Alcohol and Social Complexity in Ancient Western Asia
Author(s)
Joffe, Alexander H.
Abstract
An underappreciated feature of complex societies is the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, in particular wines and beers. A variety of data are reviewed which suggest significant expansion of alcoholic beverage production and consumption in many areas of Western Asia during the 4th and 3d millennia B.C. Production of beverages formed part of the processes by which emerging elites expanded control over craft production, established symbols, created surpluses that were able to be manipulated, and renegotiated gender roles. Consumption of beverages was an important element of nutrition, ritual, and political economy in the early societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, and the Levant. Review of evidence from the Aegean indicates similar processes at work but with emphasis on competitive feasting and hospitality. These different uses of alcoholic beverages represent significant regularities in the emergence of social complexity and the rise of the state.
