El origen de la cerveza y la diosa Ninkasi

Etimología de la palabra cerveza

Existen varias versiones:

• Una, según Coromines, dice que «cerveza» proviene del francés cervoise y que éste a su vez proviene del latín cervisia (o cerevisia) que a su vez vendría de un raíz celta, cognado con el galés cwrw y el gaélico coirm.
• Otra, de Duboë-Laurence y Berger (El Libro del Amante de la Cerveza), sugiere que cervoise viene de cerevisia pero luego añaden que esta voz vendría de Ceres, diosa latina de la tierra y los cereales, y de vis, la fuerza. En cualquier caso Coromines afirma que cereal proviene de cerealis, que designa aquello perteneciente a la diosa Ceres.

• Otra dice que se ha conservado el nombre con que la designaban los celtas, y que cerveza viene de la voz cerevisia que es en realidad celta. En todo caso, la raíz común es fácilmente apreciable en sus voces gallegas, “cervexa”, portuguesa, “cerveja”, catalana, “cervesa” y española, “cerveza”.

En otros idiomas europeos se emplean derivados del germánico bier (cerveza) como es el caso del inglés beer y del francés bière.

Por último hay que destacar que se podría clasificar el sake como cerveza de arroz (si bien hay varias diferencias), pero en Japón la cerveza, tal y como se conoce en Occidente, fue originalmente un producto importado. Hoy en día existen fábricas de cerveza japonesas y para designar dicha bebida se adoptó también la locución bier a dicho idioma como biiru (ビール).

La palabra cerveza, tal como se usa hoy, tiene seguramente sus raíces en la voz de origen celta o galo “cervesia”, aunque algunos estudiosos de la etimología de las palabras contradicen esta primera opción dando a entender que la palabra cerveza proviene de la diosa pagana romana “Ceres”: La diosa de los cereales y la agricultura, que le da esta voz latina y que solo se conserva en algunos de los idiomas de la península: Cerveza (español), Cervesa (catalán), Cerveja (portugués). Con esto se supone que la palabra matriz es “cerevisia”, de Ceres + vis (que significa fuerza), lo que puede traducirse como “la fuerza de Ceres”.

Ceres de Pompeya

http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/1/0/V/6/2/CeresPompeii.jpg

Los orígenes de la cerveza se pierden en la noche de los tiempos entre historias y leyendas; las del antiguo Egipto atribuyen su origen al capricho de Osiris. Numerosos antropólogos aseguran que hace cien mil años el hombre primitivo elaboraba una bebida a base de raíces cereales y frutos silvestres que antes masticaba para desencadenar su fermentación alcohólica.

Cebada

ORIGEN SUMERIO

 
A seal from Tepe Gawra, northern Iraq, showing the earliest evidence for beer
in Mesopotamia (ca. 4000 BCE).  Two persons are shown drinking beer from a
jar through bent straws.  p.77. On the right, Sumerian cuneiforms.  (a,b,c)
are variants for KAS (beer).  (d) is SIM, possibly an ingredient added to
beer.Sg.Horsey

www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/books/hornsey-2003-h

El liquido resultante lo consumía con deleite para relajarse. La mención más antigua de la cerveza, “una bebida obtenida por fermentación de granos que denominan siraku”, se hace en unas tablillas de arcilla escritas en lengua sumeria y cuya antigüedad se remonta a 4.000 años a. C.
En ellas se revela una fórmula de elaboración casera de la cerveza: se cuece pan, se deshace en migas, se prepara una mezcla en agua y se consigue una bebida que transforma la gente en “alegre, extrovertida y feliz”. Desde Oriente Medio, la cerveza se extiende por los países de la cuenca oriental del Mediterráneo.

Según la historia, los babilonios heredaron de los sumerios la habilidad para el cultivo de la tierra y la manufactura de cerveza.

