Archaeologists discovered wine bottles sealed 5,000 years ago in the mausoleum of an Egyptian queen.
These wine bottles are among the burials of Queen Meret-Neith in Abydos dating back 3,000 BC, according to the British news agency SWNS.
Researchers at the University of Vienna, Austria, said that Queen Meret-Neith was the most powerful woman during this period and could have been the first female pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
Queen Meret-Neith is the only woman to have a magnificent private tomb in the first royal cemetery in Egypt in Abydos.
The real identity of Queen Meret-Neith remains a mystery. However, the excavation of the mausoleum shows that hundreds of wine bottles - many of which were still fully sealed - were buried with the old lady.
Meret-Neith's magnificent mausoleum in the Abydos desert includes the tombs of 41 nearsighted men and servants surrounding her main burial chamber. The mausoleum was built with unburnt bricks, clay and wood.
Scientists revealed that the front lines on the mausoleum show that Queen Meret-Neith is responsible for managing central government agencies such as the treasury. This information supports previous assessments of her special role in history.
Professor of archaeology Christiana Kohler from the University of Vienna in Austria said that the wine bottles are being analyzed for further information. Alcohol is no longer in liquid form and we cant know if its red or white, she said.
"We found a lot of organic waste, grape seeds and crystals, maybe tartar powder. All of this is being analyzed scientifically. This is probably the second oldest direct evidence of wine, with the oldest evidence also found in Abydos, she shared.
The new excavations bring exciting new information about this special woman as well as her time, Professor Kohler added.
SWNS also informed that thanks to careful excavation methods and new archaeological technology, the research team can prove that the tombs were built over many stages and over a relatively long period of time.
