After the fermentation was over, the juice was taken out in small vases, with a long spout, and poured into earthenware jars, which corresponded to the cadi, or amphora, of the Romans*: but fig. 1 No. 143. a b C d fig. 2 Tombs at the Pyramids. whether any thing was added to it after or previous to the fermentation, it is difficult to determine; though, from our finding men represented in the sculptures pouring some liquid from a small cup into the lower reservoir, we may conclude that this was sometimes the case. When the must was considered in a proper state, the amphora were Amphora had properly two handles: they were very common in Egypt with and without them. Being of earthenware, the Romans also called them testæ. Conf. Hor. Od. i. 17. 2.: "Græcâ quod ego ipse testâ The name amphora was likewise, and very properly, applied to a twohandled vase in which the wine was brought to table. Petron. Satyric. c. xxxiv. “Adlatæ sunt amphoræ vitreæ diligenter gypsatæ, quarum in cervicibus pittacia (labels) erant adfixa, cum hoc titulo, Falernum, Opimianum, annorum centum." The Greeks put water into their wines. Plin. xiv. 19. " Græca (vina) quoniam aquam habeant." And even sea-water. Plin. xiv. 20. closed with a lid, resembling an inverted saucer, covered with liquid clay, pitch, gypsum, mortar, or other composition, which was stamped with a seal they were then removed from the winehouse, and placed upright in the cellar. WINES. They generally put a certain quantity of resin or of bitumen at the bottom of the amphora, previous to pouring in the wine, which was intended to preserve it, and was even supposed to improve its flavour; a notion, or rather an acquired taste, owing, probably, to their having at first used skins* instead of jars and the flavour imparted by the resin, which was necessary to preserve the skins, having become, from long habit, a favourite peculiarity of the wine, it was afterwards added from choice, after they had adopted the use of earthenware. And this custom, formerly so general in Egypt, Italy, and Greece, is still preserved throughout the islands of the Archi *According to Herodotus, wine was also carried in skins in the time of Rhampsinitus, lib. ii. 121. pelago. In Egypt, a resinous, or a bituminous substance is always found at the bottom of amphora which have served for holding wine; the Romans, according to Pliny*, employed the Brutian pitch, or resin of the picea pine, in preference to all others, for this purpose: and if, "in Spain, they used that of the pinaster, it was little esteemed, on account of its bitterness, and oppressive smell." In the East, the terebinthus was considered to afford the best resin, superior even to the mastic of the lentiscus; and the resins of Judæa and Syria only yielded in quality to that of Cyprus. This resinous coating for the interior of amphora was very generally used by the Romans, and was one of the numerous means† they had for preserving and improving the flavour ‡ of wine; and, besides smoking it, they sometimes boiled down a certain portion, which gave it a greater body, and insured its keeping. The mode of arranging amphoræ in an Egyptian cellar was similar to that adopted by the Greeks and Romans. They stood upright in successive rows, the innermost set resting against the wall §; some *Plin. xiv. c. 20. + Honey was also used. Pliny (xiv. 4.) mentions some wine nearly 200 years old. Plin. loc. cit. mina." "Ut odor vino contingat, et saporis quædam acu § Homer Odyss. ii. 340. : εν δε πιθοι οινοιο παλαιου ηδοποτοιο έστασαν .... εξείης ποτι τοιχον αρηρότες The innermost row, being the last used, was the oldest wine; and this accounts for the expression of Horace," interiore notâ Falerni." Hor. Od. ii. 3. 8. Each amphora being marked with the date of its wine. times each jar was secured by means of a stone ring, fitting round its pointed base, or was raised on a wooden stand; and, from the position they are occasionally shown to have occupied *, we may conclude that many were placed in upper rooms, as the amphoræ in a Roman apotheca.† The Egyptians had several different kinds of wine, some of which have been commended by ancient authors for their excellent qualities. That of Mareotis was the most esteemed ‡, and in the greatest quantity.S Its superiority over other Egyptian wines may readily be accounted for, when we consider the nature of the soil in that district; ; being principally composed of gravel, which, lying beyond the reach of the alluvial deposit, was free from the rich and tenacious mud usually met with in the valley of the Nile, so little suited for the * Vide wood-cut, No. 141. It was thought to ripen the wine; and hence Horace tells his amphora to come down: "descende. promere languidiora vina." Od. iii. 15. 7. thylla. Plin. xiv. 3. . Hor. i. Od. xxxi. 14. Athenæus says that of An § Strabo, lib. xvii. "In this part (about the lake Mareia) is the greatest abundance of wine." Athen. Deipnosoph. i. 25. “ πρλλŋ de n περί την γην ταυτην αμπελος.” culture of delicate vines; and from the extensive remains of vineyards still found on the western borders of the Arsinoïte nome*, or Fyoóm, we may conclude that the ancient Egyptians were fully aware of the advantages of land situated beyond the limits of the inundation, and that they generally preferred similar localities, for planting the vine. According to Athenæus, "the Mareotic grape was remarkable for its sweetness," and the wine is thus described by him: "Its colour is whitet, its quality excellent, and it is sweet and light with a fragrant bouquet; it is by no means astringent, nor does it affect the head." But it was not for its flavour alone that this wine was esteemed, and Strabo ascribes to it the additional merit of keeping to a great age.‡ "Still, however," says Athenæus," it is inferior to the Teniotic, a wine "it which receives its name from a place called Tenia, where it is produced. Its colour is pale and white, and there is such a degree of richness in it, that when mixed with water it seems gradually to be diluted, much in the same way as Attic honey when a liquid is poured into it and besides the agreeable flavour of the wine, its fragrance is so delightful as to render it perfectly aromatic, and it has the property of being slightly astringent. There are many other vineyards in the valley of the Nile, whose wines are in great repute, and these *Near the Qasr Kharóon. Strabo mentions the abundance of vines in this province, lib. xvii. + Conf. Virg. Georg. ii. 91. : "Sunt Thasiæ vites; sunt et Marcotides alba." Strabo, xvii. ωστε διαχεῖσθαι προς παλαίωσιν τον Μαρειώτιν οινον.” |