What kind of food did pharaohs eat

Fish, poultry and meat were boiled or roasted and they used a number of seasonings for flavor, including salt, cumin, pepper, fennel, dill, sesame and coriander. Some of their favorites seemed to be radishes, onions, garlic, turnips, beans, leeks, lentils, and lettuce. A variety of vegetables were grown and eaten by the ancient Egyptians including onions, leeks, garlic, beans, lettuce, lentils, cabbages, radishes and turnips.

Based on the pictures, it seems that the wealthy people might eat two to three meals per day including a morning meal, a bigger lunch and later in the evening, a dinner meal. Wild vegetables abounded, like celery, papyrus stalks and onions. Although no recipes from the times remain, we have a fair idea of how the Egyptians prepared their food thanks to dioramas and other objects left in tombs. Laborers ate two meals a day: a morning meal of bread, beer and often onions, and a more hearty dinner with boiled vegetables, meat and more bread and beer.

Nobles ate well, with vegetables, meat and grains at every meal, plus wine and dairy products like butter and cheese. Priests and royalty ate even better. Tombs detail meals of honey-roasted wild gazelle, spit-roasted ducks, pomegranates and a berry-like fruit called jujubes with honey cakes for dessert. Servant women would circulate with jugs of wine, while dancers would be accompanied by musicians playing harps, lutes, drums, tambourines and clappers.

The main grain cultivated in Egypt was emmer — known today as farro — which would be first grounded in flour. It was an arduous task usually carried out by women. To speed up the process, sand would be added into the grinding mill. This is evident in the teeth of mummies. The flour would then be mixed with water and yeast.

The dough would then be placed in a clay mould and cooked in a stone oven. Wall painting depicting a couple harvesting papyrus Credit: The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians loved garlic which — along with green scallions — were the most common vegetables and also had medicinal purposes. Wild vegetables were aplenty, from onions, leeks, lettuces, celery eaten raw or to flavour stews , cucumbers, radishes and turnips to gourds, melons and papyrus stalks.

Pulses and legumes such as peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas served as vital sources of protein. Food was served in pottery bowls , but no utensils were used for eating. Hunting scenes often depicted on temple walls and tombs reinforce the prowess of kings and nobles. Rabbits, deer, gazelles, bulls, oryx, antelopes, hippopotamuses, elephants and lions were among the wild animals hunted for their meat and skins. Assisted by his wife, Tutankhamun hunts birds in the marshes along the Nile.

In accordance with artistic convention, the end of the bow string and the butt of the arrow are concealed behind his head. His left arm is protected by an archer's leather brace, and he sits on a folding stool, accompanied by his tame lion. The vulture hovering above the king's head indicates that this is a ritual hunting scene, and the birds symbolize enemies in the land of the gods. F ishing allowed the working class to add variety to its diet.

The poor substituted fish for meat, which they could not afford. The Nile, the marshes of the delta and the Mediterranean Sea offered them a rich variety of species.