En el Código de Hammurabi existen normas sobre la fabricación de esta bebida en las cuales se incluyó el precio de la cerveza, la concentración adecuada de ingredientes, y se establecieron sanciones aplicables a quienes adulteraran la producción. La fabricación de cerveza poseía carácter religioso y era llevada a cabo por sacerdotisas.

ANTIGUO EGIPTO

image of a servant girl pouring what is surmised to be beer.
(from http://nosco.blogspot.com/2007/04/just-beer.html).

The Egyptian
hieroglyph for "brewer", fty, is an image of a person bent over some
object, possibly mashing the bread onto a vat.  Subsequent images of
consumption also abound.
--
--http://www.aeraweb.org/images/photos/LCA4_t.jpg-
Recipienta para cerveza,Egipto-
--The second most numerous ceramics on our site are crude red-ware jars.
These  are often called “beer jars” and are found throughout Egypt at ancient  settlements and cemeteries.--
-How do we know that the settlement located at the foot of the Giza Plateau                            belongs to the same period of time as when the Egyptians                            were building the pyramids? Two kinds of evidence tell                            us that we are excavating a 4th Dynasty site (2575-2465                            BC): ceramics and sealings.--

Earliest Breweries
An early dynastic (3100-2686 BC) brewery discovered at Lagash shows a tablet
labelled e-bappir, and has a number of vats.
Yaya's brewery:
A later brewery owned by "Yaya" at Tell Hadidi from 15th c. BC (Gate 1988),
has seven rooms around a courtyard. Finds include carbonised grain, grinding
stones, several large storage vessels, (unmoveable, upto 500 liters) and
small storage vessels (25-175 l).  Also a strainer and several vessels with
basal perforations, which may have been mash-tuns (Akkadian namitzu).
   _mash-tun_ (pronounced "mash ton") is a vessel used in the mashing
   process to convert the starches in crushed grains into sugars, e.g. in
   a Scotch distillery.]
Brewing methods both in Egypt and Iraq were linked to bread.

--LA DIOSA NINKASI

--

---

-(El articulo entero está en el link de abajo)
--^ a b "Nin-kasi: Mesopotamian Goddess of Beer". Matrifocus 2006, Johanna Stuckey.
 http://www.matrifocus.com/SAM06/spotlight.htm. Retrieved 13 May 2008.-
There was an extensive beer culture in present day Iraq and Iran dating
back to earlier than 4th millenium BCE.  Beer was usually made by
fermenting bread, and what is claimed to be a recipe was found in an
ancient tablet.  The goddess of brewing was Ninkasi, and a clay tablet
dating from ~1900BCE bears the ancient Sumerian cuneiform text known as
Hymn to 'Ninkasi:
tablets bearing the hymn to Ninkasi (from beeradvocate.com)
The original transliteration and a scholarly translation is available at
the University of Oxford's Sumerian studies corpus),
but here is my simplified translation omitting the refrains:
	Ninkasi:
	you are the one handling dough with a big shovel,
	mixing in a pit, the bappir with honey,
	Ninkasi:
	you are the one baking bappir in the big oven,
	you are the one ordering the piles of hulled grain,
	Ninkasi:
	you are the one watering the malt set on the ground,
	scaring off interlopers [3] with your noble dogs
	Ninkasi,
	you are the one soaking the malt in a jar,
	the waves rise, the waves fall.
		the waves rise, they fall.
	Ninkasi,
	you are the one spreading the cooked mash on large reed mats...
	a coolness comes over them.
	Ninkasi,
	with both hands you hold the great sweet wort,
	brewing it with honey and wine
	Ninkasi,
	the fermenting vat, with its pleasant bubbling sound
	you place on the collector vat. [Lahtan]
	Ninkasi,
	you pour the filtered beer from the collector vat,
	like the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
--




Ninkasi, the Sumerian Goddess of Brewing and Beer
by: Alström Bros on Wednesday - December 20, 2000 - 00:00 UTC
First published in: Boston's Weekly Dig



