II. Cold Drinks

Back in ancient Mesopotamian times the sweet water of the Tigris and Euphrates was part of the meal, and there is evidence that special vessels for chilling water were known. A very simple device was used to filter and keep water cool. Water was poured into a porous unglazed clay vessel. This in turn was placed within a second glazed vessel that would retain the filtered water, which slowly seeped through the walls of the inner container. Some of this filtered water would inevitably evaporate in the process and keep the water cool. Many earthenware vessels with pointed bottoms have been excavated, and it was noted that they must have been placed upon stands of wood or plaited straw. Such simple cooling techniques never fell out of use in rural areas up to the present and were used in the cities until the early 1960s.