Do We Really Have Beer to Thank for the First Writing and Cities?

Gastropod

Humanity’s love affair with beer goes *way* back: 5,000 years ago, the civilization that arose in Mesopotamia invented writing, and one of the very first things they wrote about was… beer! But where was beer itself invented? This episode, we’ve got the story of beer’s origins, the debate over whether humanity domesticated grains for brewing or for baking, and why beer was so essential to the smooth functioning of the world’s first cities and states. But the story of how we know this—how we can decipher millennia-old drinking songs written in a forgotten language and alphabet, analyze pottery to reconstruct the ingredients list for ancient brews, and even figure out that, for maximum authenticity, we need to drink the resulting beverage through a hollow reed—well, that’s perhaps even more fascinating! This week, archaeologist Tate Paulette is our guide as we meet the goddess of beer, sneak a peek at the letters of beer-brewing wives left behind by merchant husbands, and enjoy a time-traveling tasting of an ancient ale, produced with the help of cutting-edge science. Fill your glass and listen in—and don’t forget your straw!

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