Beer

Beer in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Hqt// or //Henqet//


 * Hieroglyphics:**



Along with bread, beer was a staple of the ancient Egyptians, and was drunk daily by adults and children alike. From very early on, bread and beer were central to the nourishment of the Egyptian people, and both were consumed at every meal, by everyone, and no meal was considered complete without them. Bread was solid beer, and beer was liquid bread. Unlike most modern beers, ancient Egyptian beer was very cloudy and thick with plenty of solids, and had to be strained with wooden siphons used as a straw. It was also highly nutritious, quite reminiscent of gruel. Egyptian beer was an important source of protein, minerals, and vitamins and was so valuable that beer jars were often used as a measurement of value. Ancient Egyptian beer was not very intoxicating (the alcoholic content ranged from 1 to 6 percent), sweet (bitter hops were unknown), and without bubbles.

The use of bread and beer as wages and currency meant that they became synonymous with prosperity and well-being. The ancient Egyptians identified them so closely with the necessities of life that the phrase "bread and beer" meant sustenance in general; their combined hieroglyphics formed the symbol for "food." The phrase "bread and beer" was also used as an everyday greeting, much like wishing someone good luck or health.

Although beer was the staple drink of the poor, the wealthy also enjoyed beer, and it was offered to the gods and buried with the dead. The pharaoh Sahure gave to the goddess Nekhbet 800 offerings of bread and beer; to Wadjet, 4,800 offering of bread and beer; and to Ra, 138 offerings of bread and beer. Wages were sometimes paid in beer - the workmen at the Pyramids of Giza were given five kinds of beer, thrice daily, as well as four kinds of wine. Beer, together with bread, oil, and vegetables, were the standard wages workers received from their employers. The daily ration during pharaonic times was two jars of beer, containing somewhat more than two litres each (eight American pints).

Because it was made using boiled water, beer was a healthier drink than plain water drawn from the river or a canal, which was often polluted. Beer also had a more direct link to health - it was used as a sedative and it was the basis for several medical concoctions of herbs and spices. Half an onion mixed with frothy beer was said to cure constipation, while powdered olives mixed with beer cured indigestion; a mixture of saffron and beer massaged onto a woman's abdomen was prescribed for labor pains.

In the //Instructions of Ani// the mother "sent you to school when you were ready to be taught writing, and she waited for you daily at home with bread and beer." An inscription dating to 2200 B.C.E. states that "The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer." Beer was preferred cool, and jars were chilled in river water before being drank. Meat and fish were sometimes steeped in beer prior to cooking. Ancient names of varieties of beer have been found - "the beautiful and good," "the heavenly," "the joy-bringer," "the addition to the meal," and "the plentiful."

There was - among the better-off at least - the danger of overindulging, and educators were aware of it. In the //Instructions of Kheti// the student is warned: "When you have eaten three loaves of bread and swallowed two jugs of beer, and the body has not yet had enough, fight against it." Public drunkenness was regarded as shameful: "Do not take to drinking, because if you speak, something other than what you meant will come out of your mouth; you will not know what you are saying. You will fall down and break your limbs. Nobody will take you by the hand (offer you help); your drinking companions will stand apart and say: Look at that sot! If someone comes to look for you to ask your advice, he will find you lying on the floor like a little baby."

"To make a beer hall" and "to sit in the beer hall" were popular Egyptian expressions meaning "to have a good time" or "to carouse." Beer making and scenes of the ancient Egyptian brewery were depicted on the walls of tombs. Traditionally, beer making was regarded as a female profession, as it was an off-shoot of bread-making - the basis of Egyptian beer were loaves of specially made bread. Bakeries and breweries were sometimes situated next to each other. One Egyptian tale even credits beer with saving humankind from destruction. The goddess Hathor was charged by Ra to punish humankind. In the form of a lioness, she began to kill. So great was the slaughter that Ra feared people would be wiped out, and ordered the goddess to halt. But blood-mad, she ignored him. So Ra poured out 7,000 jars of beer dyed red on the fields, where it shone like a vast mirror. Hathor stopped to lap the beer, thinking it blood. She became intoxicated, fell asleep, and forgot about her bloody mission. Hathor then became the joyous goddess of beer and brewing. A special type of beer was brewed in honor of this story during festivals - it was made using spices, dates, honey, almonds, myrrh, aromatic resins, poppies, and powered red orche.

The ancient Egyptian method of producing beer was probably similar to the one still in use in the Sudan today: first barley (in rare cases wheat or millet) was coarsely ground. One quarter of the grain was soaked in water and left in the sun, while the rest was formed into loaves of bread and lightly baked, to preserve the enzymes. The loaves were then crumbled and mixed with the soaked grain, which had fermented. More water and a bit of pre-made beer were added, and the mixture was left to ferment. When the fermentation was complete, the liquid was strained through a sieve and poured into jars. Sometimes pieces of fruit or spices were added as flavoring, or poppies for a narcotic effect.

Seventeen brands of ancient Egyptian beer were known - beer colored red was the most popular, while black beer was the strongest brew. Diodorus states that Egyptian beer was "for smell and sweetness of taste not much inferior to wine." With pasteurizing unknown, beer often turned bad in the hot climate, and deceased pharaohs were promised "bread which doesn't crumble and beer which doesn't turn sour." Large-scale beer production seems to have been a royal monopoly. Temples had their own breweries, while brewing in towns and villages was farmed out. One of the earliest known breweries, which operated at Hierakonpolis during the 4th century B.C.E., produced more than 1,000 liters of beer a day. Beer was also imported from Qede.

A beer very close to the ancient Egyptian brews, called //bouza//, is made in present-day Egypt. Another similar beer, called //merissa//, is brewed in the Sudan.

The Drinks of Ancient Egypt