Beer in Published and Unpublished Texts from the Third Millennium B.C

Abstract

Alcoholic beverages were discovered in prehistoric times. The cuneiform texts demonstrated that there were many beers in Mesopotamia, beer of all kinds, which were considered to be refreshing and favorite drinks of the ancient Iraqis.
Alcoholic beverages were produced, perhaps by chance, and their industry dates back to the Neolithic era. The beer industry was associated with the pottery industry, and it is believed that the large jars with arched mouths that were found in different regions were specific to the beer industry. Therefore, the discovery of beer was made in Mesopotamia long before the invention of writing.
The Sumerians are familiar with the beverage industry. The first sign of beverage is contained in the cuneiform texts and its pictorial stage in the form of a jar with grains of barley in it, and another sign, which looks like a jar with an extension below, undoubtedly leads to another yard in which the brewed barley juice is filtered.
Early on, the population of Mesopotamia inferred this industry through drinking scenes depicted on seals and carvings.
The cuneiform texts referred to a great deal of information on beer (KAŠ), including texts that date back to the period 3200-3000 BC. Beer was not just a rural agricultural product of the primitive Sumerian settlements but was one of the products subject to the central economy of the large Sumerian cities. As information was available about beer in three types of cuneiform sources, the first of which is through administrative texts, texts of myths and epics, legal articles that mentioned beer, as well as administrative and economic texts that specifically mentioned the production and distribution of beer. It contains detailed records of the raw materials required to produce beer, the quantities of beer produced, and texts that represent commercial and economic transactions such as beer delivery texts.