The land of Canaan, the origin of modern Israel, is one of the oldest wine-growing regions. The "Promised Land" was settled by the Israelites under Abraham around 2000 to 1900 and under Moses around 1300 to 1200 BC. However, the two events were not exactly the same area, for the boundaries were fluid and constantly changing. Canaan stretched from Sidon (today Sayda in Lebanon) to Gaza and included the coastal strip and hinterland on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea with present-day Israel and parts of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The present name Palestine (not to be confused with the much smaller Palestinian autonomous area in the West Bank) only came into being in the 2nd century AD under Roman rule. At the time of Moses, Phoenicia (Syria, Lebanon), the Hittite Kingdom (Armenia) and Assyria (Iraq) lay to the north to northeast, and Egypt (Upper Kingdom) to the south. In these countries, viticulture occupied an important position and the landscape of Mesopotamia is considered one of the cradles of wine culture.
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Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)