What Ancient Egyptians Ate for Breakfast
Ancient Egypt was an industrious civilization, with extensive trade networks, a highly productive agricultural economy, and ambitious construction projects that ranged from ship building to monumental architecture. It existed for more than 3,000 years, expanding from a scattering of hunter-gatherer settlements to become one of the greatest empires in the world, famed for its hieroglyphic writing, advanced mummification, and, of course, the pyramids.
In order to fuel such industry, one thing was highly important: a solid breakfast. Luckily for the Egyptians, the fertile Nile River Valley provided abundant crops, helping transform Egypt into one of the most powerful agrarian civilizations of the ancient world. Annual flooding of the Nile created fields so fertile that in a good season, Egypt produced enough food to feed every person in the country with ease and still have a surplus.
So, there was little excuse for a laborer to skip breakfast, or for a pharaoh’s first meal of the day to be anything short of satisfactory. Here’s a look at what ancient Egyptians consumed in the morning before a long day in the Land of Ra.
Bread
Bread was a fundamental staple of the ancient Egyptian diet. According to William Rubel in Bread: A Global History, more bread-related artifacts have been found from ancient Egypt than from any other period. The Egyptians made their bread from emmer wheat, one of the first crops domesticated in the region. Emmer is a hulled wheat, making it more difficult to turn into flour than other varieties. It was ground on flat stones called querns and then baked in ovens.
Despite the popularity of bread in ancient Egypt, archaeologists have discovered one notable drawback. During the bread-making process, airborne sand often got into the mix, resulting in widespread dental problems caused by the abrasive nature of sand and grit in this common breakfast food.
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Beer
Bread for breakfast seems totally normal to our modern sensibilities — but beer for breakfast? Not so much. In ancient Egypt, though, beer was a primary source of nutrition, consumed daily by the working classes. (The upper class typically favored wine.) Unlike modern brews, the beer of ancient Egypt was often opaque, thick, and more like a soup or gruel.
Made from barley or emmer wheat, the beer was typically quite low in alcohol content, around 3% to 4% — but still enough to start the day with a spring in one’s step. (Beer prepared for religious festivals and celebrations was normally of better quality and had a higher alcohol content.) The beverage was also sometimes issued as payment, and laborers — including those who built the pyramids of Giza — were provided with a daily ration of about 10 pints.
Green Onions
What goes well with bread and beer for breakfast? Green onions, of course. In ancient Egypt, a simple breakfast of bread, beer, and green onions was fairly typical, providing enough energy for a laborer to get through much of the day. Green onions, also called scallions, were among the most common vegetables in ancient Egypt, and were valued for more than just their flavor and nutritional value. The Egyptians believed that onions warded off evil spirits, protected against the evil eye, and also cured most ailments, making them a fine way to start the day.
Garlic
As they did with green onions, the ancient Egyptians regarded garlic as having culinary, medicinal, and protective qualities. Garlic formed part of the daily diet of many Egyptians, and was considered a key food for maintaining and increasing strength. Because of this, it was given to workers involved in heavy labor, including those who built the pyramids. It’s uncertain whether the Egyptian elites consumed garlic with such frequency, but historians do know that it was used in rituals. Well-preserved garlic cloves were also discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Dates
Egypt is the world’s top producer of dates today, yielding around 1.7 million tons annually. And dates were just as popular back in ancient times. They could be eaten fresh or dried for preservation, and the fruit’s high sugar content made it an ideal sweetener. Dates were sometimes baked into bread, and may occasionally have been added as a flavoring agent in beer — providing some necessary sweetness to counteract the green onions and garlic. When dates weren’t available, figs could serve a similar role in any ancient Egyptian breakfast.
Honey
While most ancient Egyptians used dates and figs as sweeteners, those who could afford it used honey. Ancient beekeepers collected honey by making cylindrical hives out of mud and clay, which they kept on rafts to allow for seasonal movement along the river. Wealthier Egyptians could afford this superior sweetener, which they would eat for breakfast with their bread, or use to sweeten beer and cakes. Honey nut cakes, made with tiger nuts (a type of tuber), were particularly popular among the aristocracy.
The ancient Egyptians also valued honey for its medicinal qualities, using it to treat wounds and soothe coughs. And, when mixed with garlic and the âfai plant, honey was considered highly effective at keeping ghosts at bay, making it the perfect breakfast ingredient for anyone looking for a little extra protection for the day.
