Drink, dance, death: wine in ancient Egypt

Summary

History Extra Podcast Summary
Episode: Drink, Dance, Death: Wine in Ancient Egypt
Release Date: June 1, 2025
Host: Matt Elton
Guest: Islam Issa, Professor of Literature and History at Birmingham City University

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Introduction

In this episode of the History Extra podcast, host Matt Elton delves into the intricate role that wine played in ancient Egyptian society. Joined by Professor Islam Issa, the discussion explores the historical, cultural, and technological significance of wine, uncovering its multifaceted presence from religious rituals to everyday life.

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Early Evidence of Winemaking

[03:14] Islam Issa: "Wine is included in tombs as early as the fourth millennium BC."

Professor Issa begins by highlighting the earliest evidence of winemaking in ancient Egypt, dating back to the fourth millennium BCE. He references tombs in Abydos, such as those of King Scorpions, which contained hundreds of pots or jars of wine, indicating its importance even in burial practices. These findings coincide with the earliest Egyptian writings, suggesting a deep-rooted connection between wine and the nascent stages of Egyptian civilization.

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Symbolic and Ritual Significance

[04:54] Islam Issa: "We don't really see too much evidence that it's consumed all day, every day, by commoners. But it seems very important with the belief in the afterlife..."

Wine held profound religious significance, particularly among the elite. It was believed to sustain the dead in the afterlife, reflecting the Egyptians' intricate beliefs surrounding death and resurrection. The unification of Egypt, marked by the transition from King Scorpions to Naadma and the establishment of Memphis as the capital, coincided with the rise of winemaking, underscoring its symbolic importance in a unified society.

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The Festival of Drunkenness

[19:02] Islam Issa: "The festival of drunkenness was a New Year's event... Sekhmet begins to destroy everything and anything and is on the verge of destroying the whole of humanity."

One of the most captivating discussions centers on the Festival of Drunkenness, a New Year's celebration inspired by the myth of Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess. According to the myth, Sekhmet's rampage against humanity was halted by deities who poured red-dyed wine across the land. Mistaking it for blood, Sekhmet became intoxicated and ceased her destruction. The festival commemorates this event through communal drinking, dancing, and music, serving both as a remembrance and as a means to appease the gods.

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Funerary Rites and Mummification

[21:03] Islam Issa: "Palm wine is abundant, so they begin to use palm wine for this process. So they rinse the body with a mixture of water and wine..."

Wine was integral to the mummification process, used both for its antiseptic properties and its symbolic value. During mummification, the body was cleansed with mixtures of water and wine, and organs were stored separately in wine-laden jars. This not only preserved the body but also ensured the deceased had sustenance in the afterlife. The meticulous process, including the "weighing of the heart" ceremony, underscored wine's role in both the physical preservation and spiritual journey of the departed.

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Wine in Medicine

[24:58] Islam Issa: "Wine is used as medicine for a long time in Egypt... treating infections like an anesthetic, an antiseptic, a sedative."

Beyond its cultural and religious significance, wine was a staple in ancient Egyptian medicine. It was incorporated into various medicinal recipes, serving purposes such as an anesthetic, antiseptic, and sedative. Influenced by Hippocratic practices, wine was mixed with herbs and other substances to create remedies for ailments ranging from fevers to menstrual discomfort. This medicinal use highlights the versatile role of wine in everyday Egyptian life.

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Spread and Trade of Egyptian Wine

[27:22] Islam Issa: "The Ptolemies... had a sort of mercantile economic plan... Wine is part of that process."

Egypt's wine production evolved from a local practice to a significant export commodity, especially after the founding of Alexandria in the 4th century BCE. Under the Ptolemies, Alexandria became a global trade hub, exporting wine alongside olive oil and papyrus. Traces of Egyptian wine have been found as far as Sicily and Marseille, illustrating the widespread influence and demand for Egyptian viticulture.

