Episode 49: Civilization's Frothy Foundation in Ancient Mesopotamia
Feb 19, 2024Episode 49
Marty Smarticus
Unlock the secrets of a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem and discover how it's not just a tribute to the goddess Ninkasi, but also a recipe for the beer that coursed through ancient Mesopotamia's veins. With my cohost, Phoenix, we celebrate the professional brewmasters of yore, whose precise record-keeping on clay tablets offers us a glimpse into a society where beer was more than a frothy beverage—it was a cornerstone of civilization, a currency, and a staple of sustenance.
As we clink our glasses filled with the past, join us in a lighthearted yet enlightening exploration of what Sumerian "Yelp reviews" might have entailed and how today's craft beer critiques echo the accountability of ancient beer transactions. We raise our cups not only to the grand empires and epic battles but to the vibrant day-to-day life that these historical artifacts represent. Toast with us to the tales that bubbled up from history's frothy depths and stay curious for more journeys into the lesser-known stories of our past.
Unlock the secrets of a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem and discover how it's not just a tribute to the goddess Ninkasi, but also a recipe for the beer that coursed through ancient Mesopotamia's veins. With my cohost, Phoenix, we celebrate the professional brewmasters of yore, whose precise record-keeping on clay tablets offers us a glimpse into a society where beer was more than a frothy beverage—it was a cornerstone of civilization, a currency, and a staple of sustenance.
As we clink our glasses filled with the past, join us in a lighthearted yet enlightening exploration of what Sumerian "Yelp reviews" might have entailed and how today's craft beer critiques echo the accountability of ancient beer transactions. We raise our cups not only to the grand empires and epic battles but to the vibrant day-to-day life that these historical artifacts represent. Toast with us to the tales that bubbled up from history's frothy depths and stay curious for more journeys into the lesser-known stories of our past.
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Speaker 3:
Welcome back, dear listeners, to another exciting episode of Smartikas Tales History. I'm your host, smartikas, with my cohost, pheonix, hello. Today we're going to dive deep into the fascinating world of ancient Mesopotamia and one of its most unexpected historical treasures, the Sumerian Beer Tablets.
Speaker 2:
Yes, but first have a sip of beer.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so I, I, I got beer. Um, this was kind of last minute again. Well, like I think we decided we had, we already had the story written, but what we were going to do was kind of last minute. I mean, I it was kind of I feel like it was kind of obvious that we're doing a beer tablet. Well, yeah, you should definitely have a beer. Um Phoenix is gluten free. Um it may, because she's you're allergic to it, right? So?
Speaker 2:
I am. It makes me sick.
Speaker 3:
So I miss it so much. You can get gluten free beer, but we didn't think about it in time. It's hard to get, I guess, so I wouldn't know.
Speaker 2:
I've never tried the only place I could actually find it cause the the liquor store here in town. Neither one of them. Cause if there's two of them in our little tiny town, neither one of them has gluten. Uh, has a yeah, gluten free beer.
Speaker 3:
I'm assuming there's probably different brands. What, what kind do you prefer?
Speaker 2:
You know, I've never had gluten free beer, oh you've never had it in general. No. But I asked and they were like no, we don't have anything like that. So I went online and the only place I could find it was freaking Amazon and you had to order a lot. And I was like no, no, thank you. What if it's terrible?
Speaker 3:
Um. So I have probably my favorite beer um angry orchard hard cider. A lot of people don't like ciders. A lot of people crap all over them. I like cider beer.
Speaker 2:
I like cider.
Speaker 3:
My dad would call it a girly beer because it's flavored. He's like, oh, that's a wine cooler, that's what he would call it.
Speaker 2:
I still like it.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I still like right.
Speaker 2:
I, I don't know. I've never judged any, but any man for ever ordering a Cosmopolitan because they're good, so I'm not going to judge someone for drinking a flavored beer Anyhow, so enjoy your fruity beer.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, thanks, don't worry about it.