 The Sumerians were big-time beer drinkers. In fact, by accident, they discovered beer. Yes, not created, but rather discovered, or so it's been postulated. Sources indicate that the old school nomadic hunter-gatherers, of some 13,000 years ago, finally realized that they could settle - that it was more beneficial to life and yielded stability. One of their first harvested products was grain. To keep this grain, it was often baked and stored. Some 6,000 years ago, ancient text reveals that eventually it was formulated that the sweetest grain, if baked, left out, moistened, forgotten, then eaten, would produce an uplifting, cheerful feeling. Intoxication at the primal level! The first beer! 
After this blissful discovery, baked grains were broken into pieces and stuffed into a pot. Water, and sometimes aromatics, fruit or honey, were added (creating a basic mash and wort) and left to ferment. Years later, the Babylonians fashioned what we now know as a straw, to extract the juice from the grain pulp in the pot. A not-so-distant Russian recipe is still produced today, called "kvass." The only real difference being that the fermented liquid is poured into a cask, bottle or jug. 
The following text from 1800 BC is the Hymn to Ninkasi, translated by Miguel Civil. It was written by a Sumerian poet and found on clay tablet. It actually includes one of the most ancient recipes for brewing beer. 
Hymn to Ninkasi 
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 [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics,
Ninkasi, you are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel,
Mixing in a pit, the bappir with [date] - 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 [it] with honey [and] 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 [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.
Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates. 
Ninkasi is the Sumerian goddess of brewing and beer and head brewer to the gods themselves. Her name means "the lady who fills the mouth" and her birth was formed of sparkling-fresh water. She who bakes with lofty shovel the sprouted barley, she who mixes the bappir-malt with sweet aromatics, she who pours the fragrant beer in the lahtan-vessel that is like the Tigris and Euphrates joined! Yes, she. Early brewers were primarily women, mostly because it was deemed a woman's job. Mesopotamian men, of some 3,800 years ago, were obviously complete assclowns and had yet to realize the pleasure of brewing beer. 
Using the above text, one could literally recreate the ancient recipe embedded within the poem. In fact, back in the early 1990s, Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing and Dr. Solomon Katz of the University of Pennsylvania set out to reproduce this brew by deciphering the ancient clay tablet. Thick loaves of bread called bappir were baked from several grains. Mixed with honey, the loaves were then twice baked until a granolalike consistency was achieved, believing that the Sumerians stored this brew for later use. These loaves were added to a mash with a large addition of malt to ensure a proper conversion of starches. The mixture was then cooled naturally, not by modern techniques. The sweet liquid was strained away from the grains and transferred to the fermenter. Yeast was added and yielded a 3.5 percent alcohol by volume. After the fermentation, the beer was served in proper Sumerian style - sipped from bulky clay jugs using lengthy drinking straws, produced to bear a resemblance to the gold and lapis-lazuli straws unearthed in the mid-third millennium tomb of Lady Pu-abi at Ur. 
Let's give thanks to our one true god - Beer and its messenger Ninkasi! Blessed be Beer! 
Respect beer.



---------

Sumerian brewing terminology 
A study of grain production in Mesopotamia has suggested (Hrozny 1913),
that beer was the main product made from grain.   Forbes (1955) estimates
that some 40% of the harvest was used for making beer.  The
vocabulary is rich in
suggestions of the same.  A tablet (numbered XXIII in the lexical series)
was originally transliterated by
Hartman and Oppenheimer (1950), who suggest that:
     Through more than three millennia, an extensive and complicated
     nomenclature (in Sumerian and Akkadian) was evolved by the brewers...
     Technical processes that are apparently quite simple (in the eyes of a
     philologist) - e.g. the mixing of crushed materials into a liquid, are
     subject to exceedingly exact terminological differentiations according
     to the nature or size of the material, methods of mixing, numerical
     reactions, timing, special circumstances, etc.  This holds true also
     for the designations given to the manifold methods applied to the
     techniques in which the malted grain was treated, to the ways in which
     the fermentation process was introduced and regulated, and so
     forth. ...  Certain manipulations often gave their name to the beers
     that were their product.  Thus we have a number of beers which take
     their names from such specific activities of the brewer as: pasu,
     haslat, LABku, hiku, mihhu, billitu, etc.  Further complications are
     caused by regional and diachronic differences in this nomenclature
     which the peculiar nature of the cuneiform source material accentuates
     to a large extent.

