RESEARCH PROJECT ‘Ancient Egypt’s Wine Rebirth’ EGYWINE (2016-2018)

EGYWINE investigates the wine jars to know how they were made to contain wine and the wine inscriptions to know the ancient winemaking procedures.

Since the Predynastic Period (4000-3100 BC), wine jars were placed in the Egyptian tombs as funerary offerings for the deceased. During the New Kingdom Period (1539-1075 BC), wine amphorae were inscribed in hieratic to indicate: vintage year, name of the product, quality, provenance, property and name and title of the winemaker.

The material linked with wine from the Predynastic Period (3800-3300 BC) to the New Kingdom Period (1550-1069 BC) is identified and the main concentration of the Ancient Egyptian wine jars and wine inscriptions is being studied. The Ancient Egyptian wine jars database will be created, with a total of about 300 objects.

Relevant items for each record include: chronology (Early Dynastic, New Kingdom, etc.), typology, provenance (Abydos, Saqqara, Thebes, Tell el-Amarna, etc.) and current location (Cairo museum, Louvre museum, British museum, Ashmolean museum, etc.).