Technology
World’s OLDEST ‘large scale brewery’ dating back 5,000 years to Ancient Egypt created 22,000 litres of booze a year
AN ancient Egyptian brewery has been uncovered at a funerary site in the south of the country.
Experts think it could be the “oldest” known brewery in the world and may have been used to create sacrificial alcohol.
The site was uncovered in southern Egypt[/caption]
Pictures from the Abydos funerary site in southern Egypt have been released by the Egyptian tourism ministry.
A statement on its official Facebook page reads: “The joint Egyptian-American archaeological mission, headed by Dr. Matthew Adams of New York University, and Dr. Deborah Vischak of Princeton University, working in North Abydos, Sohag, has uncovered what is believed to be the oldest high-production brewery in the world.”
Experts think the brewery dates back to the era of King Narmer who ruled Egypt over 5,000 years ago.
Narmer is often credited with unifying Egypt and being the first king of the First Egyptian Dynasty.
It could be the world’s oldest brewery[/caption]
These jars may have been used to make sacrificial alcohol[/caption]
The Facebook statement also explained: “It is worth noting that a number of British archaeologists discovered this plant at the beginning of the 20th century, its location was not precisely determined, and the current expedition was able to re-locate and uncover it and its contents.”
The Egyptian-American team dug up eight large areas containing rows of earthenware basins that would have been used to create beer.
It’s thought about 22,400 litres of beer could be brewed at the factory at anyone time.
The rows of clay bowls would have been used to store beer[/caption]
Water and grains would have been mixed together to create the alcohol.
When ready it may have been taken to the tombs of kings as beer is often mentioned in ancient Egyptian sacrificial rites.
The ministry’s statement explained: “Evidence for the use of beer in sacrificial rites was found during excavations in these facilities.”
The offering of beer was likely an attempt to appease the gods of the underworld.
A brief history of Ancient Egypt
Here’s everything you need to know…
- The Ancient Egyptians were an advanced civilisation who at one point owned a huge portion of the globe
- The civilisation began about 5,000 years ago when ancient humans began building villages along the River Nile
- It lasted for about 3,000 years and saw the building of complex cities centuries ahead of their time – as well as the famous Great Pyramids
- The Ancient Egyptians were experts at farming and construction
- They invented a solar calendar, and one of the world’s earliest writing systems: The hieroglyph
- The Egyptians were ruled by kings and queens called pharaohs
- Religion and the afterlife were a huge part of Ancient Egyptian culture. They had over 2,000 gods
- Pharaohs built huge elaborate tombs to be buried in, some of which were pyramids – at the time among the largest buildings in the world
- The Egyptians believed in life after death, and important people’s corpses were mummified to preserve their bodies for the afterlife
- The Ancient Egytpian empire fell due to a mix of factors, including wars with other empires and a 100-year period of drought and starvation
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