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The Tomb of Tutankhamun

[29:24] Islam Issa: "We have jars of wine inscribed, described with the name of the winemaker... eight jars of Cedda, the most exclusive wine."

Tutankhamun's tomb serves as a quintessential example of the prominence of wine in funerary practices. Over 5,000 items were discovered, including numerous jars of both red and white wine, some inscribed with the names of winemakers and production dates. Notably, two wine jars were placed around the pharaoh's body in the burial chamber, symbolizing wine's vital role in the afterlife. These findings underscore the sophistication and ceremonial importance of winemaking in ancient Egypt.

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Technological Innovations in Winemaking

[31:23] Islam Issa: "Heron of Alexandria... create the first vending machine... self-filling wine bowl that never ceases."

Alexandria, renowned for its library and museum, was also a center for technological innovation related to winemaking. Innovations included automated dispensing systems like the first vending machine and self-filling wine bowls, reflecting the blend of practicality and ceremonial significance. These advancements not only improved the efficiency of wine production but also enhanced its sacred and communal uses.

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Conclusion: Cultural Reflection

[34:05] Islam Issa: "There's something curious about the way in which the everyday links to the ritualistic and how everything has a deeper meaning."

Wine in ancient Egypt was more than a mere beverage; it was a symbol interwoven with every aspect of life, from daily practices to profound religious rituals. The Egyptians' reverence for wine reflected their broader appreciation for life, their gods, and the intricate balance between the mundane and the sacred. This multifaceted relationship with wine offers a profound glimpse into the values and complexities of ancient Egyptian civilization.

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Additional Resources

For a more in-depth exploration, Islam Issa authored a feature on this subject for the May issue of BBC History Magazine, available on HistoryExtra.com.

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Produced by: Daniel Kramer Arden
Recorded with: Matt Elton and Islam Issa
Podcast Series: History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

Transcript

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[Matt Elton]

Welcome to the History Extra podc. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine. Wine played a central role in ancient Egyptian culture, from the civilization's founding myths to the process of mummification. But why was the fermented drink so important to the Egyptians? And what exactly went on at the festival of drunkenness? Matt Elton caught up with Islam Issa to find out.

So we are here today to talk about wine. What's the earliest evidence that we have of winemaking in ancient Egypt?

[Islam Issa]

The question is an interesting one because.

Winemaking is actually different to the presence of wine itself. So wine is included in tombs as.

Early as the fourth millennium bc.

So tombs in Abydos, like King Scorpions.

That'S a long time ago, 4th millennium BC and that kind of coincides with the tombs where we think we have.

The earliest Egyptian writings, actually. So they're significant in many ways. So King Scorpions buried in Abydos around 3200 BC, 3150 BC. That kind of range with hundreds of pots or jars of wine. So if you look at the pictures.

There'S basically like a wine cellar with.

A dozen different sections in it alongside his tomb.

I guess you said wine making.

It seems like these were made around.

The Jordan Valley, these ones, and we're not sure when the wine was made in Egypt specifically. So these ones that were found 4th millennium BC, the residues have a kind of fermented grape and a bit of fig. And I guess it's a long answer.

To your question, but the political context.

Probably indicates to us that it's around this time that Egypt begins making its own wine.

So towards the end of the fourth millennium bc.

[Matt Elton]

It's interesting that you've already alluded to the fact that wine was connected in these various ways to parts of society. Do we get a sense from these very early days of wine being an important thing in ancient Egyptian culture?

[Islam Issa]

Yes, in the ritual sense.

We don't really see too much evidence that it's consumed all day, every day, by commoners. But it seems very important with the belief in the afterlife that the elites have enough wine with them to sustain.

Them through the afterlife. And that's obviously got to be a.

Lot of wine if they want an eternal afterlife. So we do see it having a.

Huge religious and ritualistic importance, particularly for the elites.

