Ancient Workers Paid In Beer

Mason

Mason

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http://arstechnica.com/science/2016...shows-that-ancient-workers-were-paid-in-beer/

"Writing in New Scientist, Alison George explains what's written on the 5,000-year-old tablet: "We can see a human head eating from a bowl, meaning 'ration,' and a conical vessel, meaning 'beer.' Scattered around are scratches recording the amount of beer for a particular worker." Beer wages were by no means limited to Mesopotamia. In ancient Egypt, there are records of people receiving beer for their work—roughly 4 to 5 liters per day for people building the pyramids. And in the Middle Ages, we have several records of the great fourteenth century poet Geoffrey Chaucer being paid in wine. Richard II generously gave Chaucer an annual salary that included a "tonel" of wine per year, which was roughly 252 gallons."
 
The word salary comes from the Roman habit of paying soldiers in salt, which is sal in Latin. In antiquity salt, like beer, was a valuable commodity.
 
I have a friend that has a daughter and she got a job at a bicycle company. So she has to address envelopes and do a mailing. They dont have any envelopes, so her boss takes his bicycle out and comes back with envelopes and a case of beer....
 
Beer, hookers, vodka, hookers. Whatever, all good forms of payment.
 
Whiske's too rough, champain costs too much, and vodka puts my mouth in gear..........................
 
One of my favorite wineries in St. Emilon, France has a cute little compound where they bring fisherman in from up the coast to work the harvest. Bunkhouse, chow hall, and even a pub. Nice thing about fisherman is they know how to appreciate hard work. They take their pay in the form of wine.
 
Went on the tour at Stone Brewery. Tour guide starts his presentation by having a sip of the product. Nice gig.
 
Workers at breweries in germany receive a weekly payment in beer on top of their wage. It is a union negotiated benefit.
 
Jeffythequick said:
There was a History of Beer on some cable channel, and it's a good thing they were.

Un-alcoholic water was nasty.

Beer made it better.
Click to expand...

The process to make beer back then boiled all the nasty stuff out of water, so back then beer was healthier than water. Also because beer was harder to make than it is now, it was a considered a beverage for the rich.
 
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