Among the ancient civilizations, Egyptians enjoyed better foods than most did, thanks to the presence of the Nile River flowing through most of settled Egypt, fertilizing the land with periodic flooding and providing a source of water for irrigating crops and watering livestock. The proximity of Egypt to the Middle East made trade easy, and hence Egypt enjoyed foodstuffs from foreign countries as well, and their cuisine was heavily influenced by outside eating habits.

The diet of the ancient Egyptians depended on their social position and wealth. Tomb paintings, medical treatises, and archaeology reveal a variety of foods. Peasants and slaves would, of course, eat a limited diet, including the staples of bread and beer, complemented by dates, vegetables, and pickled and salted fish, but the wealthy had a much larger range to choose from. For wealthy Egyptians, available food choices were easily as broad as they are for many people in the modern world.

Barley, spelt or emmer wheat provided the basic material for bread, which was leavened by sourdough or yeast. Grains were mashed and fermented for beer, which was not so much a recreational drink as a means of creating safe beverage from river waters that were not always clean. Ancient Egyptians consumed a great deal of beer, mostly brewed from barley.

The annual flooding of plains alongside the Nile and other rivers made the soils quite fertile for growing grain crops, and the rivers themselves were channeled with irrigation ditches to water crops and sustain domestic animals.

In ancient times, the Nile River Valley, especially the upper delta region, was by no means a desert landscape.

Grapes were grown for wine. Grape cultivation was adopted from other parts of the Mediterranean in about 3,000 BCE, with Egyptians modifying practices to their local climate. Shade structures were commonly used, for example, to protect grapes from the intense Egyptian sun.

Ancient Egyptian wines were primarily reds and were probably used mostly for ceremonial purposes for

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