Ancient Egyptian Food and Drink

Food and Drink:

• The two main staples of Egyptian diets are bread and beer
• Grains were grown for grain barley and wheat
• Skewered fish
• Wildfowl
• Beer made of barley loaf with added flavouring such as dates, pomegranates, figs and plums to give body and taste
• Most beer contain 8% of alcoholic, their potency was indicated by the colour the container. E.g. red contained the standard strength whilst black was the most intoxicating. ( the eastern wall scene of Usherhat TT no 51, …tree goddess pours water for drinking, and serves bread, apples and figs for eating)
• The upper class Egyptian drank imported beer from Syria
• Onion, leek or a cucumber was usually added to a workman’s bread with beer for his lunch
• Onion formed the only luxury in a workman’s diet
• Dairy product such as milk, bread, cheese and curds were a part of a herdsman’s diet
• Pig bones found in some work sites suggested that pigs formed the labourers’ diet
• Melons, gourds, radishes, garlic and lettuces were the basic cereal diet

Different foods:

• Meat was considered a luxury for most Egyptians, though most peasants would hardly ever have the chance of tasting beef as it were destined to be on the tables of the rich or for temple sacrifices
• A haunch or beef legs was a favourite offering, which then became the ‘wages’ of the priests
• Working people usually ate mutton or goat
• Pigeons or fish were a source of protein for the ordinary people
• Oil was used not only for cooking but also for lighting, cosmetic ointments and medicine, therefore formed part of a vital necessity in the household
• Salt was another essential for both the rich and poor family alike. Temples employed salt gatherers and also often used as barter.
• Honey was used as sweetener which came from the flower-spangled meadows. Honey was considered expensive and can only be consumed by a small amount
• Many meals consisted of pulses : peas, beans, chick peas abd lentils
• Dom palms bear gingerly tasting nuts
• Sycamore fig and the persea tree ( mimusops schimperi) bears apple flaoured fruits
• The dry tasting Egptian plum (cordial myxa) and the mandrake was sniffed at banquets for narcotic effects
• Dates, pomegranate, plums and figs created as part of wines and liqueurs’ flavour and as fruits on the tables
• The wealthy enjoyed a variety of re and white wine, both sweet and dry
• A lower-grade wine was made of squeezed pulp grapes, pips and stem
• Noblemen enjoyed imported wine from Canaan

Food and Drink

Class difference
Peasants
- The basic peasant diet was vegetarian, though at festival times it might include some meat in the form of spit-roasted duck or pigeon
- Eating pork was thought to be abhorrent to the gods, but, the number of pig bones found at some sites suggest that perhaps for the poorer workers it formed a part of their diet.

Nobles
- At festival times Nobles consumed much more lavish meals than the peasants; points of beef, pelican eggs, pomegranates, date or grape wine, and fancily prepared honey cakes.
- Wine collecting and drinking was a popular pastime. Most wine of quality was imported, as Egyptian wines were presumably excluded, having to be sieved before drinking.
- Honey was expensive, and, judging by the teeth of mummies, it is presumed that it was not consumed in large quantities.

- Salt was found in the homes of rich and poor alike

Cooking
- Families cooked their meals in the open, on stoves and braziers in the courtyards and on their roofs.
- Fuel sources
- timber was scarce, so it is likely that the rich used small branches of tamarisk and acacia, whilst the poor made do with papyrus stalks, palm leaves and dried animal dung.
- food was fried by the women of the household in wok-like clay pans and stews were cooked in straight sided pots
- most vessels were of unglazed clay, but the wealthy had copper and bronze wares
- the poor used flint knives for chopping and scrapping, while the wealthier families had metal knives.
- popular meals consisted of skewered fish and wild fowl
- when animals were slaughtered nothing was wasted
- bones were boiled to make stews and stocks
- fat was rendered down for future cooking use

Sources found at:
http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/timelines/topics/food.htm

When Seti I (c.1318 - 1304 BCE) sent a thousand troops to the Silsileh quarry he
.... increased that which was furnished to the army in ointment, ox-flesh, fish and plentiful vegetables without limit. Every man among them had 20 deben of bread daily, 2 bundles of vegetables, a roast of flesh and two linen garments monthly.....
Silsileh quarry stela
J.H. Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt part III § 207

Even after the increase without limit, less than two kilos of bread for hard-working quarrymen might seem less than lavish. The menu of the king's messenger was not quite as basic:
.... That which he had: good bread, ox-flesh, wine, sweet oil, (olive) oil, fat, honey, figs, [....], fish and vegetables every day.
Silsileh quarry stela
J.H. Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt part III § 208

They eat loaves of bread of coarse grain which they call cyllestis. They make their beverage from barley, for they have no vines in their country.They eat fish raw, sun-dried or preserved in salt brine.
Herodotus, Histories 2,77

Food played an important role in religious duties; as sacrifices in the major temples and for personal piety.

The gods, and the deceased aspiring to an eternal life of divinity, were offered white bread, some on a daily basis, others only on special holidays
His beloved wife, who shares (his) estate, the Sole Royal Ornament, Priestess of Hathor, Demyosnai, good of speech; who makes the offering of white bread, who pleases in all that one wishes...
Stela of the Butler Merer of Edfu
M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. I, p.87

These food offerings were thought to be essential for the continued survival of the dead person's ka, but might be withheld from a sinner:
Do not scheme against people,
God punishes accordingly:
If a man says: "I shall live by it,"
He will lack bread for his mouth.
The Instruction of Ptahhotep
M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. I, p.64

Commoners bartering fishes, making grains and wines from pulped grapes.

Triangular bread loaf
(Source: University of Memphis)