The earliest records from Egypt are predynastic and early dynastic. These earliest grapes originate partly from sites located in the Nile Delta , whereas others are recorded from Abydos and Naqada, located in the upper Nile Valley. This implies that either wild grapes once grew in the Nile Delta or that cultivated grapes entered Egypt at a very early stage. Although Egypt lies outside the optimal climatic zone, viticulture is possible if vineyards are constructed on well-drained, irrigated land. Proper locations are found outside the inundated area, such as the Nile Delta and the oases . At present, the most productive grape regions in Egypt are located in the Nile Delta and, owing to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, also in the lower Nile Valley . The number of seeds found in Berenike and Shenshef indicates that grapes were available on a regular base. They would have been imported from the Nile Valley, possibly even fresh from the Mediterranean area. Grapes could have been transported in a fresh condition, black plastic plant pots bulk with whole bunches carefully packed in pottery by using soft packing material. Alternatively, they could have been preserved by drying, in which state they can be kept for a considerable period.
The presence of a reasonable number of fruit stalks , restricted to samples dated to the first to second centuries AD, seems to indicate that at least part of the grapes were imported as whole bunches indeed. The presence of seeds, on the other hand, is not indicative of the state in which grapes were transported. Although especially seedless types of grapes are appreciated for the production of raisins, such as currants originating from Corinth in northeastern Peloponnisos, grapes containing seeds are also preserved by drying. Today, such dried grapes are still produced but they do not enter the international trade anymore. The cultivation of plants that produce seedless fruits can be considered an ultimate success in plant domestication. Real domesticated plants have become dependent on humans for their dispersal. In most domesticated plants, this has been obtained by prohibiting the release of the dispersal units , such as, for example, the change from a brittle to a non-brittle rachis in cereals. Natural seed dispersal has been replaced by the sowing of seed by humans. From a biological point of view, the absence of seeds in a fruit can be considered as an undesired abnormality as it prohibits sexual reproduction, which in turn eliminates its potential to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Although the earliest plant domestication dates back to the start of the Holocene period, the production of full-grown seedless fruits, such as bananas and some grape and citrus varieties, is more the exception than the rule. In addition to the many seeds, some whole fruits of grapes have also been found in Berenike. In one particular context, the fruits had become charred and swollen, as a result of which they regained their original shape .
The Arabic name nabq is preferred instead of the more commonly used “Christ’s-thorn,” as the latter is also in use for other species, such as Paliurus spina-christi Mill., Euphorbia milii Des Moul., and Carissa carandas L. The distribution area of nabq extends from the Sahara and the Sahel in Africa to Arabia and the Near East. In Egypt, it is recorded from all phytogeographical regions . The archaeobotanical record of nabq is extensive, dating back to predynastic times and includes fruit remains, seeds, wood, and pollen. Fruits are eaten fresh and were formerly made into bread. Fruits, leaves, and wood also have a tradition in folk medicine . The former exploitation of nabq has resulted in a scattered distribution of specimens with a mostly shrubby appearance . Fruits have a stony endocarp, which is surrounded by a mealy and somewhat slimy outer fruit layer. Cleaning endocarps for the reference collection turned out to be a rather unpleasant and laborious job. The taste of the fruits is nothing special, though Drar is of the opinion that fruits of cultivated trees taste better than those gathered from the wild. In Yemen, fruits of nabq are mainly eaten by children . Nevertheless, some 3,350 fruit stones have been unearthed from early through to late Roman levels, with the greater part unearthed in Berenike. Nabq is frequently found among the trees present in settlements in the Eastern Desert, and it is, therefore, also possible that this tree was once cultivated in Roman Berenike and Shenshef. According to Hobbs , the Ma’aza bedouins regard the nabq trees in their territory as “antiquities” and suggest that they might have been planted by the Romans.The wild plant species that have been found at Berenike and Shenshef are summarized in Table 4.2 in systematic order. This table includes species from the Eastern Desert, the Red Sea coastal plain, and the Gebel Elba area that were exploited by humans and can be considered as cultivated plants. These wild plant species with an economic value are marked in the second column and treated separately in the previous section. The geographic distribution is mainly based on Boulos A total of 63 taxa of wild plants could be identified to the level of species, including 14 cultivated ones.
