Wine

:This article is about the beverage. See Wine (software) for an article about the software of the same name.

History

The earliest known evidence of a fermented wine-like drink is from the Chinese village of Jiahu dated from 6000 to 7000 BC http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/101/51/17593. The wine, found in 16 buried jars, contained millet, rice, beeswax (from honey) and either hawthorn fruit or wild grape. A 3,000 year old bronze jar has also been unearthed, still containing a similar liquid wine.

Related Topics:
Chinese - Jiahu - 6000 - 7000 BC - Millet - Rice - Beeswax - Honey - Hawthorn - Bronze

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Ancient pottery jars discovered at Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran, near the city of Urmia http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/NearEast/wine.shtml, indicate that grape wine was produced as far back as 5,400 BC. It is believed that the name of the Shiraz grape originates from the Persian town of the same name. This discovery is particularly significant, as Hajji Firuz Tepe was not a grape-growing area, the main crops being grains and the preferred drink of the time was beer. As ancient Babylon was located on the Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean, all indications suggest that wine was probably used as a commodity for trade.

Related Topics:
Zagros Mountains - Iran - Urmia - 5,400 BC - Shiraz - Beer - Silk Road - China - Mediterranean

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In ancient Egypt, wine played an important part in ceremonial life. Although wild grapes were never grown there, a thriving royal winemaking industry had been established in the Nile Delta. The industry was most likely the result of trade between Egypt and Canaan during the Early Bronze Age, commencing from at least the Third Dynasty (2650 ? 2575 BC), the beginning of the Old Kingdom period (2650 ? 2152 BC). Winemaking scenes on tomb walls, and the offering lists that accompanied them, included wine that was definitely produced at the deltaic vineyards. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five wines, all probably produced in the Delta, constitute a canonical set of provisions, or fixed "menu," for the afterlife. Christianity included wine in its rites where it takes the place of the blood of Jesus, in the Mass of Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican Christians. The advent of wine in Europe was the work of the Greeks who spread the art of grape-growing and winemaking in Ancient Greece and Roman times.

Related Topics:
Egypt - Nile Delta - Canaan - Bronze Age - 2650 - 2575 BC - 2152 BC - Christianity - Jesus - Mass - Orthodox - Catholic - Anglican - Greeks - Roman

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