By Nasser Soumi
146 pages, 23 Euros, available from www.editmanar.com
The first production of fermented and alcoholic drinks in the world is thought to have arisen in Palestine during the Paleolithic era. The drink was a kind of beer made from wild cereals and the discovery dates back more than 13,700 years – long before the domestication of plants and animals and when human groups were still hunter-gatherers.
From the end of the 4th millennium BC, wines of renown were being exported from the Palestinian coast, as evidenced by the amphorae discovered in Egyptian tombs going back to pre-dynastic times. Some seven hundred of these, with a capacity of 4,500 liters of wine, were found in the tomb of King Scorpion I at Abydos, and are dated to 3150 BC. Several of them are displayed today at the Louvre in Paris.
The discovery of a royal wine cellar in Palestine by a team of archaeologists, led by George Washington University’s Eric H. Cline, has contributed to broadening and enriching our knowledge of the history of wine in Palestine. The cellar was uncovered in 2013 during excavations at the archaeological site of the ancient Palestinian city of Al-Kabri, northeast of ‘Akka. The city’s royal palace, occupied continuously for three centuries, is thought to house the largest and oldest wine cellar in the world. At least forty gigantic wine jars were found there, and since each has an approximate capacity of fifty liters, this represents a total volume of approximately two thousand liters. According to Patrick McGovern, the head of the biomolecular archaeology laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, “This discovery is important, because it helps us to have a more precise picture of the viticulture practices of the Canaanites, who considerably developed viticulture, perhaps as early as 5,000 BC.”
The invention of blown glass in Palestine also revealed the brilliance of the wine. According to Pliny the Elder, the exact location of the place where blown glass was manufactured was “on the banks of the mouth of the Belus River [Nahr el-Na‘aamayn in Arabic], near Mount Carmel.” The famed Abbasid poet Saheb Ibn ‘Abbad comments beautifully on the finesse of a glass filled with white wine in this quatrain:
رقَّ الزجاجُ وَرَقَّت الخمرُ وَتشابها فَتَشاكل الأَمرُ
فَكَأَنَّما خمرٌ وَلا قَدحٌ وَكَأَنَّما قَدحٌ وَلا خمرُ
(The glass was so clear, as was the wine, they were so similar as to be confused/as if there were wine and no glass or a glass and no wine.)
The powerful symbolism of wine is reflected in the new religion that emerged from Palestine 2,000 years ago. During the Last Supper, immortalized by artists across the centuries, Jesus is described as breaking bread and drinking wine with his disciples. Take, eat: this is my body, he tells them, and after giving thanks, he takes the wine cup and bids them drink from it, saying, This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many (New King James version).
The wine trade developed between Palestine, the western Mediterranean, and
Gaul (later France) in the first centuries of the Christian era, intensifying between the
4th and 7th centuries CE. Ships left the coast of Palestine loaded with good Palestinian wine, which sold extremely well in many regions of the Empire. In Gaul, and also in the region that later became Italy, scholars recognized Gaza as among the most prestigious regions of viticulture. The large number of amphorae from Gaza lying in sea wrecks throughout the Mediterranean is a clear indication that the wine production of the area was significant in the Mediterranean world.
In 2022, a winemaking facility was excavated between Gaza and Jaffa whose annual production is estimated to have been two million liters, all pressed by foot. There, archaeologists found five presses, each one measuring some 225 sq. meters, where the grapes were crushed; two large octagonal vats for harvesting the must; and pottery kilns for firing the elongated amphorae called “Gaza jars” in which the wine was aged.
The land of Palestine has offered its soil to the same indigenous grape varieties as were in use six thousand years ago. Today, Palestinian producers are writing the next chapter in Palestinian viticulture, one that connects them directly to the centuries-old history of their ancestors. Indigenous varietals, such as Dabbouki and Marrawi, are increasingly being used by modern Palestinians producers, following in the footsteps of Sari Khoury who pioneered this approach from the beginnings of his Philokelia winery.
In closing, a few more verses from the inimitable Arab classical poetry of wine. The lines are attributed to the Prophet’s companion, Abu Mahjen Al-Thaqafi, who was reputed to be very fond of his wine, before he embraced the new faith:
If I die, bury me near a vineyard
Whose roots, after my death, irrigate my bones
Do not bury me in a dry desert, for I fear,
If I were to die, not to be able to taste it anymore
A list of Palestinian wines and winemakers
Taybeh Winery, Nadim Khoury
Ashkar Winery, Nemi Askar
Jascala Winery, The Khreish family
K Domaine Kassis, Bierzelt Vineyards, Adam and Lafi Kassis
Julia Boutique Winery, Galilee Highlands, Georges Jamil Arraf
Latroun Winery, Oenologist Adam Kassis
Cremisan, Oenologist Fadi Batarseh
Philokalia, Sari Khoury
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