One of the things that the ancient Greeks and Romans were particularly inspired and interested in was the Egyptian diet.
In this video, we are getting an idea of what do the Ancient Pharaohs were eating and how they were maintaining their shape. For the modern historians, the knowledge that the citizens of Giza had of agricultural techniques and their ability to raise different animals is the key to explain how did they manage to maintain large, dense cities and to be such an influential civilization. So, let’s take a detailed look at the most consumed elements in ancient Egypt’s cuisine.
The most reliable source for the elements on the table back in the time of Ramses are the images and depictions on the walls of the pyramids. There we find some of the widely popular ingredients of our modern cuisine such as honey, bread and wine. Besides their alimentary characteristics, these are the products that played also a major role in the religious and political life in Ancient Egypt.
Two products deserve a special attention in the cuisine coming from the Nile: the beer and the onion. The drink was consumed by all different age groups and there are also sources showing that the workers that made the pyramids in Giza were paid in beer. As for the onion: it has a special place both in the religious, funerary, and home rituals for the Egyptians. It was considered sacred because of its concentric circles symbolizing eternal life. Present in a lot of paintings inside the pyramids, it is found on the eye sockets of the pharaoh Ramses IV as a symbol of his eternal life.
As experienced marines, the boats in Egypt brought a variety of spices, all having cultural or medical significance. Coriander represented romantic love, cumin - prescribed for digestion aid and a sign for faithfulness, cinnamon - aid in the preservation and used in the embalming process.
If we look at the meats, they were considered as a luxury and only the rich people had access to different domestic animals like sheep, goats, cows, and oryx antelopes. Fish and poultry were essential part of the Egyptian diet. And while the chicken arrived late and was quite unpopular, there are sources keeping recipes of stimulating the production of animal fat in the duck and goose came to our times in the form of the famous foie gras. Let’s take a look for the last time on the beautiful walls in the pyramids and reveal that they had a lot of dances, acrobatics and lots of food. One thing is certain: these people knew how to enjoy life!
