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The History
of Beer
Contributed by Hangs Loose
(Author Unkown) |
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Between
10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their
nomadic hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain
was the first domesticated crop that started that farming
process.
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The
oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old
and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia and the
ancient cities of Babylon and Ur. It is said that the Sumerians
discovered the fermentation process by chance. No one knows
today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece
of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began
to ferment and a inebriating pulp resulted.
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A
seal around 4,000 years old is a Sumerian "Hymn to Ninkasi",
the goddess of brewing. This "hymn" is also a recipe
for making beer. A description of the making of beer on this
ancient engraving in the Sumerian language is the earliest account
of what is easily recognized as barley, followed by a pictograph
of bread being baked, crumbled into water to form a mash, and
then made into a drink that is recorded as having made people
feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful." It could
be that baked bread was a convenient method of storing and transporting
a resource for making beer. The Sumerians
were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be the first
civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a "divine
drink" which certainly was a gift from the gods.
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From
the Gilgamesh Epic, written in the 3rd millennium B.C., we learn
that not only bread but also beer was very important. This epic
is recognized as one of the first great works of world literature.
Ancient oral sagas from the beginning of human history were
recorded in writing for the first time. The Gilgamesh Epic describes
the evolution from primitive man to "cultured man".
"Enkidu, a shaggy, unkempt, almost bestial primitive man,
who ate grass and could milk wild animals, wanted to test his
strength against Gilgamesh, the demigod-like sovereign. Taking
no chances, Gilgamesh sent a (prostitute) to Enkidu to learn
of his strengths and weaknesses. Enkidu enjoyed a week with
her, during which she taught him of civilization. Enkidu knew
not what bread was nor how one ate it. He had also not learned
to drink beer. The (prostitute) opened her mouth and spoke to
Enkidu: 'Eat the bread now, O Enkidu, as it belongs to life.
Drink also beer, as it is the custom of the land.' Enkidu drank
seven cups of beer and his heart soared. In this condition he
washed himself and became a human being."
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The
Babylonians became the rulers of Mesopotamia after the Sumerian
empire collapsed during the 2nd millennium bc. Their culture
was derived from that of the Sumerians, and as a consequence
of this, they also mastered the art of brewing beer. Today we
know that the Babylonians knew how to brew 20 different types
of beer. In ancient times beer was cloudy and unfiltered. The
"drinking straws" were used to avoid getting the brewing
residue, which was very bitte in the mouth. Beer from Babylon
was exported and distributed as far away as Egypt. |
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Hammurabi,
an important Babylonian King, decreed the oldest known collection
of laws. One of these laws established a daily beer ration.
This ration was dependent on the social standing of the individual,
a normal worker received 2 liters, civil servants 3 liters,
administrators and high priests 5 liters per day. In these ancient
times beer was often not sold, but used as barter. The Egyptians
carried on the tradition of beer brewing. They also used unbaked
bread dough for making beer and added dates to the brew to improve
the taste. The importance of beer brewing in ancient Egypt can
be seen from the fact that the scribes created an extra hieroglyph
for "brewer".
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Although
beer as we know it had its origins in Mesopotamia, fermented
beverages of some sort or another were produced in various
forms around the world. For example, Chang is a Tibetan beer
and Chicha is a corn beer and kumis is a drink produced from
fermented camel milk. The word beer comes from the Latin word
bibere, meaning "to drink", and the Spanish word
cerveza originates from the Greek goddess of agriculture,
Ceres. After Egypt was succeeded by the Greeks and Romans,
beer continued to be brewed. Plinius reported of the popularity
of beer in the Mediterranean area before wine took hold. In
Rome, wine became ambrosia from the god Bacchus. Beer was
only brewed in the outer areas of the Roman Empire where wine
was difficult to obtain. For the Romans beer was considered
a barbarian drink. |
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The
oldest proof that beer was brewed on German soil, comes from
around 800 B.C. in the early Hallstatt Period, where beer amphora
found near the present day city of Kulmbach have been dated
back to this time. As Tacitus, who first wrote about the ancient
Germans or Teutons, put it like this: "To drink, the Teutons
have a horrible brew fermented from barley or wheat, a brew
which has only a very far removed similarity to wine".
Beer of that era could not be stored, was cloudy and produced
almost no foam. Early civilizations found the mood-altering
properties of beer supernatural, and intoxication was considered
divine. Beer, it was thought, must contain a spirit or god,
since drinking the liquid so possessed the spirit of the drinker.
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The
ancient Germans regarded beer not only a sacrifice to the gods
but they, as in Egypt, also brewed beer for their own enjoyment.
For example, in the Finnish poetic saga Kalewala, 400 verses
are devoted to beer but only 200 were needed for the creation
of the earth. According to the Edda, the great Nordic epic,
wine was reserved for the gods, beer belonged to mortals and
mead to inhabitants of the realm of the dead. Beer brewing played
an important role in daily lives. Beer was clearly so desired
that it led nomadic groups into village life. Beer was considered
a valuable (potable) foodstuff and workers were often paid with
jugs of beer.
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