For the Love of Sumerian Beer

By Katy Wimhurst

In the kitchen, Mother sings a hymn to the goddess Ninkasi in a voice as sweet as date syrup. “It is you, Ninkasi, who bakes the beer bread in the oven, and then adds the ground grain and the water.” She is squatting, with beer bread between her fingers, carefully crumbling it into a ceramic jar. Her calloused hands press love into everything. 

“What flavour is this one?” I interrupt her singing. 

“Cardamom, cinnamon, and honey.” Mother knows twenty-four recipes for beer.  

“Father’s favourite.”

She bites her lower lip at his mention. A bruise stripes her right cheek. It appeared yesterday, the night after I heard Father yelling again. 

“This beer’s not for us,” she says. She adds four bowls of water to the jar and a bowl of malted barley flour, and then stirs the mix firmly with a rod. Finally, she places a cloth over the top. “Be a good girl and take this to the storeroom.”

The jar is heavy. Out in the courtyard, the sun scorches my face. Father is seated in the shade, talking with another merchant. I dislike how the merchant stares at me, as if I’m a fig ripe for eating. Noticing me with the jar, Father scowls. He is jealous of how much silver Mother earns from selling her beer. 

The storeroom is cooler; the jars are aligned along the walls, and the heady smell of fermenting beer fills my nostrils. I set my jar down, then glance at the door to check no one can see. I peel the cloth off an older jar, grab a reed straw, and suck up some beer. 

I close my eyes, savouring the taste. It is like drinking the essence of my parents, the sweetness of Mother, the sourness of Father.

Note: Beer was a central commodity in ancient Sumeria (2000 BC). Workers were paid in it, everyone drank it (including kids), and the women initially made it until the production was taken over by men and larger industries. The Sumerians drank beer through reed straws, often several people drinking from the same vessel. There is a hymn to the goddess of beer.

About the author

Katy Wimhurst’s first collection of short stories was Snapshots of the Apocalypse (2022). Her fiction has been published in numerous magazines, including The Guardian, Cafe Irreal, and ShooterLit. Her visual poems have appeared in magazines like Ric Journal, 3AM, and Steel Incisors. Her first book of visual poems, Fifty-One Trillion Bits, is to be published by Trickhouse Press in 2023. She interviews writers for various magazines, including 3AM. She is housebound with the illness M.E. 

About the illustration

The illustration is Sumerian Beer Drinkers With Straws, ca. 3000 BCE. In the collection of the Vorderasiatischen Museums Berlin, Germany. Photo by Ayrat Ismagilov.