Cairo Archaeologists have discovered a massive 5,000-year-old brewery in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The brewery was located in Egypt’s Sohag Governorate, and likely dates back to the reign of King Narmer, around 3100 BC, the ministry said in a statement.
Dr. Matthew Adams of New York University, one of the leaders of the Egyptian-American mission that made the discovery, said researchers believe the beer was used in royal burial rituals for Egypt’s earliest kings. Previous excavations in the area had found evidence that beer was used during sacrificial rites. The brewery could have been producing as much as 22,400 liters (about 5,900 gallons) of beer at a time, Adams said.
The brewery was split into eight large sections for beer production, each containing 40 clay pots used to warm mixtures of grain and water, said Dr. Mostafa Waziry, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
