PILOT SPIN

Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Mase on June 29, 2016, 01:20:44 PM

Title: Ancient Workers Paid In Beer
Post by: Mase on June 29, 2016, 01:20:44 PM
"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."

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/5000-year-old-pay-stub-shows-that-ancient-workers-were-paid-in-beer/ (http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/5000-year-old-pay-stub-shows-that-ancient-workers-were-paid-in-beer/)
Title: Re: Ancient Workers Paid In Beer
Post by: Steingar on June 29, 2016, 01:28:59 PM
We derive the word salary from the habit of Romans paying their soldiers in sal, or salt.  Like beer, it was a valuable commodity.
Title: Re: Ancient Workers Paid In Beer
Post by: JeffDG on June 29, 2016, 02:28:21 PM
In the olden days, before clean water was common, alcohol was critical to making sure the water didn't kill you.  The fermentation process was very good at killing bad stuff.
Title: Re: Ancient Workers Paid In Beer
Post by: Dav8or on July 02, 2016, 10:42:51 PM
In the olden days, before clean water was common, alcohol was critical to making sure the water didn't kill you.  The fermentation process was very good at killing bad stuff.

Yeah...... that's the ticket... I drink it for my health too... yeahhh...

 ;)