In some cases, this identification is of a tentative nature or concerns a combination of two allied species. More than half of the sub-fossil species recorded from Berenike and Shenshef are still part of the current flora of both the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastal area and about a quarter is recorded from the mountainous Eastern Desert only. The mangrove tree and Polygala cf. irregularis are confined to the coastal area along the Red Sea. This means that altogether 84 percent of the sub-fossil plants identified to species level are so far still present in the vegetation of the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastal plain. A comparison of the archaeobotanical record with the botanical inventories near Berenike and Shenshef, as presented in Tables 2.1 and 2.2, reveals even more precise correlations. Species that have been evidenced by both sub-fossil and recent specimens at Berenike and Shenshef are Forsskålea tanacissima, Aerva javanica , Zilla spinosa, Acacia tortilis , Tribulus terrestris , Citrullus colocynthis , Arnebia hispidissima , Panicum turgidum, Cenchrus ciliarus , and Cyperus conglomeratus . Plant species only recorded by both sub-fossil and recent specimens for Berenike are Cornulaca monacantha , Neurada procumbens , Senna italica, and Polygala irregularis. Another category concerns plants present around Berenike and Shenshef today, but have so far only be evidenced by sub-fossil remains from either one of those sites: Aizoon canariensis, Astragalus eremophilus, Astragalus vogelii, Zygophyllum coccineum, Tamarix nilotica, Glossonema boveanum, Heliotropium bacciferum/ramosissimum, Pulicaria undulata, and Asphodelus tenuifl orus . A last category is formed by two plants evidenced by sub-fossil remains from both Berenike and Shenshef, procona system but have only been found in the present vegetation around one of these sites: Dipterygium glaucum and Dichanthium foveolatum . On a wider scale, a group of 11 wild plant species evidenced by sub-fossil remains can be recognized which are not present in the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastal plain today. This group includes two cultivated species that were probably exploited in the Gebel Elba area, namely, Cordia nevillii/sinensis and Commiphora gileadensis , and species that must have entered both sites as a weed. With the exception of Paspalum scrobiculatum , the present distribution area of these wild plant species include the Nile Valley or, in the case of Medicago minima, the Mediterranean region. Achyranthes aspera and Setaria pumila are also recorded from the Gebel Elba area by Boulos , although the record of the latter is not confirmed by a herbarium specimen. Setaria pumila is not included in the enumeration of plants by Drar , based on two botanical expeditions to this area. Also the present author did not find Setaria pumila during his visit to the Gebel Elba in February 1999, but did find several specimens of Achyranthes aspera . From Achyranthes aspera, two varieties are described: var. sicula L. and var. pubescens C.C. Towns .
The former one is cultivated and naturalized in the Nile Valley at Cairo and is considered not successful. It is now only found naturally in the Gebel Elba area, where it is abundant on the sandy plains around the mountains and in the edges of the wadis . Variety pubescens, on the other hand, is only recorded once from the Nile Valley at Aswan. On the basis of the perianth length, the sub-fossil specimen from Berenike is attributed to var. sicula and it is most likely that it originated from the natural populations of the Gebel Elba area. The ripe fruits of Achyranthes aspera remain enclosed by their spine-tipped bracts and perianths, and, as a result, they are easily dispersed by humans and animals . A wild plant that originates from even a more southern location is kodo or kodra millet . This grass probably originated from Sudan or further southward. The plant is well adapted to waterlogged soils but has only a limited drought tolerance . Some spikelets and also a rachis segment were found in Berenike . Kodo millet provides useful forage and is cultivated for its grain, but may also occur as a weed. It could have been imported from the south as fodder, though it is usually consumed in its fresh state by grazing animals. Wild plant species considered as weeds that originate from the Nile Valley are Lathyrus hirsutus, Raphanus raphanistrum, Medicago minima, Trigonella hamosa , and Setaria pumila. Though their current distribution includes the Eastern Desert and/or the Red Sea coastal plain, the following ruderal species may also be rated among this assemblage: Malva nicaeensis/parviflora, Tribulus terrestris, Melilotus messanensis/sulcatus, Chenopodium album, C. murale, Sinapis arvensis, Phalaris paradoxa, Lolium temulentum, Beta vulgaris , Echium rauwolfi i , Convolvulus arvensis , Scorpiurus muricatus, Medicago polymorpha, Aeluropus lagopoides , Avena fatua , A. sterilis , Galium sp., Anthemis sp., Matricaria sp., Bromus sp., and Brassica spp. A wild plant species that is well represented in the archaeobotanical record of Berenike and Shenshef is Echium rauwolfi i. The sub-fossil fruits proved to be more similar to those from herbarium specimens collected in the Nile Valley than to those collected in the Sudan . Fruits were recovered in many samples, including ones in which cereals were absent. This might indicate that this weedy species was successful in growing at the sites proper, most probably in plots used for cultivating vegetables and pulses. Other weed species that might have colonized such kitchen gardens are Aristida spp., Chenopodium album, C. murale, and Boerhavia repens . As a trailing perennial plant, it may have easily been introduced with other plants to the site. The weed assemblage of the Berenike samples differs to some extent from those of Shenshef. Weeds especially associated with samples from Berenike are Medicago minima, M. polymorpha, Trigonella hamosa, Sinapis arvensis, Avena sterilis, Lolium temulentum, and Galium sp. More typical for samples from Shenshef are Raphanus raphanistrum, Chenopodium album, Brassica spp., Convolvulus arvensis, and Scorpiurus muricatus. El-Hadidi and Kosinová have characterized the Egyptian weed flora in relation to crop and phytogeographical region. It appears from their study that none of the above-mentioned potential weeds is, in fact, typical for the rain-fed Mediterranean coastal strip, which is now mainly used for barley cultivation. In the same study, Asphodelus tenuifl orus and Melilotus sulcatus are mentioned as typical weed plants for the oases. The frequent occurrence of the former species in the current vegetation of Wadi Shenshef, however, points to a non-weedy status of the sub-fossil specimens. Considering them as non-weeds, these results reinforce the opinion that the import area would have been the Nile Valley, most probably from either Koptos or Edfu.Located at the desert edge along the southeastern fringe of the Roman Empire, Berenike was involved in long-distance transport, not only in connection with international trade, but also with food supply because the arid environment was unsuitable for subsistence farming. Departure and arrival of ships and caravans were not without obligations. Both had to be geared to one another and were determined by sailing schedules and the inevitable replenishment of the food supply for the inhabitants of Berenike.