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FOODS AND CULINARY UTENSILS OF THE ANCIENTS
Compiled from standard historical works by
CHARLES MARTYN.
Published by
The Caterer Publishing Co.,
New York
CONTENTS.
Page.
"In the beginning"--The coming of the nations 3
Assyria and the other kingdoms of the "tawny men" 9
Egypt and the Egyptians 13
The "vegetable kingdom" of Ancient Egypt 25
Greece before the age of luxury 30
Rome in the days of her greatest prosperity 39
The ancient Jews 49
The Chinese 60
IN THE BEGINNING.
The influence exerted by different foods over the physical and mental
faculties of mankind is so marked as to verify the famous pun of the
philosophic Feuerbach, "Der Mensch ist was er isst" (Man is what he
eats). The advance of civilization has always been accompanied by an
increased knowledge of culinary matters, until cooking has become a
science and its various forms great in number. So in tracing back the
history of foods, culinary utensils and their uses, we of necessity
trace back the history of the world.
It is of course impossible at this late date to determine what was the
first food of primeval man; ignorant as we are of even the approximate
date of his first appearance and of the manner and means of that
appearance.
But it is worthy of note that if he had not been endowed with an
intelligence superior to that of the other inhabitants of the globe, his
existence here would have been very brief. Nature provided him with a
body which, in those days, was well nigh useless. His prehensile organs,
his teeth, jaws, feet and nails, did not fit him for overcoming any of
the difficulties entailed by the adoption of most foods prepared by
nature. He could not tear his prey conveniently nor crack many nuts, nor
grub roots, nor graze. His digestive viscera were in the middle age too
bulky and heavy for the rapid movements of the carnivora; they were not
long enough to extract nourishment from raw vegetables. The only foods,
therefore, primarily obtainable by him which he could use to advantage
were fruits and soft-shelled nuts.
As man, however, advanced in knowledge, his skill in the art of cooking
rendered any or all objects used for nourishment by other mammalia fit
subjects of diet for himself. This may appear a sweeping assertion, but
the statements of reliable travelers prove its truth. The fact should be
carefully considered by those who advocate a diet exclusively of
vegetables, and by those few enthusiasts who preach that man was not
"intended" to be a cooking animal.
Whatever else may be clouded with doubt, it is certain that man was so
fashioned as to be compelled to eat in order to sustain life! In the
beginning, instinct must have taught him that the consumption of food
was the _sine qua non_ of his existence.
When was the beginning?
The Biblical chronology of events prior to the Deluge is not accepted by
scientists. The students of to-day believe, and seek to prove, that the
earth has existed for several million years, and has passed through many
different stages; that animal life was first evolved from the
"inanimate" state of matter; that man is the most highly finished
creature that has as yet been attained in the ascending scale of
evolution, and that he will, in the natural course of events, make place
for a still more nearly perfect being.
The exact date of the first appearance of man cannot now be ascertained.
Geological research has led to the assertion that he probably existed
thousands of years before the time usually assigned. But if we commence
our history from the last great glacial visitation we find that the
conceded date of its occurrence, about 5,000 years before the birth of
Christ, coincides rather closely with the date of the creation as given
in the book of Genesis. Assuming then that the neolithic, or stone age
followed not only the ice visitation, but the creation (to use a
familiar phrase), the theory of many scientists and the story of the
Bible agree on the one, to us, essential point--the birth of the first
people.
Horace, in his third satire (first book), gives his views of the first
food of the human race. (At that time, six hundred years before the
Christian era, it was held that man was not created in a perfectly
developed form, but was engendered from beings of a different kind.) He
says: "When first these creatures crawled out of the ground, dumb and
foul brutes, they fought for nuts, first with nails and fists, then with
sticks, and later with weapons made of metal." This coincides with the
deduction made in the third paragraph, that nuts have a just claim to
the title of one of the "first foods."
These savages must have suffered from exposure to the occasional
inclemency of the weather. To protect themselves, they, being endowed
with an ever-increasing power of reason, resorted to the skins of wild
animals for covering. Failing to obtain a sufficient number from the
carcasses of those which had died a natural death, they conceived the
idea of destroying life in order to obtain the coveted article. They may
not at first have availed themselves of anything but the outer covering,
leaving the flesh to be eaten by other animals or birds, but the flesh
adhering to the hide would soon become offensive from decomposition, and
what is more probable than that their common sense soon directed them to
remove it directly after being stripped from the slaughtered animal? The
teeth of the primitive man were constantly in use for many purposes; so,
in tearing off the pieces of flesh with them, may the first appetite for
meat as food have been acquired.
