

5,000 Years Ago Workers Got Paid in Beer

Not clear: How many pints were taken out for Social Security.

Artifact, Ancient history, History, Font, Carving, Art, World, Creative arts, Rectangle, Stele,
British Museum

It seems like some people spend their entire paychecks on beer, but five thousand years ago in the city of Uruk in what is now Iraq, they cut out the currency middleman. This ancient tablet now on display at the British Museum is basically a pay stub for a worker who got paid in beer.

Payment on booze wasn't entirely uncommon in the old days, especially because the stout concoction they drank was no watery Bud Light—it was thick enough to be more or less food. Pay stubs in cuneiform are among the most common archaeological records we have of this time and place, and this one details the amount of beer a particular worker is to get.

There you have it: People have been working for the weekend for a long, long time.

Source: New Scientist via Ars Technica

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From Science