Wine in tomb U-j at Abydos
Vino en la tumba U-j de Abidos
- Date
- c. 3150 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Umm el-Qaab (tomb U-j), Abydos, Sohag, Egypt
- Credited to
- Predynastic elite of Abydos (Dynasty 0)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Tomb U-j contained about 700 jars with traces of tartaric acid and resin, indicating wine flavoured with herbs and resin. It is the oldest evidence of wine consumption in Egypt and shows trade with the Levant before the country was unified.
Analyses (McGovern and colleagues, 1990s and 2009) indicate that most jars came from the Levant; local Egyptian viticulture is attested shortly afterwards.
What it led to
- wine as an elite good and funerary offering in Egypt
- planting of vineyards in the Delta, with local production in the following centuries
- a tradition of sealed amphorae with inscriptions of origin