It is difficult to determine when food was first subjected to the
influence of heat; it is still more useless to attempt to explain how
the properties of fire were first discovered. It is presumed that the
first fire witnessed by man, was caused by the fall of a meteorite, a
volcanic eruption or a lightning flash. The observation of its peculiar
effects excited the still dormant inventive spirit of the neolithic, and
he essayed the production of it himself. Evidence proves that he first
attained his end by striking pieces of flint against iron pyrites and
letting the sparks fall upon some combustible material, placed
accidentally or intentionally beneath. It is easy to imagine that it was
soon learned that fire would destroy human life and that the pleasing
odor of the burning flesh led to the use of cooked meat as food.
The cradle of the fathers of the human race was undoubtedly the
southern portion of Asia. They were nomadic in their habits and
satisfied their acquired cravings by hunting and fishing. The stone
floors of the caves in which they made their temporary abodes were
admirably suited to the building of their rude fires.
Ultimately these neolithics became owners of flocks and herds, usually
of sheep and goats, and moved about from place to place in search of
fresh pastures. Members of these flocks were slain from time to time as
convenience dictated. When for any reason food was scarce, their other
domestic animals, even their dogs, fell a prey to the insatiable
appetite for blood. The forests abounded with living things, now
generally classified under the title of "game," and these also
contributed materially to the food supply.
No fancy methods of preparing meats or game were then practiced.
Everything was either roasted or cooked by means of hot stones. The
roasting was in all probability accomplished by suspending the whole
carcass of the animal, denuded of the skin, over burning embers,
composed of the limbs of trees broken up into suitable lengths--as
indeed do the gypsies of Europe to the present day. The roasted meat was
at first separated from the body by the hand, later by sharpened sticks
or flint flakes, subsequently by flint knives. There is no evidence of
any metal being used for that purpose before the Deluge.
Though these first people are known to have partaken freely of the flesh
of animals and of the fruits of trees, both of the nut and pulp
varieties, there is nothing that leads one to believe that fish was used
as an article of food until after the Deluge.
Turning again to the Scriptures, many interesting things may be noted.
The first mention made of a flesh offering and of the ownership of
domestic animals is in Genesis, when Abel "gave of the firstlings of his
flocks and of the fat thereof," while Cain brought "of the fruits of the
ground." The earliest mention of cooked animal flesh is found in Genesis
8: 21, when Noah offered up "burnt offerings of every clean beast and
every clean fowl" after the Deluge. In the story of the creation, man is
enjoined to sustain life by vegetable food: "Every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the
fruit of a tree yielding seed" were given to him "for meat." Nothing was
said about the flesh of animals. But, after the Flood, "God blessed Noah
and his sons and said unto them: * * * Every moving thing that liveth
shall be meat for you, even as the green herbs have I given you all
things."
So in many ways scientists and the Bible agree on the habits of the
neolithics. Both state that the primitive food of man consisted of nuts
and fruits; both mention the subsequent possession of flocks and herds,
and both refer to the knowledge obtained later of the effects of fire on
meat--with the one difference that the evolutionists seek to prove that
the meat so roasted was eaten, while the Biblical man prior to the
Deluge offered it untouched to his Maker.
Although it is now generally acknowledged that the Deluge was not
universal, it is undeniable that it marked an all-important epoch, for
from it may be said to date the recorded history of the present race of
men. From the posterity of Noah sprang up the principal nations which
have made the world what it is to-day.
THE COMING OF THE NATIONS.
If we accept the biblical chronology of the events which immediately
followed the Deluge, we find that Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and
Japheth, landed on Mt. Ararat and fixed their habitations in the plains
directly below. A formal division of the earth into three portions was
made by Noah about a hundred years later, when he was still in the prime
of life and when men were beginning to multiply sufficiently to form
colonies and settlements. One portion was assigned to each of his sons
with his posterity.
The three territories may be roughly classed as the northern, or the
region of the "ruddy men;" the central, the region of the "tawny men,"
and the southern, the region of the "blacks."
To the offspring of Japheth was allotted Garbia (the north)--Spain,
France, the countries of the Greeks, Sclavonians, Bulgarians
and Armenians. The offspring of Shem were given the central
region--Palestine, Syria, Assyria, Samaria, Babel or Babylonia, and
Hedjaz (Arabia). The sons of Ham received the southern division--Teman
(or Idumea), Africa, Nigritia, Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Scindia and
India.
