It’s no secret that the ancient Egyptians brewed beer — it’s right up there with mummies and pharaohs and pyramids for things that people know about the culture. However, there’s a big difference between knowing they had the capability to make beer, and knowing how much beer the ancients could brew up.
Judging by a recent discovery in Egypt, they weren’t just brewing up small artisanal batches of session ales — it was a full-blown industry.
While the ancient Egyptians might not have done keg stands, the appreciation of a good pint appears to be a time-honored tradition all the same.
How time-honored are we talking? How about 5,000 years?
Archaeologists who unearthed the massive, ancient brewery dated it to about 3,100 BC, to the era of King Narmer, who founded the First Dynasty and unified Upper and Lower Egypt, according to a Facebook post from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The ancient brewery is believed to be one of the oldest large-scale breweries in the world.
The site at Abydos, about 450 km (280 miles) south of Cairo, was long suspected of having a beer factory — British archaeologists knew of it in the early 20th century but were never able to pinpoint its location.
Finally dug up, the discovery proved illuminating on how the ancients would have produced large volumes of beer.
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The site contained eight large areas, each of which was arranged along two rows of about 40 earthenware pots around large basins.
Those basins are where the magic would have happened, with the grains and water mixing and heating.
In all, the archaeologists believe the facility would have been producing up to 22,400 liters (5,900 gallons) of beer at a time.
The location at Abydos also provided a hint about where all those suds were going.
Abydos is famed for its many ancient temples and cemeteries, so the vast quantities of beer were likely necessary for funereal and religious rituals.
“Evidence for the use of beer in sacrificial rites was found during excavations in these facilities,” the statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities read.
h/t: Facebook | Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
