Part III
In this part...
The ancient Egyptians enjoyed parties, feasts, and generally living it up with their mates. Loads of evidence of these parties exist, including menus and lists of the dancers and musicians who attended. For daytime entertainment the Egyptians played board games, listened to stories, went hunting, and participated in sports.
Although relatively hygienic, the Egyptians were beset with disease and illnesses, and the doctors recorded many of the symptoms, diagnoses, and ‘cures’ - most of which makes our own health service look the biz. From parasitic worms, to teeth abscesses, it’s surprising they could concentrate on building pyramids and temples at all!
Ancient Egyptian religion was very imaginative and diverse, with hundreds of gods, different practices, beliefs, and rituals - many dependant on the location. Although the everyday Egyptians weren’t allowed to enter the elaborate temples which still dominate the landscape, they worshipped in their homes.
Many of the Egyptians’ funerary beliefs were focused on prolonging life for eternity in the underworld, and they preserved bodies and possessions, enabling us to build a compelling image of their life and beliefs.
Chapter 7
In This Chapter
● Storytelling for young and old
● Playing games
● Training for sport and battle
● Hunting and fishing
● Planning parties - entertainment, food, and drink
Everyone likes to have a good time, and the same can be said of the ancient Egyptians. In an age without televisions, radios, or computers, the Egyptians had to find other ways of keeping themselves entertained at the end of a long working day.
And the working week, even for the elite and top craftsmen, was indeed long - ten days on, two days off - with the working day consisting of all daylight hours. Perhaps the poorer classes worked even longer, more difficult schedules, but because they left no records, historians may never know. Chapter 2 offers more details of the day-to-day activities of these ancient Egyptians.
Due to the heat, a midday siesta time was likely, although small details - no matter how important they were to the ancient Egyptians - are unrecorded. With these working conditions, unwinding at the end of the day or the week was extremely important.
Some of the evening and weekend entertainment for the ancient Egyptians was remarkably similar to today’s pastimes. Families spent time together, friends met for a gossip and a couple of beers, and people played board games, listened to music, told stories, and enjoyed more active pursuits, such as wrestling and (during the New Kingdom) chariot racing and hunting. The following sections explore some of the most popular ways that ancient Egyptians kicked back and offer some ways in which you can relax like an Egyptian.
Nourishing the Greg Matter
Like any community throughout history, the ancient Egyptians had sporty people and more passive people. Not all Egyptians were physically active, and some chose more studious ways of passing their time, especially if they were literate.
Studious pursuits were not solely the choice of the rich, and physical pastimes were not only for the poor. In fact, the king in most periods was an active hunter. The more studious pastimes were, however, for the literate - who were primarily the elite - but that is not to say a poor illiterate member of the community did not enjoy sketching in the sand, telling stories or playing board games rather than wrestling and stick fighting!
Literacy was very low in ancient Egypt with only 1-5 per cent of the population being able to read and write. (Even today, the estimated literacy rate in modern Egypt is estimated at 25 per cent.) This is a difficult statistic for many to swallow, as the UK today is very highly literate (99.9 per cent). Many of today’s pastimes depend on literacy, including reading, crosswords, sudoku, and writing.
One example of an Egyptian crossword has been discovered. Although this crossword didn’t have clues, it was discovered with the grid filled in and with all the words interlocking as they do in the modern world. Although sudoku did not exist in ancient Egypt, papyri with a number of mathematical and geometrical riddles, which some Egyptian scribe may have puzzled over for many hours, do exist as well.
Of the numerous Egyptian scribes, one chap is particularly noteworthy: Kenhirkhepshef lived in Deir el Medina during the 19th dynasty (see the Cheat Sheet for a historical timeline) and had a particular interest in the past. He spent his free time, rather like me actually, researching Egyptian history. He wrote an accurate list in chronological order of all the kings of the New Kingdom. (Unfortunately, his list is unusable today because he excluded unpopular kings and those who ruled a divided country.) Researchers believe Kenhirkhepshef may have visited a number of the mortuary temples and gathered information from the priests working there.
Kenhirkhepshef was also a linguist and had a list of official governmental titles that started with ‘chief’. Sadly he didn’t explain what the titles entailed, and many of them are only known from this list.
