It survives because it was summarised by Columella (1st century AD): A recipe for passum was recorded in an agricultural manual by Mago, a Punic writer.
After twenty or thirty days, when fermentation has ceased, rack into other vessels, seal the lids with gypsum and cover them with skins.
Passum was produced extensively in the eastern Mediterranean through the Roman period, and its popularity is referred to by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.
[1] Research indicates that it found popularity amongst women in the kitchen, due to easy accessibility, in the medicinal world and also within religious contexts – possibly in Judaism and the early Christian eucharist.
[1] "Passum de Magon", is a modern Tunisian natural sweet wine from Kelibia in the Cape Bon region, the traditional agricultural hub of Carthage, that honors the memory of Mago and is made in this antique fashion.