But I think as Egypt gets unified, which happens just at that time from when those wine bottles, wine jars, are discovered, I think that's when we begin to, on the face of it, that's when Ancient Egypt, the term we understand today, begins when naama or naadma replaces scorpion, essentially, and the first dynasty begins.

And this means that Egypt is unified north and south, lower and Upper Egypt.

And it means that the capital moves as well. So the capital moves northwards from Phoenice to Memphis, so that's about three or 400 miles north. And the old capital, before the first dynasty didn't have too much water.

It was near the oases, for example.

But Memphis is right at Nile Delta, and that's the moment when wine can.

Be produced in Egypt, because the Nile Delta is the perfect place to harvest anything like grapes.

And that's probably when Egyptian winemaking begins.

[Matt Elton]

You alluded to figs earlier and then grapes there. Was it the case that wine was made with a variety of different fruits, or was it primarily grapes?

[Islam Issa]

Grape is the main thing, and the grape cultivation seems to have been an.

Active choice that's been introduced to Egypt.

From the Levant region in that late 4th millennium BC.

And so grapes become the main source of wine.

And the word for wine in Egypt.

Does suggest grape, which is irreb.

So, yeah, as time progresses, other cheaper fruits are introduced. So you do have some figs, but you particularly have dates used as well.

Fermented and used for wine.

So the main wine would have been.

Grape after the introduction of the fruit.

But for large periods. Then we also have date wine and the palm wine, actually, palm wine, because they're both more affordable. So that would be made.

There's so many palm trees. So you either use the fruit which is the date, or the SAP, which is the palm.

And then we also see some pomegranates as well.

[Matt Elton]

If you head into a supermarket today, you see a huge variety of different sorts of wine, different colours of wine. Was that the case, a version of it in this time of place, or was there only really one sort of color or one sort of wine?

[Islam Issa]

Well, interestingly, we have color illustrations. So part of that ritual process for the afterlife is having some pots of.

Wine with you, jars of wine and so on.

But also, there's a belief that if.

You draw something, which is why the Egyptians drew so much, that in the afterlife it would actually come to life.

And turn into something real, which is actually a really nice thought. So as a result, we do have lots of pictures that give us some indication of the colours, if they're anything to go by. Then we see predominantly red, but we also see grapes that look more like blue and green.

And then you have Lighter colors, like pink and white. There's also not just the illustrations.

There are lists of offerings. So you have the things that have.

Been offered in the tomb that have.

Been left with this pharaoh or queen in the tomb. There's, like, an inventory of stuff that's been left with them.

And that gives us some indication as well that they have.

So one of the phrases would have.

Been erep mehu, which means marsh wine. So that suggests this from the Nile Delta, for example. You have something like sweet wine is one of the items that's on the inventories.

And you also have wines with a location next to them. So ancient locations where they would have been made. But that doesn't always indicate to us.

Quite what the wine was like.

More about the location, and I want.

[Matt Elton]

To talk a little bit more about the way that wine was made. What do we know about the winemaking process?

[Islam Issa]

We know quite a bit from the illustrations that are available. They show us several steps of the process. In some of the tombs, the first part of the process would have been the harvesting. And it's mostly men that are depicted.

In those harvesting scenes rather than women.

But it looks like the grapes were.

Cut by hand, so they didn't use knives.

The pictures show them placing the grapes.

In these kind of wicker baskets.

They're carried by these men. Sometimes they're, like, balancing it with a.

Large stick, with a basket on each side of the stick.

And then it looks like they cover.

The grapes with the vine leaves as.

Well, which seems to be a way.

Of protecting it from the sun.

Some of the most exciting pictures are.

Those of the treading process. So the tombs from the New Kingdom.

Have paintings that show that they put.

Them in these sort of large, round containers.

And then you have sometimes four or.

Five or six men treading by foot.

They hold onto these poles at the edges of the containers. If there was no roof, they'd be touching each other.

So often the men would sort of.

Hold one another's hips as they were doing it. In these pictures, it looks like a really interactive process. And it seems that it was accompanied.

