On the Menu in Ancient Egypt: Poultry
From geese and ducks to pigeons, quail, ostriches, and eventually, chickens
Man Carring Ducks Man Carring Ducks (ca. 1550–1295 B.C.)The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pictorial and archaeological evidence from ancient Egypt shows a wide range of fowl being prepared and eaten including ducks, geese, pigeons, and quail.
Wild birds and waterfowl were also eaten. They were caught either using clapnets or throwsticks. There is also evidence of the consumption of ostrich, and there may even have been ostrich farms! Chickens were a later arrival.
Eggshells from fowl and ostriches are a common occurrence on archaeological sites, where they were often reworked into beads (especially ostrich shells, which are thicker).
Scenes of force-feeding of fowl have led scholars to suggest that the ancient Egyptians prepared foie gras, but evidence is inconclusive: modern villagers force-feed fowl with no knowledge of foie gras.
North Side of the West Wall of Nakht's Offering Chapel (ca. 1400–1352 B.C.) by Norman de Garis Davies|Lancelot Crane|Francis Sydney UnwinThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Many tomb scenes elucidate the different methods of preparation for different birds. The four men you can see here on the right have caught a variety of birds in their nets.
Afterwards, the seated man in the centre is seen plucking a bird, while the one facing him is slicing others along their back, which indicates the removal of their internal organs. They were later hung before cooking.
In this scene, we see a man on the right plucking a goose, while the man in front of him is roasting one. His right hand holds the spit with the goose and his left fans the flame. Several geese can be seen hanging above them.
This very unusual scene shows four birds in a cage. One duck is trying to escape as the fowlers are trying to shove more birds into the cage.
Ducks, like other birds and animals, were a very common offering in tombs. They were usually placed in boxes and were sometimes wrapped in linen as well. Very often these boxes would have labels on them identifying their contents, but sometimes the labels do not correspond to the object inside. Perhaps a hasty worker once made an error, never thinking that archaeologists in a few thousand years would uncover it.
Nesting BirdsOriginal Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Eggs of both ducks and geese would have been common fare. How they would have been prepared is not documented. Whether they were used in other foods, such as baked goods, is also unknown. Beads and other goods made of ostrich eggshells were extremely common in ancient Egypt, and it is fair to assume that the eggs were also eaten in great amounts.
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