Other scribes spent their evenings and weekends writing love poetry. Although some people believe these poems were written by love-sick men and women, they’re grammatically correct and cleverly written with rhyming couplets and word play. As such, they’re more likely to have been penned by professional scribes. Sadly the authors of this love poetry are anonymous. Some of them were probably well known at the time, and their work was probably oft repeated in the light of the fire.
Telling Tall Tates
Evidence suggests that the ancient Egyptians loved tall stories - although their methods of storytelling and the identities of these storytellers are unknown today. Storytellers did not need to be literate to tell good tales, so they may have hailed from all walks of life.
Stories were most likely told orally. The problem with any kind of oral tradition is that each time a story is told, it changes depending on the story teller’s personal agenda, skills and interests - as well as the audience, which included all age groups. Oral traditions do not have rules. As a result, stories can and did take the form of poetry, sing-alongs, or even idle gossip - all of which can provide hours of entertainment.
Some scribes luckily chose to record stories that were part of this oral tradition. The scribes may have felt they were contributing to their heritage by recording these stories. A number of stories have survived, including:
● The Journey of Sinuhe, in which a man flees Egypt at the death of the king and settles in an Asiatic town, rising in power until he is a chief.
● The Doomed Prince, in which a young noble’s death is foreseen as being caused by one of three fates. Throughout his life he has close shaves with these fates.
● The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, in which a simple peasant appeals at the law courts on a daily basis, impressing the king with his eloquence.
This long story illustrates that low status does not mean ignorance.
● The Shipwrecked Sailor (see sidebar), in which a sailor is marooned on an island inhabited by a divine serpent many metres long.
● The Five Tales of Magic and Wonder, which describe five separate events staged in the Old Kingdom royal court, during which magicians perform various amazing feats of magic for the king’s entertainment.
● The Tale of the Two Brothers, which tells the story of the separation of two brothers because of the treachery of the older brother’s wife.
● The Tale of the (other) Doomed Prince, which tells the story of a man who is foretold the method of his death. The tale recounts his journey and how he nearly comes a cropper on more than one occasion. He also strangely enough meets a princess in a tower who throws her hair down as a means of escape. Does the name Rapunzel mean anything to anyone?
The shipwrecked sailor
A young sailor encountered on the docks a sea captain who had just returned from an unsuccessful expedition. The captain was concerned about explaining himself to the king, so the sailor tried to console the captain by telling his own story of an expedition to the copper mines on a ship with 150 of the best sailors in Egypt.
One day the young sailor and his shipmates encountered a storm that destroyed the ship and killed all the crew, except the sailor who was washed up on an island. He sat alone under a tree suffering from shock for three days. When he came to, he went in search of nourishment and found that the island was abundant in figs, grain, fruit, vegetables, fish, and birds. He loaded up his arms, built a fire, and started to prepare lunch, when he was disturbed by a loud noise.
He initially thought it was a wave from the sea, but the trees shook and the earth moved. The sailor recoiled as he saw a large bearded serpent approaching at speed. Enough to spoil anyone's day!
The snake questioned the sailor as to his presence on the island, but the sailor was too scared to talk, so the snake carried the sailor in his mouth to his lair, where he questioned the sailor again. The sailor recounted what had happened to him and his crew. The snake soothed him and foretold he would remain on the island for four months before a crew he recognised would come to take him back to Egypt.
The snake then told his own story of how he came to be alone on the island. The snake originally lived on the island with 72 other serpents, including his young daughter. One day a star fell from the heavens and burnt the snakes, killing all except the gigantic serpent. He reassured the sailor that although loss hurts at first, the grief disappears with time.
After the four months passed,the sailor spotted a ship on the horizon manned by an Egyptian crew that he recognised. The crew moored, and the snake gave them lots of goodies from the island to take back to Egypt, which the crew promptly loaded onto the ship. The crew then returned to Egypt, and the king summoned the sailor to explain what had happened to his expedition. He was rewarded with land and titles for bringing the goodies from the island. And everyone lived happily ever after!
Playing Board Games
Although a good storyteller can grip a crowd for an hour or so, an evening has many hours to fill. The Egyptians spent many hours playing board games, three of which have survived. These games are known as Senet, Hounds and Jackals, and Mehen - the names surviving down the millennia.
Sadly, the rules for these games have not survived. However, some very bright individuals have come up with rules for them based on the number of squares, the nature of the dice, and the number of pieces.