By singing and musical instruments and so on.

Because you have some pictures of women.

Playing instruments as the men tread.

In the New Kingdom paintings, we don't have any instruments, but actually we have.

Songs written above them, suggesting that the.

Men who were treading were singing as they were doing so. And they're quite nice because you have a song, for example, dedicated to Renanutet.

The goddess of grapes. So it's a long process.

The treading is an interactive kind of process as well. Pressing the pressing is a really curious image as well, where they seem to place it in this kind of long, oblong shaped linen thing and they're squeezing.

It, stretching the linen.

So you have men on either side.

Pulling that linen and the liquids coming into a pot underneath that linen.

And then there's the fermentation process where it's left for as long as possible. And again it's filtered through this kind of linen to the bottles. And then you do have this bottling.

And sealing process involves labelling as well. Because we do have some of the.

Wine jars that have been found do.

Include the name of the vineyard, the.

Name of the winemaker, and sometimes an indication of the quality of the wine as well.

Recently found ones as well have the names of the ruler that the wine was made especially for on the lid as well. It is a long, long process which.

I think they would have taken very.

Seriously because there's also evidence of wine inspectors.

So I think the translation is probably something like the overseers of wine.

And we know that the Egyptians had.

A kind of bureaucratic system going on where they had a lot of grain inspectors. So it seems like there were officials tasked with overseeing the vineyards, especially if it was a vineyard related to a temple.

And then we do seem to have.

Some wine inspectors as well.

[Matt Elton]

So we know an awful lot about how this process worked. Do you think that is an indication of how seriously they took it, as you say?

[Islam Issa]

I think so.

It's often a state endorsed process or.

A process led by the elite. It's heavily linked to religion. I guess for me, one of the.

Most exciting things about the whole topic.

Is how something that seems so ordinary.

And every day is so linked and steeped, if you like, in religion and mythology and ritual. And I think that's one of the.

Reasons why it was taken so seriously.

It's not just a staple commodity, it's.

A highly valuable commodity at a symbolic level as well.

[Matt Elton]

So let's talk about some of that symbolism and some of that myth. Could you talk a little bit about the ways wine played a key role in the foundational myths of ancient Egyptian culture?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, we have some very important mythological.

Tales that were essential to people's beliefs. Among them, for example, the story of.

Osiris, who's perhaps the most important God.

In ancient Egypt for large periods, because.

The pharaohs, when they die, were believed.

To be incarnations of Osiris as well.

So it's a story that's vital to Egyptian belief. And Osiris has a jealous brother who's set.

And it's a story that we see repeat itself in religious scripture, in Shakespeare, in Disney, right? The story of the jealous brother.

So set murders and dismembers his brother. He locks Osiris in a coffin and throws it into the Nile. And Osiris is eventually saved by his wife, Isis, who's another very important goddess.

So she doesn't give up.

She finds him, she puts his body parts together like a jigsaw puzzle. And then as he comes back to life, he impregnates her with Horus, who's.

Another very important God and the son.

Of two vital deities in Cyrus and Isis. So when it comes to wine, Osiris.

Blood imbues the river.

And it's believed that it gives it its rich materials, the River Nile. Now, the Nile is not an ordinary.

River or landmark for the Egyptians. The Nile is the heartbeat of the country.

Even today, Egyptians gravitate around the water.

So around 10% of Egypt is in use, and the other 90% is not.

Because Egyptians are around the Mediterranean, the.

Red Sea, and all down the Nile. At the time, it was even more pronounced. So Egyptians really lived on the Nile because that provided drinking water and also crops.

So the Nile flooding process annually was.

Believed to be miraculous, that the gods had helped it flood to the right level so that people could eat and survive and flourish.

So the Nile is an important part of this story. And so it was believed that Osiris blood kind of blessed the Nile when.

He was thrown in there by his brother. And the color of the water would.

