5,000-year-old wine hidden in hundreds of jars at Egyptian queen’s tomb. Take a look
About 5,000 years ago, Queen Meret-Neith was considered the most powerful woman in ancient Egypt — and recent discoveries at her tomb have confirmed her importance.
A team of archaeologists from the University of Vienna recently unearthed “hundreds of large wine jars,” some still sealed, at the queen’s burial in Abydos, according to an Oct. 9 news release. Other grave goods were also found in the sprawling complex.
The wine jars were “very well preserved,” and there were ancient grape seeds in some of them, researchers said. Some had inscriptions indicating that the queen was responsible for government offices, including the treasury.
Experts said their discovery bolsters the idea that Meret-Neith was the first female pharaoh in ancient Egypt. In addition to the impressive trove of grave goods left at her tomb, Meret-Neith is thesole woman with her own monumental tomb at the first royal cemetery in Abydos.
The tomb complex, which is made of “unbaked mud bricks, clay and wood,” also includes 41 burials belonging to the queen’s courtiers and servants, archaeologists said.
Research revealed that the tombs were built in several phases over a long period of time, challenging the existing idea that human sacrifice was a part of royal burial during ancient Egypt’s first dynasty, the university said in the release.
Abydos is about 340 miles southeast of Cairo.
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