Beer in Anatolia from the kārum Period to the Hittite Empire: Philological, Archaeological and Archaeobotanical Evidence
Abstract
This study examines the contexts of beer production, consumption, and use in second millennium BCE Anatolia through the combined analysis of philological, archaeological, and archaeobotanical evidence. A comparative assessment of the kārum period documents centered on Kültepe (ancient Kaneš) and the written and material sources of the Hittite period demonstrates that beer fulfilled different functions within diverse social and institutional settings. While the kārum period documents make beer visible primarily through domestic production, economic circulation, expense accounts, debt records, and everyday consumption practices, Hittite sources present it mainly within ritual prescriptions, ceremonial offerings, and institutional frameworks. Part of this distinction stems from the different purposes for which written records were produced in the two periods and from the nature of the source corpora that resulted from these processes. Within this framework, this study argues that beer in second millennium BCE Anatolian societies should be evaluated not as a linear continuity or transformation model. Rather, it should be understood as a multilayered social and material practice whose representation varies according to the nature of the available evidence and the spheres of visibility created by different modes of textual and material documentation.
Keywords
Beer, Kanes Archives, Hittite Texts, Brewing Terminology, Consumption and Ritual Practices
Thanks
We would like to express sincere gratitude to the editors and anonymous reviewers of this special issue for their valuable comments, constructive criticism, and insightful suggestions, which greatly contributed to the development of this study. The feedback provided during the review process played an important role in strengthening the theoretical framework of the article and enhancing its overall scholarly quality. We are also grateful to Dr. Charles Steitler for facilitating research at the Hittitology Archive of the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature during the preparation of this study. Finally, we wish to thank Yılmaz Rıdvanoğulları (Ankara University, Ph.D. Candidate) for his valuable assistance with the editing and review of the bibliography, footnotes, and other technical aspects of the manuscript.
References
- Abbreviations and Primary and Secondary Literature Sources
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