Brew Witches and Beer in Ancient Sumer

Brew Witches and Beer in Ancient Sumer

“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” Either Freud or Groucho said that, gently critiquing those who tend to read too much into everything. Sometimes, no doubt, a beer is just a beer, but like the cigar and other things elemental, there’s sometimes a tendency to see more.

Beer is liquid bread, and in ancient Sumer, beer making and bread making were different sides of the same task, usually performed by women at roughly the same time. According to some, the beer-making women in conical hats who sold the stuff to travelers were later reviled as witches. The last “brew witch” was burned in 1591, but priestesses who ran brewpubs had been treated harshly even in Babylon; according to the Code of Hammurabi (paragraph 282), ancient brew ladies who watered down their beer were to be drowned in the stuff.



When I order a beer in a restaurant, I sometimes feel like I’m sending a message that says, in effect, “No need to get fancy here; I just want some good food, no messing around. “ It’s a shame that Joe Six-Pack has been tainted by political maneuvering on all sides; he’s the stereotype of simple pleasures. No foams or powders for Joe; just give him some good food at a good price…and a beer.

Wine invites thoughtful contemplation. Beer propels convivial conversation. The first beer “hookahs” were developed in Sumer, and there’s evidence that communal drinking from one container with a series of straws is still practiced in some parts of the world. The Masai drink beer in groups using straws from a single container, and this mode of imbibing is associated with rites of passage (birth, marriage, death). Beer brings people together. It’s causal. It soothes the brain and you have to drink a whole lot before you get stupid. It’s got a magic to it.



Last weekend, I met up with Larry Bell (Bell’s Brewing) in Kalamazoo, and he told me about a get-together of ancient Near Eastern scholars who are meeting to talk about Babylonian brewing practices and drink some beer made in the style of “ancient Iraq,” circa the 19th century BC (beer was likely brewed long before this). In the course of researching for that get-together, I came across this poem to Ninkasi (roughly translated as “Woman who fills the mouth” – a beer goddess). This “hymn” is, to my understanding, the oldest extant beer “recipe.”

Hymn to Ninkasi

Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,

Having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished its great walls for you,
Ninkasi, having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished it's walls for you,

Your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
Ninkasi, your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.

You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - honey,

You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,

You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.

You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
Ninkasi, 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 sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (...)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)

The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.

When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.

Hammond

I've heard of a few breweries trying to make a modern facsimile of this recipe. I think Anchor even called theirs "Ninkasi."

A gathering at the Oriental Institute (one of my favorite places in Chicago) provided an opportunity to sample some beers brewed in the style of ancient Mesopotamia. There was a pot of malted barley and yeast bubbling away, and I noticed some Sumerologists sipping from it, so I joined in.



It was actually pretty tasty. I wouldn’t want to drink much of it, but it was as close as I’ve ever tasted to “liquid bread.” Drinking communally with straws, as mentioned, was standard in Sumer, and here’s a copper straw that was on exhibit (note: copper was not native to this region; it was precious and would have been brought from far away; that’s a good indication of beer’s status in this region at this time).



The Director of the OI pointed out to me a small clay tablet illustrating a woman drinking from a beer bowl with a straw.



Apparently, the nice man is waiting patiently for his turn.

My segment on Babylonian Beer (featuring our own lushwineandspirits) will air tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov 12, on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio. The segment will air twice, once during the 9-10AM broadcast of 848 and once during the 8-9PM broadcast. After that, it will be available anytime via podcast. You can listen at 91.5FM or at the WBEZ site: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/.

David, I registered solely for the purpose of letting you know I loved your piece on Brew Witches. (believe it or not I stumbled on it by accident while looking for a graphic for a South Australian pale ale I have bubbling away). I'd heard of the Hymn to Ninkasi but had never read it. I'll probably never use this registration again but thanks for a great read.

Dean Tummers

Dean Tummers wrote:David, I registered solely for the purpose of letting you know I loved your piece on Brew Witches. (believe it or not I stumbled on it by accident while looking for a graphic for a South Australian pale ale I have bubbling away). I'd heard of the Hymn to Ninkasi but had never read it. I'll probably never use this registration again but thanks for a great read.

Dean Tummers

Thanks, Dean, very kind of you.

This morning, I stumbled across this book:



http://www.silkroadgourmet.com/

I am intrigued by old recipe books like this and would like to try my hand at some Mesopotamian preparations. The URL listed above leads to lot of information about cooking in -- and several receipes from -- the ancient Near East.