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Slightly off topic, but I remember reading many years ago about a brewer who wanted to do something special for his brewery’s tenth anniversary. Whilst researching, he came across what anthropologists thought was a hymn, only partially translated.

He realized it was a recipe! With his domain knowledge, he was able to fill in some of the blanks. He then worked with the linguistic anthropology community to extend our knowledge of the ancient language in question. (Sumerian, maybe? It’s been a long time….)

He brewed the beer/ale and the result was a think rich brew best described as liquid bread.



I'm not sure if this is what you're thinking of, but there's a story like that behind Dogfish Head's "Midas Touch"

http://www.biomolecular-archaeology.com/?page_id=143

https://www.dogfish.com/brewery/beer/midas-touch

Though more reconstruction of ingredients from residue than linguistic reconstruction I guess.


Ninkasi, goddess of beer.


Well, that explains why there's a Ninkasi brewery in Eugene, Oregon and another unrelated one in the UK.


"Beer is liquid bread, it's good for you" - They Might Be Giants


Ah, so that's how Soylent was founded.




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