The Gods Drank Barley: Beer, Myth, and Early Civilization

These days, it’s common knowledge that beer is among the earliest drinks ever made by humans. We can trace the origins of beer-related objects and activities back to ancient times. Findings from the Sumerian settlement of Godin Tepe in modern-day Iran have corroborated evidence of early beer brewing, suggesting that beer manufacture may have begun as early as 3500–3100 BCE. Two persons drinking together are depicted on a stamp seal from Tepe Gawra, which dates back to 4000 BCE and is located close to Mosul, Iraq. This suggests that drinking has been a social activity for thousands of years.

Beer in Sumerian Mythology: a Source of Enlightenment

Beer is a major theme in many Sumerian stories, and the Sumerians believed that the gods were responsible for its production. Ninkasi was the daughter of the main Sumerian god, Enki, according to Sumerian mythology. She is supposed to have been formed to fulfil wants and satiate hearts, having been birthed from “sparkling fresh water.” The Hymn to Ninkasi, a tablet written about 1800 BCE but thought to be much earlier, is the first nearly finished work. The Hymn to Ninkasi is a brewing recipe as well as a tribute to the goddess of beer.

Apart from Ninkasi, the later Mesopotamian nations of Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia worshipped Tammuz, a god of food and vegetation, who may have been linked to Dumuzi in the Sumerian pantheon of gods. In addition to being the goddess of love, fertility, and war, Inanna was also the patroness of tavern keepers, and Dumuzi had a well-known courtship with her.

Beer was connected to the act of creation, just like the Kalevela. Ashnan is the Sumerian goddess of grain fields. During the Early Dynastic period (2900-2350 BCE), Ashnan emerged as a very ancient divinity. According to her tale, Enlil created her and her brother Lahar, the deity of cattle, to feed the gods. Enlil made the decision to create mankind to serve the gods when they overindulged in alcohol and were unable to do their duties.

Beer in Egyptian Mythology: Saviour of Mankind

Beer and homes have a tight association since, like in Mesopotamia, women were the first brewers in Egypt. Egyptians of all ages drank beer because they believed it to be healthier than water. The goddesses’ significance in connection to beer was also significant. Similar to how women divided up household chores, alcohol in ancient Egypt was associated with multiple goddesses. Beer was closely linked to the goddess Hathor, even though Tenenet was the Egyptian goddess of beer.

As it happened, pregnant women asked Tenenet, the goddess of childbirth, to protect their uteruses. As a result, Tenenet was seen as somewhat representing the duties associated with women; aside from bearing children, women were often responsible for manufacturing bread and beer.

One of the most important and ancient Egyptian gods was Hathor. In keeping with her status as the goddess of music, she is frequently spotted holding a sistrum, an antiquated musical instrument. As befitting her position as the goddess of maternity, she is frequently portrayed as the pharaoh’s mother, nursing him while he was a young boy. But Hathor had a darker side and could assume the form of the goddess of battle, Sekhmet. The Sun god Ra dispatched Sekhmet, who was notorious for her unbridled fury, to slay evildoers. Sekhmet plotted to exterminate all of humanity when she was unable to control her bloodlust. Ra ordered his high priest to create seven thousand jars of beer mixed with red ochre and distribute them throughout the country in order to foil Sekhmet’s scheme. Sekhmet found the red drink while rushing through Egypt in preparation for the slaughter of humanity. Thinking it was blood, he drank every last drop. Unable to carry out her plan, Sekhmet drunkenly wandered away as her thirst was satiated and slept soundly till she finally returned to being Hathor. Therefore, beer is the human race’s saviour in Egyptian mythology.

Beer in Greek Mythology: Cure for Heartbreak

A minor rustic deity of intoxication in Greek mythology, Silenus is typically connected to his foster son, Dionysus. He frequently appears as a cheerful elderly man with an ass’s ears and tail, a large belly, and a snub nose. It is stated that he has to be carried by either donkeys or satyrs because he is typically intoxicated. The god Comus, sometimes known as Komos, the son and cupbearer of Dionysus, is still associated with the culture of drinking. In addition to being the “god of excess,” he was the Greek deity of humour, jokes, and inebriated celebration.

According to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter refuses to eat or drink because she is grieving the loss of her daughter Persephone. When Metaneira offers her red wine, she declines and requests that a special beverage be prepared for her as a sacred beverage by combining barley meal, water, and pennyroyal. This gives the beverage hallucinogenic qualities, providing us with an ancient illustration of the expression “drinking your sorrows away.” Additionally, according to a ceremonial formula cited by Christian writers, initiates of Demeter’s cults also drank beer after fasting.

Earning its Bad Reputation

The perception of beer as a beverage for the gods changed somewhat during the Hellenic era. The Greeks thought beer was the inferior beverage of barbarians and preferred wine. Nonetheless, a sizable portion of the Greek populace would have consumed beer. The ancient Greeks’ diet would not have been all that different from anyone else’s, even though they deliberately created an image of themselves based on an ideal diet in contrast to that of others (foreigners and “barbarians”). This is because they also had barley to make beer, which most of their neighbours drank, especially since it was thought to be nutrient-dense and practical for storing cereal and purifying water. Therefore, the true opposition to beer was probably between the wealthy Greeks who lived in cities and wanted to drink wine and the impoverished Greeks who lived in rural areas and preferred beer, which was simple to make at home.

Although wine replaced beer as the favoured alcoholic beverage throughout the Republican era, beer was nevertheless significant to the early Romans. The Roman Emperor Julian wrote a poem praising wine and mentioning that beer smelled like a goat, despite the fact that Thracians, one kind of gladiator, were known to drink beer made from rye since the 5th century BCE, as Hellanicus of Lesbos notes in operas. Clearly, despite its divine connotations, beer was no longer regarded as a beverage appropriate for an emperor by this time in history.

Domina Tempora