Sumerian lexicon
bappir (akkadian bappiru): thick loaves of beer-bread, which would be
		mashed and fermented to make beer.  But there is some
		controversy on this; it may have meant any malted grain
		(p.84) Cuneiform logogram for bappir linked the logogram
		for kas (beer jar) with ninda (bread)
dida (akkadian billatu):  a sweet wort, possibly prepared from the
		mash by squeezing
gakkul:  vessel used in fermenting that was mostly kept closed.
		Appears to have acquired a sense of mystery in the literary
		tradition.  Also designates a part of the human eye, possibly
		the eyeball.  As mentioned in the Hymn, may refer to a jar
		with a ball stopper that could be lifted; this would be ideal
		in a fermentation vat to let the CO2 escape.
gestin:  grape, raisin or wine.  sumerian wine.
kas (pron. kash, Akkadian shikaru): beer, written KAS'.  In early
		babylonian was a drink made from barley, Neo-Babylonian was
	        enriched with emmer or dates.  Appears from the very earliest
	        proto-cuneiform writings (from 4th c. BC).
lu.kas.ninda: literally "man of the beer-loaf".
munu : malt prepared by soaking the barley and then drying it in the
		sun and in the kiln.
namzuu:  vessel used for brewing beer
sim : most likely an unidentified additive added before baking
		bappir.  May also refer to oven used in heating wort.
		ku.sim: granary administrator
sun:  the liquid formed by mixing bappir loaves and other malt into
		water.  Some sort of wort [a malt, ready for fermentation]
titab: the cooked mash resulting from heating and mixing the sun.
zizan :  a grain (modern "emmer") - a two-grained wheat occasionally
		added to bappir in the malt

--
Tutankhamun Ale, The Alulu Tablet (images via 1, 2)--
The idea of yeast as a living organism
Moving on to modern times, I found the scientific history of yeast
particularly interesting.  The idea of yeast as a living organism took some
time to come about - it does look like a rather inert mass.  The fight was
between those who saw the yeast as alive (plant? animal?), and others who
claimed they were a mere chemical.
While it was known that air was needed in fermentation, its specific role was
unknown.  Charles Cagniard-Latour (1777-1859), a French mechanical engineer
in 1835 observed yeast sporulation under the microscope:
	a small cell formed on the surface of a yeast globule; the two cells
	remained attached to each other for some time before becoming two
	separate globules.
but he thought it was some kind of a plant because of its lack of motility
(p.409).
In an 1837 book, the German zoologist Theodore Schwann first characterized
yeast as a living fungus, and named it Zuckerpilz or sugar fungus (Schwann
also discovered the Schwann cells which constitute the myelin sheath of axons
in nerve cells).  The genus of fungus including yeast is today called
saccharomyces, a term which originated from Zuckerpilz.  Schwann understood
the yeast's role as that of taking the nutrition it needs from the solution,
leaving the remaining elements to form alcohol.
The German botanist Friedrich Kuetzing also proposed yeast as a vegetable
organism, stating that:
	It is obvious that chemists must now strike yeast off the roll of
	chemical compounds since it is not a compound but an organized body,
	an organism.
Thus there was a turf war between botanists and chemists.
Leading chemists of the day, including the Swedish count Jons Jacob
Berzelius, described as "the arbiter and dictator of the chemical world",
vehemently opposed the position, stating that he regarded yeast as "being no
more a living organism than was a precipitate of alumina".  Others chemists
opposing this view included the "biochemist" Justus Liebig (1803-1873) who
was an editor of the Annalen der Pharmacie when the
whose journal published a scandalous article by F Woehler
(1800-1882),  claiming the yeast to be eggs which
develop into microscopic animals when placed in the sugar solution.  Details
of the anatomy of these animals were reported based on "observation",
including their intestinal tract, were also
presented.  It was not until Pasteur (who had to argue off Liebig) that
yeast was known as a fungus.

