Beer and Ancient Egypt

Other than the Sumerians, there was another ancient civilization capable of producing and consuming beer. The Sumerians were known as beer consumers. They produced it from the barley that grew in the fertile lands of the Tigris and the Euphrates River. Women had the monopoly of the beer brewing industry with the female goddess Ninkasi as the testament to this dominance. However, the Sumerians were not just the drunkards of beer in the ancient world. Just at the southwest of region of Mesopotamia, another civilization flourish and proved to be another beer drinking civilization. The Egyptians flourish for thousands of years. Its fertile lands were fit to cultivate barley which was used to produce beer or what they called heneket or booza.

Sumerian Women and Beer

About 5000 BCE, civilization began to spring up in the Fertile Crescent. The two rivers of Euphrates and Tigris gave birth to a civilization that would last for thousands of years. The civilization of Sumer brought new developments to mankind. It developed so much that the modern had taken for granted. From writing to the wheel, the Sumerians made many progress for mankind. Including to its line of developments was the beer. Sumerians had during their time gave importance and reverence to their favorite beverage.

Purity Law: Protecting Beer in Bavaria

William (Wilhelm) IV, Duke of Bavaria

Before the advent of water treatment and water safety laws, water quality was very poor. It was only use for washing, bathing, but never for human drinking. It was a custom of the people to drink processed beverages, like wine, ale, and also for beer. Popularity of beer led into problems in productions. In order to protect the consumers of beer, two dukes enacted the Purity.