Ancient Restaurant Highlights Iraq's Archeology Renaissance

What is considered a world's oldest bridge, some 4,000 years old, is seen by the ancient city-state of Lagash, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
What is considered a world's oldest bridge, some 4,000 years old, is seen by the ancient city-state of Lagash, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
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Ancient Restaurant Highlights Iraq's Archeology Renaissance

What is considered a world's oldest bridge, some 4,000 years old, is seen by the ancient city-state of Lagash, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
What is considered a world's oldest bridge, some 4,000 years old, is seen by the ancient city-state of Lagash, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)

An international archeological mission has uncovered the remnants of what is believed to be a 5,000-year-old restaurant or tavern in the ancient city of Lagash in southern Iraq.

The discovery of the ancient dining hall — complete with a rudimentary refrigeration system, hundreds of roughly made clay bowls and the fossilized remains of an overcooked fish — announced in late January by a University of Pennsylvania-led team, generated some buzz beyond Iraq’s borders.

It came against the backdrop of a resurgence of archeology in a country often referred to as the “cradle of civilization,” but where archeological exploration has been stunted by decades of conflict before and after the US invasion of 2003. Those events exposed the country's rich sites and collections to the looting of tens of thousands of artifacts.

“The impacts of looting on the field of archeology were very severe,” Laith Majid Hussein, director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq, told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, the wars and periods of instability have greatly affected the situation in the country in general.”

With relative calm prevailing over the past few years, the digs have returned. At the same time, thousands of stolen artifacts have been repatriated, offering hope of an archeological renaissance.
“‘Improving’ is a good term to describe it, or ‘healing’ or ‘recovering,’” said Jaafar Jotheri, a professor of archeology at University of Al-Qadisiyah, describing the current state of the field in his country.

Iraq is home to six UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites, among them the ancient city of Babylon, the site of several ancient empires under rulers like Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar.

In the years before the 2003 US invasion, a limited number of international teams came to dig at sites in Iraq. During Saddam Hussein’s rule, Jotheri said, the foreign archeologists who did come were under strict monitoring by a suspicious government in Baghdad, limiting their contacts with locals. There was little opportunity to transfer skills or technology to local archeologists, he said, meaning that the international presence brought “no benefit for Iraq.”

The country's ancient sites faced “two waves of destruction,” Jotheri said, the first after harsh international sanctions were imposed following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and desperate Iraqis “found artifacts and looting as a form of income” and the second in 2003 following the US invasion, when “everything collapsed.”

Amid the ensuing security vacuum and rise of ISIS, excavations all but shut down for nearly a decade in southern Iraq, while continuing in the more stable northern Kurdish-controlled area. Ancient sites were looted and artifacts smuggled abroad.

The first international teams to return to southern Iraq came in 2014 but their numbers grew haltingly after that.



Chinese Tea Hub Branches into Coffee as Tastes Change

A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu'er - AFP
A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu'er - AFP
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Chinese Tea Hub Branches into Coffee as Tastes Change

A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu'er - AFP
A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation in Pu'er - AFP

At a mountainside cafe in southwestern China, Liao Shihao brews handfuls of locally grown beans into steaming cups of coffee, a modern twist on the region's traditional drink.

For centuries, Pu'er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea -- sometimes styled "pu-erh" -- famous across East Asia and beyond.

But as younger Chinese cultivate a taste for punchy espressos, frothy lattes and flat whites, growers are increasingly branching out into tea's historic rival.

"People are coming to try our hand-drip coffee... and more fully experience the flavours it brings," Liao, 25, told AFP.
"In the past, they mostly went for commercialised coffee, and wouldn't dabble in the artisanal varieties," he said.

Liao´s family has run the Xiaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation for three generations.

Nestled in a shady valley, spindly coffee trees line its steep hillsides, their cherry-like fruit drying on wooden pallets outside.

When AFP visited this month, clusters of tourists sipped boutique brews in the airy cafe overlooking its verdant slopes.

"It's very good," said Cai Shuwen, 21, as he perched on a bar stool lifting sample after sample to his lips.

"Even though some beans are more astringent than I imagined, others have exceeded my expectations."

- Brewing success -

Every year, Pu'er's plantations sell tens of thousands of tons of coffee to major Chinese cities, according to government data.

In metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, a thriving cafe scene has emerged in recent years, driven by people aged between 20 and 40.

To Liao, a trained roaster and barista, coffee from his home region possesses "a creamy flavour with a silky, viscous mouthfeel".

Modern commercial plantations only sprang up in Pu'er in the 1980s, and the area is still better known for its centuries-old tea trade.

Liao's grandfather, Liao Xiugui, said "nobody knew anything about coffee" when he arrived in Pu'er a few decades ago.

At the time, the older man was one of very few people in China who had studied coffee cultivation.

But the region's relatively high altitude and temperate climate were well-suited to the unfamiliar crop, the now 83-year-old told AFP.

"The quality of the coffee we plant here is strong but not too bitter, floral but not too heady, and slightly fruity," he added.

Free from artificial pesticides and interspersed with other species for biodiversity, Little Hollow yields about 500 tons of raw coffee fruit per year.

Liao Xiugui himself drinks two or three cups a day, and credits the caffeinated beverage for keeping him spry in his advanced years.

"Drinking coffee can make you younger and healthier... and prevent ageing," he smiled.

"Also, everyone is tired at work these days... and they want to give their brains a boost."

- Richer pickings -

China's coffee output has risen dramatically in recent years, though it still lags far behind traditional powerhouses such as Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia.

Yunnan, near three borders with Southeast Asian nations, accounts for virtually all of China's coffee production, much of it concentrated in Pu'er.

On a visit to Yunnan last month, President Xi Jinping said the province's coffee "represents China", according to state media.

Keen to further expand the sector, officials have rolled out policies to improve production, attract investment and boost exports, according to government statements.

They have also merged coffee production with tourism, dovetailing with a central government push to increase domestic consumption.

Longtime farmer Yu Dun, 51, said she had opened new income streams with plantation tours, homestays and a restaurant fusing coffee with the cuisine of her native Dai ethnicity.

Her prospects were bright, she said, adding that she also earned "10 times" more revenue from her beans since learning to process and roast them herself.

"We used to say only rich people could drink coffee, but that's all changed now," she said.