Fasting in ancient civilizations and cultures

It seems that there has not been any time in human history that we are aware of when humans did not fast. In every written source of all cultures, religions and geography there is mention of fasting. Fasting has been used for health and spirituality.

The concept of fasting is traditionally associated with the Holy Month of Ramadan in the Islamic world; yet, fasting has been observed as a custom in different cultures, some preceding the monotheistic religions.

Fasting was known to ancient civilizations and peoples,where the idea of abstaining from food and drink was to obtain the blessings and satisfaction of heaven, and they considered it a way to purify the human self.

Professor Wejdan Muhammadah at the faculty of  Arabic literature in Damascus University explained to SANA  that the origin of the word fasting refers to abstaining from something, such as when we say “fasted” from speaking or from food or from lying .

 Dr. Wejdan pointed out that religious sources indicate that fasting was known after the flood at the time of the Prophet Noah, who fasted thanks to God in addition to a number of prophets including Idris, Yahya, who used to fast continuously and for varying days.

Historical sources, according to Dr. Wejdan, indicated that the Arabs in the Arabian peninsula knew fasting before Islam, and they used to fast three days every lunar month on the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth which they called the white days.

She added that fasting of the priests of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt ranged between six weeks or thirty days, as every ten days differed from the other from fasting from meat or other materials. As for fasting among the Greeks, it was distinct, as some notes were made in the literature of the great philosophers that they were fasting including Socrates , Hippocrates , Herodotus who were advising people to fast as an alternative remedy for medicine.

The followers of the philosopher Confucius in China, Japan and Korea,  according to Dr. Wejdan, abstained from food and drink, especially during sad occasions and storm seasons as  historians mentioned that the Chinese fasted 27 days to thank the gods.

Dr. Wejdan found that the followers of Taoist philosophy in China welcomed fasting and called it Pego, as they abstained from food and accompanied their fasting with prayer, diet, and the use of special breathing methods within a spiritual exercise to tame the soul.

Dr. Wejdan reviewed the fasting habits of the ancient civilizations in our region. The Phoenicians used to fast every fifth or seventh day of every month. In Yemen, people in the Kingdom of Sheba fasted an entire month of the year to get closer to “Sin” the moon god and concluded the fast with celebration and sacrifices .

Dr. Wejdan stressed that the knowledge of the ancient man about various forms of  fasting   reflects an early awareness about the importance of fasting at the physical and spiritual levels.

Rawaa Ghanam