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[German version] I. General In the ancient world, grain was the most important commodity in supraregional trade. Three different forms of this trade can be distinguished: 1. regular imports to supply a large urban population whose food requirements could not be met sufficiently by the agriculture of its surrounding countryside, such as in the case of Rome at the time of the late Republic and the Principate; 2. irregular imports into regions in which the population was usually self-sufficient, but wh…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The various species of hulled and naked wheat ( triticum = t.) and barley ( hordeum) are among the earliest domesticated plants of the Middle East (Q. Ǧarmu; Çatal H.;  Faiyum). Besides  emmer ( t. dicoccum) and einkorn ( t. monococcum), both hulled, the common or bread wheat (naked; t. aestivum) are also species of wheat. The fact that the hulled sorts, which require more work (removal of the hull through roasting), also predominated in later millennia is ascribed to their better storability [1. 35]. The species o…