Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006) 98e101

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

The origin of the ancient Egyptian drink Shedeh revealed

using LC/MS/MS
Maria Rosa Guasch-Jané a, Cristina Andrés-Lacueva a, Olga Jáuregui b,
Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventós a,*
a
Nutrition and Food Science Department-CeRTA, Pharmacy Faculty, University of Barcelona, Avda Joan XXIII s/n,
08028 Barcelona, Spain
b
Scientific and Technical Services, University of Barcelona, Josep Samitier 1e5,
08028 Barcelona, Spain
Received 2 February 2005; received in revised form 14 June 2005; accepted 27 June 2005

Abstract

Ancient Egyptians were buried with the most precious food and drink as sustenance for their afterlife. One of these was Shedeh,
the most valued and appreciated beverage in ancient Egypt. The botanic origin of Shedeh remains unclear as no mention of its raw
material has survived. Some scholars have proposed that Shedeh was a pomegranate wine, while others, a grape wine. Presented here
is the first ever analytical evidence of Shedeh’s origin through the analysis of a sample of a residue from an extraordinarily well
preserved Shedeh amphora from King Tutankhamun’s collection. The previously developed LC/MS/MS wine markers method for
archaeological samples was used and our results reveal Shedeh had a red grape origin.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Shedeh; Amphora; Wine markers; Residue; Tutankhamun; LC/MS/MS

1. Introduction was proposed [4,13]. However, to date, its botanical

origin has never been proven.
Ancient Egyptian texts describe the Shedeh drink as To discover the true origin of this Egyptian beverage,
a gift from the sun god Ra to his sons [4], bestowing it with the wine markers method previously developed [8] using
divine power, ensuring it was of the highest quality, and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in
that Shedeh was served in the most valuable vases. How- tandem mode (LC/MS/MS) was applied, in the first ever
ever, the real meaning of the name of this Egyptian drink, scientific research on Shedeh’s raw material. Two wine
Shedeh, which appeared at the end of the XVIII Dynasty markers in archaeology, tartaric acid and syringic acid
in the mid-14th century BC [1], is unknown. The Shedeh derived from malvidin-3-glucoside, were investigated in
drink has been defined in the bibliography as ‘‘it could be a sample of a residue from an extraordinary Shedeh
pomegranate wine’’ [9] or ‘‘a beverage akin to wine’’ [7]. amphora.
A study of the Shedeh inscriptions on pottery jars
concluded that Shedeh could be more closely identified 2. Shedeh’s significance
with a traditional wine and specifically, a cooked wine
The name Shedeh appeared inscribed on the labels of
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C34 934 03 4843; fax: C34 934 03
Egyptian two-handled pottery amphorae at the site of
5931. el-Amarna and belonging to the reign of Akhenaten,
E-mail address: lamuela@ub.edu (R.M. Lamuela-Raventós). late XVIII Dynasty. Its name showed it was a beverage

0305-4403/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.06.013
 M.R. Guasch-Jane´ et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006) 98e101 99

