“Ancient Sips: What 2,500-Year-Old Beer Cups Reveal About Humanity’s Dawn”
Sirwan Regional ProjectDrinking vessels found at the Khani Masi excavation site.
Beer was an important part of daily life and culture of Mesopotamia. According to the study, “ancient Near Eastern cuneiform texts and iconography unambiguously demonstrate the social, economic, and ritual significance of beer” and references to the fermented drink have been discovered in old accounting texts from the time. It is even mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem from Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving example of literature.
Glatz told Smithsonian that beer was more than just a drink for Mesopotamian culture. “[Beer] is a quintessential Mesopotamian food stuff,” she said. “Everyone drank it but it also has a social significance in ritual practices. It really defines Mesopotamian identities in many ways.”
In the past, archaeologists thought that the small ceramic cups were used for just drinking wine and that beer was consumed from a large communal jar with several straws. However, this study’s new analysis reveals that sometime after the third millennium B.C., there was a switch to the individualized cups.
Perruchini’s new technique has answered many long-held questions about the beer in Mesopotamia and also provided new insights overall into the cultural dimensions of the Babylonian empire. The technique will hopefully be effective at other excavation sites in the future and help researchers further understand the history of beer.
Next, read all about the fascinating history of beer. Then, see some vintage beer ads that are even more sexist than you’d imagine.
