Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities announced on Saturday that it had discovered “the world’s oldest brewery” in the ancient city of Abydos, which is located in the south of the country.

The ministry added that it discovered eight huge units – each about 20m by 2.5m – and it included two rows of around 40 pots, which was used to heat the mix of grains and water to make the beer.

While the brewery was initially discovered by British archaeologists in the early 20th century, its location was later lost due to disregard, the ministry said in a statement.

Head of the US-Egyptian mission, Dr. Matthew Adams, which was responsible for rediscovering the brewery, said that the ancient brewery made about 22,400 litres of beer at a time, and dates back to the time of King Narmer, in the First Dynastic Period (3150 BC-2613 BC), and is believed to be the first ruler of a unified Egypt.

“The factory was producing about 22,400 liters of beer at a time, which could have been used to supply the royal rituals that were taking place,” Matthew Adams was quoted saying in the ministry statement.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced last Friday that an Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission in western Alexandria succeeded in discovering 16 burials that were popular in the Greek and Roman eras.

The mission discovered several mummies in rock-cut tombs (burial shafts) at the Taposiris Magna temple, which indicates of characteristics of mummification in the Greek and Roman eras 2,000 years ago.

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