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. 2014 Aug 27;9(8):e106406. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106406

Characterizing a Middle Bronze Palatial Wine Cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel

Andrew J Koh 1,*, Assaf Yasur-Landau 2, Eric H Cline 3
Editor: Xiaoyan Yang4
PMCID: PMC4146609  PMID: 25162228

Abstract

Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and consumption in relation to second millennium BC palatial complexes in the Mediterranean and Near East. However, direct archaeological evidence has rarely been offered, despite the prominence of ancient viticulture in administrative clay tablets, visual media, and various forms of documentation. Tartaric and syringic acids, along with evidence for resination, have been identified in ancient ceramics, but until now the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been uneven and vague, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture. The situation has now changed. During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy.

Introduction

Tel Kabri is a 34-hectare site located in the western Galilee of modern-day Israel, five kilometers east of Nahariya. During the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900–1600 BC), the site was the center of a major Canaanite polity, with a palace covering at least 6,000 sq.m., making it the largest Middle Bronze Age palace excavated so far in Israel [1]–[3].

During the 2013 excavations at Kabri, the remains of a palatial storage complex were uncovered, of which one room was excavated in its entirety. On the floor were the remains of approximately 40 restorable large, mostly handle-less, storage jars, as well as a few smaller vessels, all of which were found covered by a thick collapse of mudbricks from either the walls or the ceiling of the room (Figure 1). All of the fairly uniform, ca. 50-liter, storage jars were made from the most common type of ceramic fabric found at Kabri, from which the vast majority of other pottery in the palace was also made. It is probably related to Senonian marl, available locally as close as the nearby wadi. Inclusions include calcareous sand typical of the western Galilee. Before the systematic removal of the jars, samples from each were taken for organic residue analysis (ORA) and petrography; in addition, the fully articulated contents of the room were recorded using LiDAR, which collected millions of discrete three-dimensional data points and resulted in a surface plan accurate to within two mm (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Kabri wine cellar with numbered jars (looking southeast).

Figure 1

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Figure 2. LiDAR map composed of millions of discrete points color coded to elevation.

Figure 2

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Archaeologists have long identified wine as an important component of Bronze Age palatial economies, including social feasting [4]–[7]. Palatial wine storage rooms are known from documentary sources in both the Bronze Age Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, especially from the archives of the site of Mari [8], which are contemporary to the palace at Kabri. Their existence has also been further postulated on the basis of actual ceramic finds, including large storage jars in magazines, from Aegean palaces such as Pylos and Knossos, but none to date have been empirically confirmed by ORA. With numerous studies now verifying the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of analyzing ancient organic residues using gas chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [9]–[12], Kabri's largely undisturbed palatial storage complex presented the ideal situation in which to conduct a comprehensive ORA program.

Materials and Methods

All necessary permits were obtained for the described study, which complied with all relevant regulations. The Israel Antiquities Authority issued Permit G-42 to conduct excavations at Tel Kabri. No special permits were required for the present study. After the complete articulation of all jars, sherds of approximately the same size – small enough to sit flat in a 400 ml Griffin beaker – were identified near the base of each jar and immediately isolated in aluminum foil for subsequent residue extraction. The one exception was Jar 11, which had a second sample sherd taken from higher up on the body. Care was taken in documenting the entire procedure, so that precise LiDAR coordinates could be assigned to each sample sherd (Table 1). These sherds were then transported to the nearby Western Galilee Field School for non-destructive extraction using analytical grade ethanol in a process developed over the last ten years [9].

Table 1. Tartaric and syringic acid data from wine cellar jars with LiDAR coordinates of tested sherds.

