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Ancient Egyptian methods of baking and brewing are investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy of desiccated bread loaves and beer remains. The results suggest that current conceptions about ancient Egyptian bread and beer making should be modified. Bread was made not only with flour from raw grain, but sometimes also with malt and with yeast. Brewing blended cooked and uncooked malt with water; the mixture was strained free of husk before inoculation with yeast.
Food is fundamental for all human societies, not only for nutrition and health but also in economic, social, and ritual life. Information about prepared food is therefore critical for an understanding of ancient cultures, but examination of past food is extremely difficult. Food is normally consumed, and leftovers usually decay. Ancient food preparation is seldom studied, and modern descriptions of ancient cooking are sketchy. Typical examples of this problem are ancient Egyptian baking and brewing. Bread and beer were dietary staples throughout ancient Egyptian history (1). Microscopy evidence reported here, of desiccated loaves and beer residues, illustrates the complexity of ancient Egyptian cereal food processing.
Traditional descriptions of ancient Egyptian bread and beer rely on artistic depictions and written sources. Egyptologists have proposed various beer ingredients, such as dates and lupins, on the basis of documentary evidence (2). Translations differ, however (3). Documents contain little data on bread ingredients. The artistic record has been used almost exclusively to interpret baking and brewing methods. Standard descriptions suggest unsophisticated preparation: bread is said to have been made of coarsely milled wheat, well kneaded into dough but often full of chaff and grit (4, 5), and barley is considered to have been the preferred brewing cereal. It has been thought that well-leavened, lightly baked bread was crumbled, strained through sieves into vats with water, and fermented by yeast from the bread (6-8). Notable discrepancies in these interpretations persist, however, because the artistic evidence is not clear (9).
Remains of ancient Egyptian prepared food have been widely recovered from tombs and settlements dating throughout the Pharaonic period (approximately 3100 to 332 B.C.). Like other organic material, they are extremely well preserved in Egypt's arid climate. Analysis of these remains provides direct evidence for ingredients, and how they were prepared for consumption.
As early as...