Turn reddish annually, according to historians, as the excess soil washed into the Nile. And actually, if you search it, it happens every now and then these days. So this flooding was a divine event, and Osiris's blood was a big part.

Of that divine process.

Essentially, the blood of Osiris helps crops, like the vine crop, grow. And because he symbolizes a kind of rejuvenation and resurrection, so too does the crop as it grows every year without fail, as it relies on this annual.

Flooding that Osiris is so much connected to. And so we see, for example, in the Pyramid texts, which are the oldest funerary texts from the third millennium bc.

That Osiris is not just the God of agriculture and resurrection, but he's actually.

The God of wine. The Lord of wine in flood is one of the ways that it's identified. So he's the originator of winemaking. And there are rituals that prove that as well, in terms of how people.

Would commemorate Osiris every year with a kind of Eucharist style process and that at death Egyptians would say my water is wine as they remembered the God of both wine in Flood and the afterworld resurrection.

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[Matt Elton]

Can you talk more about some of the rights and some of the rituals that involve wine? Is it right, for instance, that wine was sometimes called the eye of Horus?

[Islam Issa]

That's right.

And we can think of Horus in light of the story I've just told, which is he's the divine child of Osiris and Isis. And Horus is said to have been injured in battle by his uncle Set. So that's his usurping gunkle who had killed his father before his father Osiris was brought back to life and Horus's eye lost its blood.

So in one of the rituals there'd.

Be a kind of depression in the temple that was made on purpose and wine would be poured into it, representing the rejuvenation and the resurrection, if you like, of Horus's eye that had lost Its blood temples are built in a.

Way where water or liquid could be.

Poured down and it would look great as it poured down the temple. And if you do it with water today in some of the temples, it looks amazing, let alone if you were to do it with a bright wine. So it's a visual spectacle for the people as well.

And similarly that there was a ritual.

For Osiris as well that was very similar to the Eucharist, so remembering him.

With grain and wine as well.

[Matt Elton]

Moving on to another festival, can you tell me some more about the excellently named festival of Drunkenness?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, the festival of drunkenness was a New Year's event. Maybe not much has changed. People tried to imitate Sehmet, who's a goddess.

So the story goes that the sun.

God, Ra, his rule was coming to an end. And so he sent his goddess daughter, who's sent in the form of a lion headed warrior who's Sekhmet.

And she tries to destroy the mortals.

The humans who'd conspired against her.

The issue is that she gets carried.

Away and she begins to destroy everything and anything and is on the verge.

Of destroying the whole of humanity.

So her father, Ra and the other gods need to come up with a plan to stop her. And what they end up doing is pouring what's described as red dyed wine, so a kind of red wine throughout the land and it creates these lakes. And because Sekhmet is so adamant to.

Destroy humanity, she thinks it's blood and she runs to that blood and drinks.

What'S actually wine, becomes intoxicated and falls asleep. And that's what this festival is commemorating. In another version, it's actually that they.

Give her wine and they put music.

On and they get her dancing and that she forgets about her rage because.

Of the music and the dancing, dancing in the wine.

Either way, people wanted to imitate this.

Kind of plan that spared humanity.

So what they would do is they would either drink a lot or they would drink and dance and play music. It wasn't just to commemorate it. It was also to appease the goddess.

Look, we're doing something that you like.

And that you initiated, so don't get angry ever again.

[Matt Elton]

We've talked a bit about some of the myths, some of the symbolism of wine, and we've talked a little bit about some of its practical uses. I suppose one arena in which both of those things come together is death and the funerary rites and the process of embalming a mummification. Could you talk us through the various ways in which wine was used in those processes and why it was so important.

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, there's two sides to it. There's the mummification side on one hand.

And then there's the kind of ceremonial.

Side on the other.

As far as mummification is concerned, it's a sophisticated process, and it had for hundreds of years been developing.

And wine was sort of an ingredient.

Or a practical item in the mummification process. So they removed the internal organs in.

