BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

One of Civilization’s Oldest Wine Cellars?

Tel Kabri cellar held equivalent of nearly 3,000 bottles of reds and whites

At the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) conference on Friday, November 22, Tel Kabri archaeologists announced the discovery of 40 large wine jars uncovered in the 2013 excavations. Kurtis Hiatt of The George Washington University circulated the following press release regarding the discovery. All images courtesy of Eric H. Cline and Assaf Yasur-Landau.

These 3,700-year-old jars were discovered in an ancient palatial wine cellar unearthed by researchers at Tel Kabri in July 2013. The team worked in day and night shifts to excavate a total of 40 intact vessels during its six-week dig. Credit: Eric H. Cline, George Washington University.

WASHINGTON—A team of American and Israeli researchers has unearthed what could be the largest and oldest wine cellar in the Near East.

The group made the discovery at the 75-acre Tel Kabri site in Israel, the ruins of a northern Canaanite city that dates back to approximately 1700 B.C. The excavations at the vast palace of the rulers of the city are co-directed by Eric H. Cline of the George Washington University (GW) and Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University of Haifa, with Andrew Koh of Brandeis University as associate director. As researchers excavated at the site, they uncovered a three-foot-long jug, later christened “Bessie.”

“We dug and dug, and all of a sudden, Bessie’s friends started appearing—five, 10, 15, ultimately 40 jars packed in a 15-by-25-foot storage room,” said Dr. Cline, chair of GW’s Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. “This is a hugely significant discovery—it’s a wine cellar that, to our knowledge, is largely unmatched in its age and size.”

The findings will be presented on Friday in Baltimore at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

 


August 28, 2014, update: Read the publication of the organic residue analysis by Andrew J. Koh, Assaf Yasur-Landau and Eric H. Cline in “Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel,” PLoS ONE 9(8): e106406.


This image of the Tel Kabri wine cellar was created using LIDAR, a technique that uses a pulsed laser to measure distances and generate an accurate 3D map of a location. LIDAR helped the archaeologists map the storage room and each of the 40 wine jars discovered in July 2013. Credit: The Tel Kabri Archaeological Project.

The 40 jars have a capacity of roughly 2,000 liters, meaning the cellar could have held the equivalent of nearly 3,000 bottles of reds and whites.

“The wine cellar was located near a hall where banquets took place, a place where the Kabri elite and possibly foreign guests consumed goat meat and wine,” said Dr. Yasur-Landau, chair of the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa. “The wine cellar and the banquet hall were destroyed during the same violent event, perhaps an earthquake, which covered them with thick debris of mud bricks and plaster.”

It wasn’t immediately clear it was wine the jugs once held. To make that determination, Dr. Koh, an assistant professor of classical studies at Brandeis University and associate director of the excavation, analyzed the jar fragments using organic residue analysis. He found traces of tartaric and syringic acids, both key components in wine, as well as compounds suggesting the presence of ingredients popular in ancient wine-making, including honey, mint, cinnamon bark, juniper berries and resins. The recipe is similar to medicinal wines used for 2,000 years in ancient Egypt.

“This wasn’t moonshine that someone was brewing in their basement, eyeballing the measurements,” Dr. Koh said. “This wine’s recipe was strictly followed in each and every jar.”

Researchers now want to continue analyzing the composition of each solution, possibly discovering enough information to recreate the flavor.

Luckily, they’ll have more evidence in a couple of years. A few days before the team members wrapped up work this summer, they discovered two doors leading out of the wine cellar—one to the south, and one to the west.

Both probably lead to additional storage rooms. They’ll have to wait until their next dig in 2015 to find out for sure.

Funding for this research was provided by GW, the University of Haifa, the National Geographic Society, the Israel Science Foundation, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, Bronfman Philanthropies and private donations.

MEDIA CONTACTS

For the George Washington University:
Kurtis Hiatt: 202-994-1849; [email protected]

For the University of Haifa:
Ilan Yavelberg: [email protected]

For Brandeis University:
Leah Burrows: 781-736-4027; [email protected]


Additional Resources on Tel Kabri

The Biblical Archaeology Society Tel Kabri page featuring publications from the field written by BAS web editor Noah Wiener.

Tel Kabri: The 2013 Excavations featuring details of the 2013 field season.

Minoan Frescoes at Tel Kabri: Aegean Art in Bronze Age Israel discussing the interregional significance of the palace at Kabri.

Related Posts

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Minoan Frescoes at Tel Kabri

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Jan 10
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Sep 12
Tel Kabri: The 2013 Excavations

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5 Responses

  1. James Demello says:

    Any way to determine alcoholic content?

  2. Info | Teach Us Wine says:

    […] One of Civilization's Oldest Wine Cellars? – Biblical Archaeology … http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/At the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) conference on Friday, November 22, Tel Kabri archaeologists announced the discovery of 40 large wine jars uncovered in the 2013 excavations. Kurtis Hiatt of The … […]

  3. Najstarsza znana „przydomowa” piwniczka wina z Tel Kabri liczy sobie 3700 lat. says:

    […] oraz z Biblical Archaeology […]

  4. links to the land | preachersmith says:

    […] Tel Kabri & wine: One of Civilization’s Oldest Wine Cellars? […]

  5. Henry says:

    Our team is so awesome.

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5 Responses

  1. James Demello says:

    Any way to determine alcoholic content?

  2. Info | Teach Us Wine says:

    […] One of Civilization's Oldest Wine Cellars? – Biblical Archaeology … http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/At the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) conference on Friday, November 22, Tel Kabri archaeologists announced the discovery of 40 large wine jars uncovered in the 2013 excavations. Kurtis Hiatt of The … […]

  3. Najstarsza znana „przydomowa” piwniczka wina z Tel Kabri liczy sobie 3700 lat. says:

    […] oraz z Biblical Archaeology […]

  4. links to the land | preachersmith says:

    […] Tel Kabri & wine: One of Civilization’s Oldest Wine Cellars? […]

  5. Henry says:

    Our team is so awesome.

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