Have a go at playing the following games - or develop your own alternative rules.
Senet
One of the oldest of the board games is Senet, which means ‘game of passing’. Senet is a game of strategy, rather like backgammon. It was played from the Old Kingdom onwards and is often depicted in tombs.
Senet is a two-player game. To play, you need:
● Two types of pieces - cones and reels. Each player chooses which type of piece to use at the start of the game.
● A senet board. Senet boards have a numbered grid of 30 squares arranged in three rows of ten. You can draw and make a Senet board yourself or use the board shown in Figure 7-1.
● A set of four ‘sticks’ or ‘knuckle bones’. The number of squares you move on the Senet board is determined by ‘throwing sticks’ or ‘throwing knuckle bones’ - the Egyptian equivalent of casting dice. These four wooden sticks have one plain side and one painted side. The combination of coloured sides visible when you throw the sticks determines the number of squares you move:
• When only one painted side is visible, move forward one square.
• When two painted sides are visible, move forward two squares.
• When three painted sides are visible, move forward three squares.
• When four painted sides are visible, move forward four squares.
• When no painted sides are visible, move forward five squares.
You can make your own set of sticks by colouring or painting one side of four ice-lolly or craft sticks.
Figure 7-1: A sample Senet board layout.
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Players agree to play with three, five, or seven pieces each. The goal of the game is to be the first to move all your pieces from square 1 to square 30, using the sticks to determine how many spaces you can move on each turn. The following restrictions apply:
● If Player 1 lands on a square that is occupied by Player 2, the players must swap places: Player 2 must move his or her piece to the square Player 1 started from.
● All players must land on square 26 before moving off the board.
You and your partner can create other rules and restrictions to make the game more challenging. For example, you may choose to allow players to spilt a roll of 4 between two separate pieces. Or you may decide that players must roll the exact number of spaces to reach square 30 and complete a piece’s trek through the board.
Hounds and Jackals
Another popular game from the New Kingdom is Hounds and Jackals - so named because one set of pieces features the heads of jackals and the other hounds. The game is also known as 58 Holes.
Hounds and Jackals is a two-player game. To play, you need:
● A game board with two tracks of 30 holes each. The board can be a flat piece of wood with holes drilled in it - two ‘tracks’ of 30 holes each. More elaborate 3-D boards are available as well. (The Louvre in Paris has a sculptural board in the shape of a hippo in its collection.)
Figure 7-2 shows an example layout for a board. You can photocopy this image, stick it onto a 1/2-inch board and drill holes in each position.
● Ten pegs. Usually five pegs with jackals on the ends and five pegs with hounds on the ends. You can substitute pegs of two different colours.
● A set of four sticks. The number of squares you move on the board is determined by throwing sticks, as the rules for Senet describe.
Each player starts with five pieces (either hounds or jackals). The object of the game is to get all five of your pieces into hole 30, following the track on your half of the board. Each peg needs to go around the track twice to win.
As in Snakes and Ladders, if a player lands in
● Hole 6, he or she moves directly to hole 20
● Hole 15 or 25, he or she gets to throw again
Figure 7-2: A sample Hounds and Jackals board layout
Like Senet, you and your partner can create additional rules and restrictions to make the game more challenging.
Leading a Sporting Life
Some members of the elite preferred more active social lives and participated in a number of sports, including wrestling and weight lifting (with sand bags). While many of these activities were part of military training, it is likely that some individuals chose to train purely to improve their physique and physical strength.
Among a number of children’s toys at the town of Kahun in the Faiyum region, archaeologists discovered a few balls made of strips of animal skin stitched together and stuffed with dried grass. Whether the games that children played with these balls were ever played by adults is unknown, but I am sure some people like to think that football was not only ‘the beautiful game’ but also ‘the ancient game’.
The following sections discuss popular forms of recreation for both the Egyptian elite and the masses.
Charioteering
The chariot was not introduced to Egypt until the late Second Intermediate Period. Kings and some noble men of the New Kingdom were trained from young boyhood in charioteering in preparation for the battlefield. See Chapter 4 for more on historical periods.
Chariots in ancient Egypt were small and light. Drawn by two horses, these vehicles carried two people - the driver and a spearman or archer. A king or nobleman was trained in both roles.
