Wine As A Medicine.

During Bible Times wine was prescribed and used as a  potent medicine.

There are a number of examples of this in the Bible. One is at Luke 10: 30-34 where the Good Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds of a a traveler after he had been attacked and left for dead by robbers.  Another is at 1 Timothy 5:23 where Paul told Timothy, "Do not drink water any longer, but use a little wine for your sake of your stomach and your frequent cases of sickness."

This was regarded as wise medical treatment at the time.  According to the book  Ancient Wine which describes win as a "analgesic, disinfectant, and general remedy all rolled into one."
Because of this it  played a major role in Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Syrian health care.

Two other publications support this.  The Oxford Companion to Wine  says that wine is actually man's "oldest documented medicine"  and  The Origins and Ancient History of Wine says:
"It has been shown experimentally that living typhoid and other dangerous microbes rapidly die when mixed with wine."

And modern research supports these claims showing. Researchers have found  that there are more than 500 compounds contained in wine and that some of these  can protect persons from such diseases as typhoid  as well a provide a number of other medicinal benefits.