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The meaning of wine in Egyptian tombs: the three amphorae from Tutankhamun's burial chamber

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Maria Rosa Guasch Jané
Maria Rosa Guasch Jané*
Affiliation:
Departamento de História, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avda de Berna 26-C 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal (Email: [email protected])
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Extract

Three wine jars in Tutankhamun's fabulously preserved burial chamber had been opened and placed east, west and south of the sarcophagus. By means of inscriptions, endorsed by residue analysis, the author distinguishes the contents as red wine, white wine and a high quality fortified wine, and goes on to argue for specific symbolic meanings for these choices in the context of religious change after Akhenaten.

Keywords

Egyptsecond millennium BCresidue analysisTutankhamunAkhenatenwineburial rites
Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 329 , September 2011 , pp. 851 - 858
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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