Mostly boys were trained in charioteering skills, but at the site of Amarna, the small daughters of Akhenaten (see Chapter 4) are shown on tomb and temple walls driving their own chariots - an image which is unique to this period. A small sketch in the Cairo Museum shows a queen, thought to be Hatshepsut, driving a chariot and firing arrows at the enemy, which indicates perhaps that some royal women picked up charioteering skills. At Amarna, most of the elite members of society owned a chariot, because it was their main mode of transport.
After an Egyptian mastered steering a chariot, evidence suggests that chariot races took place. Nothing of the calibre of Ben Hur, but racing nonetheless. Just outside Malkata, the Theban palace of Amenhotep III, is a temporary lodge called the Kom el ’Abd, overlooking a very long, straight road. The road was cleared for the use of high-speed chariot races, in which no doubt Amenhotep III participated. These races were probably semi-private events, only seen by people living at Malkata and nearby.
Target practice
After young princes or military trainees were able to drive chariots, developing archery skills was the next task. Not only was marksmanship essential on the battlefield, but it was useful in the desert while hunting game.
Before being let loose in the desert on potentially dangerous animal targets, marksmen practised in a safe environment. The typical target consisted of a copper sheet set up at shoulder height along a course. The charioteer rode at speed and tried to hit the target with arrows. A stone block in Luxor Museum shows the 18th-dynasty king Amenhotep II using one of these targets. He is particularly skilled and has hit the target with five arrows, each one hitting with such force that it protruded through to the other side.
Hunting
Tomb scenes of the elite often depict the deceased hunting in the desert for gazelles, bulls and lions as well as in the marshes for fish and birds. While these images carry a funerary symbolism of virility and fertility, they also reflect the fact that hunting and fishing were popular activities for ancient Egyptians. Additional imagery in temples depicts hunting scenes as well, indicating that these pastimes probably crossed social boundaries between the elite and royalty.
fa the desert
Egypt is surrounded by land on both the east and the west bank of the Nile and supported lions, gazelles, deer, and bulls. Evidence shows that many of these animals may have been caught and housed in large pens to make the hunting safer for the king and the elite. Rather like a safari park - but not with conservation as a goal! The hunter rode along in a chariot, probably with a driver, and sometimes accompanied by pet dogs that retrieved the felled animals.
Images of the king and elite hunting normally show the kings hunting with bow and arrow, although they could possibly have hunted with spears or - if they wanted to catch the animals alive - lassoes.
A wonderful scene is depicted at Medinet Habu - Ramses Ill’s mortuary temple in Thebes - which shows the king in the midst of a wild bull hunt. The king is riding his chariot with the reins of the horses tied around his waist, leaving his hands free to fire arrows at the animals. He has become so excited by the hunt that he has thrown his leg over the front of the chariot to give him more support while bracing himself against the force of the bow. One bull that he has hit is already collapsed in the reeds.
Most hunting was for food, and catches provided tasty meals for the king, noblemen and their families. The skins of lions were often used for luxurious throws in the palace or home. Evidence suggests that Ramses II and III actually had a pet lion, which perhaps they hunted themselves.
In the marshes
Hunting in the marshes was equally popular among the elite, particularly in the favoured holiday marshland spot of the Faiyum. This area became so popular that in the New Kingdom, a royal palace and a harem were built here so that hunters could stay overnight in luxurious surroundings. The Faiyum supported a lively array of wildlife, although visitors to the site were interested only in the fowl and fish.
Many tomb scenes depict marsh hunting scenes in which the tomb owner stands on a small papyrus skiff or boat holding a throw stick in his raised arm. To scare the birds from the marshes, a trained cat or a servant was sent into the bushes to startle the birds. As they flew into the air, the tomb owner threw the stick, felling two or three birds with each stick. The trained cat or servant then went into the marshes and retrieved the birds. (I would love to see how they trained the cat to do anything!)
Birds caught by hunting with a throw stick were prepared for eating (feathers were plucked from the bird and it was hung out to dry in the sun). However, this method of fowling was not employed on a daily basis for food production. To catch birds for food, ancient Egyptians used a large drag-net thrown over the marshland, which was pulled in and gathered birds in its path.
Fishing
The Nile and its canals were abundant with many types of fish, so fishing was a popular pastime. Fishing as a sport was carried out using spears. The fisherman stood on the papyrus skiff, waited for a fish to swim by, and at the most opportune moment thrust the spear into the water. In tomb scenes, the tomb owner is always shown with two fish on the end of his spear, showing that he can not only catch one fish but two with one thrust.
