What Did Ancient Egyptians Eat?

... and tubers of sedge, fruits and seeds of wild trees and shrubs. They hunted wild animals such as gazelles, barbary sheep, oryx and hare. They could also capture and eat wild birds such as the Egyptian goose, migrating ducks and other water birds. Ostrich eggshells are a common find on sites so the eggs were probably consumed. Fireplaces indicate grilling animal meat, but how did the inhabitants eat the plants? 

Scientists looked at the diet of the Tuareg living in the Sahara as their culture and habits have barely changed over thousands of years. Their simple diet consists primarily of wild grass grains (millets) and dairy. They even often use Neolithic grinding tools they find in the desert rather than carrying grindstones from camp to camp, much like many other cultures around the world.

The grains are pounded and eaten raw, mixed with milk into a sweet thick drink, cooked into a porridge or made into flat bread eaten with a sauce from vegetables and pieces of meat for which they occasionally slaughter a cow, sheep or goat.

Can we suppose this is what prehistoric Egyptians ate? 

Old Kingdom 4700- 4200 bp was the time of pyramids building: these tombs and associated settlement sites offer a plethora of sources for food items, processing and related rituals on tomb scenes, temple walls, tomb offerings and papyri.

But even before the first stone pyramid (Djoser) was built, early dynastic burials included vast quantity of foodstuffs including some well preserved funerary meals such as that discovered in a second dynasty tomb (Tomb 3477) at Saqqara and gives insight into a typical festival meal of the upper class in early dynastic Egypt:

- A triangular loaf of bread-made from emmer wheat;
- A form of porridge-made from ground barley;
- Cooked fish-cleaned and dressed with the head removed;
- Pigeon stew;
- Cooked quail (cleaned and dressed with the head tucked under one wing);
- Two cooked kidneys;
- Ribs and legs of beef;
- Possibly ribs of beef;
- Stewed fruit probably fig;
- Fresh christ’s thorn berries;
- Small circular cakes;
- Small jars containing some form of cheese;
- Grape wine in a large jar.

Settlement sites along the Nile yielded plant and animal remains which helped clarify how and what foods were available. By the third dynasty, ancient Egyptians were herding animals and selecting the most suitable species: cattle, pig, sheep and goat. 

They had Aviaries for domesticated geese and ducks, but netting and trapping wild migratory birds such as quails, doves and even cranes and sparrows was still very important. Hunting wild animals now shifted to capturing and attempts at keeping and fattening fauna from the semi desert surrounding the Nile valley.

The earliest solid scientific evidence for making cheese obtained by mixing sheep/goat and cow milk comes from the analysis of residue found in the tomb of Ptahmose at Saqqara dating to 19th dynasty.

The New kingdom also provides the only recipe which could be interpreted from ancient Egypt in TT100 (tiger nut cake recipe).

The rich cuisine of the middle and new kingdoms thus included 
- Baked goods: bread of different forms, sizes and types, cakes made out of fig or sycomore fig paste mixed with flour of wheat or barley. 
- Beef, goat, sheep and pig meat, boiled, grilled or roasted. 
- Fish, which was usually cooked or salted. 
- Geese, ducks, pigeons and quails, grilled or stuffed. 
- Honey and fat. 
- Drinks, barley beer and wine according to status. 

Fruits included date palm, dom palm, argun palm, pomegranates, water melon, sycamore figs, figs, balanos, Christ’s thorn, carob, and black grapes. Vegetables included cucumber, onions, safflower, carrot and beetroot. Grains and seeds often found inside amphorae containing Emmer wheat, red and white barley, almond, olive, chickpea, sesame, coriander, cumin, black cumin, celery and dill.

Maybe it was finally time to make some hummus and pickle green olives...