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King Tut Drank Red Wine, Researcher Says
ap on Yahoo ^ | 10/26/05 | JENN WIANT - ap

Posted on 10/26/2005 3:39:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

LONDON - King Tutankhamen was a red wine drinker, according to a researcher who analyzed traces of the vintage found in his tomb. Maria Rosa Guasch-Jane told reporters Wednesday at the British Museum that she made her discovery after inventing a process that gave archaeologists a tool to discover the color of ancient wine.

"This is the first time someone has found an ancient red wine," she said.

Wine bottles from King Tut's time were labeled with the name of the product, the year of harvest, the source and the vine grower, Guasch-Jane said, but did not include the color of the wine.

Several clues led scientists to believe the wine may have been red: drawings from the time of grapes being pressed into wine were red and purple, for example. But the color of King Tut's wine was impossible to verify until Guasch-Jane invented a process to detect a color compound not found in white wine called syringic acid.

To test her method, Guasch-Jane scraped residue from wine jars owned by the British Museum and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Two of the jars came from King Tut's tomb, discovered by English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

Patrick McGovern, an American molecular archaeologist, said he has discovered grape residue in northern Iran that dates winemaking to 5400 B.C.

Scientists believe the first wine discovered in Egypt, buried in King Scorpion's tomb in about 3125 B.C., was produced in Jordan and transported 500 miles by donkey and boat to Egypt, he said. Eventually, grapevines were planted in Egypt.

Research shows that ancient Egyptian kings and members of the upper class drank wine regularly, but common people consumed it only during festivals and special occasions, Guasch-Jane said.

Wine was offered to gods in ceremonies, and kings were buried with jars of wine and food similar to what they consumed when they were alive, she said.

Guasch-Jane first reported her findings in the academic journal Analytical Chemistry last year.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: 18thdynasty; agriculture; amarna; ancientautopsies; archaeology; drank; earlofcarnarvon; egypt; godsgravesglyphs; grapes; history; howardcarter; kingtut; oenology; patrickmcgovern; redwine; researcher; syringicacid; winemaking; zymurgy
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1 posted on 10/26/2005 3:39:03 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

He also drank beer and ate pizza on Sunday afternoon while cheering for his Dallas Cowboys!


2 posted on 10/26/2005 3:40:24 PM PDT by Maximus of Texas (Pull my finger)
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To: NormsRevenge

Yeah but all the alcohol evaporated. Big deal.


3 posted on 10/26/2005 3:41:17 PM PDT by carumba
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To: quantim; NautiNurse

Wine list ping.


4 posted on 10/26/2005 3:41:25 PM PDT by sinkspur (If you're not willing to give Harriett Miers a hearing, I don't give a damn what you think.)
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To: andrew2527; AnAmericanMother; A Jovial Cad; babaloo; Betis70; Bigturbowski; blanknoone; ...
Click to be added or removed. (Over eighty members).

Wine news ping.

5 posted on 10/26/2005 3:42:19 PM PDT by NautiNurse
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To: NormsRevenge

Shouldn't this been in Breaking News?


6 posted on 10/26/2005 3:42:31 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat (SonofaBuckner Qualls and Lidge, king and queen of Choke City, USA)
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To: NormsRevenge

This stuff is so cool!


7 posted on 10/26/2005 3:43:51 PM PDT by RDTF
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To: RDTF
This stuff is so cool!"

It's much better when served at room temperature.

8 posted on 10/26/2005 3:45:21 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Maybe it was grape juice.


9 posted on 10/26/2005 3:47:14 PM PDT by luvbach1 (Near the belly of the beast in San Diego)
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To: NormsRevenge

...and today he doesn't look a day over 2,500.


10 posted on 10/26/2005 3:48:42 PM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: NormsRevenge

How long are you supposed to let a red wine breathe anyway.


11 posted on 10/26/2005 3:49:12 PM PDT by OSHA (I've got a hole in my head too, but that's beside the point.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

I guess it's too old to drink? LOL! No sip needed, just one whiff and you're wasted!


12 posted on 10/26/2005 3:49:12 PM PDT by RDTF
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To: Diddle E. Squat; All

Never crossed my mind. ;-o

------

King Tut's exhibit is still in LA, headed to Ft Lauderdale , then Chicago and Philadelphia over the next 2 years or so.

http://www.kingtut.org/venues.htm


13 posted on 10/26/2005 3:53:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: NormsRevenge
Oh thank heavens they found this out!! Now I can die happy. [/sarcasm]
14 posted on 10/26/2005 3:54:51 PM PDT by 4mycountry (Dangit... all the good quotes are too long to be tags.)
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To: Maximus of Texas

Tut was a Bears fan. He told me in a vision.


15 posted on 10/26/2005 3:56:31 PM PDT by Thebaddog (K9 4ever)
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To: Maximus of Texas
He also drank beer and ate pizza on Sunday afternoon while cheering for his Dallas Cowboys!

Nonsense. He watched the Cardinals. After all, he was born in Arizona, moved to Baylona!

16 posted on 10/26/2005 3:56:55 PM PDT by JAWs
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To: NormsRevenge
King Tut Drank Red Wine, Researcher Says

Next thing you know, the AP will be reporting on the contents of his garage...

17 posted on 10/26/2005 3:57:05 PM PDT by Zeppo
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To: NormsRevenge

And here I had him as a Vouvray kind of guy. Wrong again.


18 posted on 10/26/2005 3:57:20 PM PDT by speedy
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To: NormsRevenge; Lijahsbubbe; aculeus; dighton; martin_fierro; dennisw

19 posted on 10/26/2005 3:59:27 PM PDT by Thinkin' Gal (As it was in the days of NO...)
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To: NormsRevenge
And he played the 'lectric gittar, too!


20 posted on 10/26/2005 4:00:16 PM PDT by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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