In addition to vegetables, fish was the primary food of most Egyptians. When fishing for food, the Egyptians threw large nets into the river and dragged in vast quantities of fish. Their catch was then prepared for eating by eviscerating the fish, drying them in salt, and leaving them in the sun.
Throwing Big Bashes
The Egyptians were a sociable bunch and had frequent get-togethers to share gossip and to eat and be merry. Not much information on get-togethers for the lower classes exists, but parties for the elite are well recorded.
Many images on New Kingdom non-royal tombs show the elite enjoying themselves at elaborate banquets, entertained by musicians and dancers. Although these images are of particular feasts associated with the funeral and funerary festivals, they no doubt reflect the types of parties that took place in the houses of the rich and influential.
These tomb images provide several intriguing details:
● Guests are seated, normally with the men and women segregated. This may be an oddity of the funerary scenes, but it is still noteworthy.
● Guests are given as much food and alcohol (wine and beer) as they can stomach. In fact, in one tomb there is a delightful image of a woman purging herself into a bucket after over-indulging.
● Teams of servants attend to guests. Everything at these banquets was designed to make the guests feel pampered and special. Servants are shown filling goblets, distributing food, and adorning the guests in floral collars and perfume cones.
Perfume cones were structures made of animal fat impregnated with scented oils. The cones were placed on guests’ heads and emitted a pleasant aroma as they melted. A combination of flowers and lard - hmmm, nice! After the cones melted, servants replaced them with fresh ones.
Making music
The hosts of these parties provided entertainment, often in the form of a band - the Egyptian equivalent of the infamous party DJ. Sadly the music they played is lost, but they may have had a couple of groaners in their repertoire, on a par with today’s ‘Birdie Song’ and ‘Agadoo’.
The musicians were normally in small groups of either men or women. It was unusual for the groups to be mixed. The group played a mixture of instruments including lutes, flutes, clappers (ivory sticks tied at the end that clattered together when shaken), and harps (both small hand-held versions and full-sized examples). A small hand drum or a group of men or women clapping rhythmically kept the rhythm going.
No evidence exists suggesting that nobles played instruments in public; banquet musicians were hired especially for the occasion. However, it is possible that as a means of passing the time the elite learned to play instruments.
In the sixth dynasty mastaba tomb (see Chapter 13) at Saqqara, Mereruka’s wife, a princess no less, sits on her bed playing a harp to entertain her husband, who is also seated on a bed.
Dancing
An Egyptian would not have jumped onto the table and danced the night away to tunes from the party band. Music was typically accompanied by a group of dancers, who, like the musicians, were hired for the occasion.
Dancing was a very erotic form of entertainment. The performers were normally naked, except for an elaborate collar and a decorative belt or loincloth. Some dancers are shown in tomb drawings with perfume cones on their heads, indicating they also smelt nice and gave the audience a waft of perfume as they flitted by. Many dancers used their hair as a tool by flicking it from side to side; some tomb images even show weights tied into the hair, ensuring it moved in the correct way.
Perusing the party menu
Food was a major part of elaborate banquets, and fortunately a lot of information still exists.
Images of divine offering tables show what food the Egyptians considered good enough for the gods. Coupled with food left in tombs and described in offering lists, a detailed list of food that may have been on the menu at a posh party emerges.
Although for the rest of the population it was a luxury, meat was a major part of an elite meal. Some of the cuts would be distasteful to diners today; the ancient Egyptians refused to waste any part of the animal. Some of the most popular meat was ox (including the head, tongue, and entrails), goose, pigeon, and fish.
The meat was accompanied by
● Vegetables, including cucumber, onions, and lettuce
● Pulses and nuts, including lentils, chick peas, watermelon seeds, and almonds
● Herbs, including coriander and garlic
● Fruit, including figs, raisins, grape seeds, dom-palm nut (a type of fruit from the dom-palm tree), dates, and pomegranate leaves (and no doubt the rest of the fruit as well).
Baking the Hovis way
Most of the depictions of parties also show hosts serving various breads and cakes to the guests, including honey cakes and a type of fruit loaf. Bread was the staple of the Egyptian diet, and everyone, rich or poor, ate lots of it. Bread is also included on all offering tables and lists, showing that it was a food fit for the gods.
