Time to dig into some ancient beer history with Tate Paulette and his new book, In the Land of Ninkasi.
First off, Paulette seems to be a big beer fan so this book already is a step ahead of most academic inclined books where the author doesn’t seem excited about the topic or is tamping down excitement to remain scholarly.
Second, he is very clear about what can and cannot be guessed at when it comes to archaeology. Claims are made but they are backed up by evidence and when that evidence is too slight or flimsy, Paulette will say so.
With that housekeeping out of the way, In the Land of Ninkasi covers beer and brewing in Mesopotamia in ancient times. From where it was brewed and by whom. What is was brewed with. How it was brewed, all the way to who drank it and why. Each step is backed up with evidence and if there is an alternative thesis, he brings that up as well.
Paulette also isn’t afraid to be challenging to our normal thought process. An example being the Minimalist Trap. From our perch in 2024, we cannot assume that we are at the pinnacle of how to brew. We may be but that does not mean that Ancient Mesopotamian brewing wasn’t complex too. There were purpose built brewing areas and specialized equipment back then too.
Another interesting aspect is that the records we have from that time are basically inventories and sales slips. It can be hard to say what a day in the life of a brewer was when it is all just so much zeroes and ones.
Before you think this book is about literal dust and dry facts, the Epic of Gilgamesh is also wove into this tale and one part that I did not remember is about Shiduri, the tavern keeper at the end of the world. How cool that an epic warrior seeks help from a bar owner.
This book is academic in parts as well and those do make the reading drag a bit. There are instances of explaining the different languages and what the words translate to for our times and there is some inside baseball as well that glazed my eyes a bit but overall, this history opened my eyes as to how this time in beer will be remembered hundreds and thousands of years from now.