Of gods, boats and fermentations: the origin of beer in the old Nile

In the vast history of pharaonic Egypt, beer was not only a drink, but a fundamental element that intertwined the divine with the everyday. Tradition attributes its creation to Osiris, God of fertility and the dead, a character who, according to mythology, made cereals from the fertile lands of the Nile, thus ensuring perpetual abundance.

Muralists, papyri and the art of fermentation

Our mosaic of knowledge about Egyptian beer is completed with an impressive catalog of illustrations, engravings and funeral texts that reveal step by step how this ancestral drink was made. It is surprising to discover that in several tombs there is a rudimentary manual of the process, from the collection of grains to transport in boats, through the creation of cakes that would be the precursors of the liquid ferment.

What you may do is that the Egyptians preferred to use a red wheat, called spell, more accessible and cheap than barley. How much that town would have given for having access to the alcohol of the cane or beet, which they still did not know!

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One of the most fascinating findings is a hieroglyphic tablet that details how to germinate the grains in water, with precise instructions on moisture, drying and sun exposure. It is like an ancestral recipe that still resonates in modern artisanal elaboration kitchens.

A Zózime papyrus also points out that sprouts were ground and then transformed into special breads that, being wet, became the base ferment. Magic occurred when honey or dates were added instead of current refined sugar, and natural yeast did its silent work in dark cavas or fresh caverns.

The beer trade: from domestic cuisine to the nobility of work

In the early times, beer manufacturing was a task that remained in the hands of women in the home. However, over time, the trade became a specialized role, with beer teachers who enjoyed recognition and, in some cases, even had funeral rights in the Egyptian necropolis, a testimony of their social status.

The brewers of Alexandria, for example, were considered artists of the ferment, and their work was so valued that some held titles linked to divinity, as ‘Head of the endowment of birds and amon brewer’.

More than a simple drink: beer as sustenance and ritual in Egypt

It is surprising to know that the classic Egyptian beer was, in fact, a pasty dough rather than a drinkable liquid. The texture was thick, almost like a puree, and its consumption used to make a bucket, not with a glass, like current beers.

For the Egyptians, beer was more than a food: it was a vital component in their diet, next to bread and onion. In addition, it was used in medicinal treatments, for example, mixed with honey and onion to relieve certain evils, and also served as a form of payment. The first strike in the registered history, at the time of the pharaoh Ramses III, had as a claim the absence of beer among the rewards.

Religious rituals and offerings were also linked to beer. The Egyptians believed that this drink helped feed the KA, the spiritual presence of the deceased, as well as to strengthen the relationship between the living and their gods in festivities and ceremonies in honor of Osiris and other deities.

Ceremonies, offerings and eternal life: beer in Egyptian mythology

Ancient texts, such as the chapters of the book of the dead and inscriptions in pyramids, show how much value was attributed to beer. It was an indispensable offering in the tombs and in the temples, a symbol of abundance and vitality that accompanied the deceased on their journey to eternity.

Even the gods drank beer in their divine stories, and the norms of behavior recommended moderation and respect in their consumption, reflecting the social and spiritual importance of this drink in all aspects of Egyptian life.

From its funeral rituals to the advice in its teachings, beer was much more than a simple food complement: it was a symbol of connection with the divine, a source of livelihood and an act of social communion that has endured through the millennia.