Beer is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, dating back to at least the fifth millennium BC and
reecorded in the written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. As almost any cereal containing certain sugars
can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeasts in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were
independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal.
Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced as far back as about 7,000 years ago in what is
today Iran. This discovery reveals one of the earliest known uses of fermentation and is the earliest evidence of
brewing to date. In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet
depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal bowl. A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem
honouring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the
production of beer from barley via bread. In China, residue on pottery dating from between 5400 to 4900 years ago
shows beer was brewed using barley and other grains.
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