Researchers in the Nile Delta city of Tell el-Farkha have discovered specialized ceramic sieves stained with malachite and barley resin. These tools were used to filter sacred "green beer" for the "Festival of the Rising Star Sopdet," which celebrated the heliacal rising of Sirius and the imminent arrival of the Nile inundation.
The distinct green hue, achieved through the addition of malachite-filtered water, symbolized the rebirth of life and vegetation. This discovery pushes the organized celebration of this celestial event back into the Early Dynastic Period, showing that the festival’s complex culinary and chemical requirements were established at the very dawn of Egyptian civilization.