different from the traditional (grape)wine, whose Egyp- revealed to us in the ancient Egyptian texts. The only
tian name was irep [6]. An example of the importance of known report on Shedeh’s preparation was described on
Shedeh in ancient Egyptian times was the fact that it was the Papyrus Salt 825 from Late period (715e332 BC).
cited in the Egyptian romantic poetry, where Shedeh was However, this text lacks information on the raw material:
associated with a lover’s voice [13]. During the Rames- ‘‘It is (.) repeat the filtration; heating again. This is the
side (1292e1075 BC) and Ptolemaic (305e30 BC) way to prepare the Shedeh’’ [4]. Due to a gap in this
periods, the Shedeh drink was recorded on temple papyrus, the initial ingredient is not known. Moreover,
inscriptions, and used as a religious offering as well as the only information we have on the preparation of
for embalming [13]. Shedeh is on an inscription at Dendera’s temple (MD
Hundreds of inscriptions on amphorae dated late 4,77a) as ‘‘the beautiful work of Horus in the lab through
XVIIIeXIX Dynasty from Malkata, el-Amarna, the the cooked extracts of Shesmou, the God of the press’’ [4].
Ramesseum and Deir el-Medina have been found. It is Derchain [4] concluded that even if Shedeh was a type of
significant that only 15 of them have been documented wine, the description on the Papyrus Salt 825 eliminates
bearing the name Shedeh, from el-Amarna, Tutankha- the possibility that it could have been must or ordinary
mun’s tomb at Western Thebes and Maya’s tomb at wine because they are not heated.
Saqqara [13]. Most of the Shedeh inscriptions are on shards
and they included the year, quality, property, region 3. The sample
and vintner’s name as with the best wines of that age.
One of these Shedeh inscriptions was written on an With permission of the Egyptian Supreme Council
amphora (Fig. 1) found in 1922 by Howard Carter at the for Antiquities and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,
intact Burial Chamber of Tutankhamun (1333e1323 a sample of the dry black residue from inside the
BC). On finding the amphora Carter wrote on the Tutankhamun’s shedeh amphora Journal d’Entre´e num-
archaeological card: ‘‘What exactly Shedeh is, is not ber 62315 (Fig. 1) from the Egyptian Museum, was
known. A kind of beer, date-wine etc are possible’’ [2]. taken for analysis. Carter found this well preserved
Some authors have translated the word Shedeh as amphora lying on the ground beside the south wall
pomegranate wine [5], a tenuous proposal as this inside the Burial chamber of King Tutankhamun’s tomb
supposition was established by Loret [10] from a text in the Valley of Kings (KV 62) at Western Thebes,
from the reign of Ramses II (Anast. IV, 6e7) which Egypt. The food and wine were placed on the Annexe
referred to a garden in which two fruits were found chamber, but three of the amphorae were placed inside
(grapes and pomegranates). The three drinks obtained the Burial chamber beside the south, west and east walls,
from them were wine, must and Shedeh. Loret suggested respectively. The two amphorae found at the west and
that Shedeh was a pomegranate wine [10]. Meanwhile, east positions were labelled irep [5].
other authors have proposed Shedeh could have been The hieratic inscription on the amphora studied in
a grape wine with a distinct and elaborated preparation this paper records: ‘‘Year 5. Shedeh of very good quality
[13]. Despite the substantial information regarding all of the House-of-Aton of the Western River. Chief
aspects of life in ancient Egypt recorded on temples, tomb vintner Rer’’ and ‘‘very good’’ is also stipulated on the
walls and papyrus, Shedeh’s raw material has never been top of the amphora [3].

Fig. 1. Tutankhamun’s amphora (JE 62315) at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo with the inscription including the name of the product contained:
Shedeh. The two signs on the top indicate it was ‘‘very good’’. Photo: Copyright Griffith Institute, Oxford.
100 M.R. Guasch-Jane´ et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006) 98e101

4. Results and discussion retention time of 2.61 min (Fig. 2A) appeared at the
same retention time as the standard of tartaric acid
In this work we have used the LC/MS/MS method injected in the same conditions, showing the presence
previously developed for the identification of wine of tartaric acid in the Shedeh sample.
markers in archaeological samples [8]. Briefly, an Moreover, the presence of syringic acid, recently
amount of approximately w2 mg of sample was confirmed as a red wine marker for archaeological
extracted with formic acid 0.1% in water/methanol samples [8] was also investigated in the sample, before
(80:20). An alkaline fusion was performed with and after performing the alkaline oxidation. Identifi-
potassium hydroxide pellets in the same quantity. cation of syringic acid was done by injection of the
The extracts were injected in the LC/MS/MS system sample in MRM mode of the m/z 197/182 transition.
in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, the Before alkaline fusion, no peak of syringic acid (Mw
most sensitive MS method which allowed the structural 198) was detected in the MRM chromatogram
elucidation and compound confirmation compared (Fig. 2B) at 18.35 min, which is the retention time of
with the standard. syringic acid standard. However, after performing the
Tartaric acid, the grape marker in archaeology [12] alkaline fusion, a peak of syringic acid at 18.35 min
as it is exclusively found in grapes in the Mediterra- was identified in the sample (Fig. 2C), released from
nean and Near East areas, was first investigated in the the main red wine pigment malvidin-3-glucoside
sample. On the MRM chromatogram at m/z 149/87 through the breaking down of the polymerized pigment
transition for tartaric acid (Mw 150), a peak at which had formed over time [11].

Fig. 2. LC/MS/MS chromatograms in MRM mode for the sample of residue from Tutankhamun’s Shedeh amphora. (A) The grape marker tartaric
acid is identified in the sample. (B) The red grape marker syringic acid is not present in the sample as it is in a more complex form. (C) By performing
the alkaline reaction to the sample, a peak of syringic acid is identified, having been released from malvidin-3-glucoside in the pigment.
 M.R. Guasch-Jane´ et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006) 98e101 101

These results reveal the Shedeh residue sample came References

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