Please join us for an in-person screening and informal discussion of the Archaeology Hour talk by Tate Paulette (North Carolina State University).

The inhabitants of the “land between rivers” (Mesopotamia) — today known as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers — experimented with many “firsts”… from urbanism to kingship to formalized systems of cuneiform writing. They also built the world’s first great beer culture. They loved their beer: its colors, textures, tastes, and intoxicating effects. They sipped it through long reed straws and praised it in song and story. They drank beer at home, on the job, and in neighborhood taverns––also at feasts, festivals and religious ceremonies. In this talk, Tate Paulette introduces his new book, In the Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia. This authoritative but light-hearted account explains exactly what we know about the beers, brewers, and drinkers of ancient Mesopotamia, what can be deciphered about it today, and what puzzles still remain to be solved.