ARCHEM # Jar # X,Y,Z LiDAR Coordinates (m)* Tartaric Acid Absolute Abundance† Tartaric Acid Relative Abundance (%)‡ Syringic Acid Absolute Abundance† Syringic Acid Relative Abundance (%)‡
4324 1 65.391, 27.563, 51.131 3343756 57.79 202525 3.5
4296 2 67.219, 27.688, 50.978 3004788 37.50 239754 2.99
4295 3 67.953, 28.188, 50.961 13622358 62.24 196340 0.9
4293 4 68.469, 28.375, 51.018 7457540 55.61 135975 1.01
4323 5 66.297, 27.750, 51.082 2029624 35.25 75666 1.31
4312 6 65.578, 28.563, 51.041 145271 0.96 N/A N/A
4304 7 65.656, 29.813, 50.930 404307 32.63 227830 18.39
4307 8 64.953, 29.500, 50.945 805717 18.39 N/A N/A
4321 9 67.766, 29.313, 51.004 10324787 100 199528 1.93
4291 11 68.719, 29.250, 50.983 11985301 43.35 143509 0.52
4322 11 69.078, 29.313, 50.976 23144172 85.03 795193 2.92
4313 12 70.000, 29.875, 51.087 228412 100 3086 1.35
4316 13 70.688, 29.500, 51.091 1792475 9.02 N/A N/A
4305 15 70.156, 30.750, 50.980 2294968 4.24 15457123 28.56
4300 16 69.578, 31.063, 50.980 391777 11.63 775446 23.02
4299 17 70.297, 31.813, 51.143 1303896 27.86 403613 8.63
4311 18 69.453, 32.375, 51.087 1708411 29.51 327871 5.66
4303 19 68.859, 32.125, 51.100 564888 3.77 7281238 48.66
4302 20 69.641, 33.188, 51.242 473817 5.28 298093 3.32
4297 22 67.828, 32.313, 51.111 546275 3.78 4539456 31.38
4306 23 67.219, 31.375, 50.981 774848 25.74 251112 8.34
4308 24 65.891, 31.875, 51.202 875524 32.06 382734 14.02
4310 25 66.688, 30.563, 50.870 756151 33.36 461805 20.37
4298 26 67.047, 29.563, 50.848 1188437 7.24 385049 2.35
4292 27 68.984, 28.563, 51.021 7053156 24.04 509446 1.74
4314 28 69.891, 30.438, 50.960 1862927 21.13 1399240 15.26
4320 29 67.625, 30.025, 50.870 4008053 18.79 711355 3.33
4301 31 67.500, 32.438, 50.993 1310401 1.67 635407 0.81
4317 33 66.672, 34.375, 50.949 5026543 100 445482 8.86
4325 34 65.719, 34.250, 50.792 5402354 19.9 199423 0.73
4319 35 68.109, 35.313, 50.828 491234 67.1 538802 73.59
4318 36 69.703, 30.188, 50.919 7921530 24.49 7415574 22.93
4315 37 69.500, 30.313, 50.909 995859 16.33 2792653 44.32
4289 Base 64.992, 27.375, 51.057 3548407 11.47 137261 0.44
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*213400 and 768200 meters were removed from X and Y coordinates respectively for brevity.

†

Peak area determined by integration in chromatograms.

‡

Percentage relative to maximum peak in a given chromatogram.

In addition to the insight gained into the efficacy of this non-destructive technique from both the current project as well as past studies [9], [13], [14], additional research is planned at Kabri to compare this technique with destructive techniques commonly used today [15]. Thus, adjacent sherds from the same vessels were collected in 2011 at Kabri with the explicit intent of comparing results from non-destructive and destructive extractions. Petrographic thin-section analysis is also being conducted by David Ben Shlomo of the Hebrew University. Our primary goal, however, is to illuminate patterns in palatial economies and social practices, some of which can only be studied through the contribution of ORA.

In all, 35 ORA samples from the storage room were ultimately extracted into filtered solution and stored in 20 ml scintillation vials; these samples came from 32 of the storage jars (with Jar 11 providing two samples), the base of a deep bowl or cup, and one soil sample to serve as a control (but which ultimately produced no organic residues). Sherds from the additional eight jars (of the 40) were collected but left untouched and unextracted as a control for future studies. The plan is to extract residues from two untested jars biannually to study the effects of sherd excavation with delayed extraction.

