Dionysus was only one wine god among many, and similar legends appear in other cultures with remarkable consistency.
An inscription from 2,700 BC names the Sumerian deity Gestin, which means "mother vine-stock". Another Sumerian god was Pa-gestin-dug or "good vine-stock". His wife Nin-kasi was 'the lady of the inebriating fruit".
In Egypt, Osiris was the god of wine though wine itself was sometimes called 'the tears of [the god] Horus" or 'the sweat of Ra" (the sun god).
Christ said: 'I am the true vine". But the Jewish religion made no links, between God and wine, nor did it allow libations - the offering of wine to the gods so common in Babylonian, Greek and other religions. Wine is important to Jewish ritual, but its abuse is frowned upon. Christians suppressed Dionysus, Bacchus, once theirs had become the dominant religion. The abandoned behaviour at Bacchic revels was anathema to the early bishops -especially as it involved women.
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