Beer Through History

It seems that the rst domesticated grain dates from around 8000 BC in the regions of Tell Aswad, Jericho and Nahal Oren. A stamp seal from Tepe Gawra (one of the most important historic sites of ancient North Mesopotamia, now Northern Iraq) of some 6000 years ago is the rst evidence of beer consumption: it depicts two people drinking beer from a single container using straws (Katz & Voigt 1986). Sumerian and Mesopotamian texts and artwork feature beer to a substantial extent, with the oldest known recipe being recorded as the Hymn to Ninkasi (Oriental Institute 2002). The lengthy verse (from which I quote extracts) refers to Ninkasi as
the one who handles dough [and] ...with a big shovel, Mixing, in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics.
This refers to the practice at the time of making a bread from sprouted barley, the bread subsequently being lightly baked:
You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven, We recognise that it was barley because of the retained hull (or husk, see Chapter 3):
Puts in order the piles of hulled grain.
The 'malt' was then mixed with water, allowing the endogenous enzymes to digest the starch in the production of 'wort' and for adventitious yeasts to commence the fermentation process:

You are the one who waters the malt set
on the ground, You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar, You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on
large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes . You are the one who holds with both hands
the great sweetwort, You place appropriately on [top of]
a large collector vat. Ninkasi, the fermenting vat, which makes
a pleasant sound,

After fermentation there was a clari cation - and, by the sounds of it, there was rather a lot to lter:
When you pour out the ltered beer
of the collector vat, It is [like] the onrush of the Tigris and the Euphrates. And the poem goes on to indicate that the beer was prized and valued for its merits:
The gakkul vat, which makes the liver happy, The lam-sa-re vat, which rejoices the heart, The ugur-bal jar, a tting thing in the house. The sa-gub jar, which is lled with beer, The am-am jar, which carries the beer
of the lam-sa-re vat ... The beautiful vessels, are ready on [their] pot stands! May the heart of your god be well
disposed towards you! Let the eye of the gakkul vat be our heart! What makes your heart feel wonderful, Makes [also] our heart feel wonderful. Our liver is happy, our heart is joyful. While I circle around the abundance of beer, While I feel wonderful, I feel wonderful, Drinking beer, in a blissful mood, Drinking liquor, feeling exhilarated, With joy in the heart [and] a happy liver -While my heart full ofjoy,

As we shall see in Chapter 3, the processes referred to are entirely recognisable in brewing practices to this very day.
In those far-off times, beer featured centrally as a foodstuff rather than as an accom­paniment. Hesseltine (1979) indicates that a typical consumption must have been about a litre per day at 2% alcohol. The straw used for drinking was of clay or reed for the general population, but gold or silver for the rich and powerful. Some 40% of the grain in Sumeria was used for beer production. A workman in the temple got 1.75 pints per day, with senior dignitaries getting ve times that level (Singer et al. 1954-58).
By the early Egyptian period the contemporary brewing practices were rmly in place (Tannahill 1973). Dough was made from sprouted and dried grains and partially baked. These loaves were then broken up and soaked in water and allowed to ferment for about a day. Then the liquid was strained off and the beer was ready for drinking. As Singer observes, Egyptian brewers were soon making variously spiced and avoured beer breads, allowing for a diversity of beers. There was a superintendent of breweries to ensure that purveyors only made available the best and purest products (Fleming
1975).
Of course they had no control over the yeast because they had no notion that it existed, although they would have discovered that older cracked jars, with more hiding places for organisms 'naturally selected' for the purpose, would have given better results. It wasn't until later that Pliny the Elder (ad 23-79) reported that the Gauls and Iberians were skimming beer for the purpose of re-inoculating the next batch. The brewers were women, who sold their beer from home. The Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC) condemned alehouses for their under-strength and over-priced beers and also had a decree regarding those who diluted the beer (Saggs 1965). Those who overcharged for their beer were to be drowned.
In Egypt the most common beer was haq (hek) made from the red barley of the Nile (Tannahill 1973). Compared to some other products that we believe reached alcohol contents similar to modern wines (i.e. about 12%), haq seems to have been quite 'mild'. Bread, beer and onions seemed to form the basic diet of the dynastic Egyptian peasant. Beer was deemed to be essential for general wellbeing. The Ebers papyrus, a sort of pharmacists' standard text, listed the ingredients for diverse medicines, of which more than 100 of the 700 were made with beer (Fleming 1975).