Various causes scattered the posterities of the three brothers, and
nations were founded in many parts of the world.
Ultimately six great monarchies were established, Chaldea, Assyria,
Babylonia, Egypt, Media and Persia.
ASSYRIA AND OTHER KINGDOMS OF THE TAWNY MEN.
The territories ruled by Chaldea, Assyria and Babylonia were located
almost entirely on the vast plains of Mesopotamia. Although (or rather
because) these nations were continually at war with one another they may
be considered, for present purposes, as one country.
Babylonia was the first to be settled, with Nimrod, the mighty hunter,
as its monarch, about 2350 B. C.
Although Assyria advanced rather more in civilization than the other
two, the constant warfare waged and the varying degrees of supremacy and
subjection held by the three kingdoms necessarily resulted in much
intermingling of their inhabitants and a consequent similarity of
domestic manners and customs as they emerged from barbarism.
Agriculture soon became the most general industry. Wheat, barley, millet
and sesame were largely raised. Other varieties of pulse and grains were
plentiful also, as well as many excellent fruits, which have since been
transported to our own countries with remarkable success.
The different grains were ground to varying degrees of fineness between
two stones. The flour or meal was then moistened with water, kneaded in
a dish or bowl, and either rolled into thin cakes or pressed by the hand
into small balls or loaves.
The wheaten bread was generally preferred, but the poorer classes were
perforce content with the cakes of coarse millet or durrha flour, eaten
with milk, butter, oil or the fat of animals.
Dates formed an important article of diet amongst the people of Chaldea
and Babylonia, although they do not appear to have been very favorably
regarded by the Assyrians. Date groves flourished in many parts of the
land, and the fruit was dried and pressed into cakes. These with goats'
milk and such vegetables as gourds, melons and cucumbers helped nourish
the great mass of the population.
Other fruits, some of them found in great numbers, were pomegranates,
grapes, citrons, pineapples, oranges, pears, apples and many small
berries.
Bread, wine and a kind of honey were made from the fruit of the palm
tree.
King Sennacherib called Assyria "A land of corn and wine, a land of
bread and vineyards, a land of oil, olives and honey."
Nature seems indeed, to have blessed her first children with an
abundance of the good things of life!
It does not appear that the flesh of domestic animals was eaten to any
great extent, and the inference is that it was beyond the means of most
persons, for when warriors, upon an expedition, were able to obtain it
at the expense of others, they freely indulged their appetites. After
their victories they killed and cut up sheep and oxen, and roasted the
joints over the embers of a wood fire. Sometimes they boiled the joints
or the whole body in a huge pot or caldron, over a dead wood fire--on
which, also, pieces of the flesh were fried.
Amongst the upper classes mutton appears to have been the favorite meat.
Chickens were also considered a great delicacy.
As the races of those days, with the exception probably of a few people
closely confined in the cities, were great hunters, a plentiful supply
of game was usually obtainable--venison, antelopes' flesh, hares,
partridges, etc. The flesh of the wild boar was also eaten, but there is
no evidence to prove that the animal was domesticated with the intention
of using it for food.
According to Herodotus, some of the Babylonian tribes ate nothing but
fish, dried in the sun, pounded in a mortar until the fibres would pass
through a fine cloth, and then kneaded into a sort of bread and baked.
At first a prejudice against this species of food seems to have
existed, but later it was held in much esteem. The supply of both fresh
and salt water fish was practically unlimited.
Locusts were also eaten with great gusto.
The culinary arrangements and operations are not yet very clearly
defined by the chroniclers.
The fireplace, built presumably of well-burned bricks, was open at the
top, about two feet in height, and occasionally covering an area of many
square feet. Whether it was of square or cylindrical shape does not
appear. Over the top was set or suspended a large bronze caldron.
These caldrons were sometimes of great value. They were usually circular
in shape, flat or nearly flat at the bottom, without feet, and furnished
at the rim with ears or rings to receive an arched handle or a hooked
chain. Many belonging to the wealthier classes were embossed with
flowers and otherwise richly ornamented. They were commonly known as
"seething pots." They varied from eighteen inches to five feet in
height, and from two and a half to six feet in diameter.
Roasting was perhaps the most common mode of preparing meat, but it was
also broiled, slices being cut from the divided joints and transfixed
with wooden spits.
For delicate operations, a fire of coal was later on made in a portable
brazier. The oven then used was cylindrical in form, much deeper than
wide, and made of fire-burnt bricks or indurated clay.
