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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/200...cs-tl031504.php
Public release date: 15-Mar-2004
Contact: Allison Byrum
a_byrum@acs.org
American Chemical Society
King Tut liked red wine
Ancient Egyptians believed in properly equipping a body for the afterlife, and not just through mummification.
A new study reveals that King Tutankhamun eased his arduous journey with a stash of red wine.
Spanish scientists have developed the first technique that can determine the color of wine used in ancient jars.
They analyzed residues
rom a jar found in the tomb of King Tut and found that it contained wine made with red grapes.
This is the only extensive chemical analysis that has been done on a jar from King Tut's tomb,
a
nd
it is the first time scientists have provided evidence of the color of wine in an arch
aeological sample.
The report appears in the March 15 edition of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
The earliest scientific evidence of grapes is from 60-million-year-old fossil vines, while the first written record of winemaking comes from a much more recent source, the Bible, which says Noah planted a vineyard after exiting the ark.
Scientists have detected wine in a jar from as far back as 5400 B.C., found at the site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran. But the earliest knowledge about wine cultivation comes from ancient Egypt, where the winemaking process was represen
ted on tomb walls dating to 2600 B.C.
"Wine in ancient Egypt was a drink of great importance, consumed by the upper classes and the kings," says Maria Rosa Guasch-Jan
Public release date: 15-Mar-2004
Contact: Allison Byrum
a_byrum@acs.org
American Chemical Society
King Tut liked red wine
Ancient Egyptians believed in properly equipping a body for the afterlife, and not just through mummification.
A new study reveals that King Tutankhamun eased his arduous journey with a stash of red wine.
Spanish scientists have developed the first technique that can determine the color of wine used in ancient jars.
They analyzed residues
rom a jar found in the tomb of King Tut and found that it contained wine made with red grapes.
This is the only extensive chemical analysis that has been done on a jar from King Tut's tomb,
a
nd
it is the first time scientists have provided evidence of the color of wine in an arch
aeological sample.
The report appears in the March 15 edition of Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
The earliest scientific evidence of grapes is from 60-million-year-old fossil vines, while the first written record of winemaking comes from a much more recent source, the Bible, which says Noah planted a vineyard after exiting the ark.
Scientists have detected wine in a jar from as far back as 5400 B.C., found at the site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran. But the earliest knowledge about wine cultivation comes from ancient Egypt, where the winemaking process was represen
ted on tomb walls dating to 2600 B.C.
"Wine in ancient Egypt was a drink of great importance, consumed by the upper classes and the kings," says Maria Rosa Guasch-Jan