Archeologists unearth 5000-year-old brewery in Egypt

Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest
beer factory in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, as per Egypt’s Ministry of
Tourism and Antiquities. Located in Egypt’s Sohag Governorate, the brewery
likely belonged to the era of King Narmer, dating back to around 3100 BC. The
5000-year-old brewery was so massive that it could have been producing nearly
22,400 litres of beer at a time, Dr. Matthew Adams of New York University, a
researcher in the Egyptian-American team that made the discovery, said.

Researchers believed that the popular
beverage was used in ancient times in royal burial rituals for the early kings
of Egypt. Excavations carried out before corroborate the fact that beer was a
part of many sacrificial rites.

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The beer factory was divided into
eight sections for producing beer, each containing 40 clay pots that were
used to heat grain and water, said Dr. Mostafa
Waziry, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge
impact on Egypt’s tourism industry making officials eager to flaunt their newly
discovered artefacts that would assist in bringing tourist numbers up.

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Egypt witnessed a massive drop in the
number of tourists in the wake of the pandemic, going from 13.1 million in 2019
to 3.5 million in 2020. International flights have been suspended in March and
all archeological sites and musems have been shut.