At the junction of the Wadi Abul Suffian and the Nile floodplain, just east of the Fort, lies a sub-circular mound about 2m high and about 80-100m in circumference. Designated as Locality HK24 by the modern expedition, this sherd covered mound at the time of Quibell and Green's 1897-99 exploration was known as the Kom el Ahmar (the Red Mound), and it is by this name the entire region of the low desert is locally known.

Recent exploration of the Kom el Ahmar and the area surrounding it by Jeremy Geller in 1989 makes it clear that the mound lies at the heart of Hierakonpolis' industrial quarter--an area involved in the production of beer, possibly bread and pottery in Predynastic times.

The brewery at Hk24a incorporated at least six coarse ceramic vats in two parallel rows set within a mud platform and probably originally covered with an ad hoc superstructure to contain heat. One end of the structure was destroyed long ago, so the original number of vats cannot be determined. Each vat, in brewing terms, might be considered a mash?tun, in which the infusion of ingredients is maintained at a warm temperature. Residue found still preserved within the vats makes it possible to reconstruct the basic recipe for this nutritious, if only mildly alcoholic beer. It was composed of emmer wheat with dates and possibly grapes added to provide the necessary sugars for fermentation.

A weighted average of archaeologically reliable radiocarbon dates from the vat site (Hk24A) of 4719 ± 34 C-14 years bp calibrates to a date of between 3,500?3,400 BC, corresponding to Naqada IIa-b), making them the oldest breweries known in the world.

Based on ethnographic parallels, Geller suggests that the production of beer was a two day process: one day to bring the mash to temperature and to cool it down and another day to ferment. Given the outlay for fuel necessary to sustain the needed heat, it is possible that the brew was transferred from the vats to ferment elsewhere, thus freeing the vats for another batch before full cooling of the installation. If this is the case, a great deal of beer could be produced on a daily basis.

The brewery vats are estimated to contain about 16 gallons each. The six vats together could thus hold approximately 100 gallons. If used on a full time basis, this brewery could produce 300 gallons a week allowing 2 days for fermentation in the vat. Output could be as high as 300 gallons a day if the liquid was transferred to other vessels for fermentation. This is output clearly far in excess of domestic needs. Using the capacity of the standard beer jar of Dynastic times, the daily output of brewery of 300 gallons a day could provide a daily ration for 454 people if each received one jar, or half that number if they received two (the standard Dynastic ration). That is still a lot of people, and only a small area of the precinct has been investigated!

About 80 meters from the brewery a circular silt platform supporting six hearths (HK25D) may in fact be the site at which these beer jars were produced.

Large breweries such as this one at Hierakonpolis certainly suggests that brewing and the distribution of large amounts of beer was in the hands of powerful individuals or institutions - chiefs or temple --during the Predynastic. The evidence at Hierakonpolis could be a prototype for the royal breweries familiar from the pharaonic record. It may well be that the officials and chiefs of Hierakonpolis, who by directing the provisioning of the brewers and the distribution of their product, founded a system of staple finance that was to persist in Egypt for more than 4,000 years

For more information see:
Geller, J.R. 1989. "Recent Excavations at Hierakonpolis and their Relevance to Predynastic Pyrotechnology and Settlement", Cahier de Recherches de l'Institut de Papyrologie et d'Égyptologie de Lille 11: 41-52.

_____ 1992. Predynastic Beer Production at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt: Archaeological Evidence and Anthropological Implications. Ph.D dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis.

_____ 1992b. "From Prehistory to History: Beer in Egypt", in R. Friedman and B. Adams (eds.), The Followers of Horus. Oxford: 19-26.

Maksoud, S.A., M.N. Hadidi, W.N. Amer 1994. "Beer from the early dynasties (3500-3400 cal. B.C.) of Upper Egypt, detected by archaeochemical methods", Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 3:219-224.

Samuel, D. 2000. "Brewing and baking" in P.T. Nicholson and I. Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, Cambridge: 537-576.

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