Order to preserve the body.

They stored four organs in jars. So those were the stomach, the intestines.

The liver and the lungs.

I mean, interestingly, we often forget that.

The brain wasn't very important.

So they'd drill a hole near the.

Nose and put in the big hook.

To scoop the brains out.

But the heart remained in the body because the Book of the Dead describes.

That Anubis, the God of embalming, would.

Lead the deceased to a ceremony which is called the weighing of the heart.

Which I've always found an intriguing phrase. So they'd weigh their heart to see whether they had a good heart or a bad heart, to see whether they should live on or be eliminated. So essentially, you've cleared the body of.

These organs and the skull.

So now they need to be cleaned.

And palm wine is abundant, so they begin to use palm wine for this process. So they rinse the body with a.

Mixture of water and wine, and then they wash it again with wine, wash.

The organs with wine, ready for dehydration.

So the wine cleans the corpse, but it's also an antiseptic, so that reduces the chance of bacterial growth, reduces the chances of infection. And at the end of the day.

It slows down decomposition, which is one of the main aims of the whole process.

So that's part of the process. I mean, there are spells and prayers and instructions written on the coffins that.

Are intended to help the deceased navigate the afterlife. And these texts were originally royal texts.

If you like, but they begin to reach the commoners, especially the wealthy commoners. And so by the time we get to the second millennium bc, mummification is something that the wider public can aspire to, which people often forget.

They think it's just for royalty. And by the first millennium bc, it's a commercialized market, the mummification market.

We've just got a business idea. And the availability of wine, especially palm.

Wine, is a key factor to that boom in mummification, if you like.

So that's the mummification side.

There's also a ceremonial side in terms of taking the wine into the afterlife with you, or in terms of, like we said, illustrating it on the walls.

[Matt Elton]

So I have some follow up questions about some of those processes. In terms of the brain being scooped out, is it right to say that the cleaning that you described with wine extended to inside of the skull as well?

[Islam Issa]

Yes, definitely inside of the skull that.

Definitely needed to be cleaned.

So it's the body cavity and the inside of the skull.

[Matt Elton]

So it was quite an extensive process.

[Islam Issa]

Yes, and that's why it was an.

Expensive process as well.

But it's an extensive process and it's an important process.

The techniques of which keep getting more.

And more sophisticated and efficient. That's why, for example, we see the body cavity being filled with all sorts of things. Initially it's linen, and then within centuries we have pieces of papyrus that aren't needed anymore fill the body cavity.

That's why we found some interesting poetry, for example, inside body cavities, because they.

Thought it was a useless poem or anthology and they used it to fill a cavity.

Some of the poetry talking about wine as well.

[Matt Elton]

That's amazing. And my second question is, you mentioned there the weighing of the heart, which I think, as you say, is a very striking phrase. Was it good to have a heavier or a lighter heart?

[Islam Issa]

So the heart is placed on one scale and this feather is placed on.

Another scale, a symbolic feather.

And if the heart is found to be heavier than the feather, then the.

Soul is cast into darkness, if you like.

And if the scales are balanced, then.

The deceased has passed the test.

And who better to welcome the deceased.

Into the afterlife than Osiris himself?

[Matt Elton]

Excellent. Thank you so much. There's another use of wine that we've not yet talked about, which is as medicine. What were some of the medical ways in which wine found a use in this culture?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, wine is used as medicine for a long time in Egypt and in.

The fourth millennium BC we see it.

Listed as an ingredient in medicinal recipes.

And it varies greatly in its use. Things like treating infections like an anesthetic, an antisept, a sedative. Of course, Hippocrates views were influential as well.

And he thought that small amounts of wine were useful for fevers and for.

Helping urine flow, and also for what he called sadness. Actually, I mean, I think Hippocrates was open to misinterpretation. I think there was. You get the impression that some people.

Thought, if a little wine is good for me, then lots of wine must.

