There's a gigantic Neolithic pot in the Georgian National Museum decorated with vines, with traces of fermented grape juice inside. At 8,000 years old, it's the oldest extant evidence of wine-making. The god of wine is referenced in Linear B tablets; and the use of wine in prehistoric ritual shows up in sites from Iran and Turkey to Sicily. As historian Bettany Hughes avers in Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy, his worship predates the Greek classical age by nearly 1,000 years.
Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy
Bettany Hughes examines the story of the god of wine, revelry, theatre and excess. She visits Jordan, Georgia, Greece and Britain to discover his origins, modern presence and role in the development of civilisation.
