Ancient Egyptian Brewer's Tomb Found

Rambo Tribble writes "Reminding us of beer's pivotal role in the civilization of humankind, the BBC comments on the discovery of an Ancient Egyptian tomb, belonging to the distinguished 'head of beer production' in the Pharaoh's court. From the article: 'Experts say the tomb's wall paintings are well preserved and depict daily life as well as religious rituals. Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told the Egyptian al-Ahram newspaper that security had been tightened around the tomb until excavation works are complete.'"

Re:Tetracycline ale.

[Mal-2]

A bit of clarification -- it's not the yeast, it's contamination of the grain itself by streptomyces. It would have also led to (much lower) levels in unfermented products like bread or gruel, but fermentation let the production increase tremendously.

Linky. [discovery.com]

Re:That Explains the Peace in Egypt

[Anonymous Coward]

Prohibition was in the 1920's, World War I was from 1914 to 1918. Please recompute theory.

Re:Any yeast found ?

[MrBingoBoingo]

Tetracycline family antibiotics are actually very popular for use in humans. Like any antibiotic though resistance is a concern as is making sure the antibiotic in question is effective on the pathogen casuing problems. Tetracyclines tend to be bacteriostatic antibiotics rather than bacteriocidal (so they require use with a functioning immune system to have maximum benefit) which along with their side effect profile makes their use a bit more targeted in practice generally than some other antibiotics.

Re:Any yeast found ?

[dasunt]

Just to add - it's also interesting to note that wild fermentation is an important way to preserve food and remove toxic organisms from it. Even the most common, non-alcoholic fermentation (lacto-fermentation), it tends to change the environment of the brew that toxic organisms can't survive. There's actually a history of what was called "small beer" in the west, which was a brew just alcoholic enough to kill off many pathogens. It was safer to drink than water in many areas.

Now consider this in the land of Egypt, where a large population living around one major water source (a river) without modern sewage treatment. It's probably safer to drink a fermented drink than the water directly.