OCTOBER 2023

CULTURE & HISTORY
In the Beginning:
Mesopotamian Beer
BY ADHID MIRI, PHD
Martin Luther is credited with
saying, “Whoever drinks
beer, he is quick to sleep;
whoever sleeps long, does not sin;
whoever does not sin, enters Heaven.
Thus, let us drink beer!”
Beer is one of the oldest drinks
known to man.
Before Adolphus Busch, Arthur
Amstel, and Samuel Adams – before
Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors, Michelob,
the English Newcastle Brown
Ale, the Irish Guinness, the Dutch
Heineken, the Mexican Corona, the
Belgian Stella Artois, and the Australian
Fosters, there was Mesopotamian
beer from Sumer.
In the writings of the ancient Sumerians,
beer was considered a magical
brew from the gods endowing the
drinker with health, peace of mind,
and happiness. They even had a goddess
of beer named Ninkasi.
In Babylon, beer was considered a
divine drink, a true gift from the Gods.
It was also a sign of wealth. The Code
of Hammurabi, the ancient Babylonian
set of laws, decreed a daily beer
ration to citizens. Every citizen had
his daily dose of beer, depending on
his wealth. The drink was so respected
that people were sometimes paid for
work in beer, instead of money.
History
Beer was invented in Mesopotamia by
hunter-gatherers who learned to ferment
wild grains. They soon settled in
villages to cultivate and brew.
The ruins of Mesopotamian civilizations
are full of hundreds of clay
tablets and artifacts that record the
methods and means of making and
drinking beer; they even depict drink
councils. Cups and vessels for drinking
and manufacturing wine were also
found. Archeologists discovered and
deciphered an ode to Ninkasi, the patron
goddess of brewing. This poem
contained the oldest known recipe for
making beer, using barley from bread.
The most ancient depiction of beer
drinking is found on a 6,000-year-old
clay tablet showing people sipping the
beverage through straws from a large
communal bowl. There was no way of
filtering beer back then, so their beer
was thick, like porridge, and hard to
drink; however, the ancients considered
beer a safer alternative to water,
as nearby rivers and canals often became
contaminated by animal waste.
Also, since alcohol is a chemical
preservative, the process of fermentation
boiled out harmful microorganisms
while preserving nutrients
absent from other drinks. Thus, it is
unsurprising that, besides its use in
religious ceremonies and rituals, beer
was associated with the gods.
Brewing Methods
Every beer that you have been served
at your local brewery, bar, or restaurant
can be broken down into two basic
types: ales and lagers. The main
differences between an ale and a lager
are the type of yeast used to ferment
the beer and fermentation time. The
four main ingredients in beer are water,
malt, hops, and yeast.
The ancient brewing process was
quite labor-intensive and began with
the malting of grains. The grains were
soaked in water for several days, then
dried in the sun or on hot stones. The
malted grains were then ground into a
coarse powder which was mixed with
water to form a mash.
The mash was boiled, then strained
to remove the husks and other solids.
The resulting liquid, known as wort,
was then boiled again and flavored with
herbs and spices. Finally, the wort was
fermented with yeast, resulting in beer.
For centuries, the basic way to
make beer was to boil malted barley
with water and let it ferment. Sometimes,
natural yeast did the vital work,
but generally, the brewers would add
yeast to speed up the process. The
resulting mix would then be flavored
with a mixture of various herbs. Adding
hops improved the chances that
the beer would not spoil, but the large
variety of recipes continued to make
beer-making difficult.
The ancient brewing process was
quite different from modern brewing,
as it was more of an art than a science.
Ancient brewers had to rely on their
senses to determine when the beer was
ready to drink; they did not have access
to the sophisticated technologies
used in modern brewing. As a result,
ancient beer was often sour or bitter
and could be quite strong.
The Industrial Revolution brought
the mechanization of brewing. Better
control over the process, with the use
of the thermometer and saccharometer,
was developed in Britain and transferred
to the continent, where the development
of ice-making and refrigeration equipment
in the late 19th century enabled
lager beers to be brewed in the summer.
The origin of the word “beer” is
somewhat unclear, but it likely comes
from an ancient Germanic word meaning
“barley.” This makes sense, as barley
was one of the main ingredients
used in early beer production. Another
theory is that the word “beer” comes
from the Latin word “bibere,” which
means “to drink.”
Iraqi Beer
European style beer was introduced to
Iraq shortly after World War II, when
Iraq was ruled by the British-backed
monarchy. Madhaf Khedairi, a wealthy
Muslim businessman, bought a small
brewery from a British naval vessel. He
founded The Iraq Brewery Co. in 1950
and began making stout. It was not
profitable, so he invested more money
and switched to making lager.
In 1956, Khadhuri Khadhuri, a Christian,
established the Eastern Brewery
Company and made Farida, a nutty
brew which became a symbol of Iraq.
The plant was in the Zaafaraniya industrial
area near Baghdad. The street leading
to is still called “Bottle Road.”
These two firms flourished. British
colonial servants and, later, prosperous
Iraqi businessmen gathered
to quench their thirsts at the elegant
teak bar of the Alwiya Club off Firdus
Square in central Baghdad. The
40 CHALDEAN NEWS OCTOBER 2023