The Role of Beer in Ancient Medicine

As the world celebrates a muted Saint Patrick’s Day today, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, here’s a blog dedicated to all beer lovers around the world. I first read about the use of beer in the ancient world during my summer reading assignment for history, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, by Tom Standage. It is a fantastic read and highly recommended, not just for history buffs but for anyone who likes reading about history in an informal and interesting way.

Starting with a little history of Saint Patrick’s Day: it was a religious festival marking the arrival of Christianity in Ireland which was made into an official feast day. The festival has evolved into a day of revelry during which vast amounts of alcohol, particularly beer, are consumed. So in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, here's a short history of beer and its use in ancient times for much more than just getting drunk. 

Beer was one of the oldest beverages consumed by humans, second only to water. With the earliest record of beer dating back to 3500 BCE, humans have experienced the joys of drinking beer for a whopping 5500 years! The earliest evidence of beer brewing comes from the Sumerian settlement of Godin Tepe in modern-day Iran, but historians say it was hardly new even then. They believe beer was already an integral part of human life by that time. Some historians place the birth of beer to 7000 BCE in ancient China, but this beer or “kui” was made from rice and fruit; the Sumerians can still take credit for the modern version of beer, which is made from barley.

Interestingly, beer was almost certainly a chance discovery, probably by the accidental fermentation of grains used for baking bread. Once the Sumerians tasted it and experienced its undeniable buzz, there was clearly no going back. “Beer and bread” soon became the staple of Sumerian meals, probably in that order.

Sumerian clay tablet from 3300 BCE showing a human form
drinking beer from a conical vessel. Image: Khan Academy

Modern drinkers are fans of beer because it tastes and feels good (not that I would know!😏) but back in ancient times, beer had another important quality- it was the safest beverage to drink! The water was often too polluted and unsafe to consume. The Sumerians were so taken with beer that they ascribed its creation to the gods and it became a part of many myths. Beer was also mankind’s first recorded recipe- the Hymn to Ninkasi (the Sumerian goddess of beer!), which was written down in 1800 BCE but believed to be much older, is actually a recipe for making beer. The recipe goes:

Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - honey,
You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,

You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground,
The noble dogs keep away even the potentates,
You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes…

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweetwort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine…
The fermenting vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on top of a large collector vat…

They disguised the recipe in an ode to Ninkasi. Pretty cool, eh?

Another advantage of beer being assigned the “drink of the gods” was that both adults and children were allowed to consume beer. And unlike its present-day (dis)reputation, drinking beer was considered a sign of being civilized. The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest poems in history, proclaims Enkidu is a wild man because he “did not know how to eat bread, / nor had he ever learned to drink beer!”

Not only was drinking beer considered classy, but it was also a great way to pay people and keep them motivated. The great pyramids of Giza were actually built by laborers (and not slaves as originally thought) who got paid in beer. All that back-breaking work earned them as many as three beers a day! Those Ancient Egyptians were so enamored with beer that they studied it closely and they were the first to note its medicinal properties. Egyptians claimed it strengthened the body, and also held the ka, or soul of a human being, which interestingly, is also the Sumerian word for beer. The Egyptians made over a hundred drugs for various ailments from beer. It was used to treat stomach ailments, coughs, constipation, and as an enema. Clearly, even if it did not help with the disease, it made for a very happy patient.

As it turned out, beer did have some medicinal qualities. It was discovered recently that beer (albeit indirectly) provided antibiotics to ancient humans and offered protection against bacterial infections. Recently unearthed 2000-year-old Nubian bones were found to contain high concentrations of the antibiotic, tetracycline, which is commonly used today to treat infections. Obviously, the antibiotic was not available in those days, so scientists set out to determine how it came to be present in such old bones. Their theory is that beer was the source of the powerful antibiotic. Turns out tetracycline is a byproduct of the brewing process for beer, and when the Nubians consumed beer, they ingested the antibiotic as well.

Ancient physicians also used beer combined with other herbs to treat various maladies. Mesopotamians routinely cleaned their hands and wounds using a mixture of beer and hot water- an interesting alternative to hand sanitizers. Babylonian doctors prescribed applying a paste of various herbs mixed with beer and milk to treat injuries. Greek physician Philumenus used beer with crushed garlic to treat poisonous snake bites, and beer and mustard to treat arrow wounds. A Latin physician recommended warm beer with salt to treat coughs. Clearly in ancient times, people took the modern toast, “Drink to your Health!” very seriously. So maybe, just maybe, all we need to do to protect ourselves from the coronavirus is reach for that bottle of Corona! 😉

Bibliography:

Standage, Tom. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. Atlantic Books, 2007.

Mark, Joshua J. “The Hymn to Ninkasi, Goddess of Beer.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, www.ancient.eu/article/222/the-hymn-to-ninkasi-goddess-of-beer/.