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

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! Learn more about your ad
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