01-05-2009, 06:30 AM
I was reading Herodotus last night and came across this quote (emphasis mine):
I don't remember ever seeing anything like this before. Now, the first thing that comes to mind for a modern reader is that boiling water could kill microbes and make it safe to drink. But why would someone in antiquity boil water before drinking?
Could it have been trial and error, where someone somewhere discovered that boiled water was less likely to make one sick (even if they didn't understand exactly why it worked)? Or is there some other reason for doing this that I am overlooking?
Quote:Now, the Great King [Cyrus] goes on his military expeditions well equipped with food and livestock from home, and he also brings water from the River Choäspes (on whose banks the city of Susa is situated), because water from no other river except the Choäspes is allowed to pass the king’s lips. This Choäspes water is boiled, and wherever the king might be campaigning on any given occasion, he is accompanied by a large number of four-wheeled wagons, drawn by mules, which carry the water in silver containers.
Herodotus, I.188
I don't remember ever seeing anything like this before. Now, the first thing that comes to mind for a modern reader is that boiling water could kill microbes and make it safe to drink. But why would someone in antiquity boil water before drinking?
Could it have been trial and error, where someone somewhere discovered that boiled water was less likely to make one sick (even if they didn't understand exactly why it worked)? Or is there some other reason for doing this that I am overlooking?
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
www.davidcord.com