In the houses of the wealthy, and the palaces of the monarchs, the
cooks, though usually slaves, were treated with much respect. They were
distinguished by the wearing of a cap (not unlike the tiara of the
reigning sovereign, except that it was devoid of jewels and unsurmounted
by an apex or peak), and they had numerous assistants to relieve them
from all the menial labor.
The cook's knife, closely resembling the modern two-bladed dagger, was
usually made of bronze, often thickly gilded, with a much ornamented
hilt carved from the hard black wood of the Syrian terebinth. Some,
however, were fashioned from bone, partly covered with metal and adorned
with pins and studs of gold. Others had handles of ivory carved to
represent the foreparts of bulls and other animals, and many were
embellished with precious stones. Quite a number were of copper, with
hollow handles.
Among the kitchen utensils was a jug with a long neck, an angular
handle, and a pointed bottom. It was usually suspended from a nail or
hook.
There was also a plentiful and varied supply of vases, large and small,
pitchers for holding water and other liquids, bowls, cups, pans, small
bottles, ladles, jars and funnels--some of pottery and others of bronze,
some of simple form and others elaborately patterned. The funnels were
generally shaped like the wine strainers of to-day.
Skins were often used for holding both wine and water.
The dining tables were supported by props with one or several feet, in
the houses of the rich made often of ivory and carved in the form of a
lion or a hero such as Atlas, and among the poor of stone.
The plates and dishes were of stone, alabaster or bronze. The dishes
were generally made with handles, either fixed or movable, by which they
could be carried or hung on pegs when not in use, and the red unglazed
basins bore inscriptions, in cursive character, running round the
interior in many lines to the bottom.
The cups, especially those used for wine, were very beautiful. The lower
part was often modeled in the form of a lion's head from which the cup
itself rose in a graceful outward curve. Many of them were of gold and
silver.
To Assyria is due the birth of the "culinary art" and its gradual growth
to a state closely bordering on perfection. It will be noted that it was
marked also by the manufacture of utensils and vessels far more costly
and elaborate than any in use at the present time.
EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIANS.
The recorded history of ancient Egypt which was, according to Herodotus,
known as Thebes, commences with the reign of Menes, or Menas, who is
supposed to have been its first king. He ascended the throne about 2320
B. C.
The growth of civilization among the early Egyptians was much more rapid
than among the people of any contemporary nation. Even in the days of
Abraham and Joseph they had attained to as high a degree of social
culture as during the most glorious periods of their career. In art and
science their advancement was especially marked.
In her infancy, Egypt contented herself with the pursuits of
agriculture, the chase, and, as the habits of the people became more
settled, the rearing of cattle.
The domestic oxen were usually of the hump-backed variety. But not only
were the ordinary domestic animals tamed and reared, but also animals
such as gazelles and oryxes.
Sheep, though, do not appear to have been generally eaten; in some parts
it was, indeed, unlawful to devour them.
Goats were kept, presumably for their milk, and kids were occasionally
allowed to browse on the vines in order to impart to their flesh a more
delicate flavor.
Pigs were generally looked upon as unclean, and therefore unfit for
food. The chroniclers show them as used for food at only one festival.
Those represented on the monuments were ugly in the extreme, with long
legs and necks, rough hair, and a crest of bristles running down the
back.
Beef and goose were more generally eaten than any other kind of animal
food. The flesh of the cow was, though, never consumed on account of its
supposedly sacred character.
The animals chiefly hunted were the gazelle, wild goat, auk, wild ox,
stag, wild sheep, hare, porcupine and even the hyena. The wild boar is
not represented on the monuments, but it probably thrived in ancient
Egypt, for the country was admirably suited to its habits, as is proved
by its tenancy there at the present date.
In lower Egypt, people were in the habit of drying and salting birds of
various kinds, such as geese, teal, quail, duck, and some of smaller
size.
Pigeons were also very plentiful and were much liked, and many of the
wading tribe, as for instance the ardea, were so highly esteemed as to
have been considered choice offerings for the gods.
The greatest favorite, however, was the Vulpanser, known to us as the
"Egyptian goose," which, with some others of the same genus, was caught
alive and tamed. They were also taken in a wild state to the poulterers'
shops to be displayed for immediate sale, and when not so disposed of
were then often salted and potted in earthenware jars.
According to Diodorus, the eggs of domestic birds were hatched by the
use of artificial heat furnished by manure.
Of the wild birds, the "sic sac," a small plover, was often mentioned.
