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Ancient Egyptian Harvest

© Lucy Charlotte Acland Johnson

The three major Ancient Egyptian crops were wheat, barley and flax. Sometime during March, farmers would receive a visit from the taxman, who would estimate how large a yield the farm would make, and would then take away a portion of it as taxes. Farmers would then harvest and store the remainder in silos and granaries on their farms.

The wheat the Egyptians harvested was made into bread and cakes-about forty different types in all. The wheat was ground into flour with two stones by the women, and as this was normally an outdoor occupation bits of grit and stone would often get into the flour, which wore down peoples teeth when it got into the bread. The bread was made from flour and water, but did not contain any yeast so the bread did not rise but was flat like the bread Christians eat at communion today. The bread was often flavoured with honey, eggs fruit or herbs in order to make it taste nicer (in one of my earlier articles you can find a recipe if you would like to try making some typical Ancient Egyptian bread).

Normal people drank beer everyday, as it was thirst quenching and relatively cheap. It was made from barley, and contained about eight percent alcohol. The barley was moistened with water, and then left to stand. Then the damp barley grains were mixed up with undercooked loaves of barley, in a large jar. Onto this more water was then poured and the concoction was left to ferment. The resulting drink was very thick, and had to be sieved before it was drunk.

Richer Egyptians would also drink wine: Like today, both red and white wine was drunk, and it came in both sweet and dry varieties. The best grapes were grown in the fertile Nile delta. The wine was made first by pressing the grapes by foot-this produced the best wine. After this the grapes were put into cloths attached to poles and squeezed to produce a lower quality juice.

The Ancient Egyptians used their flax for linseed oil and for linen. The linen was worn by the Egyptians and was also essential in the mummification process (see previous article on mummification).

Like today, the Egyptians supplemented their diet with vegetables and fruit, which they grew in the fertile Nile delta: Onions, leeks, melons and pomegranates were all grown. Seasonings such as garlic and coriander were used, although olives appear to have been little liked among the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt.

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