Los antiguos egipcios elaboraban vino y aceite de oliva gracias al método de torsión

The ancient Egyptians were fond of many board games, such as Senet and Dog and Jackal, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Separated by countless millennia, they ate, worked, entertained themselves, and studied in ways not so different from our own. They also enjoyed beer, a symbol of divinity and a common drink among workers, according to the British Museum.

They consumed wine and oil in large quantities, and produced them using a unique method: twisting. Today, olive oil undergoes pressing, centrifugation, and milling to meet the enormous current demand, according to MadeHow. The Egyptians, without such machinery, relied on twisting to feed their large population.

According to Sapiens, the method involves extracting the liquid from crushed fruit, such as grapes for wine and olives for oil, using a large, permeable bag. The woven bag was filled with the fruit, and two long sticks were inserted at either end. By twisting or moving them from side to side, the fruit was crushed between them as the liquid seeped out. In modern terms, it's like putting grapes or olives in cheesecloth and crushing them with a mallet until the juice drips out. Sapiens notes that the process persisted well beyond the time of the Egyptians, into later periods in Italy, if some illustrations are to be believed.

According to InsideHook, it's a fairly simple technique for making olive oil: by replicating it, modern archaeologists obtain extra virgin olive oil, basic but delicious. The oil wasn't just for cooking. According to Marbrin, it had everyday uses, from lamp fuel to personal hygiene.

As for wine, the Egyptians were somewhat more reserved in their consumption. According to Yahoo! News, they stored it in underground cellars with an ingenious temperature control system, very similar to that used today for winemaking.