A short history
Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now mainly Iraq, the Sumerians built some of the world’s first cities from around the fourth millennium BCE. Beer was part of daily life from the start. Chemical residue on pottery from Godin Tepe in western Iran, dated to around 3500–3100 BCE, is among the earliest evidence of barley beer in the region.
Cuneiform writing gives us a remarkable record. Clay tablets list beer rations given to workers, recording daily allocations for labourers, and many scholars see beer as a key part of early economies. The Hymn to Ninkasi, the goddess of beer, dates to around 1800 BCE and describes steps of brewing, including soaking malt, mixing mash and filtering the finished beer into a vat. Around the same time, the Code of Hammurabi laid down rules for tavern keepers, including harsh punishments for cheating customers.
The Epic of Gilgamesh also mentions beer. The wild man Enkidu becomes “civilised” after eating bread and drinking beer.
The beer culture
Mesopotamian beer was thick and cloudy, more like a nourishing porridge than a modern pint. Brewers used barley and sometimes emmer wheat, possibly with a baked grain bread called bappir. Dates or honey may have been added for sweetness. Hops were not used.
Drinkers often sipped beer through long reed straws to avoid the husks and sediment floating on top. Seals and artwork show people sharing from a single large vessel, suggesting beer was a social drink. Women were closely linked to brewing and tavern-keeping, and Ninkasi herself was a female deity.
Beer came in many varieties, with tablets recording terms for different strengths and colours, though scholars still debate exactly what each word meant.
Signature styles
- Sumerian barley beer: cloudy, low-alcohol and nourishing.
- Bappir-based beer: brewed with twice-baked grain loaves, a debated but fascinating technique.
- Date-sweetened beer: possibly flavoured with dates for extra sugar and fermentation.
Traveler’s tip
You can’t visit a Sumerian tavern, but you can see the world’s great Mesopotamian collections at the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Some breweries and universities have attempted recreations inspired by the Hymn to Ninkasi, including a well-known collaboration involving Anchor Brewing in the late 1980s. Look out for similar experimental beers at historical festivals.