RESEARCH PROJECT ‘Study of viticulture and winemaking in Egyptian tombs’ (2011-2014)
From the Old Kingdom (2680-2160 BC) to the Greco-Roman Period (332 BC-395 AD), scenes of viticulture and winemaking were depicted on the walls of 92 tombs of the nobles which are recorded in a scene-detail database.
The database of the scenes of viticulture and winemaking in the ancient Egyptian private tombs includes the following items about each scene: record number, scene description with the different steps according to the theme, that is, viticulture or winemaking. The steps represented in the viticulture scenes include: vinery, taking care of the vine, grape harvest and counting the baskets. In the winemaking scenes, the steps represented are: transporting grapes to a press, pressing grapes, heating and filtering, pressing the remains in a sack press, filling wine jars, fermentation, offerings to goddess Renenutet, wine tasting, sealing the wine jars, labelling wine jars, counting wine jars, transporting wine jars to a cellar, refrigeration during fermentation, and storing wine jars in a cellar.
The scene-detail database also includes: scene details, annotations, scene type and scene condition, text (inscriptions and translation) and image/photo. Moreover, the dating (period, dynasties and kings), provenance (governorate, archaeological site, tomb name and number, and location inside the tomb) and present location (if it is the same as provenance, if it’s a museum then location inside the museum and inventory number, and others if it’s not a museum) will be detailed. Finally, the tomb information: type of tomb, tomb’s owner (names and titles of the tomb’s owner) will be included.
In the end, the references to the scene are shown.
The database of the viticulture and winemaking scenes in the ancient Egyptian private tombs is now available for consultation in our website through payment. However, we are committed to disseminate the research we are developing. We invite you to check our open data and enter in the ancient Egyptian viticulture and winemaking scenes map and, if you consider it, get the full access and enjoy.