Be really good for me.

Then I think in Egypt that perhaps.

Was less so the case than in the Hellenistic world, the jars that have been discovered, they have residues of what we might say are wine mixed with herbs, wine mixed with kind of balm infused wines.

So things that were also for general.

Health and vitality, so they would add medicinal plants. So red wine or white wine was the base. Then there'd be a bit of fenugreek, for example, which is actually still used in Egypt. Fenugreek quite a lot among menstruating women.

It's like a really big thing in Egypt. Honey, for example, was added to wine as an antibiotic.

You could have mandrake as a narcotic, even opium. But interestingly, opium as a kind of sedative, you had to have a priest.

Had to prescribe that for you.

You couldn't just get opium wine. So coriander infused wine as well. And then for women, not just for menstrual pain, but also kind of douche.

By mixing water and wine for cleansing. And even one pregnancy test involved wine, which is referenced in the second millennium BC Papyrus. The doctor basically has to mix the.

Woman'S urine with wine and see the reaction. And if there is a reaction between the chemical compounds of the urine on one hand and the fermented liquid on.

The other, then the woman is pregnant.

[Matt Elton]

Given the centrality of wine too, all sorts of aspects of ancient Egyptian culture, do we also find the culture exporting it to other civilizations, is it something that they use for trade or as a way to sort of exert power elsewhere in the region?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, the evidence from early on suggests that it's brought into Egypt from the.

Levant, which means that Egypt can be.

More self sustaining, which is one of.

The key economic plans of the pharaohs.

Actually, for a long time.

This kind of self sustaining idea, as time goes on, it becomes a more valuable commodity. And so the landowners see that they.

Can make a lot more money from it than just enjoying it themselves.

And so it eventually spreads beyond the country. And that's especially the case when Alexandria is founded.

And Egypt has such a vast history.

We have to remember Alexandria is founded in the 4th century BC, which to us now seems like a very long time ago, but it's actually halfway between.

Us and the pyramids.

So we see that Alexandria becomes a global trade hub and the most important harbor in the region with huge export potential.

And actually the Ptolemies, so straight after.

Alexander, the ptolemies in the 4th century, they had a sort of mercantile economic plan. It was truly about maximum export, minimum import and high tariffs. Wine is part of that process, because wine then becomes one of the things exported alongside things like olive oil, papyrus. And traces have been found in Sicily, near Marseille. And the classical writers talk about Mariotis.

Wine, which is the wine from the lake just south of Alexandria.

So it really, as Alexandria opens Egypt.

Up to the world in every direction.

Westwards to the Maghreb, northwards to Europe, eastwards to Asia. The wine from Egypt begins to spread.

[Matt Elton]

More seriously, you talked earlier about the use of wine in tombs. We should talk about perhaps the most famous tomb, which is Tutankhamuns. Is there evidence of wine there and what does that tell us?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, I mean, there is lots of wine in Tutankhamun's tomb and Tutankhamun's tomb.

One of the reasons, as you've said.

It'S the most famous, is because it was so intact. A lot of tombs have problems over time, whether from the weather or decomposition or looting. And when it comes to Sitting Commune, it was so perfectly preserved that we have over 5,000 items in his tomb. And we have rooms where there was.

Just lots of stuff that he could take with him into the afterlife.

And we have jars of wine inscribed, described with the name of the winemaker.

The year of production.

So that suggests there was a kind.

Of sophisticated wine culture during his time.

We have eight jars of Cedda, Cedda.

Is the most exclusive wine.

And then we have regular wine.

And it's recently been analyzed and to people's surprise, it wasn't just red wine, as would have been assumed, but there was red and white wine in Titicammy's tomb, and most of these were stored in the annex. So the annex to the tomb had loads of stuff in it. But fascinatingly, two wine jars were placed surrounding Tutankhamun's body in the actual burial chamber as well.

