Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid

Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yes, they wrote letters to each other and they sent them and they were kind of,

Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yes, they wrote letters to each other and they sent them and they were kind of,

mail networks royal mail networks or speak i mean literally royal road yeah for the mail networks um and they carry clay tablets yeah they carry baskets i guess of clay tablets on you know donkey or depending on the period maybe horse but yeah for to get uh messages from one part of especially a growing empire to the other you needed to be able to communicate with your you know governors and do you write your own or do you go to the local scribe and dictate it

mail networks royal mail networks or speak i mean literally royal road yeah for the mail networks um and they carry clay tablets yeah they carry baskets i guess of clay tablets on you know donkey or depending on the period maybe horse but yeah for to get uh messages from one part of especially a growing empire to the other you needed to be able to communicate with your you know governors and do you write your own or do you go to the local scribe and dictate it

You could do both. In some periods, people wrote their own letters. They learned enough to write their own letters. But the way letters are written is they often start with, like, to so-and-so, speak, thus says another so-and-so. So there is this kind of hint that they were dictated both in the taking down of the letter, but also in the delivery of the letter as well.

You could do both. In some periods, people wrote their own letters. They learned enough to write their own letters. But the way letters are written is they often start with, like, to so-and-so, speak, thus says another so-and-so. So there is this kind of hint that they were dictated both in the taking down of the letter, but also in the delivery of the letter as well.

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, whoever needed to send a letter, not everyone would have needed to send a letter, but yeah, whoever needed to send one, they could access this.

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, whoever needed to send a letter, not everyone would have needed to send a letter, but yeah, whoever needed to send one, they could access this.

So there are a whole bunch of tablets that tell us stuff about beer from the earliest, earliest periods of writing. But what I think is really interesting is that one of the earliest names, at least we think it's a name and we think we're pronouncing it correctly when we say the name is Kushim. is a beer brewer.

So there are a whole bunch of tablets that tell us stuff about beer from the earliest, earliest periods of writing. But what I think is really interesting is that one of the earliest names, at least we think it's a name and we think we're pronouncing it correctly when we say the name is Kushim. is a beer brewer.

And this is not like, you know, someone in their basement making like a micro-brew for the neighbours on a Sunday. This is a guy who at one point was responsible for 135,000 litres of barley over the course of 37 months for the production of beer. And then in another tablet, he's responsible for nine different cereals to produce eight different kinds of beer.

And this is not like, you know, someone in their basement making like a micro-brew for the neighbours on a Sunday. This is a guy who at one point was responsible for 135,000 litres of barley over the course of 37 months for the production of beer. And then in another tablet, he's responsible for nine different cereals to produce eight different kinds of beer.

So this is part of an administrative machinery.

So this is part of an administrative machinery.

To pay people, essentially, as part of their rations.

To pay people, essentially, as part of their rations.

Sort of, yeah. Beer was, I mean, I don't, there's an amazing book about the history of beer by a scholar named Tate Paulette. So I hope I'm not getting this wrong, but I think it had more of the consistency of porridge. Yes, it's thick and soupy, isn't it? Exactly, it's a poker straw.

Sort of, yeah. Beer was, I mean, I don't, there's an amazing book about the history of beer by a scholar named Tate Paulette. So I hope I'm not getting this wrong, but I think it had more of the consistency of porridge. Yes, it's thick and soupy, isn't it? Exactly, it's a poker straw.

Exactly. But it was high calorie, so high energy and cleanish fluids because water wasn't always clean. So it was a really good way to pay people. And not particularly alcoholic, presumably? Probably not too alcoholic and probably not very tasty, I'm guessing.

Exactly. But it was high calorie, so high energy and cleanish fluids because water wasn't always clean. So it was a really good way to pay people. And not particularly alcoholic, presumably? Probably not too alcoholic and probably not very tasty, I'm guessing.