Drink, dance, death: wine in ancient Egypt

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. Wine played a central role in ancient Egyptian culture, from the civilization's founding myths to the process of mummification. But why was the fermented drink so important to the Egyptians? And what exactly went on at the Festival of Drunkenness? Matt Elton caught up with Islam Issa to find out.

So we are here today to talk about wine. What's the earliest evidence that we have of winemaking in ancient Egypt? The question is an interesting one because winemaking is actually different to the present of wine itself. So wine is included in tombs as early as the 4th millennium BC. So tombs in Abydos, like King Scorpions, that's a long time ago, fourth millennium BC, and that kind of coincides with the tombs where we think we have the earliest Egyptian writings actually.

So they're significant in many ways. So King Scorpions buried in Abydos around 3200 BC, 3150 BC, that kind of range, with hundreds of pots or jars of wine. So if you look at the pictures, there's basically a like a wine cellar with a dozen different sections in it alongside his tomb. I guess you said wine-making. It seems like these were made around the Jordan Valley, these ones.

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