Less than two weeks after extraction, the 35 ORA samples were taken to the Brandeis University Department of Chemistry, concentrated to solid by rotary evaporator and redissolved in uninhibited THF to produce ∼2 ml GC-MS analytes, and injected into the university's newest GC-MS instrument – an Agilent 7890A GC with a HP-5MS column and a 5975C VL MSD Triple Axis Detector. The pulsed split injector and interface were both set to 250°C. The initial oven temperature was set to 100°C and held for two minutes before reaching 250°C at a rate of 10°C/min, at which time it was held for an additional 11 minutes, giving a total program time of 28 minutes/sample. Solvent blanks were intermittently utilized to verify that no contaminants existed from previous runs. Standard references of tartaric and syringic acids were ultimately produced (see below). The streamlined nature of the overall methodology allows for one person to take numerous samples from ground to instrument to interpretation in less than a month, which is considerably faster and more efficient than the norm.

Results

All 32 tested jars and the small bowl/cup base contained tartaric acid after initial peak assignation using the National Institute of Standards and Technology mass spectral library, NIST 11 (Table 1). In order to verify this identification beyond a shadow of doubt, 5 mM standard reference samples (Figure 3) were prepared from commercially available standard compounds of both tartaric and syringic acids (Sigma-Aldrich), whose resultant spectra derived from the same GC-MS conditions were then manually cross-referenced with the ancient samples (Figure 4, 5, 6). All but three of the tested vessels also contained syringic acid and all but three contained cinnamic acid (Table 2). Cineole also was found in almost all of the tested vessels; it is absent from only four jars and the small bowl/cup base, which can readily be attributed to a lack of preservation. In addition, significant amounts of oleanoic acid were found in 27 of the tested jars, as well as the small bowl/cup base. Methyl syringate was found in 21 of the tested jars, while 19 contained cedrol.

Figure 3. 5 mM standard reference samples.

Figure 3

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A. Total-ion chromatogram of tartaric acid standard, B. Total-ion chromatogram of syringic acid standard.

Figure 4. Representative total-ion chromatogram from Jar 35 (ARCHEM 4319).

Figure 4

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Figure 5. Total-ion chromatograms of Jars 16–20.

Figure 5

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A. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 16 (ARCHEM 4300), B. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 17 (ARCHEM 4299), C. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 18 (ARCHEM 4311), D. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 19 (ARCHEM 4303), E. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 20 (ARCHEM 4302).

Figure 6. Verification of Jar 15 sample.

Figure 6

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A. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 15 (ARCHEM 4305), B. Total-ion chromatogram from Jar 15 (ARCHEM 4305) verified.

Table 2. Chemical occurrence of additive compounds.

ARCHEM # Jar # Cinnamic acid Cineole Methyl Syringate Cedrol Oleanoic Acid Moronic Acid Masticadienoic Acid Caryophyllene Myrtenyl acetate
4324 1 ◊
4296 2 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4295 3 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4293 4 ◊ ◊
4323 5
4312 6 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4304 7 ◊ ◊ ◊
4307 8 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4321 9 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4291 11 ◊ ◊ ◊
4322 11 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4313 12 ◊ ◊
4316 13 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4305 15 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4300 16 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4299 17 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4311 18 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4303 19 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4302 20 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4297 22 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4306 23 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4308 24 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4310 25 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4298 26 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4292 27 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4314 28 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4320 29 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4301 31 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4317 33 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4325 34 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4319 35 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4318 36 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4315 37 ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
4289 Base ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
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The fact that the ca. 3 m.×1 m. eastern antechamber floor (Figure 7) is the lowest part of the study area but produced excellent ORA results mitigates fears of preservation being obscured by any pooling groundwater. In addition, note again that Jar 11 was tested in two locations on the jar – one near the base like all the other samples and one quite a bit higher up on the body. While this second, less optimal, location higher up on the body did not prevent the detection of both tartaric and syringic acids (Table 1), the second sample's peak abundances were noticeably lower and at least two potentially diagnostic compounds were not detected at all (Table 2). This has obvious ramifications concerning the location of a sampled sherd on a vessel, a variable that is often ignored and even left unnoted, especially when only a few vessel sherds are extant.

Figure 7. Plan of Kabri wine cellar.

