An Egyptian antiquities team has discovered a Roman-era "wine factory" during excavations work carried out in the Nile Delta region, AFP said, quoting a senior official as saying.
The unearth was made in Abu Qir 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Cairo, which was known in the Pharaonic era as Canopus that thrived on the passage of merchant ships en route from the Mediterranean sea to the nearby mouth of a branch of the Nile.
The find dates back to the ruling era of Roman in Egypt that ran from 30 BC to 395 AD, AFP said.
Secretary-General of the the Supreme Council for Antiquities Gaballah Ali Gaballah was quoted by the agency as saying that “we expect that there are more groupings of antiquities that go back to the age of the Pharaohs.”
Nile Delta antiquities director Mohammed Abdel Maqsoud told AFP that the interior walls of the presses were covered with rose-colored mortar to prevent leaks, and had stone extensions to drain the wine into vessels.
On June 3, Franck Goddio, president of the Paris-based European Institute of Marine Archeology, in conjunction with the Supreme Council for Egyptian Antiquities, proudly announced the discovery of the two lost cities in Abu Qir Bay, east of Alexandria.
The sunken cities of Menouthis and Herakleion, also known as Thonis, they believe, were discovered so recently that little excavation has yet been done. Located east of present-day Abu Qir, these cities were wealthy trading ports during the Pharaonic period due to their favorable positions along the now-vanished Canopic branch of the Nile – Albawaba.com
