terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 Investigating the Ancient Egyptian wines: The wine jars database

Investigating the Ancient Egyptian wines: The wine jars database

Abstract

In Ancient Egypt, wine was a luxury product consumed mainly by the upper classes and the royal family and offered to gods in daily religious rituals in the temples.

Since the Predynastic (4000-3100 BC) period, wine jars were placed in tombs as funerary offerings. From the Old Kingdom (2680-2160 BC) to the Greco-Roman (332 BC-395 AD) period, viticulture and winemaking scenes were depicted on the private tombs’ walls. During the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BC), wine jars were inscribed to indicate: vintage year, product, quality, provenance, property and winemaker’s name and title. The inscriptions reveal that the ancient Egyptians considered this information relevant and necessary to be able to distinguish between wines.

Interdisciplinary research on Ancient Egyptian wines included several studies and projects: [1,2] the study of the colour of wine and the origin of the Shedeh, the corpus of viticulture and winemaking scenes in the ancient Egyptian tombs and the archaeological map with the location, among others.

To explore how the Egyptian wines were made, the wine jars typology and production is investigated, and the wine inscriptions to know the ancient winemaking procedures. Moreover, through the study of the main concentration of the Egyptian wine jars from the Pre-dynastic to the New Kingdom period and the research in the museums archives (Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Ahsmolean in Oxford, British Museum in London, Louvre in Paris), the database of the wine jars and wine inscriptions has been created.

The Ancient Egyptian wine jars database and the archaeological map of Egypt with the location of each item will be presented, and it will available in the dedicated website [www.wineofancientegypt.com].

To transfer the knowledge and disseminate the scientific research results, we are also developing a virtual exhibition on the Ancient Egyptian wine culture.

References:

1)  Guasch-Jané M.R. (2016) An Interdisciplinary Study on the Ancient Egyptian Wines: The Egywine Project. M Ioannides, et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Conference EUROMED 2016, Nicosia (Cyprus) October 31-November 5 2016, Digital Heritage. Progress in Cultural Heritage: Documentation, Preservation and Protection, EuroMed 2016, Part I, LNCS 10058: 737–748, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-48496-9_59

2)  Guasch-Jané M.R. (2019) Grape Archaeology and Ancient DNA Sequencing. In: Cantu D., Walker M. (eds) The Grape Genome. Compendium of Plant Genomes. Springer, Cham: 57-75, DOI 10.1007/978-3-030-18601-2_4

DOI:

Publication date: October 5, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Guasch-Jané M.R.1*, Socorregut-Domènech J.2

1Mondes pharaoniques (UMR 8167‘Orient et Méditerranée’), Sorbonne University
2Prehistory and Archaeology department, University of Barcelona

Contact the author*

Keywords

Ancient Egypt, archaeological map, database, winemaking, wine inscriptions, wine jars

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Entomopathogenic nematodes application for controlling Lobesia botrana in grapevine and their impact on grapevine quality 

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are well-known biological control agents combined with specific adjuvants that now allow their use against aerial pests. Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the major harmful pests detected in worldwide vineyards. Previous studies demonstrated that the EPNs Steinernema feltiae and S. carpocapsae could control L. botrana. The hypothesis was that the best combination of EPN-adjuvant/timing (season/temperatures) will support the use of EPN in the vineyard against L. botrana with no impact on the grape performance.

The generation of suspended cell wall material may limit the effect of ultrasound in some varieties

The disruptive effect exerted by high-power ultrasound (US) on plant cell walls, natural barriers to the diffusion of compounds of interest during the maceration of red wines, is established as the reason behind the chromatic improvement that its treatment causes. However, sometimes this improvement is not observed, especially with short maceration times. The presence of a high quantity of suspended cell wall material, which formation is favored by the sonication, could be the cause of this lack of positive results since this cell wall material has a high affinity for phenolic compounds.

Correlative study between degradation of rosé wine under accelerated conditions and under normal conditions

Several studies have tried to develop different methods to study the photodegradation of wine in an accelerated way, trying to elucidate the effect of light on the wine compounds[1]. In a previous study, our team developed a chamber that speeds up the photodegradation of rosé wine[2]. In the present work we have tried to establish a correlation between irradiation times in accelerated conditions and the natural exposure to the cycles of light that usually exist in markets or at home.

Characterization of non-cultivated wild grapevines in Extremadura (Spain) 

Several Eurasian wild grapevine populations were found along Extremadura region (southwestern Spain). For conservation and study, one individual from four different populations (named L1, L2, L5 and L6) was vegetatively propagated and planted at Instituto de Investigaciones Agrarias Finca La Orden (CICYTEX), Badajoz. The aim of the present work was to characterize those conserved individuals from four different populations based on both an ampelographic description and a molecular analysis. Three vines per individual were studied.

Grape pomace, an active ingredient at the intestinal level: Updated evidence

Grape pomace (GP) is a winemaking by-product particularly rich in (poly)phenols and dietary fiber, which are the main active compounds responsible for its health-promoting effects. GP-derived products have been proposed to manage cardiovascular risk factors, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and obesity. Studies on the potential impact of GP on gut health are much more recent. However, it is suggested that, to some extent, this activity of GP as a cardiometabolic health-promoting ingredient would begin in the gastrointestinal tract as GP components (i.e., (poly)phenols and fiber) undergo extensive catabolism, mainly by the action of the intestinal microbiota, that gives rise to low-molecular-weight bioactive compounds that can be absorbed and utilized by the body.