WHEAT (Hebr. "ḥiṭṭah"; Deut. viii. 8 et seq.): The chief
breadstuff of Palestine in both ancient and modern times. It has
been observed that the cultivation of wheat indicates a higher
stage of civilization than the cultivation of barley alone.
Barley bread is, therefore, mentioned comparatively seldom
(Judges vii. 13; II Kings iv. 42), and was probably the food of
the common people only. Among the Greeks and Romans, as in the
Orient today, barley was less esteemed than wheat, which was
therefore the preferred breadstuff. The loaves of bread used for
divine sacrifice were naturally made only from the choicest
wheat flour. In Palestine the winter grain is sown in late
autumn, when the early rains have loosened the soil and prepared
it for plowing. Wheat is harvested somewhat later than barley,
and generally at a time when the heavy rains have ceased (I Sam.
xii. 17). The harvest season varies, according to the districts,
between the end of April and the beginning of June. On
harvesting, thrashing, and measurin