Ancient Egyptian Wine

Wine making is something that was popular even in Ancient Egypt.  This was a drink that the Egyptians would make so that they could give them to rulers and to the nobles that lived in Egypt.

Vineyards

Some people think that the first vineyard was found in Egypt and some historians found that in the First Dynasty there is proof that there were vineyards.

King Zoser is one of the first people of Ancient Egypt that is recorded to have a wine cellar.  A wine cellar is a place where people would keep their wine so that it would not spoil.

Some of the vineyards were made for different reasons, some were made to make the area look nice, while others were made where there was fruit trees and vegetables.  The last type was a formal vineyard which was a place that was only made to grow grapes so that they could make wine.

Amon-Ra

Historians believe that there were 513 vineyards that were around the temple of Amon-Ray.  The grape vines were taken care by gardeners and it was considered to be a job that was very important to the Ancient Egyptians.

Hieroglyphic

There was even a hieroglyphic that was discovered that was the words “orchard” and “gardener” and there was writing found that talked about the Master of the vineyard.

Growing Grapes

There were four different ways that the Ancient Egyptians could grow grapes, and this included using wood pillars and poles to lay the vines on.

Another way was to use columns to grow the vines on.

The third way to grow grapes was to use arches and attach the grape branches to the arches

The fourth and final way to grow grapes was to grow them low to the ground and then prune them when they started to grow.

Wine Making

When the grapes were grown and they were ripe, the Ancient Egyptian workers would put the grapes in large baskets and carry them on their shoulders.

The grapes would then be put into baskets that were very large and the men would get in the basket and crush the grapes with their feet.

The juice from the grapes would flow into a hole in the basket and then they would pour them into Ancient Egyptian pottery jars and would leave them until they turned into wine.

Fruits

Not only did the Ancient Egyptians use grapes to make wine, they would also use other fruits such as pomegranates, plumbs and other fruit.

Beer

Another very popular drink, even more popular than wine was beer.  Egyptians would use barley to make beer and this was one of their drinks of choice.

The reason most Ancient Egyptians would choose to drink beer was because it was hard to find good water for them to drink and so they would drink beer instead when they were thirsty.

More Facts About Ancient Egyptian Wine:

• Historians discovered large containers that held wine in many of the Ancient Egyptian tombs.
• The Ancient Egyptians believed that drinking wine made them like the gods.
• Ancient Egyptians believe that the goddess Hathor drank wine because she became addicted to blood when she was sent by her father to destroy some of his enemies. Instead of drinking blood, she turned to wine since it was red just like blood.
• In Ancient Egypt, wine is considered a drink of the gods.
• When men would stomp on the grapes to make wine, this was called treading.
• Fermentation is needed for fruit to turn into wine. Fermentation is when the sugar turns to alcohol.

What Did You Learn?

1. What is interesting about wine making?  It is interesting that wine making took place all the way back to Ancient Egypt.
2. Where is one of the first recordings of wine making located? The temple of Amon-Ra is one of the first places that wine making is recorded.
3. How many ways were the Egyptians able to grow grapes? There were four ways that grapes could be grown in Ancient Egypt.
4. How did the Ancient Egyptians turn the grapes into wine? They would stomp on the grapes that were found in big baskets.
5. What goddess is known for drinking wine instead of blood? The goddess Hathor is known to drink wine instead of blood.