JOHANNESBURG - American and Egyptian archeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old brewery in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, according to The Independent.
The British newspaper reported on Sunday that Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt’s supreme council of antiquities, said the factory was found in an ancient burial ground located in the desert west of the Nile River, more than 280 miles south of the capital Cairo.
Waziri said the factory dates back to the reign of King Narmer, who is remembered for his unification of ancient Egypt at the beginning of the First Dynastic Period (3150BC-2613BC).
"Archaeologists found eight units, each about 65ft long and 8ft wide, all containing roughly 40 pottery basins in two rows, which had been used to heat up a mixture of grains and water to produce beer," The Independent quoted Waziri saying.
The archaeological mission is co-chaired by Dr Matthew Adams of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Deborah Vischak, assistant professor of ancient Egyptian art history and archaeology at Princeton University.
According to Adams, the factory was built in that specific area to provide royal rituals with beer, and archaeologists have found evidence showing the use of beer in the sacrificial rites of ancient Egyptians.
On Monday, Reuters quoted Adams as saying the brewery could have been producing as much as 22 400 litres of beer at a time.
According to the news agency, officials are keen to show off newly discovered artefacts in an attempt to revive visitor numbers after Egypt's tourism industry declined during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa