The invention of birthday and desserts

[timelets]

“Of all the days of the year, one’s own birthday is held in the most honor. On this day they [Persians] claim the right to serve a larger feast than on any other day. The more fortunate among them serve the meat of oxen, horses, camels, and donkeys roasted whole in ovens, while the poor serve the meat of small animals such as sheep and goats. They eat few main dishes but consume many desserts, and the latter are not served as one course, but at intervals throughout the meal."

--- Herodotus, Histories.

Thank you Persians!

Comments

[ecreet]

Happy birthday?

[timelets]

Not to me personally, but to the mankind as a whole.

[juan_gandhi]

О, ни фига себе арийцы осчастливили планету!

[timelets]

Кто бы мог подумать. Гигиену в общественных местах они тоже придумали. Геродот пишет: “Persians are quite devoted to drinking wine but are not permitted to vomit or urinate in anyone else’s presence, and they are very careful about such things.”

[juan_gandhi]

Какие культурные!
Зато мыть руки перед едой Моисей велел, и мы все помним.

[timelets]

Про мытье рук у персов Геродот тоже пишет: “They never urinate or spit into rivers, nor will they wash their hands in them or allow others to do so; they treat rivers with the utmost veneration.”

Скорее всего, в Тору к Моиссею эта традиция попала после возвращения из Вавилонского изгнания.

[juan_gandhi]

Ого. Это прекрасно. Даже рук в ней не моют. Имеет смысл, конечно.

[timelets]

Да, две с половиной тысячи лет назад идея разделения водопровода и канализации была совсем не тривиальной.

[juan_gandhi]

Кое-где она и сейчас кажется странной.