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Scientists Uncover 3,700-Year-Old Wine Cellar
Taco Cowboy writes in with a link about the remnants of some well-aged wine recently uncovered in Israel. "Scientists have uncovered a 3,700-year-old wine cellar in the ruins of a Canaanite palace in Israel, chemical analysis from the samples from the ceramic jars suggest they held a luxurious beverage that was evidently reserved for banquets. The good stuff contains a blend of ingredients that may have included honey, mint, cedar, tree resins and cinnamon bark. The discovery confirms how sophisticated wines were at that time, something suggested only by ancient texts. The wine cellar was found this summer in palace ruins near the modern town of Nahariya in northern Israel. Researchers found 40 ceramic jars, each big enough to hold about 13 gallons, in a single room. There may be more wine stored elsewhere, but the amount found so far wouldn't be enough to supply the local population, which is why the researchers believe it was reserved for palace use. The unmarked jars are all similar as if made by the same potter. Chemical analysis indicates that the jars held red wine and possibly white wine. There was no liquid left; analyses were done on residues removed from the jars. An expert in ancient winemaking said the discovery 'sheds important new light' on the development of winemaking in ancient Canaan, from which it later spread to Egypt and across the Mediterranean."
Shortly after discovering a 3,700 year old wine cellar, scientists declare: ... not *hic* full of ... wine ... s'all empties, i sh-wear.
Ish totally
- Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
It's been a couple weeks now since this was news on mainstream websites - the linked story is even from the 22nd of November. What's the point of posting it now?
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
cedar, cinnamon bark, honey, etc...
sounded like the ancient relatives of whoever invented Jaegarmeister http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A4germeister
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
They've finally uncovered evidence of Ruinum in ancient ruins ;)
The scandalous whisper amongst the inner circles of desperate empires. The lusty melody for songs shouted in factory pubs, an hour after last call. It's changed history, while remaining unchanged. Do you dare become a player in Ruinum's delirious drama?
An expert in ancient winemaking said the discovery 'sheds important new light' on the development of winemaking in ancient Canaan, from which it later spread to Egypt and across the Mediterranean."
Wine (drinking and making) was common in Greece before any Canaanite had heard that such drink even existed - and it was common for Greeks to trade their wine across the Mediterranean.
Do you add 'honey, mint, cedar, tree resins and cinnamon bark' to your wine because your technique is "sophisticated" or because you are trying to restore some semblance of drinkability to the result of a really dreadful fermentation process?
Only the residue left? So you could add it to water and turn it into wine?
Excited to try the brew they come up with to recreate this.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
The good stuff contains a blend of ingredients that may have included honey, mint, cedar, tree resins and cinnamon bark.
Often when I hear about ancient alcoholic beverages, all sorts of fun flavors like honey, mint, juniper and whatnot, have been brewed into the mix. Why is this not done to a larger extent today? Most of the booze you can get today is quite au naturel.
Are they certain it's not just a bomb-proof Mogen David warehouse?
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
Canaanites are known to come from Sumerian-Accadian roots (just as Hebrews, later turned Jews). You can look, as an example, as their cosmology. Summerian goddess Inanna (and the whole pantheon around her, being she not the only but a very important goddess — And yes, I know the word pantheon _is_ Greek) is replicated in Canaan. Some Canaanite tribes were known to also worship trees as gods (and that's why the names for many trees in Hebrew include the particle "El" — Ilan, alon, ela, etc.), and that's why the old testament specifically forbids making altars to (the only, Israelite) God "under big trees and in high places".
As for Philistines, there might be some link to Greeks: After all, the main Philistine god was "the lord of the flies" (Baal Zvuv — One of the names of the devil, "Belcebu" stems from it). From the composed name, "Baal" means basically "the lord, and Zvuv has an ethimological closeness to "Zeus". The theology is, however, quite different.
What's "whatnot"? Animal, vegetable, or mineral?
http://www.livescience.com/41418-oldest-palace-wine-cellar.html
Only the residue left? So you could add it to water and turn it into wine?
Given the nature of the sludge that was likely found, I'd wager that turning this into wine would involve a similarly miraculous feat as cutting the middleman and turning the water into wine directly.
*Does it contain a cask of Amontillado?*
bloody scientists drank all probably
week old news for nerds.
Now the fields are dead and bare
No joie de vivre anywhere
Et maintenant we drink a bitter wine...
Call me when they find their stash.
When Chris Columbus brought back samples of 'wild grapes' from the Americas, he apparently also brought back a parasite that attacked the roots of European grape vines. (Sorry, no citation as I read this in a book so many years ago it isn't funny. Hopefully it wasn't an old wives tale, else my question will become invalidated - I did google for it, but couldn't find a reference). Apparently, the parasite was so bad that the only way to save the European grape vines was to graft the American roots onto European grapes. This made the European grapes taste different (more bitter, not as nice) and the story claims that wine has never tasted as nice since. So, wondering if this old wine cellar from pre-Columbian Europe has some residual old wine DNA that might help them get wine to taste like it used to taste.
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
Don Perignon, vintage 1609...BC. Good year.
Let me go look for my nerd card so I can turn it in :(
Wasn't this posted like 2 weeks ago?