### q1 Mesopotamian ice-houses were carefully guarded > we know very little about the usage of ice in the ancient Near East. Virtually all of our sources come from sites in Syria and northern Iraq in the early 2nd millennium BCE. > In a letter from King Aqba-ḫammu to his wife Iltani (contemporaries of Hammurabi of Babylon, 18th century BCE), the king gives permission for the queen to access his ice-house. > > The ice-house of Qattara should be unsealed, so that the goddess, you, and Belassunu (Iltani's sister), can drink from it as needed. But the ice must remain under guard! - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fj0864zejaqdq8ebzp4ggrpz) - [[how Mesopotamians made ice by Bentresh#q1 Mesopotamian ice-houses were carefully guarded|View in Vault]]