Introduction

This small, clay tablet dates from the sixth year of Shu-Sin (2031 BCE), fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004 BCE). The tablet records perhaps the earliest documented mention of wine. It is a receipt for jugs of wine from the supervisor of the estate as received by the estate cook, Adalal.

Cuneiform, from the Latin cuneus, meaning “wedge,” is the term applied to a mode of writing which used a wedge-shaped stylus to make impressions on a clay surface, or on stone, metal, or wax. Most clay tablets were sun-baked.

This tablet was published as no. 1263 by Cornell professor David I. Owen and Rudolf H. Mayr in The Garšana Archives (Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, Volume 3), Bethesda: CDL Press, 2007.

From the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University. Description provided by Professor David I. Owen.

According to the Old Testament, Noah, known as the inventor of wine and first tiller of the soil, planted a vineyard, drank of his own wine, and thus became drunk.

Dedicated to King Charles II of Naples, this work was widely acknowledged in its day to be one of the most comprehensive and useful works on medieval agriculture. Book IV is on vines, wine-making, the means of preserving both fresh and dried grapes.

A rare first edition, this classic work covers all phases of wine production. Chaptal was the first to promote the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must, which strengthened and preserved wine. Widespread adoption of this practice would help fuel a wine making revolution lasting to the present day.

Egyptian tombs often contained texts such as this one detailing the drinking of wine by rulers and nobles. The hieroglyphics across the top of the fragment translate: “An offering which the king gives to Osiris, the great god, lord of Abydos, that he may give offerings of bread, [wine], flesh, and fowl …” The figure in the middle of the fragment is shown drinking wine from a jug.

On loan from Cornell University Anthropology Collections.

Although wine was originally a drink enjoyed only by the upper classes, Greek physicians later began prescribing it for medicinal purposes to all members of society.

On loan from Cornell University Anthropology Collections.

Assembled under the direction of Denis Diderot, this landmark 18^th century compendium of Enlightenment thought provides an overview of all fields of human knowledge on subjects ranging from philosophy to the arts, natural science, mathematics, the trades, and agriculture—including an entry on viticulture. The engraving shown here details the tools and implements used for grape vine pruning and training, many of which remain in use today. Diderot’s Encyclopédie made the first mention of using sugar to sweeten wines, advocating this practice over the earlier practice of adding lead.

Written by a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, this treatise asserts that wine can return patients to their natural state of good health with minimal help from their physician. This cheerful remedy was prescribed to those who displayed “symptoms of fancy” (hypochondria) and melancholy.

On loan from the Cornell University Anthropology Collection.

Flint glass wine decanter, ca. 1810.
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Coin silver goblet, inscribed: “Esther,” ca. 1840.
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This ratchet basket press is the most common and least expensive type of press. The spaces between the slats allow the juice to flow through the gaps when pressure is applied by the lid, which is slowly ratcheted down on top of the grapes.

On loan from the Frank A. Lee Library, Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N.Y.