Speaker 2:
Sorry, I didn't think about it Now, when you think of ancient history, what comes to mind? Perhaps? Grand empires, epic battles or towering monuments. But how about beer? Yes, you heard it right Beer. Beer holds a special place in the annals of history, and the Sumerian beer tablets are a window into a world where beer was not just a beverage but currency and sustenance.
Speaker 3:
Our story begins in the cradle of civilization, Ancient Mesopotamia, roughly 4,000 years ago. Imagine a bustling city in what is now southern Iraq, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers nourished the land and gave rise to one of the world's earliest urban societies, the Sumerians.
Speaker 2:
The Sumerians were a people who celebrated the art of brewing beer. It wasn't just a drink for them, it was an essential part of daily life, so much so that they even had a goddess dedicated to beer, and her name was Ninkasi. She was also the goddess of fertility and harvest, this very same goddess who has a 3,900 year old poem about her that just so happens to be another recorded recipe.
Speaker 3:
For the Sumerians, brewing beer was a profession and Sumerian brewers took it seriously. They had intricate recipes, fermentation techniques and even a system for recording and distributing their precious brews. These recordings, however, were not always consistent from decade to decade or year to year. In fact, they were often different depending on which bureaucrat wrote them up, which kind of makes me flee to say that it's very similar than how we do things today with how many, like IPA beers, for instance, all kinds of you know everybody makes their beer differently. There's no set. You know, this is how you make it and that's it. Yeah, it's not strict.
Speaker 2:
These clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script also provide us with a fascinating glimpse into the Sumerian beer trade. They functioned as ancient receipts for beer transactions. Each tablet is like a window into a bygone era, showing us how beer was brewed, distributed and consumed in Sumerian society. These receipts not only detail the amount of beer exchanged but also the names of those involved, ensuring accountability in the transaction, which leads me to think it was a learned lesson of someone was screwing around, messed up the beer, and they're like oh no, it wasn't me, it was Sven. Oh yeah. And they're like oh Sven, how dare you? And he's like I didn't even touch it, I wasn't there.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
I don't even know how to make beer. I'm a carpenter.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, scholars have translated these tablets and it is astonishing to see the meticulous nature of Sumerian record keeping. They even accounted for different qualities and types of beer, much like we have various craft beers today.
Speaker 2:
And ratings and reviews. Obviously, yeah, yeah. So you know your Yelp review isn't as new as you think it is.
Speaker 3:
I was just going to say I wonder what the Yelp reviews were back then.
Speaker 2:
Oh gosh, this tastes like Donkey P. Don't touch it. He's still just. He's still putting it out there, but no one's drinking it Bob.
Speaker 3:
how do you know what Donkey P tastes like?
Speaker 2:
Don't you worry about it.
Speaker 3:
Mind your business, stay in your lane. Oh, my gosh, oh.
Speaker 1:
Just like the first person I've ever been in milk Right.
Speaker 2:
Well, the calf does, and I think it'll be fine.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:
I mean, milk wasn't invented, but you discovered it. Right. How's milk, or goat milk or anything whatever?
Speaker 2:
Right. As mentioned previously, what makes these tablets truly special is that beer was not just a drink for the Sumerians. It was also a form of payment for laborers, a medium of exchange and an integral part of religious rituals.
Speaker 3:
Imagine a world where your daily wage could be paid in pints of beer. It's a far cry from today's digital transactings, but I digress. The Sumerian beer tablets also reveal the importance of women in the brewing industry. Women were often the primary brewers and vendors of beer, and these tablets showcase their prominent role in ancient society.
Speaker 2:
These tablets also remind us that history isn't just about kings and wars. It's about the everyday lives of ordinary people. It's about the foods they ate, the drinks they savored and the culture they'd created, especially around something so simple and ordinary as a fermented cereal beverage.
Speaker 3:
As we raise a glass to the Sumerian beer tablets, let's remember that even the most mundane artifacts can hold the secrets of a vibrant and complex civilization. That's all for today's episode of Smarticus Tells History. I hope that you have found the story of the Sumerian beer tablet as fascinating as we did. Join us next time as we explore another hidden gem from the annals of history. Until then, stay curious, my friends, and don't forget to like and subscribe.