DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4669#0418
THE WINEPRESS 383
official of Amenhotep II., B.C i/OO, the record
being inscribed upon the sides of the four square
pillars which supported the ceiling of the inner
chamber. From these and many other paintings it
is very evident that the vine was extensively culti-
vated. It constantly appears in the illustrations, and
clusters of grapes are very frequent amongst the
offerings to the deceased, together with cups of wine.
These pictures formed very interesting illustrations of:
" My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful
hill ;. . . he also made a winepress therein." * "Where-
fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments
like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden
the winepress alone." +—" Thou hast brought a vine
out of Egypt."*—"And Pharaoh's cup was in my
hand ; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into
Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup again into
Pharaoh's hand." !J The cultivation of the vine and
the use of wine in all probability continued in Egypt
until the Arab invasion. Two interesting incidents in
connection with this subject have been brought to
light by Professor Flinders Petrie. First during his
researches in the Delta at Tell-el-Defenneh, where he
found some wine jars bearing the seal of the King
Psammetichus, 665 B.c "One room seemed to have
belonged to the royal butler, for dozens of plaster
sealings of Psammetichus were found together here.
A jar had been fraudulently opened by boring through
the plaster and the pottery Stopper below it, and then
stopping the hole with fresh plaster. The prudent
butler had Struck off the whole neck of the jar, so as
to preserve the proof of the theft entire. The particu-
larity of the sealing is remarkable. First the pottery
* Isa. v. 2. I Ibid, briii. ; Psa. boa B | Gen.x3.il,
official of Amenhotep II., B.C i/OO, the record
being inscribed upon the sides of the four square
pillars which supported the ceiling of the inner
chamber. From these and many other paintings it
is very evident that the vine was extensively culti-
vated. It constantly appears in the illustrations, and
clusters of grapes are very frequent amongst the
offerings to the deceased, together with cups of wine.
These pictures formed very interesting illustrations of:
" My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful
hill ;. . . he also made a winepress therein." * "Where-
fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments
like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden
the winepress alone." +—" Thou hast brought a vine
out of Egypt."*—"And Pharaoh's cup was in my
hand ; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into
Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup again into
Pharaoh's hand." !J The cultivation of the vine and
the use of wine in all probability continued in Egypt
until the Arab invasion. Two interesting incidents in
connection with this subject have been brought to
light by Professor Flinders Petrie. First during his
researches in the Delta at Tell-el-Defenneh, where he
found some wine jars bearing the seal of the King
Psammetichus, 665 B.c "One room seemed to have
belonged to the royal butler, for dozens of plaster
sealings of Psammetichus were found together here.
A jar had been fraudulently opened by boring through
the plaster and the pottery Stopper below it, and then
stopping the hole with fresh plaster. The prudent
butler had Struck off the whole neck of the jar, so as
to preserve the proof of the theft entire. The particu-
larity of the sealing is remarkable. First the pottery
* Isa. v. 2. I Ibid, briii. ; Psa. boa B | Gen.x3.il,