What Came First, Bread or Beer?

Understanding the motivations for the agricultural revolution

Bread has been the foundation of societies across land and time. Given its importance to civilization, many historians and archaeologists have concluded that the rise of agriculture was motivated by an evergrowing need for bread.

To go against the grain on this assumption, I would like to explore a contrasting hypothesis that beer, not bread, drove the rise of the agricultural revolution.

While the research into this topic is limited, it nonetheless provides a unique perspective in understanding humanity’s past.

Ancient Beer was Much Different than Today

The modern conception of beer drastically differs from anything Neolithic people would have consumed.

Relief of Sumerian men drinking beer out of a communal jug using straws. Many archaeologists theorize that straws were used to avoid any floating grain or residue from the beer. Archaeologists have found similar straws.

Ancient beer resembled a flat porridge more than anything expected by modern drinkers. With Sumerian beer, the alcohol percentage was typically around 2 percent (but could go up to 5 percent).

So why drink beer?

Unlike its modern counterpart, ancient beer was considered a staple of the Mesopotamian diet. It contained the carbs, protein, and calories necessary for a healthy population.

In addition, beer provided a reliable alternative for hydration, as clean drinking water was hard to come by.

It was also easier to make than bread; while making bread was a multi-step process, ancient beer only required mashed-up grains and water.

This fondness for beer made its way into religion as well. As one Sumerian proverb declared

He who does not know beer, does not know what is good

One of the earliest evidence of writing (3100–3000 BCE). This cuneiform tablet was used to count the beer given to each worker

From religious to cultural to medicinal, beer had many uses in the ancient world. The Babylonians alone had over 70 varieties of beer.