The US-Italian team found the ancient ruins of Lagash, northwest of the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, known as one of the first urban centers of the Sumerian civilization in ancient Iraq.
A joint team from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pisa found the remains of a primitive refrigeration system, a large oven, benches for meals and about 150 bowls of leftovers.”
Bones of fish and other animals were found in the bowls, as well as references to the consumption of beer that was common among the Sumerians.
“We have the refrigerator, we have hundreds of bowls ready to be served, benches for people to sit on, and behind the refrigerator we have an oven where food is cooked,” project leader Holly Pittman told AFP. .
“What we understand is that this was a place where people, ordinary people, came to eat, and it’s not a home,” he added.
“We call it a tavern because beer was the most common drink for the Sumerians, rather than water,” he said, and in one of the temples excavated in the area, “a cuneiform recipe for beer was found on a tablet.” “.
The world’s first cities arose in present-day southern Iraq after agricultural surpluses led to the emergence of new social classes through the domestication of crops.
The Lagash region, near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, dubbed the “Garden of the Gods” because of its fertility, gave rise to a number of early Sumerian dynastic cities.
“Lagash was one of the most important cities in southern Iraq,” Baker Azab Wali, an Iraqi archaeologist who worked in the field with the university team, told AFP.
“The people live from agriculture, livestock, fishing and trade,” he said.
Pittman said the team wanted to learn more about the work the innkeepers did in their golden age, around 2700 B.C. To learn about the social structure of early cities.
A detailed analysis of the samples collected by the team during the November excavation is required.
“There’s a lot we don’t know about this early stage of urban growth, and we’re studying that,” he said.
“We hope to characterize the neighborhoods and occupations (…) of non-elitist people living in this great city,” he added.
“Most of the work in other locations focuses on kings and priests, and that’s very important, but so are common people,” he said.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
