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"He who does not know beer, does not know what is good"
Sumerian Proverb1
Beer is an alcoholic beverage typically brewed from cereals such as wheat and barley. It is a global phenomenon as the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the world2 and the third most widely consumed beverage behind water and tea.3 Beer experienced a convergent evolution, developing in many geographically diverse areas, including the Far East, the Americas, and the Middle East. In China, a beer brewed from rice, grapes, honey, and hawthorn fruits known as 'kui'4 emerged around 7,000 BCE.5 The Inca Peoples of the Americas brewed a similar drink from maize known as "Chicha de jora," traces of which have been found at sites such as Machu Picchu.6 The beverage was important to the Inca Peoples as a ritual consumption; and being forced to drink water in lieu of Chicha de jora was seen as a severe punishment.7 Evidence exists that beer may have been brewed as far back as 10,000 years ago in the Amazon Basin,8 making it a potential rival to the widely held belief that beer originated in Mesopotamia.9 Current research indicates the genesis of beer occurred as an accidental discovery by Natufian peoples of the Levant-the ancestors of the Sumerians-around 10,000 BCE. Their discovery occurred after wild barley, which they collected in jars, was incidentally moistened coming into contact with wild yeast, thus allowing the process of fermentation to occur.10 According to anthropologists Soloman Katz and Mary Voight, the Natufians continued this process as they sought the psychopharmalogical effects of alcohol and the social and nutritional benefits the infusion provided.11 The discovery of beer was revolutionary and spread throughout the world, eventually leading to the drink which is often consumed in modern times.
The intended purpose of this article is to demonstrate the fundamental role beer had in Sumerian civilization, and the broader implications the drink had for the civilizations which succeeded Sumer. This paper will begin by outlining how the desire to ferment beer likely led to sedentism and the domestication of cereals in the Near and Middle East, it will then examine the fundamental role played in both Sumerian spiritual and economic matters. The paper will then speak to the important nutritional role beer...