The cuisine of Ancient Egypt , changing over the course of three thousand years, has kept many features unchanged up to the Hellenistic period . The main everyday products for Egyptians of any class remained bread and beer , complemented by green onions and other vegetables. A smaller share in the diet was occupied by fish, game and other meat [1] .
Content
Food
The basis of the diet in ancient Egypt was bread from barley, spelled or wheat. There were many varieties of breads and rolls that differed in flour, shape, degree of baking and additives in the dough, for which honey, milk, fruit, eggs, fat, butter, etc. were used. Nowadays, up to fifteen words are known that were used in the era of the Ancient kingdoms for the designation of different types of bakery products [2] .
Dairy products were known - cream, butter, cottage cheese. The Egyptians used honey or carob as sweeteners for drinks and foods.
Meat and fish
During the Late Kingdom , according to Herodotus , the Egyptians ate fish dried in the sun or salted. Of the birds, quail , ducks and small birds were eaten in salt form. Bird and fish, in addition to the revered sacred, ate also fried or boiled. [3]
The preserved images and texts generally confirm this information for the times of the New Kingdom [2] .
In the tombs of the New Kingdom, images of slaughterhouses and herds of animals intended for slaughter are common, most often images of bulls are found. By this time, such a source of meat as game (gazelles, antelopes), hunting for which gave a significant share of meat during the time of the Ancient Kingdom, was losing its significance. There is no reliable evidence that the Egyptians consumed goat meat or lamb, although these animals were bred even in Upper Egypt [2] . Pigs, although they were bred, were forbidden to eat, since the pig was considered the animal of the god Set . Although crocodile and hippopotamus were considered sacred animals, in some regions they were still eaten, for example, according to Herodotus, in Elephantine [3]
Fruits and Vegetables
The diet of the ancient Egyptians included peas, beans and chickpeas , cucumbers, and lettuce was grown in large quantities. Onions and leeks stood out from other "products of the year", garlic was also valued. Melons and watermelons were common. In summer, grapes, figs, dates and sycamore fruits were added to the diet. Grown in Egyptian gardens , at least since the time of the Hyksos, pomegranate , olive trees and apple trees yielded rich crops. Coconuts were known, but rare and available to a few. The fruits of mimosa , balanites of the Egyptian and some other still unidentified trees were also used.
The poor chewed the core of the stems of papyrus and rhizomes of some other aquatic plants, as well as lotus seeds [2] . Geographer Strabo explained the large numbers of Egyptians by the fact that due to the low cost of food products, children are very easy to feed.
Drinks
Highly valued milk, which was stored in clay vessels with a “cork” from a bunch of grass.
The main alcoholic drink of the Egyptians was beer. It was consumed not only in homes and catering, but also in the field.
Egyptian beer was made from barley or from wheat and dates. Brewers used forms similar to large bread baking dishes, baskets and a set of clay jugs and basins. To begin with, they baked bread from a special dough, which was called "wadget" - "fresh". The bread intended for making beer in the middle was supposed to remain raw. Then the unbaked bread was crumbled into a large basin and poured with sweet date juice, mixed and filtered. When the mixture began to ferment, it was poured into jugs and sealed with plaster. They drank beer from mugs with a capacity of one to two liters, from stone, earthenware or metal bowls. The bitter beer that the Nubians made in much the same way did not last long. Traditionally, the dead pharaoh was promised bread that does not become brown, and beer that does not turn sour.
The Egyptians drank and wine. A large number of broken wine jugs were found in the temple of Pharaoh Ramses II , with ink hieratic inscriptions that indicated the origin of the wine and its additional characteristics, for example: “good eighth-time wine”, “third-time wine”, “ sweet wine ” [4] . Almost all the vineyards of that time were in the eastern part of the Nile Delta (Herodotus wrote about the absence of a vine in Egypt, so he believed that the Egyptians make wine from barley [3] ).
Ancient Egyptian Feast
At the time of the Late Kingdom , according to Herodotus , at the feasts of the wealthy Egyptians, after a treat, one person surrounded a wooden image of a deceased lying in a tomb. The image was a painted figure the size of one or two elbows with the features of a deceased. Each figure was shown this figure with the words: “Look at him, drink and enjoy life. After death, you will be so! ”
See also
- Gardens in Ancient Egypt
- Agriculture of Ancient Egypt
Notes
- ↑ Sharon LaBorde. Following the Sun: A Practical Guide to Egyptian Religion, Revised Edition . - Lulu Press, Inc, 2017 .-- S. 198. - 272 p. - ISBN 9781365877223 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Monte P. Egypt Ramses.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Herodotus. Story
- ↑ “Third” and “eighth time” may have indicated the wines of the third and eighth spills; frequent transfusions should help keep the wine longer.
- ↑ Egyptian life and death: the tomb-chapel of Nebamun (Room 61 ) . British Museum. Date of treatment March 6, 2011. Archived on April 27, 2012.
Literature
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