The old flour mills of Malta and Gozo

Abstract

Wheat provides food to nearly two thirds of the human race. It was one of the earliest products of the vegetable kingdom to be utilized- by man; there are records of its cultivation· in prehistoric times and it is known that primitive man thrived on it and fed his animals with it. The sowing, mowing, threshing, winnowing and milling of grain came to substitute hunting when man discovered that he could secure better food at no risk to his life by cultivating wheat. The cultivation of wheat. and its harvest were given a mythological significance in the cult of Ceres, the goddess of harvest and crops. In prehistoric carvings and paintings recording the daily toil of our ancestors, one often comes across respresentations of mowing of wheat and grinding of grain; the former usually done by men, the latter by women. In the Bible there are innumerable references to sowers, mowers and gleaners of wheat, whilst bread is represented as a divine gift to man both for his material and spiritual needs.