Figure 7

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Interpretation

Every sample taken from the vessels that were tested yielded positive results (Table 2). The nature and preservation of the room in conjunction with the swift and careful isolation of sampled sherds while in the field, followed by immediate extraction, likely contributed to the high rate of success and excellent data produced, which stand in contrast to uneven results in the past from objects typically excavated decades into the past and housed in uncertain conditions.

As noted, all 32 tested jars and the small bowl/cup base contained tartaric acid, and all but three also contained syringic acid. Combined with our knowledge of vessel typology and palatial economies, the presence of both tartaric and syringic acids in relative abundance as biomarkers indicates that all of these vessels originally held wine [9]–[12], [16] and that we may be confident in identifying this space as a wine storage room – that is to say, a wine cellar. On a related note, we should mention that, in addition to vineyards reestablished during the 19th century in the viticulture-friendly Upper Galilee by Baron Edmond de Rothschild using grape varieties imported from Bordeaux, we know from a papyrus in the Zenon Archive from Ptolemaic Egypt dating to 257 BC (p.lond.7.1948) that the ancient Bethanath estate located just 15 km to the southeast (modern Bi'ina outside Karmiel in the Beit HaKerem Valley) produced wine from 80,000 vines, which was purportedly indistinguishable from the celebrated wines of Chios [17]. Salvage excavations in 2001 at the adjacent tell of Nahf led excavators to conclude that the area was an important center for viticulture certainly in the Hellenistic period and perhaps as far back as the Early Bronze Age IB period (ca. 3100 BC), judging by the finds [18]. Supported by the locally-sourced clay of the Kabri wine jars, this makes Karmiel a good candidate for the location of Kabri's ancient vineyards. If grape DNA can be isolated at Kabri in future seasons, it is possible that more closely related cultivars that are presently feral in the region [19] or surviving in European vineyards after export in antiquity [20] could be identified or even cloned.

The lack of syringic acid in three of the tested jars opens up the possibility that those three held white wine, rather than red wine, but it is difficult to say with certainty without further evidence, such as distinguishing markings on the jars. It is possible that the syringic acid did not survive or was undetectable in these three jars during the present study.

In addition, all but three of the tested jars contained cinnamic acid. While it can be notoriously difficult to match extant compounds to their original sources from antiquity, and there are alternatives for each suggested here, it is possible to present likely sources based on 1) concentrations of compounds inherently found in commodities; 2) ethnobotanical knowledge of the natural distribution of ancient commodities; and 3) surviving documentary accounts of commodities acquisition and utilization. As new internal and external evidence is produced, these interpretations can be duly updated. In the case of cinnamic acid, it occurs foremost in the storax resin of Liquidambar orientalis, or Oriental Storax or Sweetgum, at 150,000 ppm if one discounts its New World kin, L. styracifula, at 230,000 ppm. Cinnamic acid also occurs in Styrax officinalis, or Styrax or Snowbell, whose benzoe resin is chemically similar and presumably explains historical descriptions of “storax” that more closely resemble it than the resin from Liquidambar. One possible clue as to its source at Kabri is the occurrence of oleanoic acid in Liquidambar and Pistacia, but not Styrax [21]. Due to its prevalence in the Kabri wine jars, it is probable that this aromatic resin was the primary preservative added at nearby wine production centers in the Upper Galilee region, still renowned for viticulture to this day, before transport to the palace.

Cineole also was found in all but four of the tested jars. Isolating the source(s) of cineole can be difficult, but likely candidates include cyperus roots (Cyperus rotundus), mint (Mentha), juniper berries (Juniper communis or phoenicea) well known today for the connection to gin, and cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum) [22]. It is notable that all of these potential candidates were also ingredients of Egyptian kyphi, whose herbal additives have been postulated to originate from the Levant [10]. In addition, caryophyllene was found in six of these jars as well, which supports the presence of cedar oil (Cedrus libani), mint, juniper berries, and cinnamon bark as additives.

Methyl syringate, which was found in 21 of the tested jars, occurs in good quantity in honey [23]. It would not be at all surprising if honey had been added to this wine, for it fits well with the textual evidence from both the 18th century BC Mari tablets [8] and Egyptian kyphi recipes [24] from the 15th century BC onwards. Presuming that this physical evidence at Kabri is indicative of local apiculture, it would push back direct evidence in the southern Levant by at least seven centuries before the apiary at Tel Rehov [25]. Nineteen of the tested jars contained cedrol, which likely originated from the nearby stands of C. libani (Cedar of Lebanon) and its cedar oil [26] or, less likely, from juniper, where it only occurs in small quantities (2000 ppm).

