wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Tut-Ench-Amun

The Egyptian pharaoh Tut-Ench-Amun (c. 1350 BC) died at the age of 17. The discovery of his almost intact tomb by the English archaeologist Sir Howard Carter (1873-1939) in 1922 was a world sensation. Among other things, a total of 36 amphorae were found, some of them containing wine residues, 26 of which are marked with inscriptions. One of the jars bears the inscription: "Year 5, wine from the estate of Tut-Ench-Amun of the Western River. Head of the winegrowers Kha'y". The "western river" most likely means the western arm of the Nile Delta (there is only one river in Egypt), where the best Egyptian wine region was located at that time.

What the "year 5" means is not entirely clear. However, it is probably not the year of the king's reign, since on another jar it says "year 31" and this king died young. Incidentally, the "chief vintner Kha'y" is noted on six of the jugs. According to the inscriptions, a total of 23 jars date from the years 4, 5 and 9. In March 2004, the US scientists Maria Rosa Guasch-Jané (Egyptologist) and Rosa Lamuela-Raventós (chemist) examined the dried red wine residues in a jar from the Pharaoh's tomb using chromatography and spectrometry. This identified the substance malvidin glucoside, which belongs to the anthocyanins and only occurs in red wine. Later, remains of white wine were also found. This proves that both types of wine were produced in ancient Egypt. Until now, it was assumed that only red wine was produced. See also Ancient Wines, Ancient Grape Varieties and Drinking Culture.

Image: by Sriom on Pixabay

Voices of our members

Thomas Götz

Serious sources on the internet are rare - and Wine lexicon from wein.plus is one such source. When researching for my articles, I regularly consult the wein.plus encyclopaedia. There I get reliable and detailed information.

Thomas Götz
Weinberater, Weinblogger und Journalist; Schwendi

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,367 Keywords · 46,924 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,701 Pronunciations · 201,864 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU