5,000 years old fridge along with food found by archaeologists
Archaeologists have made a fascinating discovery of the ruins of a tavern in southern Iraq that dates back almost 5,000 years.
The finding is expected to shed light on everyday life in the first cities in the world.
Recently, a US-Italian team made the discovery in the ancient Lagash ruins, northeast of the contemporary city of Nasiriyah, which is already known as one of the earliest urban centers of the Sumerian civilization of ancient Iraq.The town, now named al-Hiba, has become a site of significant importance to archaeologists, as in the past, many historical discoveries have been made here.
The Discovery
Following the excavations, the researchers found an open courtyard that was used for dining purposes, along with benches, an oven, ancient food relics, and a 5,000-year-old moisture-wick structure that can be compared to a ‘modern-day fridge’ to keep the food cool. The team also discovered conical bowls that contained the remnants of fish.
The project director, Holly Pittman, was quoted by AFP as saying, “So we’ve got the refrigerator, we’ve got the hundreds of vessels ready to be served, benches where people would sit, and behind the refrigerator is an oven that would have been used.. for cooking food.”
As Holly explained, “What we understand this thing to be is a place where people could come to eat and that is not domestic,” the archaeologists discovered evidence of beer drinking.”We call it a tavern because beer is by far the most common drink, even more than water, for the Sumerians,” she said, noting that in one of the temples excavated in the area, there was a beer recipe that was found on a cuneiform tablet.
As per reports, archaeologists also found a recipe for an ancient beer at the site.Also, it has been reported that excavations restarted at the site in 2019 as part of a joint project between the Penn Museum, the University of Cambridge, and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in Baghdad, where they have been using new techniques such as drone photography and genetic analysis to secure data and information.The use of these modern techniques has enabled the researchers to gain a better understanding of the Sumerian civilization and how people lived during that time.
As per reports, early excavations in the area focused on religious architecture and understanding the elites, but the latest excavation focused on non-elite areas and the motive was to have a broader understanding of ancient cities.