Different types of bread existed, including varieties made from emmer wheat and barley. The tomb of Tutankhamun even held fruit loaves containing berries from the Christ-thorn plant.
Egyptians baked various types of bread in different shapes (triangles and ovals were common) to make identification easier. Sadly, the exact meanings of these shapes are not known today.
To facilitate the grinding of grain into flour, bakers or women in the households may have added ground stone (quartzite or granite) or sand to their grind stones, which acted as an abrasive and produced flour in half the time. Very productive, but these inclusions in the bread caused excessive wear on the teeth of the Egyptians (see Chapter 8 for the gory details).
Brewing beer
No party is complete without a bar, and the ancient Egyptians loved their alcohol. Their parties would have been abundant in wine and beer. Beer was a staple of the Egyptian diet and was even included in the state wages and rations.
Beer was made in a similar way to bread. It was somewhat thicker than the beer or ale you’re familiar with today and may have contained a number of impurities. Egyptian beer was made from stale or partially baked barley or emmer bread (a dough high in yeast), which was placed on a screen over a jar. Water was poured over the bread until it dissolved and fell into the jar, where it was left to ferment. Once fermented, the liquid was then decanted into amphora jars for storage or transportation.
The resulting beer was not overly alcoholic if drunk in moderation, but the ancient Egyptians had one too many on occasion.
Where did I get this traffic cone?
Most people at some pointhave had a couple of drinks too many at a Christmas party or New Year bash and have gaps in their recollection of what happened. Proving nothing is new, one chap from 19th-dynasty Deir el Medina, probably had more than the average recollection problem. Paneb had a reputation of being a womaniser, a criminal, and a drunk. From a series of legal accusations written by one of his enemies, historians can fill in some of the alcohol-related gaps for him.
On one occasion after a few beers with friends, Paneb got into an argument with his elderly adopted father Neferhotep, which ended in Paneb chasing Neferhotep home:
Charge concerning his running after ...
Neferhotep, although it was him who reared him. And he [Neferhotep] closed his doors before him, and he [Paneb] took a stone and broke his doors. And they caused men to watch over Neferhotep because he [Paneb] said 7 will kill him in the night'.
Reports also indicate that Paneb horrified a number of his co-workers at the construction site of the royal tombs. At the end of a long day, after the empty sarcophagus had just been placed into the tomb, Paneb got drunk and sat on top of the sarcophagus, singing. Although no doubt egged on by his mates, Paneb's actions would have been seen as the worst sacrilege. Now, if only his song were known! Maybe a little ditty about chariot racers?
For the more adventurous beer drinker, flavours were added to the basic mix, including dates, spices, or honey. The sugar in the dates and honey accelerated fermentation. When the Egypt Exploration Society prepared batches using the ancient recipe, the resulting beverage was found to be very sweet but not unpleasant.
Enjoying wine
Although beer was the staple alcoholic beverage in ancient Egypt, in the New Kingdom, wine was very popular, especially among the elite. Wine was a luxurious alternative to beer and was saved for special occasions.
A number of vineyards existed in this region, and many of the local farmers produced wine. Athenaeus wrote in 200 AD that Egyptian wines were ‘pale, pleasant, aromatic, and mildly astringent, with an oily quality’.
Just as in the modern world, each amphora of wine was labelled with the date of the wine, the vineyard, and the vintner. Other labels from the palace of Malkata at Thebes, the home of Amenhotep III, also add what type of wine was in the jar, including ‘blended’, ‘wine for offerings’, ‘wine for taxes’, ‘wine for a happy return’, and ‘wine for merry-making’. All of which indicates that the later Egyptians were truly wine connoisseurs.
The process of wine making was very similar to that in some small modern vineyards. The basic steps include
● Picking the grapes
● Treading the grapes in vats of clay, wood, or stone
● Placing the crushed mulch in large sheets of linen, which were twisted to wring out every last drop of juice
● Allowing the grape juice to ferment in pottery jars
● Transferring the fermented juice to racked jars that were stoppered with perforated seals, which allowed carbon monoxide to escape
● Enjoying the wine after a short period of fermentation
A rare variety of wine known as Shedeh was made from grapes, but was heated, like mulled wine. If served this at a party, guests knew their host was both rich and sophisticated.