The oleanoic acid that was found in 27 of the tested jars, as well as the small bowl/cup base, could have come from terebinth (Pistacia palaestina or terebinthus) resin, a local antimicrobial additive [26] long associated with ancient wines [11]. This interpretation is supported by the detection of moronic and masticadienoic acids in five of the tested jars, in addition to the small bowl/cup base. However, despite robust quantities of oleanoic acid in the other 22 tested jars, the lack of these two additional triterpenes – moronic and masticadienoic acid – in these jars leaves open the possibility that their oleanoic acid derives from a different source, such as the aforementioned storax resin or cyperus.

Overall, the five tested jars with the best represented organic residues – judging by the definition and number of individual GC peaks – occurred in two general areas of the storage room: in the eastern antechamber near the northern entrance, exemplified by intact Jar 35 (Figure 4) and towards the south central part of the room between Jars 26 and 36 (Figure 7, Table 2). This latter group was found near a feature/platform abutting the southern wall and perhaps not coincidentally surrounding an installation ensconced in the ground in front of the feature/platform and found under Jar 26. These conditions combined with jars producing simpler and noticeably consistent chromatograms on the cellar's east periphery (Figure 5, 6) suggest that wines may have been brought into the cellar from the southeast, triaged near the east wall, treated at the central installation, and stored in the northern antechambers before consumption, although this awaits final verification after the entire building is published. Jars 15–20 with their simpler and consistent chromatograms represent a line of well-preserved vessels that might have originally leaned against one another and the east wall of the wine cellar awaiting treatment at the central installation. Like Jar 11, Jar 15 received slightly special attention from us. In the latter's case, two subsamples from the jar's master sample were injected as bookends into the Brandeis GC-MS approximately twelve hours apart with samples from other jars intervening with the usual blanks interspersed throughout. In the end, these two subsamples produced nearly indistinguishable chromatograms (Figure 6).

Discussion

Tartaric acid and syringic acid have been identified in earlier production and funerary deposits [10], [12], but the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been limited, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture, especially as it pertains to consumption. The storage jars that we found in the closed and sealed archaeological context within the well-studied palace at Kabri are unlikely to have held anything but liquids, considering their narrow necks, and the ORA conducted on 32 of the 40 (as mentioned above, sherds from the additional eight jars were collected but left untouched and unextracted as a control for future studies) has now allowed us to confidently identify them as belonging to the oldest and largest palatial wine cellar that has been chemically confirmed from the ancient Near East. Moreover, the controlled context containing numerous similar wine jars of presumably the same vintage presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study of its organic residue remains, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the quality and quantity of ingredients or additives within the various wine jars, though the possibility that the jars were used and reused over the course of their lifetime must also be considered.

Overall, the ORA indicates that the Kabri palatial wine cellar included resinated red wine, and possibly resinated white wine, with many of the jars containing herbal additives in fairly consistent ratios to both tartaric and syringic acids (Table 3). These ingredients, of which only trace compounds like oleanoic acid are now extant, may have included those mentioned above, such as honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cyperus, cedar oil, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle (Myrtus communis) [26], or cinnamon. Many of these ingredients, like the honey discussed above, are attested as additives to wine in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and in Egyptian kyphi recipes published for at least two millennia starting by the 15th century BC.

Table 3. Additives data from wine cellar jars.

