Why Did Ancient Egyptians Drink Beer Every Day?

A flat loaf of bread and a jar of beer. For a worker hauling limestone at Giza, that was lunch. It wasn't a treat or a reward for finishing the week. It was the midday ration, and it came again tomorrow. The beer wasn't what you'd picture. It was thick, cloudy, and closer to a savory porridge than anything in a modern bar, so people drank it through a straw to get past the husks and sediment. It probably wasn't strong enough to get anyone drunk either, which makes the habit stranger. If it wasn't about the alcohol, what was it for? The evidence points to something much bigger than a drink. A brewery complex has been found near the Giza pyramid site, in the area where the workers lived. Wages were paid in goods, because coins didn't exist in Egypt yet, and around 1157 BCE the craftsmen of Deir el-Medina stopped working under Ramesses III because their rations were late. It's often described as one of the earliest recorded labor strikes in history. The most popular explanation is that the Nile was too dirty to drink. Historians don't fully agree, and that disagreement is where the story gets more interesting. Beer also turns up in a myth where a lioness goddess, Sekhmet, is stopped by a lake of red beer, and in the offerings left in tombs. In all of these, it seems to be doing more than feeding people. Watch it for the evidence, the debate, and the question it leaves about what ancient greatness was really built on. CHAPTERS 0:00 Lunch at the foot of the Giza Plateau 0:29 The Egypt nobody pictures 1:11 What was actually in the jar 1:37 Why Egyptians drank beer through a straw 2:07 Too weak to get drunk on 2:30 The breweries near the pyramids 3:13 Paid in bread and beer 3:56 The labor strike over late rations 4:41 The "dirty water" explanation 5:53 What we can actually trust 6:35 How Egyptian beer was really made 7:40 Even children drank it 8:18 Ra, Sekhmet, and the lake of red beer 9:34 Why beer was put in tombs 10:40 What the pyramids were really built on 11:48 The question this raises about other civilizations HASHTAGS #AncientEgypt #EgyptianBeer #AncientHistory #Pyramids #Giza #DailyLifeInAncientEgypt #HistoryExplained #Archaeology #AncientCivilizations #Sekhmet TAGS ancient egyptian beer, why did ancient egyptians drink beer, ancient egypt daily life, egyptian beer, beer in ancient egypt, ancient egypt food and drink, bread and beer, pyramid builders, Giza pyramids workers, what did pyramid workers eat, what did pyramid workers drink, ancient egyptian brewery, ancient brewing, ancient egypt beer straw, Deir el-Medina, Deir el-Medina strike, first labor strike in history, Ramesses III, Ramesses III strike, Sekhmet, Sekhmet and the beer, Ra and Sekhmet myth, ancient egypt wages, ancient egypt economy, ancient egypt tombs offerings, bread and beer offering, ancient egypt history, ancient history explained, Nile river drinking water, was ancient beer safer than water, ancient egyptian malted grain, history documentary YOUTUBE SEARCH QUERIES Why did ancient Egyptians drink beer every day? Did ancient Egyptians drink beer instead of water? What did the pyramid builders eat and drink? Why did ancient Egyptians drink beer through a straw? How strong was ancient Egyptian beer? Were ancient Egyptian workers paid in beer? What was the first labor strike in history? Why did the workers at Deir el-Medina go on strike? Was beer safer than water in ancient Egypt? How did ancient Egyptians make beer? Did ancient Egyptian children drink beer? Why was beer buried in ancient Egyptian tombs? What is the story of Sekhmet and the red beer? Was there a brewery near the pyramids at Giza? What was daily life like for ancient Egyptian workers?