, this is thought to have caused
lead poisoning for Romans consuming the syrup. A 2009
History Channel documentary produced a batch of historically accurate in lead-lined vessels and tested the liquid, finding a lead level of 29,000 parts per billion (ppb), which is 2,900 times higher than contemporary American drinking water limit of 10 ppb. These levels are easily high enough to cause either acute
lead toxicity if consumed in large amounts or chronic lead poisoning when consumed in smaller quantities over a longer period of time (as was typically used).
Levant Grape syrup has been used in the Levant since antiquity, as evidenced by a document from
Nessana in the northern
Negev, within modern
Israel, that mentions grape syrup production. Sources describing the
Muslim conquest of the Levant in 636 note that when
Jews met with
Rashidun caliph
Umar, who camped in
Jabiyah, southern
Golan, they claimed that due to the harsh climate and plagues, they had to drink wine. Umar suggested honey instead, but they said it was not beneficial for them. As a compromise, Umar agreed they could make a dish from grape syrup without intoxicating effects. They boiled grape juice until two-thirds evaporated and presented it to Umar, who noted it reminded him of an ointment for camels. Botanist
Zohar Amar estimates that this explains the winepresses from
Mishnaic and
Talmudic times found in the
Mount Hermon area, which are similar to those used for grape syrup production in modern times.
Islamic law increased the prevalence of grape syrup in the region due to the
prohibition of wine, a practice that was strictly enforced during the
Mamluk period, when grape syrup became a common wine substitute among Muslims. Rabbi
Joseph Tov Elem, who lived in
Jerusalem around 1370, proposed that the honey mentioned in the Bible is actually grape syrup.
Obadiah of Bertinoro also mentioned grape syrup among various types of honey sold in Jerusalem, and
Meshullam of Volterra described it as "hard as a rock and very fine."
Baalbek, in modern Lebanon, was particularly renowned for its dibs production, and
Ibn Battuta detailed the production process, noting the use of a type of soil to harden the syrup so that it remained intact even if the container broke. In the 15th century,
hashish users mixed it with dibs to mitigate its effects. Rabbis such as
Nissim of Gerona and Obadish of Bertinoro discussed its
kashrut. In the early
Ottoman period, there was sometimes a special tax on raisins and dibs. In the 19th century,
Hebron exported significant quantities of grape syrup to
Egypt, as documented by
Samson Bloch and
Samuel David Luzzatto. == Modern ==