Bread, Fragment, Ancient Egypt
Production date
1550 BCE-1069 BCE
Country
Egypt
See full details
Object detail
Description
Fragments of bread from Ancient Egypt. Irregularly shaped fragments, moderately thick. Mid brown in colour. Coarse texture, with holes and inclusions left from insects. No impressions. Contains barley grains and chaff. Possibly once circular to oval shaped, has since broken due to age.
Classification
ARCHAEOLOGY Egyptian
Production date
1550 BCE-1069 BCE
Production place
Measurements
Irregular bread fragments - max length 40 mm.
Media/Materials description
Barley grains
Wheat chaff (Eikhorn and Emmer)
Wheat chaff (Eikhorn and Emmer)
History and use
Bread was a key staple in the Ancient Egyptian diet, and was consumed by wealthy and poor- from labourers to Pharoahs. Meals were considered incomplete unless bread was also consumed. Bread was made mostly from wheat grains. Bread was flat and circular, similar in shape to a pita bread. They could also be rectangular or triangular in shape. Analysis of these bread fragments identified wheat grains and also contained a seed of the weed species Bromus. The holes in the bread were likely made by insects, who also enjoyed eating this bread!
Associated person
Registration number
E40069.7
Share
