COURTESY THE MEGIDDO EXPEDITION
A new study shows that wine was a regular feature of Canaanite burials at Megiddo, providing a rare window into how the Bronze Age peoples of the Levant may have perceived the afterlife.
Using chemical analysis, a research team studied 30 ceramic vessels from two separate sections of Megiddo, both dating to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1550 BCE): a normal residential area and an elite monumental tomb. About a third of the vessels showed signs of having been filled with wine. Other vessels had traces of beeswax, animal fat, olive oil, resin, and even vanilla.
Researchers believe these precious products may have been part of funerary feasts or left as offerings for the dead, or perhaps both. If the wine was meant for the deceased, the custom would be similar to the Egyptian practice of burying the dead with supplies for the afterlife, thus possibly demonstrating a belief in the need to nourish the soul after death.
A new study shows that wine was a regular feature of Canaanite burials at Megiddo, providing a rare window into how the Bronze Age peoples of the Levant may have perceived the afterlife. Using chemical analysis, a research team studied 30 ceramic vessels from two separate sections of Megiddo, both dating to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1550 BCE): a normal residential area and an elite monumental tomb. About a third of the vessels showed signs of having been filled with wine. Other vessels had traces of beeswax, animal fat, olive oil, resin, and even vanilla. Researchers believe these precious […]
