Ancient refrigerator, beer recipe and tavern among the latest discoveries at Lagash, Iraq

*Representational image
A team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania (US) and the University of Pisa (Italy) discovered the remains of a tavern dating back approximately 5000 years. The discovery sheds an interesting light on what normal everyday life was back then.
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The ruins of ancient Lagash, one of the first urban centres of the Sumerian civilisation, is located near the modern day city of Nasiriyah in Iraq. Ancient refrigeration system, an oven, benches, serving bowls, and leftovers like fish and animal bones were unearthed during the excavations.

That’s not all, the archaeologists also discovered an ancient beer recipe on a cuneiform tablet near a temple that was also excavated in the area! This open courtyard with all these items, might have been an ancient tavern of some sort where locals came to drink alcoholic beverages and socialise.


The ancient refrigeration system called zeer, as per the researchers, was a moisture-wick structure, which must have been used to keep the food cool. Though not exactly refrigeration, the system must have been helpful in food preservation.
The site definitely does not reflect a domestic household setup. Several evidence of beer drinking suggests that the site might have been a tavern.

Lagash is a 1000-acre archaeological dig site which was once a commercial hub, one of the largest and busiest back in the day.

Though the discoveries are new, the site is not a new one. The archaeological digs in this area date back to the 1930s. Gone are the days of studying the area looking for mounds and then going ahead with the digs. The techniques used these days include drone imagery and magnetometry analysis (assessing the magnetic properties of the materials in a given area).
The ancient tavern in Lagash was buried just 19 inches below the surface!