Food, Drink, and Festivals of Ancient Egypt Essay Example
Food, Drink, and Festivals
Ancient Egyptians did different things than what we do today, thanks to the fact that they lived in a desert. They didn’t have the wide open fields full of cows that were born with the sole purpose in life to die and be eaten later. They threw festivals and feasts for the gods of their religion, and made elaborate statues to their Gods.
The many different foods they ate included bread, fruits, vegetables, and sometimes meat. They used barley for their bread. Nothing special, it came out stale and hard, but it was edible. For fruits and vegetables nearly every Egyptian had a garden adjacent to their house, where they grew vegetables and fruit. They grew things in it all year round. Onions, radishes, cabbages, cucumbers, and leeks are just some examples. They donated lettuce to the god Min by dipping it in oil and salt, then consuming the leaves whole. Many of these vegetables were believed to be an aphrodisiac by Egyptians. Their fruits mainly included dates, a small sweet tree fruit that the ate like a candy. Apple, olives, and pomegranate trees were not brought into Egypt until the reign of the Hyksos., and Mulberry trees in the New Kingdom. Meat, while a daily occurrence on the tables of the rich, was only eaten during festivals by the poor and middle class. Apart from small game hunted along the Nile, people kept various types of domestic animals, such as geese, cattle, and antelopes. Very rarely were animals raised purely for food. When cooked, each meat was made differently. Whatever couldn’t be eaten quickly had to be dried and preserved, and what could was made into stews, roasted, or smoked.
To drink they had only three things. Beer, wine, and water. Beer was the most common of the three by far. It was the most popular drink of men and women, young and old, rich and poor. It was an important part of workers wages, along with bread, oil, and vegetables. The standard rations was two jugs of beer and three loaves of
Ancient Egyptians did different things than what we do today, thanks to the fact that they lived in a desert. They didn’t have the wide open fields full of cows that were born with the sole purpose in life to die and be eaten later. They threw festivals and feasts for the gods of their religion, and made elaborate statues to their Gods.
The many different foods they ate included bread, fruits, vegetables, and sometimes meat. They used barley for their bread. Nothing special, it came out stale and hard, but it was edible. For fruits and vegetables nearly every Egyptian had a garden adjacent to their house, where they grew vegetables and fruit. They grew things in it all year round. Onions, radishes, cabbages, cucumbers, and leeks are just some examples. They donated lettuce to the god Min by dipping it in oil and salt, then consuming the leaves whole. Many of these vegetables were believed to be an aphrodisiac by Egyptians. Their fruits mainly included dates, a small sweet tree fruit that the ate like a candy. Apple, olives, and pomegranate trees were not brought into Egypt until the reign of the Hyksos., and Mulberry trees in the New Kingdom. Meat, while a daily occurrence on the tables of the rich, was only eaten during festivals by the poor and middle class. Apart from small game hunted along the Nile, people kept various types of domestic animals, such as geese, cattle, and antelopes. Very rarely were animals raised purely for food. When cooked, each meat was made differently. Whatever couldn’t be eaten quickly had to be dried and preserved, and what could was made into stews, roasted, or smoked.
To drink they had only three things. Beer, wine, and water. Beer was the most common of the three by far. It was the most popular drink of men and women, young and old, rich and poor. It was an important part of workers wages, along with bread, oil, and vegetables. The standard rations was two jugs of beer and three loaves of