A series about the women who have made craft beer
The First Lady of Beer (Literally)
In the Beginning
As I begin this exploration of women in beer, I figured it made sense to start with the very first woman in beer: Ninkasi, the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer. The Sumerian people lived in southern Mesopotamia in what is now southern Iraq from approximately 4500 BC to 1900 BC. They practiced anthropomorphic polytheism (worshipping many human-like gods) and one of those gods was Ninkasi, who has one of the best origin stories I’ve ever heard.
Enki, the god of wisdom, seduces his great-granddaughter, Uttu (the weaver or spider). Understandably upset about this, Uttu visits her great-grandmother Ninhursag, an Earth goddess, who, also annoyed at these proceedings pulls Enki’s semen from Uttu’s womb and uses it to grow fruit plants in eight different spots. Enki loves fruit so he eats the semen-fruit and finds himself pregnant in eight places because of course. Ninhursag lets her husband suffer for a bit before going to him and pulling his semen out of his body and into hers. She then gives birth to eight gods who each represent the healing of one of Enki’s wounds. The god representing the mouth is Ninkasi whose name translates as “the lady who fills the mouth,” which sounds dirty but isn’t in this case. Crazy story, right?
Ninkasi was worshipped as both the brewer and as beer itself, along with being associated with healing due to the circumstances of her birth. This association also led to beer being thought to have healing qualities and the ability to improve one’s life (likely because at this point in history it was much safer to drink beer than any water that might be available). Ninkasi’s priestesses were the first brewers and are depicted as such in artifacts from Mesopotamia. Annoyingly, women were only allowed to be homebrewers. When brewing started to become a commercial enterprise, men took over entirely or are depicted supervising female brewers. However, whoever supervised would not have mattered to Ninkasi as her primary role was to make the best beer possible. To do so, like many brewers after her, she had a recipe, the first known recipe for beer, ‘A Hymn to Ninkasi.’
A Recipe for Beer
The best record of Ninkasi is a Sumerian poem entitled “A Hymn to Ninkasi,” which was recorded in 1800 BC but is likely much older than that. The poem is important for two main reasons: it gives us the first recorded recipe for beer and is the oldest record that displays a direct correlation between women and their right and responsibility for making beer for the household.
The first few stanzas of the poem describes Ninkasi’s origins, but the bulk of the poem is a recipe for beer. The process is not that different from the brewing practices of today (full text of the poem below).
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Borne of the flowing water,
Tenderly cared for by the Ninhursag,
Having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished its great walls for you,
Ninkasi, having founded your town by the sacred lake,
She finished it’s walls for you,
Your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
Ninkasi, your father is Enki, Lord Nidimmud,
Your mother is Ninti, the queen of the sacred lake.
You are the one who handles the dough with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with – honey,
You are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
Ninkasi, 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,
Ninkasi, 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.
Ninkasi, 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,
Ninkasi, 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 sweet wort,
Brewing with honey wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (…)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
The filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
Ninkasi, the filtering vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on a large collector vat.
When you pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Pretty sweet, huh?
Fun Facts
A few other fun facts about brewing during the time of Ninkasi:
- Craft brewing eventually became popular across Mesopotamia, but it began in the village of Godin Tepe.
- Godin Tepe was a Sumerian outpost and became a stop along the famous Silk Road between Asia and the Middle East.
- Sumerians had a written language called cuneiform and the pictograph for beer is one of the most common ones seen in artifacts recovered from this period.
- The straw was first invented by the Sumerians specifically for drinking beer. This allowed them to drink their beer without consuming the sediment at the bottom.
The Legacy of Ninkasi
The legacy of the Sumerian beer goddess lives on in many ways in the world of craft beer. The most obvious references come from the names of breweries and craft beer clubs including Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, OR (whose co-founder Jamie Floyd was a women’s studies student at the University of Oregon), Ninkasi Fabrique de Bière in Lyon, France, and the Ninkasi Fan Club, a brewing society in Nelson, British Columbia. Brewers have also paid homage to the recipe in the Hymn to Ninkasi. The founder of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing, Fitz Maytag, brewed the beer according to the hymn’s recipe and presented the results at the annual meeting of the American Association of Micro Brewers in 1991.
