An aerial picture shows a general view of the site of the ancient city-state of Lagash, in Iraq’s al-Shatra district of the southern Dhi Qar province on February 11, 2023. – Italian and US archaeologists excavating in Lagash in southern Iraq have unearthed a Sumerian “tavern” nearly 5,000 years old, complete with benches, a cooling system acting as a refrigerator, and bowls containing leftover food. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP)
Archaeologists discover a tavern which operated 5,000 years ago. The tavern was recently excavated in Iraq. It dates back to about 2700 BC in the ancient Sumerian city state of Lagash. It may be the oldest tavern ever discovered. It’s a seven room structure featuring an open courtyard with benches and a large open cooking area with a 10-foot-wide mud-brick oven. They also discovered a “zeer”, which is a refrigeration device consisting of two bottomless clay jars that used evaporation to help cool perishable items.
In another room the archaeologists found a large quantify of conical bowls that held ready-to-eat food and jars that they believe contained beer.
They’re doing lipid analysis to determine what was in the bowls or the jars. Holly Pittman of the University of Pennsylvania says “It looks like this was kind of a McDonald’s with prepared food for fast service.”
Lagash was a bustling community in southern Mesopotamia near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. That area is known today as the cradle of civilization.”
Lagash was located on the Persian Gulf, which is now about 150 miles away. An estimated 50,000 people lived in the city, which served as the capital and religious center of a state of the same name. Using drones, the scientists located a kiln at the site. Archaeologists dug down and discovered the eatery just below that.
The field director trained on Roman tavernas, so she recognized immediately that it was a tavern. The dishes were not clean, so something sudden and dramatic may have occurred. Perhaps a natural disaster like an earthquake.
