Table of Gods: Uncovering the World's Oldest Recipes

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A Cookbook Inspired by the World’s Oldest Recipes Written on Clay Tablets 4,000 Years Ago

Travel to the Cradle of Civilization

Table of Gods is not only a cookbook. It’s a time machine, taking you to eleven cities in the cradle of civilization. The road trip starts in Eridu 3512 BC, and ends in Babylon 568 BC.

I’ll tell you what to bring, how to get around, and where to stay. As well as things to see, things to do (and watch out for), and of course, where to eat and drink.

Eat Like the Gods

Ancient Mesopotamian cuisine evolved to satisfy gods who ate four times daily. We (me, my parents, and sister) have recreated 62 recipes based on cuneiform sources, archaeological evidence, and my food travels to modern-day Turkey and Iraq.

I’ve consulted with several Near Eastern scholars and food historians, ensuring the recipes are as authentic as possible, while being practical for the modern cook.

This cake was baked in the city of Ashur during the 14th century BC. It was called ziqqurratu, after the Mesopotamian stepped pyramids, ziggurats. We’ve reconstructed it based on a depiction carved in stone and textual sources disclosing the cake’s ingredients.

Drink Like the Gods

By the fourth millennium BC, workers received their salary in beer. By the third millennium BC, there were local pubs serving cold beer. In the second millennium BC, King Hammurabi enacted a law allowing customers to buy beer on credit.

In a hymn to the beer goddess Ninkasi, a scribe recorded history’s first beer recipe 4,000 years ago. We've collaborated with professional brewers, using this hymn as our inspiration to recreate brews such as date beer, pomegranate beer, honey beer, and more.

Six Years Progress

I began writing Table of Gods in 2019. Early on, I decided to self-publish to keep creative control and print a book that feels like an ancient Apple product.

Speaking of Apple, Steve Jobs once said, “There’s a tremendous amount of craftsmanship between the idea and the finished product," adding that “everything great has a shared ingredient: time." After almost six years, I will complete Table of Gods in 2024.

Table of Gods
in the Media

I’ve been cooking and talking about my book on Swedish TV, radio, newspapers, and podcasts. Iraqi TV when I was in Iraq. International (English) podcasts. And on my YouTube channel, where I produce documentaries and shorter videos about food and legends from ancient Mesopotamia. My videos have over 400,000 views.