128 . Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing. 



In Athens, a visit to a tavern was a sufficient cause to bring 

 about expulsion from the Areopagus. According to tradi- 

 tion Kish owed its existence to queen Ku-Bau, who was 

 a woman of obscure and humble origin. It is told of her 

 that she achieved her first popularity and influence as the 

 keeper of a wine shop. There seems to be sufficient 

 reason to believe that the public inns (without exception) 

 were at the same time places of prostitution. The Code 

 of Hammurabi devotes four paragraphs to the regulation 

 of inns, which are called "wineshops". A striking feature 

 of the Code is the fact that it speaks only of female taver- 

 ners, ^"^ gestin-na ^ sabitu. Men in the liquor-business are not 

 mentioned. But this is merely accidental. The Code may, 

 after all, refer only to such wineshops as were also brothels, 

 kept by women only. Paragraph lo8 (Col. XVIII, Hnes 15 25) 

 makes it clear that it was illegal to accept money for drinks. 

 The price of a drink had to be paid in grain. The taverner 

 was also bound by law to give full measure. Severe punish- 

 ment was inflicted upon her in case the measure for drink- 

 was not in proportion to the measure of grain. The para- 

 graph reads: "If a liquor dealer do not receive barley as the 

 price of drink, but if she receive money by the great stone, 

 or make the measure for liquor smaller than the measure for 

 barley, they shall call that liquor dealer to account, and shall 

 throw her into the water" 1. BM 26961 (King, L. W., The Let- 

 ters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, No. 85) illustrates the 

 application of this section of the law-code. King Abiesu 

 (2042 2015 B. C), in a letter to Sin-idinnam. writes: "Unto 



V 



Ibni-Samas, Sin-idinnam, the board of trade (.') of Sippar and 

 the judges of Sippar speak as follows: Thus says Abi-esu: 

 Messengers and chief-shepherds (.?) are going from Ba- 

 bylon to Sippar- Yahrurum. They will reach you on the 24th 

 day of Tisritu. As soon as you see this tablet of mine, buy 

 3CXD (kegs) of mixed barley-beer {== pihu) from taverners in 

 Sippar-Amnanu, for refreshment(.^). When they send you in- 



i) sunwia ^"kabitum ana sim sikarim h'ani la imtahar ina abnini rabitivt 

 kaspam imtahar u mahir sikarim ana mahir se'im umtati ^alsdblfam su&ti ukan- 

 ntisi-ma ana mc inaddusi. 



