Ancient wine cellars discovered in Egypt's Nile Delta

SCI-TECH

Ancient wine cellars discovered in Egypt's Nile Delta

The Associated Press Published Monday, January 28, 2019 8:08AM EST

This undated handout photo released by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, shows a Greco-Roman artifact that was discovered in Beheira, a Nile Delta province north of Cairo. Egypt says archeologists uncovered ancient storage galleries for wine dating back to the Greco-Roman period in the country's Nile Delta. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities via AP)

Text:

CAIRO -- Archeologists have found wine cellars dating back to the Greco-Roman period in Egypt's Nile Delta.

The Antiquities Ministry says Monday that the excavations took place in Tel Kom al Trogy, north of Cairo, an area known for producing fine wines in antiquity. There was no wine found in the storage galleries.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says the storage rooms were built out of mud-brick with irregularly shaped limestone blocks inside, apparently to control the temperature.

The Greco-Roman period in Egypt spans from its fall to Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. to the Islamic conquest in the 7th century.

Egypt hopes such discoveries will spur tourism, which suffered a major setback during the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.