History of Beer - Ancient Literature
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A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.

Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven, Puts in order the piles of hulled grains, You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground... You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort... Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat, It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates.

Beer is mentioned in the oldest know work of world literature, the Gilgamesh Epic, which was written in the 3rd millennium B.C. In the pages of this epic we learn of the importance of beer. The epic has been written and rewritten by scribes over centuries but only a copy, written approximately 3200 years ago on stone tablets has survived. It was found in the library of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh on the banks of the Tigris River now on display at the Louvre in Paris. The Gilgamesh epic references the origin of man as a descendent of a savage half-man/half-bull called Enkidu and about the power of beer to transform primitive man to a cultured man.

Without getting into a literary study on the Gilgamesh epic suffice it to say that the epic tells us that when Enkidu drank beer, he became civilized man. The king of the civilized city of Uruk sent one of temple maidens (a harlot) out to the plains with the mission to seduce Enkidu. Her mission was a success, she instructed him in the art of love, after which she offered him a meal of bread and beer. Enkidu knew nothing of eating bread, of drinking beer. He had never learned. The harlot made her voice heard and spoke to Enkidu, "Eat the food, Enkidu, The symbol of life. Drink the beer, destiny of the land." Enkidu ate the bread until he had had enough. He drank the beer, seven whole jars, relaxed, felt joyful. His heart rejoiced, his face beamed and became like any other man awake.  Basically what the epic is saying is that beer is the force that transports man from a primitive nature to a civilized one, and it is beer that makes us human. Or one could also conclude that a harlot or temple maiden and a good meal with a good beer can make you feel like a new man. And you just thought beer tasted good!