Egyptian wine

The viticulture in Egypt already has a millennia-old tradition. This is evidenced by the appearance of the wine production in various reliefs.

Antiquity

→ Main article: Wine in Ancient Egypt

One of the first Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh Scorpion I. was buried around 3150 BC with 700 jars of wine as grave goods. This wine was imported from the southern Levant, which was one of the major growing regions for wine at this time. An Egyptian wine production, however, had only a limited amount is from 3.000 detectable before Christ. For his physical well- Pharaoh Tutankhamun was also given ( about 1350 BC) wine in jugs, of which 26 were obtained. These are exactly the winery, often records the parcel of origin, and the winemakers. For example, on pitcher No. 571 the inscription sweet wine of the house of Aton Karet, winemaker Ramose to read. 23 jars containing wines from years 4, 5 and 9 of the reign of Tutankhamun.

In the Roman period in Egypt large quantities of wine were exported to Rome.

Modern Times

Today, wine is grown on about 57,000 hectares of land primarily for the production of table grapes. The reason is that the Muslims of alcohol is prohibited, only the ethnic- religious minority of Christian Copts consumed wine, especially for liturgical purposes. So is the annual produce of wine only 27,000 hectoliters in mainly nationalized wineries. The most important grape variety Muscat of Alexandria. Without artificial irrigation no wine would be possible in Egypt.