And the red wine was on the west and the white wine was on the east. So they obviously have huge symbolic value. Even if we can't quite figure out for sure what that symbolic value was.

It seems like an essential part of the burial ritual.

So the stuff that's in the annex.

Seems essential to his afterlife.

But the stuff that's in the burial.

Chamber must have been used in some.

Way by the priests as part of his burial rites. So Tutankhamun's tomb suggests to us that.

Wine had two different purposes, both in the afterlife and in the ceremony itself.

[Matt Elton]

As you've alluded to, we should be careful to not flatten this culture, this civilization, because as you've said, it does span an enormous expanse of time. Do we See across that time, any developments in the technology or the manufacture of wine.

[Islam Issa]

Well, Alexandria is vital again in the.

Sense that it has this great library.

That we all have heard of, and the great library has a museum adjacent to it. So the library is the shrine of.

Books, if you like. The museum is the shrine of Muses. That's where research takes place and inventions happen. And these inventions that happen in ancient Alexandria, and not just out of the blue, the they are very much linked.

To what is needed in the city.

And in Egypt and in the Hellenistic.

World at that time.

And so if wine is popular at that time, many of the inventions are.

Linked to wine as well.

So you have two sides, I'd say the first is a kind of state endorsed side.

So the Ptolemies love to put festivals on.

As part of those festivals, they would.

Distribute wine to make people happy.

And so, for example, you have these floats that are invented for these festivals.

Mechanical floats, well ahead of their time. And some of those, for example, were.

Gigantic wine presses that spread wine into the crowds. One depicted Arsinoe as the goddess Aphrodite.

And with music it activated the outflow of wine.

So those are on one side, the other side are sort of more everyday objects. And Heron of Alexandria in particular is the one who's credited with many of these innovations. So his neomatics has.

I've counted 16 wine related inventions in there.

I might have missed some. But he does, for example, create the first vending machine. So you insert a coin and it dispenses a measured amount of liquid.

So that would have been used for holy water perhaps, and maybe for wine. He used a valve to create a.

Self filling wine bowl that never ceases.

To have wine in it.

And he also has something he called.

A vessel from which wine or water may be made to flow separately or mixed.

And that's an interesting one where he basically uses different spouts and partitions so that you can pick whether you're pouring.

Wine or pouring water.

And actually for a long period, the strength of wine depended on how much water you mixed into it.

So there's a practical purpose to that as well.

But as I like to say, you know, Alexandria is the place where water was literally turned into wine thanks to this invention.

[Matt Elton]

It's incredible. I mean, given what we've outlined across the past half an hour or so, the technology, the science, the medicine, the rituals, what does focusing in on this one commodity, this one item, tell us about life and about the way in which it viewed wine all these centuries ago?

[Islam Issa]

Yeah, there's something curious about the way.

In which the everyday links to the ritualistic and how everything has a deeper meaning. But I think it's also got this.

Kind of beautiful appreciation of life.

In a way. We often think of the Egyptians in.

Terms of death because A they're from the past and B because the things.

We can see tangibly are tombs and mummies and old temples. But in reality, the Egyptians led very.

Full lives, and part of that full life was appreciating every little thing. And they made something of everything. They appreciated wine as something to enjoy.

But they also appreciated the long process.

The effort that goes into making it. They appreciated the fact that the gods had blessed the land and allowed Egypt.

To become this civilization that was so.

Self sustaining at a time when, when you think about it, Egypt is majority desert. And yet when you look at the.

Pictures in the tombs and the hieroglyphics and so on, it's absolutely booming, isn't it? It's green, it's got everything that everyone.

Needs, food and drink and jobs. So there's an element of appreciation to it as well.

[Matt Elton]

That was Islam Issa, professor of Literature and History at Birmingham City University, and he was speaking to Matt Elton. Islam also wrote a feature on this subject for the May issue of BBC History magazine. You can read that on our website, historyextra.com thanks for listening. This podcast was produced by Daniel Kramer Arden.