The ancient Egyptian diet was built on bread and beer, the gifts of the grain fields along the Nile. Tomb paintings, food left in tombs and the remains of bakeries tell us what people ate, from simple farmers’ meals to royal banquets.
Bread and beer
Bread was made from emmer wheat and barley, often baked in clay moulds. Beer was thick, nourishing and only mildly alcoholic, and workers were partly paid in it. The pyramid builders’ town at Giza had large bakeries and breweries.
Vegetables, fruit and fish
Onions, garlic, leeks, lettuce, lentils, chickpeas and beans were everyday foods. Fruits included figs, dates, pomegranates and grapes. Honey was the main sweetener. Fish from the Nile and the marshes was common, and was often dried or salted.
Meat and banquets
Beef was expensive and mostly eaten at feasts and festivals, or offered to the gods. Ducks, geese and pigeons were more common. At banquets, the wealthy drank wine from the Delta and the oases, served by servants while musicians played.
Food in Egypt today
Some dishes have ancient roots. Ful medames, slow-cooked fava beans, and the flat breads of the countryside are close to what ancient Egyptians ate. Try them on your trip with our Egypt tour packages. Read more about daily life in ancient Egypt.
