Editing Beer (section)

=== Early civilisations ===

Beer is recorded in the written history of [[ancient Egypt]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Beer |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britanica]] |edition=online |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-66615/beer |access-date=27 August 2023 |via=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Homan |first1=Michael M. |date=June 2004 |title=Beer and its drinkers: An ancient Near Eastern love story |journal=Near Eastern Archaeology |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=84–95 |doi=10.2307/4132364 |jstor=4132364 |s2cid=162357890 }}</ref> and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Archeologists link rise of civilization and beer's invention |date=8 November 2010 |website=[[CBS News]] |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/archeologists-link-rise-of-civilization-and-beers-invention/ |access-date=10 November 2010}}</ref> Approximately 5000&nbsp;years ago, workers in the city of [[Uruk]] (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=George |first=Alison |date=22 June 2016 |title=The world's oldest paycheck was cashed in beer |magazine=[[New Scientist]] |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094658-the-worlds-oldest-paycheck-was-cashed-in-beer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625140953/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094658-the-worlds-oldest-paycheck-was-cashed-in-beer/ |archive-date=2016-06-25}}</ref> During the building of the [[Egyptian pyramids]], each worker got a daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Abigail |last=Tucker |date=August 2011 |title=The beer archaeologist |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-beer-archaeologist-17016372/ |access-date=30 October 2023 }}</ref>

Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess [[Ninkasi]], known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Prince |first=J. Dyneley |year=1916 |title=A Hymn to Ninkasi |journal=The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=40–44 |doi=10.1086/369806 |doi-access=free}}</ref> which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and the ancient advice ("Fill your belly. Day and night make merry") to [[Gilgamesh]], recorded in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' by the alewife [[Siduri]], may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartman |first1=L.F. |last2=Oppenheim |first2=A.L. |year=1950 |title=On beer and brewing techniques in ancient Mesopotamia |journal=Supplement to the Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=10}}</ref> The [[Ebla tablets]], discovered in 1974 in [[Ebla]], Syria, show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC.<ref>Dumper, Stanley. 2007, p. 141.</ref> A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike [[sake]], mould was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by [[Mastication|chewing]] or [[malting]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick E. |last2=Zhang |first2=Juzhong |last3=Tang |first3=Jigen |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhiqing |last5=Hall |first5=Gretchen R. |last6=Moreau |first6=Robert A. |last7=Nuñez |first7=Alberto |last8=Butrym |first8=Eric D. |last9=Richards |first9=Michael P. |last10=Wang |first10=Chen-Shan |last11=Cheng |first11=Guangsheng |last12=Zhao |first12=Zhijun |last13=Wang |first13=Changsui |display-authors=5 |year=2004 |title=Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=101 |issue=51 |pages=17593–17598 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0407921102 |pmid=15590771 |pmc=539767 |bibcode=2004PNAS..10117593M |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Li wine: The beer of ancient China |date=15 July 2009 |series=China Beer Festivals |volume=2009 |website=echinacities.com |url=http://www.echinacities.com/Special/Beer-Festival/Content.aspx?n=3223 |access-date=21 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719014915/http://www.echinacities.com/special/Beer-Festival/Content.aspx?n=3223 |archive-date=19 July 2009}}</ref> During the [[Vedic period]] in [[Ancient India]], there are records of the consumption of the beer-like ''[[Sura (alcoholic drink)|sura]]''.<ref name=Eraly2002>{{cite book |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |year=2002 |title=Gem in the Lotus |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-93-5118-014-2 |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YokatCwNG90C&pg=PT165}}</ref><ref name="Prakash2005">{{cite book |first=Om |last=Prakash |year=2005 |title=Cultural History of India |publisher=New Age International |isbn=978-81-224-1587-2 |page=503 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzpYb5UOeiwC&pg=PA503 |access-date=8 October 2013}}</ref> [[Xenophon]] noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Karine |last=Vann |date=13 September 2017 |title=Armenia might be one of the oldest and youngest beer-making countries in the world |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/armenia-might-be-one-oldest-and-youngest-beermaking-countries-world-180964860/}}</ref>