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Ninkasi: The Lady who fills the
Mouth
March 10th, 2010 3 Comments
nin (lady) kag (mouth)
I was really looking forward to be part of Tasting and
Exploration of Yeast Culture, an e!ent part of the
"mami #esti!al at the $stor Center on #riday %ar&h '(,
but it )ust got &an&eled by the organi*ers+ Cest la vie! ,
and it ga!e me the great opportunity to explore yeast,
and more spe&ifi&ally beer - bread in .umerian &ulture+
$s I will not be able to perform for you this time I will
share my collectages on the topi&+
$s re&orded today it looks like it is .umer and not Egypt
that would be the oldest beer produ&ing &ountry and the
oldest beer goddess thus would be /inkasi+ .he is the
an&ient .umerian 0oddess of intoxi&ating be!erages, her
name meaning1 the 2ady who fills the mouth
3er father is Enki the lord /udimmud and her mother
is /inti ,or /inursag ,4ueen of the $b*u+ /inkasi was
one of the eight &hildren &reated to heal the eight
wounds of her father Enki5 wounds re&ei!ed by eating
eight forbidden plants+
.o what &ame first1 the ka67beer
(left) or the gar7bread (right)8
3ard to say, but what we &an
read in the text below is that the bappir, that is the twi&e
baked barley bread was stored for the purpose of beer
brewing, and there are indi&ations that it &ould ha!e
been eaten+ It has also been suggested that
the bappir &ould be an early form of bis&otti (twi&e
baked)+
The (9:: ;C hymn to /inkasi is a fairly linear
des&ription of brewing te&hni<ues+ You &an read the
s&holarly translation here and if you are a .umerian
s&holar the transliteration here + $nd voil the
arrangement I made for performan&e purpose1
Borne of flowing water , tenderl cared for b
!in"rsa#a!
!in$asi, borne of flowing water , tenderl cared for
b !in"rsa#a!
%o"r father is &n$i, 'ord !"di(("d, o"r (other is
!inti, the )"een of the ab*"+
!in$asi, o"r father is &n$i, 'ord !"di(("d, and
o"r (other is !inti, the )"een of the ab*"+
,t is o" who handle the do"gh with a big shovel, (i-
the bappir in a pit, with sweet aro(atics+
!in$asi, it is o" who handle the do"gh with a big
shovel, (i- the bappir in a pit, with sweet aro(atics+
,t is o" who ba$e the bappir in the big oven, and p"t
in order the piles of h"lled grain+ !in$asi, it is o" who
ba$e the bappir in the big oven, and p"t in order the
piles of h"lled grain+
,t is o" who water the earth.covered (alt/ the noble
dogs g"ard it even fro( the potentates+
!in$asi, it is o" who water the earth.covered (alt/
the noble dogs g"ard it even fro( the potentates+
,t is o" who soa$ the (alt in a 0ar/ the waves rise, the
waves fall+
!in$asi, it is o" who soa$ the (alt in a 0ar/ the waves
rise, the waves fall+
,t is o" who spread the coo$ed (ash on large reed
(ats/ coolness overco(es +
!in$asi, it is o" who spread the coo$ed (ash on large
reed (ats/ coolness overco(es +
,t is o" who hold with both hands the great sweet
wort, brewing it with hone and wine+
!in$asi, it is o" who hold with both hands the great
sweet wort, brewing it with hone and wine+
,t is o" who place the ga$$"l vat, which (a$es a
pleasant so"nd, on top of a large la(sare vat+
!in$asi, ,t is o" who place the ga$$"l vat, which
(a$es a pleasant so"nd, on top of a large la(sare vat+
,t is o" who po"r o"t the filtered beer of
the la(sare vat/ it is li$e the onr"sh of the 1igris and
the &"phrates+
!in$asi, it is o" who po"r o"t the filtered beer of
the la(sare vat/ it is li$e the onr"sh of the 1igris and
the &"phrates+
There was also .umerian pro!erbs related to drinking 1
Ce <ui est bon, &=est la bi>re? Ce <ui est mau!ais, &=est la
route?
@hat=s good is the beer? @hat=s bad is the road?
Beer drin$ing in Mesopota(ia. 2lwas with straws
which co"ld (ean that the beverage was not clear and
needed to be sifted+
$nother great song I &ame a&ross is the oldest re&orded
drinking song? The found tablet is belie!ed to ha!e been
written at the turn of the III to II millennium ;C and
was first studied in 'ABC by %iguel Ci!il+ (right1
illustration is the /inkasi seal)
translation1 here
transliteration1 here
Derforman&e !ersion1
1he ga$$"l vat, the
ga$$"l vat!
1he ga$$"l vat, the
la(sare vat!
1he ga$$"l vat, p"ts "s in a happ (ood!
1he la(sare vat, (a$es o"r heart re0oice!
1he "g"rbal 0ar, glor of the ho"se!
1he 3agg"b 0ar, filled with beer!
1he a(a( 0ar, carries the beer fro( the la(sare vat!
1he tro"ghs (ade with b"r grass and the pails for
$neading the do"gh!
2ll the bea"tif"l vessels are read on their pot stands!
Ma the heart of o"r god be well disposed towards
o"!
'et the ee of the ga$$"l vat be o"r ee, and let the
heart of the ga$$"l vat be o"r heart!
4hat (a$es o"r heart feel wonderf"l in itself also
(a$es o"r hearts feel wonderf"l in the(selves!
4e are in a happ (ood, o"r hearts are 0of"l!
%o" have po"red a libation over the fated bric$, and
o" have laid the fo"ndations in peace and prosperit
5 now (a !in$asi dwell with o"!
6he sho"ld po"r beer and wine for o"!
'et the po"ring of the sweet li)"or reso"nd pleasantl
for o"!
,n the tro"ghs (ade with b"r grass, there is sweet
beer+
, will have the c"p.bearers, the bos and the brewers
stand b+
2s , spin aro"nd the la$e of beer, while feeling
wonderf"l, feeling wonderf"l, while drin$ing beer, in a
blissf"l (ood, while drin$ing alcohol and feeling
e-hilarated, with 0o in the heart and a contented liver
5 ( heart is a heart filled with 0o!
, clothe ( contented liver in a gar(ent fit for a )"een!
1he heart of ,nana is happ once again/ the heart of
,nana is happ once again!
2 to !in$asi+
The &ode of 3ammurabi, ins&ribed on a basalt tablet,
lays down some stri&t rules for the administration of
beer parlors+ Ewners who o!er&harged &ustomers were
liable to death by drowning?
These pie&es will be a great addition to my .umerian
repertoire, they will &omplement the ,ncantation of
,nnana that I ha!e been performing for years (on my &d
2a 0arbure Trans&ontinentaleFThe ;iFContinental
Chowder)+ ;elow is a li!e performan&e of that pie&e for
the &elebration of Gerry Hothenberg=s
anthology 1echnicians of the 6acred+ This is how I got
introdu&ed to .umerian poetry+ %er&i Gerry?