Wineskin

In addition to amphorae and barrels, containers used from antiquity to the late Middle Ages for storing and transporting wine. They were made from goat, cow or pig bellows (stripped animal skin with hair or fur). The picture on the left shows a Silen (figure from Greek mythology, similar to a satyr) with a wineskin around 340 to 320 BC (under his right forearm).

Jesus' well-known saying in the Gospel of Matthew (9.16 to 9.17) "of new wine in old wineskins" refers to leather containers of this type. In ancient Rome, these were known as culleus. In some southern countries, such containers are still used for simple or rustic wines. In Spain, larger-volume wineskins are known as cuero and the handy drinking bags as bota de vino. The picture on the right shows a modern-day wineskin made from goatskin, modelled on a historical one.

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Wineskin

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