Semitic Museum: "Wine in the Ancient Near East"

In 2013, a team of archaeologists working in northern Israel unearthed the storage magazines of a Canaanite palace from 1700 BCE containing remnants of what is considered to be the oldest—and largest—ancient wine cellar in the Near East. Chemical analysis of the jars found at the site suggests the Canaanites drank a strong, sweet wine flavored with an exotic mix of honey, spices, and berries. Archaeologist Andrew Koh and Phoenician specialist Joseph Greene (Harvard Semitic Museum) as discussed this discovery in the context of the social and cultural history of wine’s emergence in the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world.

And a reception in the newly renovated third floor of the Museum followed...