Bread Bound with Papyrus Strips (-1550/-1295)RAWI Publishing
For thousands of years, bread has been the most important food in Egypt. Even the vernacular name for bread in modern Egypt, eish, means ‘life’.
Wall depictions and inscriptions on tombs and temples provide us with ample evidence of bread production in ancient Egypt. Textual evidence further elucidates the prominence of bread at the time, listing dozens of types of breads and cakes. Unfortunately, their particularities, such as ingredients, shapes, and textures, are not indicated.
Actual remains of bread loaves from tombs have been a key resource for us to understand bread making in ancient Egypt. In some cases, we can see scorch marks that help us understand how the bread was baked. Various scientific analysis methods have also helped guide experts in understanding how bread was made.
Ripe barley Ripe barley (ca. 1353–1336 B.C.)The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Emmer wheat was the primary cereal used for bread, but occasionally, barley was also used. The low gluten content of both flours precluded any significant rise of the dough and yielded thick, dense loaves.
Archaeological bread loaves, whether whole or fragmented, often also contain unground cereal grains, which could have been either inadvertently included or deliberately added. Sometimes, other elements are also present: Spices such as coriander; dried fruit such as figs or dates; cracked grains for a whole-wheat type loaf; or even colouring agents.
Bakers and Brewers from Meketre's Model Bakery and BreweryThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cereal grain was ground using a grinding stone and a saddle quern (seen here at the left). Because the stones got worn down while grinding, little inclusions of stone, plus the desert sand blowing everywhere, ended up in the flour. Although the flour was sieved to remove the larger impurities, smaller ones still found their way into the bread. These inclusions were responsible for wear to the teeth and other dental problems.
The dough was baked in a variety of manners that changed over time, as documented on tomb walls. Firm dough that could be shaped by hand or dough of a more liquid consistency poured into clay bread moulds are both depicted on tomb walls.
The bread was either baked over hot ashes by placing the dough on a stone or griddle over an open flame, or in ovens, on an inside shelf (or stone slab) or by slapping thin, flat discs of dough onto the inner walls (only known in the New Kingdom, ca. 1550–1070 BCE).
Here, two women grind the crushed grain into flour. A man can be seen shaping the dough (note how his hands are covered in flour!), while another man tends a black oven with a poker.
Scene from the Tomb of Ramesses III (-1184/-1153)Original Source: The New York Public Library
This scene of a bakery from the palace of King Ramses III shows the diversity of baked goods created by the ancient Egyptians. It also shows the different steps of making baked goods, including kneading and shaping.
The man at the bottom right corner is seen carrying a tray of bread loaves, a scene still common on Cairo’s streets.
Some of these depicted items may have also been pastries, although we cannot be certain. Check out the two men at the bottom left corner. Do you think they are frying a sweet roll? Above them, a little cow-shaped loaf appears; keep it in mind as you move to the next slide.
Fun Shapes
Sometimes we are lucky enough to find physical evidence of the things we see depicted on tomb walls. The tied animal in this picture is remarkably similar to the cow we saw in the previous tomb scene! Bread loaves were recovered from tombs where they were presented as offerings to the deceased, but several have also been excavated from settlements. Hundreds of these have survived and complement the artistic depictions illustrating what the loaves would have looked like in real life.
Bread came in a variety of shapes, including discs, oblong mounds, cones, triangles, and animal and human shapes. These loaves have also allowed us a closer look into how the bread was made, often revealing additives such as coriander and other flavourings, as well as dried fruits like dates or figs. Pre-cooked coarsely cracked grains have been observed in archaeological loaves. This would have given them a chewy texture, similar to a modern-day multi-grain loaf.
For more on the methods of bread baking, check out this story on an experimental bakery.
