(ORDO NEWS) — During excavations in an Egyptian necropolis, archaeologists found cheese that is 2,600 years old. It was kept in a clay vessel.
There was an inscription in the ancient Egyptian language on the pots. Ancient people used such dishes to store various products. The find was sent to the laboratory for research. This is what Enrico Greco and his team do.
Excavations were conducted in the Saqqara necropolis, which is not far from Cairo. Archaeological work has been carried out in this place for a long time, it was here that a huge number of sarcophagi were found. Researchers began actively working here in 2018. Every season brings new discoveries.
Saqqara is known for many historical monuments. The Step Pyramid of Djoser is located here.
Pots with products and demotic inscriptions appear intact. Some of them have been sealed and will be revealed soon. The cheese stored in them could be either Egyptian or Byzantine.
Researchers have found a lot of ancient cheese. It was made in 664-525 BC. At that time, 26 dynasty of pharaohs ruled. Scientists also have yet to decipher the inscription on the pots. Perhaps this is exactly the recipe for “haloumi”.
Scientists took a sample of cheese, dissolved it in a special liquid and analyzed the peptides that were found. It was also found that the cheese was infected with the bacteria that causes brucellosis (a potentially fatal disease). At that time, people did not know anything about pasteurization of products.
It is the oldest cheese ever found by archaeologists. It was found in the tomb of Ptames. He was the head of Memphis. Once this tomb was already found, but then it was lost in the sands due to a strong storm. It was reopened in 2010.
It would be interesting to restore the product according to one of its first recipes, as, for example, it was done earlier with perfumes.
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