A high-production brewery believed to be more than 5000 years old has been uncovered by a team of archaeologists in southern Egypt.

The site, containing about 40 earthenware pots arranged in two rows, was uncovered at North Abydos, Sohag, by a joint Egyptian-American team, the Egyptian tourism ministry said.

The brewery is believed to date back to the era of King Narmer, who founded the First Dynasty and unified Upper and Lower Egypt.

Mostafa Waziry, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said it was “the oldest high-production brewery in the world”, created by a society that was ahead of its time.

British archaeologists first discovered the existence of the brewery at the beginning of the 20th century but its location was never precisely determined, Mr Waziry said.

توصلت البعثة الأثرية المصرية الأمريكية المشتركة إلى الكشف عن ما يعتقد أنه أقدم مصنع لصناعة الجعة عالي الإنتاج في العالم بأبيدوس

The joint Egyptian-American archaeological mission, has uncovered what is believed to be the oldest high-production brewery in the world in Abydos pic.twitter.com/tn8N8YQXSL

— Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (@TourismandAntiq) February 13, 2021

The joint Egyptian-American team “was able to relocate and uncover its contents”.

According to Mr Waziry, the brewery consisted of eight large areas that were used as “units for beer production”.

Each sector contained about 40 earthenware pots arranged in two rows.

The Egyptian site is believed to be the world’s oldest high-production brewery. Photo: AFP/Egyptian Ministry Of Antiquities

A mixture of grains and water used for beer production was heated in the vats, with each basin “held in place by levers made of clay placed vertically in the form of rings”.

Fresh brew for ‘royal rituals’

Archaeologist Matthew Adams of New York University, who headed the joint mission with Deborah Vischak of Princeton University, said studies have shown that beer was produced at a large scale, with about 22,400 litres made at a time.

The ancient Egyptians may have enjoyed the occasional glass of amber fluid. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Hedwig Storch

The ancient Egyptians may have enjoyed the occasional glass of amber fluid. Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Hedwig Storch

“The brewery may have been built in this place specifically to supply the royal rituals that were taking place inside the funeral facilities of the kings of Egypt,” Mr Adams said.

“Evidence for the use of beer in sacrificial rites was found during excavations in these facilities.”

Evidence of beer-making in ancient Egypt is not new, and past discoveries have shed light on such production.

The remains of a row of Egyptian beer vats were founds by researchers at the archaeological site. Photo: AFP/Egyptian Ministry Of Antiquities

Fragments of pottery used by Egyptians to make beer and dating back 5000 years were discovered on a building site in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced in 2015.

Abydos, where the latest discovery was unearthed, has yielded many treasures over the years and is famous for its temples

Authorities had expected 15 million tourists to visit Egypt in 2020, compared to 13 million the previous year, but the pandemic has kept visitors away.

–ABC/AFP