ARCHEM # Jar # Compounds of Interest Possible Additive Source(s) Absolute Abundance* Relative Abundance (%)† Ratio to Tartaric Acid‡ Ratio to Syringic Acid‡
4324 1 cinnamic acid storax resin 1494759 25.83 0.4470 7.3806
4296 2 cinnamic acid storax resin 1276725 15.93 0.4249 5.3251
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 228932 2.86 0.0762 0.9549
methyl syringate honey 158663 1.98 0.0528 0.6618
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1614423 20.15 0.5373 6.7337
cedrol cedar oil 2043677 25.50 0.6801 8.5241
4295 3 cinnamic acid storax resin 5288827 24.17 0.3882 26.9371
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 97827 0.45 0.0072 0.4983
methyl syringate honey 135629 0.62 0.0100 0.6908
moronic Acid pistacia resin 4781078 21.85 0.3510 24.3510
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 143789 0.66 0.0106 0.7323
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 196814 0.90 0.0144 1.0024
4293 4 moronic acid pistacia resin 2566950 19.14 0.3442 18.8781
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 157914 1.18 0.0212 1.1613
4323 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
4312 6 cinnamic acid storax resin 41939 0.28 0.2887 N/A
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 4251964 28.07 29.2692 N/A
methyl syringate honey 539556 3.56 3.7141 N/A
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 4528939 29.90 31.1758 N/A
cedrol cedar oil 366042 2.42 2.5197 N/A
4304 7 cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 26747 2.14 0.0662 0.1174
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1239199 100 3.0650 5.4391
cedrol cedar oil 121888 9.84 0.3015 0.5350
4307 8 cinnamic acid storax resin 4379377 100 5.4354 N/A
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 19364 0.44 0.0240 N/A
methyl syringate honey 208538 4.76 0.2588 N/A
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 390542 8.92 0.4847 N/A
4321 9 cinnamic acid storax resin 2442191 23.65 0.2365 12.2398
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 573568 5.56 0.0556 2.8746
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1018503 9.86 0.0986 5.1046
cedrol cedar oil 196248 1.90 0.0190 0.9836
4291 11 cinnamic acid storax resin 245035 0.89 0.0204 1.7075
moronic acid pistacia resin 4975001 18.00 0.4151 34.6668
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 470967 1.70 0.0393 3.2818
4322 11 cinnamic acid storax resin 2021760 7.43 0.0874 2.5425
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 96850 0.36 0.0042 0.1218
methyl syringate honey 105724 0.39 0.0046 0.1330
moronic acid pistacia resin 9005507 33.08 0.3891 11.3249
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 791283 2.91 0.0342 0.9951
4313 12 cinnamic acid storax resin 7282 3.19 0.0319 2.3597
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 34235 14.99 0.1499 11.0936
4316 13 cinnamic acid storax resin 19864640 100 11.0822 N/A
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 2418428 12.17 1.3492 N/A
methyl syringate honey 1206024 6.07 0.6728 N/A
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 5158279 25.97 2.8777 N/A
cedrol cedar oil 3763042 18.94 2.0994 N/A
4305 15 cinnamic acid storax resin 28785576 53.19 12.5429 1.8623
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 3235294 5.98 1.4097 0.2093
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 2652198 4.90 1.1557 0.1716
methyl syringate honey 1289913 2.38 0.5621 0.0835
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 5544408 10.24 2.4159 0.3587
cedrol cedar oil 7012114 12.96 3.0554 0.4536
4300 16 cinnamic acid storax resin 555136 16.48 1.4170 0.7159
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 1250074 37.11 3.1908 1.6121
methyl syringate honey 311317 9.24 0.7946 0.4015
myrtenyl acetate myrtle 90137 2.68 0.2301 0.1162
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2957384 87.80 7.5486 3.8138
cedrol cedar oil 2898403 86.05 7.3981 3.7377
4299 17 cinnamic acid storax resin 1162478 24.84 0.8915 2.8802
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 3030522 64.76 2.3242 7.5085
methyl syringate honey 283333 6.05 0.2173 0.7020
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2812546 60.10 2.1570 6.9684
cedrol cedar oil 1838714 39.29 1.4102 4.5556
4311 18 cinnamic acid storax resin 577577 9.98 0.3381 1.7616
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 5161095 89.14 3.0210 15.7412
methyl syringate honey 965568 16.68 0.5652 2.9450
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 4619771 79.79 2.7041 14.0902
cedrol cedar oil 1094098 18.90 0.6404 3.3370
4303 19 cinnamic acid storax resin 53410 0.36 0.0945 0.0073
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 1712400 11.44 3.0314 0.2352
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 766913 5.13 1.3576 0.1053
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1987962 13.29 3.5192 0.2730
cedrol cedar oil 735800 4.92 1.3026 0.1011
4302 20 cinnamic acid storax resin 8975654 100 18.9433 30.1102
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 149823 16.49 0.3162 0.5026
methyl syringate honey 155327 1.73 0.3278 0.5211
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1613479 17.98 3.4053 5.4127
cedrol cedar oil 440547 4.91 0.9298 1.4779
