51 (iPod): Beer in Ancient Egypt

Episode 51 of the Ancient Art Podcast explores the art, culture, history, and mythology surrounding beer in Ancient Egypt. We'll look at the archaeological record to sort fact from fiction on the brewing process and dig up some modern attempts at recreating the ancient recipes for Egyptian beer. Chemical analysis of ancient beer residue paints a telling picture as funerary art and literary sources flesh out culture of some of the world's earliest brewers. Included in episode 51 are discussions of modern versus ancient brewing ingredients and techniques, Patrick McGovern's "Uncorking the Past," Dogfish Head's Ta Henket beer, the research of Delwen Samuel, the ancient "zeer pot" refrigerator (or nested pot-in-pot fridge), and the myth of the lioness goddess Sekhmet. See the footnotes at http://ancientartpodcast.org/blog/51. Explore more episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.com/ancientartpodcast.