Other books
For an easier and more colourful read, look up Brian Glover's World Encyclopedia of Beer, (see Beer: An Illustrated History for a summary.
Also, The Barbarian's Beverage: A History of Beer in Ancient Europe
is worth a look for Europe centered analysis.

 
 

Los egipcios, siguiendo el método sumerio, elaboran una cerveza que bautizan con el nombre de “zythum”, descubren la malta y añaden azafrán, miel, jengibre y comino con objeto de proporcionarle aroma y color.

n siglo antes de Jesucristo, Diodor Sículo escribe “Se hace en Egipto, con cebada una bebida llamada zythum y que por lo agradable de su color y su gusto cede muy poco al vino”.

En sus comienzos, los egipcios obtenían la Cerveza fermentando el trigo, pero más tarde éste fue sustituido por otros cereales más idóneos, especialmente la cebada. La bebida se mezclaba con frutos, preferiblemente dátiles, se endulzaba con miel y se perfumaba con canela.

Los fabricantes egipcios de Cerveza eran exceptuados de prestar el servicio militar y tanto los soldados como las autoridades, recibían Cerveza como parte de su paga.

Pero esta bebida en Egipto se “comía” en lugar de beberse , ya que era mucho más espesa que la que elaboramos hoy; además tenía un alto valor nutritivo,.
Se elaboraba amasando harina de cebada o trigo con la que se hacía pan poco cocido. Éste se deshacía y se mezclaba con agua y dátiles, dejándolo macerar y fermentar durante un tiempo, luego se añadía agua y se pasaba por un filtro. En el terreno mitológico que entendió que la cebada crecía a partir de las extremidades de Osiris.
Una deidad asociada a la cerveza fue Menket.

Y si entre los romanos y los griegos fue considerada una bebida de a gente llana, los pueblos del norte de Europa festejaban con cerveza las fiestas familiares, las solemnidades religiosas y los triunfos sobre sus enemigos.

En la Edad Media nacería la “cerevisa monacorum”, cerveza de los monjes con denominación de origen, cuyo secreto guardaba celosamente cada fraile boticario. Los monjes lograron mejorar el aspecto, el sabor y el aroma de la bebida.
Entre los siglos XIV y XVI surgen las primeras grandes factorías cerveceras, entre las que destacan las de Hamburgo y Zirtau. A finales del siglo XV, el duque de Raviera Guillermo IV promulga la primera ley de pureza de la cerveza alemana, que prescribía el uso exclusivo de malta de cebada, agua, lúpulo y levadura en su fabricación.

La auténtica época dorada de la cerveza comienza a finales del siglo XVIII con la incorporación de la máquina de vapor a la industria cervecera y el descubrimiento de la nueva fórmula de producción en frío, y culmina en el último tercio del siglo XIX, con los hallazgos de Pasteur relativos al proceso de fermentación.

algunos datos…

Origen: Cuenta la leyenda que Gambrinus, dios de la cerveza, desafió al diablo a elaborar un “vino sin uva”. El origen histórico del brebaje tal y como lo conocemos hoy se sitúa en Bélgica en el siglo XII, aunque ya los egipcios mucho antes elaboraban bebidas fermentando cereales.

Receta: La más antigua de Europa se ha descubierto en los restos del poblado leridense de Genó, y data de hace 3.000 años.

