CultureThe Middle East

Beer and wine

6,001 BCE

Perhaps the reason anyone bothered growing grain at all

In depth

The "beer hypothesis" — that grain was first grown for drink rather than food — is contested, but points at something real: the earliest great structures, such as Göbekli Tepe, show traces of large-scale fermentation. Feasting gathers people, and gathered people can build. Whatever the order, beer in Mesopotamia was paid as wages, and its recipe written down among the very first texts.

For children

In Georgia archaeologists have found jars with wine residue from 6000 BCE. Fermented drink was safer than water, kept well, and belonged to feasting and worship. Some researchers argue beer may have come before bread.

Connects to

Göbekli Tepe9,501 BCE
Farming begins9,501 BCE
Writing is invented3,201 BCE

Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org