The Beer in the Ancient Orient. no 



belonging to Rimut-Bel are entrusted to the disposi- 

 tion of Nabu-usallim"!. The brewer, according to the docu- 

 ment, is hired for the period of three years in order to pre- 

 pare mixed beer, for which he receives certain quantities of 

 barley and cassia-spices. In return for his labor he is given 

 a house with its furnishings and the brewing outfit, for the 

 good keeping of which he is held responsible. 



The Old Testament mentions the sekhar (Deut. 29, 6; 

 Judg. 13, 4fif.; I.Sam. 1, 15; Lev. lo, 9; Is. 28, 7 etc.). On 

 account of the too general meaning "intoxicating drink" it is 

 impossible to determine in each instance whether a certain 

 kind of artificial wine or beer is intended. Nor does Jerome 

 know what kind of beverage it was 2. From passages such 

 as Lev. 2, 11 it becomes, however, evident that the word 

 sekhar was also applied to the beer. For the sekhar pre- 

 pared from grain, see Pesach. Ill, 1. The brewery was known 

 in Rabbinic times by the name "place of the brewing vat", 

 SrTiilD -^D, or "place of pounding", XDTID "^D. The Arabs drank 

 a certain beer called /(?/Jr/^<^ 3 Simon Seth^ characterized it in the 

 same way as the zythos by the earlier writers. He states that 

 the fokka is a good beverage for those who have a very warm 

 constitution, particularly in the stomach and the abdomen, and 

 for those persons who suffer considerably from thirst on account 

 of excessive heat. The fokka is particularly good on hot 

 days, if it is free from any spices. It drives away thirst, 

 stimulates appetite, is laxative, and causes frequent urination. 

 It is, however, harmful to a watery stomach and persons 

 with cold temperament. The Arabian beer was drunk by the 

 Byzantines under the name cpouKac;. According to Temimy 

 a variety of beers were called by the name fokka. This writer 

 gives the following account of its property and its ingredients: 

 Dififerent kinds of beer are made. There is one which is pre- 



i) Follow the names of witnesses. 



2) Ep. ad Nepotian, ed. Vallarsi I, 266: Sirera hebraeo sennone oiimis 

 potto, quae inebriare potest, sive ilia quae fruniento conficititr sive pomorum 

 succo, aut quum fan' decoquuntur in dtilcetn et bar bar am potionem, out palma- 

 rum fructus exprimunfur in liqttorem, coctisque frugibus aqua pinguior color atur, 



3) See dc Sacy, Chrestomathie arabe, II, 437. 



4) p. 1 1 8 K. 