4297 22 cinnamic acid storax resin 14466863 100 26.4827 3.1869
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 879020 6.08 1.6091 0.1936
methyl syringate honey 144339 1.00 0.2642 0.0318
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 1913842 13.23 3.5034 0.4216
cedrol cedar oil 898342 6.21 1.6445 0.1979
4306 23 cinnamic acid storax resin 583336 19.38 0.7528 2.3230
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 1616217 53.68 2.0859 6.4362
methyl syringate honey 160411 5.33 0.2070 0.6388
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2465266 81.88 3.1816 9.8174
cedrol cedar oil 1467052 48.73 1.8933 5.8422
4308 24 cinnamic acid storax resin 88711 3.25 0.1013 0.2318
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 2416827 88.51 2.7604 6.3146
methyl syringate honey 212555 7.78 0.2428 0.5554
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2090629 76.56 2.3879 5.4624
4310 25 cinnamic acid storax resin 8059 0.36 .0107 0.0044
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 215071 9.49 0.2844 0.1183
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2266978 100 2.9980 1.2471
cedrol cedar oil 1281799 56.54 1.6952 0.7051
4298 26 cinnamic acid storax resin 16405292 100 13.8041 42.6057
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 1974529 12.04 1.6615 5.1280
methyl syringate honey 741031 4.52 0.6235 1.9245
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 3827611 23.33 3.2207 9.9406
cedrol cedar oil 254127 15.53 0.2138 0.6600
4292 27 cinnamic acid storax resin 243079 0.83 0.0345 0.4771
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 64891 0.22 0.0092 0.1274
methyl syringate honey 104826 0.36 0.0149 0.2058
moronic acid pistacia resin 5290463 18.03 0.7501 10.3847
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 105802 0.36 0.0150 0.2077
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 389893 1.33 0.0553 0.7653
4314 28 cinnamic acid storax resin 1701520 19.30
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 3946414 44.76 2.1184 2.8204
methyl syringate honey 1578962 17.91 0.8476 1.1284
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 7184739 81.48 3.8567 5.1347
cedrol cedar oil 4705967 53.37 2.5261 3.3632
4320 29 cinnamic acid storax resin 894407 4.19 0.2232 1.2573
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 105494 0.49 0.0263 0.1483
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 234542 1.10 0.0585 0.3297
methyl syringate honey 200929 0.94 0.0501 0.2825
moronic acid pistacia resin 5538087 25.96 1.3817 7.7853
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 145885 0.68 0.0364 0.2051
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 465817 2.18 0.1162 0.6548
4301 31 cinnamic acid storax resin 78383225 100 59.8162 123.3591
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 3412391 4.35 2.6041 5.3704
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 5089707 6.49 3.8841 8.0102
cedrol cedar oil 3385811 4.32 2.5838 5.3286
4317 33 cinnamic acid storax resin 2209658 43.96 0.4396 4.9602
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 280319 5.58 0.0558 0.6292
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 107570 2.14 0.0214 0.2415
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 560737 11.16 0.1116 1.2587
cedrol cedar oil 41459 0.82 0.0082 0.0931
4325 34 cinnamic acid storax resin 537645 1.98 0.0995 2.6960
methyl syringate honey 35184 0.13 0.0065 0.1764
moronic acid pistacia resin 3838164 14.14 0.7105 19.2463
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 59010 0.22 0.0109 0.2959
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 303105 1.12 0.0561 1.5199
4319 35 cinnamic acid storax resin 246579 33.68 0.5020 0.4576
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 295643 40.38 0.6018 0.5487
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 46537 6.36 0.0947 0.0864
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 150258 20.52 0.3059 0.2789
4318 36 cinnamic acid storax resin 2605220 8.05 0.3289 0.3513
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 3147852 9.73 0.3974 0.4245
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 888008 2.75 0.1121 0.1197
methyl syringate honey 240911 0.74 0.0304 0.0325
moronic acid pistacia resin 8034511 24.84 1.0143 1.0835
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 238757 0.74 0.0301 0.0322
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 338245 1.05 0.0427 0.0456
4315 37 cinnamic acid storax resin 1296918 21.27 1.3023 0.4644
cineole cyperus, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 391683 6.42 0.3933 0.1403
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 2582576 42.35 2.5933 0.9248
cedrol cedar oil 1654328 27.13 1.6612 0.5924
4289 Base cinnamic acid storax resin 6555436 21.19 1.8474 47.7589
caryophyllene cedar oil, mint, juniper berries, or cinnamon bark 1308486 4.23 0.3688 9.5328
methyl syringate honey 228195 0.74 0.0643 1.6625
moronic acid pistacia resin 10566264 34.15 2.9777 76.9794
oleanoic acid cyperus, pistacia resin, storax resin 207828 0.67 0.0586 1.5141
masticadienoic acid pistacia resin 333968 1.08 0.0941 2.4331
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*Peak area determined by integration in chromatograms.