Medicamento: Hipócrates, el célebre médico griego, recomendaba recetar este alimento por sus propiedades de calmante suave, que apaga la sed, facilita la dicción y fortalece el corazón y las encías.

Carlos V: El Emperador fue el primer importador de cerveza y uno de sus más ilustres bebedores y aficionados. Se dice que hasta en su retiro de Yuste contó con un cervecero flamenco en su reducido séquito.

Cerveceros: El país con mayor número de marcas es Bélgica, con 400.

Fabricación: Hoy solo existen 100 empresas fabricantes en el mundo de las 3.200 que había a principios del siglo XX.

Calidad: El método para comprobar su calidad es la forma en que la espuma se adhiere al lado del vaso después de cada trago. A esta silueta de espuma se le denomina “encaje de Bruselas” por el origen de esta cerveza.

Degustación: La cerveza debe ser servida siempre con dos dedos de espuma y a una temperatura de 5°, pero nunca en vaso congelado porque al derretirse la película del interior se añade agua. La espuma deberá ser fina y persistente para que se adhiera al vaso. Debe tener un color brillante y un aspecto espumoso.

Helado: En Alemania existe un helado de cerveza en forma de polo. Su contenido de alcohol es más bajo que el de la cerveza clásica.

Mujer elaborando cerveza, Egpto

La más cara del mundo: Se llama “Tutankamon” y se elabora en Londres la botella y se fabrica en edición limitada y numerada.

Las Cervezas mas caras del mundo son, por orden descendente de precio:

3º La Tutankamon, fabricada en Londres según la receta rescatada por los arqueólogos de la Universidad de Cambridge en el Templo del Sol de Nefertiti. La producción de estas botellas, que cuestan 38,5€ por un cuarto y es limitada y numerada.

2º La Samuel Adams’ Utopias producida por la Boston Beer Company, utiliza el nombre de uno de los padres fundadores de EEUU 50€ por cuarto. Es la cerveza de mayor graduación alcoholica del mundo, un 25%, y hacerla cuesta unos 12 años. Se estima que la producción está limitada a unas 8.000 botellas al año.

1º La más cara del mundo por el momento es la cerveza Vielle Bon Secours. Esta cerveza es servida exclusivamente en Bierdrome, Londres. Cuesta 57,5€ por tercio, aunque en este bar belga esta cerveza se vende en botellas de 15 litros. Sacad la cuenta…

(images credit: Edu Passarelli, 2)

Not too far behind in terms of price is Jacobsen Vintage No. 1, produced by Carlsberg of Denmark, a limited edition 10.5% abv barley wine. Only 600 bottles were brewed, priced at around $350 each and primarily marketed to up-scale restaurants in Copenhagen and of course the very wealthy beer drinker.

Como veis…informaciones DIFERENTES en la Red…. y yo me fio AS de los textos que os doy en inglés…

-http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/05/cheers-to-beers.html-

EN EUROPA

Los restos arqueológicos más antiguos de producción de cerveza en Europa se descubrieron en el yacimiento del valle de Ambrona (en la provincia de Soria) y se datan alrededor de 2.400 a. C. También se han encontrado evidencias arqueológicas de elaboración de cerveza en el yacimiento de Genó, en Aitona (Lleida), fechados alrededor del 1110

www.weirdworm.com/10-weird-beer-facts

Virtually every polytheistic religion has a god or goddess of beer. The epic Finnish poem Kalevala spends more time on beer than on the creation of man. The Egyptian lion-goddess Sekhmet gave up killing forever once she got drunk enough. And the Greeks and Romans had Dionysus and Bacchus, respectively, the god of pleasure and wine and freeing ones inner self from care and worry. Cults sprung up around him and his worshipers would go outside of the cities at night for huge drunken orgies. All in the name of worshipping their god of course.

Hornsey, Ian Spencer; Royal Society of Chemistry (publ));

A History of Beer and Brewing

Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003, 742 pages

ISBN 0854046305, 9780854046300