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CAIRO (AFP): A team of archaeologists discovered a high-production brewery believed to be more than 5,000 years old at a burial site in southern Egypt, the Ministry of Justice said on Saturday (February 13). Tourism.
The site, which contains several “units” consisting of some 40 clay pots arranged in two rows, was discovered in North Abydos, Sohag, by a joint Egyptian-American team, the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.
The brewery likely dates back to the era of King Narmer, he quoted Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General Mostafa Waziry as saying he believes the find “is the oldest high-production brewery in the world.” “
Narmer, who ruled more than 5,000 years ago, founded the First Dynasty and unified Upper and Lower Egypt.
British archaeologists first discovered the existence of the brewery in the early 20th century, but its location was never precisely determined, according to the statement.
The joint Egyptian-American team “was able to relocate and discover its contents,” he said.
According to Waziry, the brewery consisted of eight large areas that were used as “units for the production of beer.”
Each sector contained about 40 clay pots arranged in two rows.
A mixture of grains and water used for beer production was heated in the vats, with each basin “held by clay levers placed vertically in the shape of rings.”
Prepared for ‘royal rituals’
New York University archaeologist Matthew Adams, who is leading the joint mission with Deborah Vischak of Princeton University, said studies have shown that the beer was produced on a large scale, with around 22,400 liters made at a time.
The brewery “may have been built in this place specifically to supply the royal rituals that were taking place within the funeral facilities of the kings of Egypt,” the statement quoted by him said.
“Evidence of the use of beer in sacrificial rites was found during excavations at these facilities,” the statement said.
The evidence of brewing in ancient Egypt is not new, and past discoveries have shed light on such brewing.
Pottery shards used by Egyptians to make beer and dating back 5,000 years were discovered at a construction site in Tel Aviv, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced in 2015.
Abydos, where the latest discovery was unearthed, has contributed many treasures over the years and is famous for its temples, such as that of Seti I.
In 2000, a team of American archaeologists uncovered the oldest known example of an ancient Egyptian solar barge at Abydos, dating back to the first pharaonic dynasty about 5,000 years ago.
Egypt has announced several major new discoveries that it hopes will stimulate tourism, a sector that has suffered multiple blows, from a 2011 uprising to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A mission working near Alexandria recently discovered several mummies from around 2,000 years ago with golden tongue charms, believed to have been placed in the mouths of the dead to ensure that they could speak in the afterlife.
Authorities expected 15 million tourists to visit Egypt in 2020, up from 13 million the previous year, but the coronavirus has kept tourists away. – AFP
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