†

Percentage relative to maximum peak in a given chromatogram.

‡

Ratio of compound of interest's absolute abundance to organic acid's absolute abundance.

The Mari texts generally record types of wine and additives; for instance, one mentions “One jar of strong wine, one jar of sweet wine, and eight jars of wine of second quality shipped together with three types of herbal aromatics: one kirippum-jar of oil of Cyprus, one kirippum-jar of oil of myrtle, and one kirrippum-jar of oil of juniper” [8]. The kyphi texts are a bit more involved. For instance, after recounting the methodical brewing process of kyphi documented by the Egyptian priest Manetho in the 3rd century BC, the 1st century Greek historian Plutarch remarks that kyphi was used as a potion to cleanse internal organs [27]. Besides the obvious antimicrobial properties of many of these additives [28], some like cedar oil were likely known centuries before the Middle Bronze Age to possess astringent, diuretic, sedative, and stimulant properties as well [29]. The complex recipe of the Kabri wine thus may provide concrete evidence for the sophistication of Canaanite viticulture.

Furthermore, the large total volume of the stored wine – up to 2,000 liters – and the context of this storeroom, next to a ceremonial room within the palace in which banquets might have been held, may contribute to a greater understanding of Canaanite court ceremony and economy. Although 2,000 liters – or the equivalent of 3,000 modern bottles of wine – may seem like a lot, it is not enough for wide-spread distribution and should probably be seen as directly related to consumption within the palace rather than to either production or distribution [30]; in other words, we may have here the private reserve of the ruler and his household. When considered with issues of long-term preservation in antiquity and the overall consistency of both the wine and containers, it seems likely that the wine cellar held a single vintage, which was habitually replenished in a given year.

Future Work

In looking to the future, we note that there is a southeastern entrance (or exit) to this room. This connects the excavated storage room with another, as yet largely unexcavated, room that is located directly to the south, in which the remains of at least six additional large storage jars have already been found. These were excavated and removed at the end of the 2013 season, since they would not have survived the winter. There is also what appears to be yet another opening, this one leading off to the northwest of our storage room, which may lead to additional rooms in this storage complex, but investigation of these additional areas will have to wait until the next excavation season, in 2015.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the volunteers and especially the senior staff of the Kabri Archaeological Project – N. Goshen, I. Samet, and A. Ratzlaff – for facilitating the study of the wine cellar. We are grateful as well to A. Koloski-Ostrow, C. Thomas, B. Snider, I. Epstein, C. Wade, I. Krauss, A. Crandall for facilitating access to the Brandeis University Department of Chemistry GC-MS laboratory and B. Foley of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for helpful comments on ancient viticulture.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by Brandeis University, University of Haifa, George Washington University, National Geographic Society, Israel Science Foundation, Institute for Aegean Prehistory, and Bronfman Philanthropies. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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