The river of Egypt was noted for the excellent quality of its fish
(eaten both fresh and salted or dried), many varieties of which seem to
have been peculiar to it. "The Israelites remembered with regret the
fish which they did eat in Egypt freely."
The kinds most highly regarded were the oxyrhynchus, lepidotus and
lotus.
The oxyrhynchus is now believed to have been the _mormyrus_ or the
"mizdeh" of the Arabs. It has a smooth skin and a long nose, pointed
downwards. In some districts it was held sacred to Athor.
The lepidotus may have been the _salmo dentex_ or the binny (_Cyprinis
lepidotus_). As its name implies, its body was covered with long scales.
Its flesh was excellent.
The lotus, sacred in the region of Latopolis, is supposed by De Pauw to
be the _perca nilotica_.
Other varieties much liked were: The oulti, to modern palates the best
of all; the nefareh or Nile salmon, which occasionally attained the
weight of one hundred pounds; the sagbosa, a kind of herring; a species
of mullet, the shall, shilbeh byad, kilbel bahr, (the Nile dogfish) a
species of carp, eels, and turtles of the soft-shelled variety.
[Illustration: Roasting a goose over a fire of peculiar construction.
(From a tomb at Thebes.)]
Eels were, though, considered unwholesome in summer (Ibid.).
Crocodiles were considered sacred in the neighborhood of Lake Moeris and
of Thebes, but were eaten by the natives of the southern frontier.
The many restrictions imposed by religion and custom on the diet of the
early Egyptians subjected them to much ridicule from the inhabitants of
contemporary nations, especially from the Greeks. Anaxandrides taunted
them in his verses.
The priests lived solely on oxen, geese, wine, bread and a few
vegetables. Mutton, pork and fish were expressly forbidden them. They
were also warned to abstain from beans, peas, lentils, onions, garlic
and leeks. On fast days they ate only bread and drank only water.
The people of the higher classes probably ate only two meals a day, as
was the custom with the early Greeks and Romans. The breakfast was
usually served at 10 or 11 a. m., and the dinner or supper in the
evening.
In the early ages, before men had acquired the art of smelting ore, many
of the culinary utensils of the Egyptians were either of stone or
earthenware.
Knives were made of flint or stone, and were of two kinds, one broad and
flat, the other narrow and pointed.
The skins of the goat and gazelle were fashioned into vessels for the
carrying of water, and pans, dishes and vases for kitchen purposes were
made of a red ware--sometimes of a light or yellow tint, sometimes of a
brilliant and polished appearance.
The Egyptians were acquainted with the use of glass at least as early as
the reign of Sesortasen II. (more than 3800 years ago), and made for it
bottles and other utensils. Some of the former were made from two
thicknesses of glass, enclosing between them bands of gold, alternating
with a set of blue, green or other color.
As the Egyptians advanced in social culture, the wealthier classes gave
more and more attention to the pleasures of the table. Banquets became
more general and increasingly more elaborate. The sums of money spent on
some of these entertainments were fabulous; they have never since been
equalled in their costly, wasteful magnificence.
The preparation of a big dinner was in those days a weighty undertaking,
for there were no big hotels to take the burden off the host's
shoulders. Game had to be procured, professionals engaged, extra
attendants hired, etc.
As all the meat used was freshly slaughtered, the kitchen and the
butcher's department presented an active appearance for many hours
previous to the feast.
In slaughtering, it was customary to take the ox or other animal into a
courtyard near the house, tie its legs together and throw it to the
ground, to be held in that position by one or more persons while the
butcher prepared to cut its throat, as nearly as possible from one ear
to the other, sometimes continuing the opening downwards along the neck,
the blood being received in a vase or basin to be utilized later in
cooking. The head was then taken off and the animal skinned, the
operators beginning with the leg and neck. The first joint removed was
the right foreleg or shoulder, the other parts following in succession
according to convenience. One of their most remarkable joints, still
seen in Egypt (although nowhere else) was cut from the leg and consisted
of the flesh covering the tibia, whose two extremities projected
slightly beyond it, as seen in the illustration.
[Illustration: The Tibia, a peculiar Egyptian joint.]
Servants carried the joints to the kitchen on wooden trays. There they
were washed and prepared for the different processes of cooking. Then
the various cooks were kept busy scouring the utensils, attending to the
boiling, roasting, etc., pounding spice, making macaroni and performing
all the other details of kitchen work.
The head of the animal was usually given away in return for extra
services, such as the holding of the guests' sticks, but it was
occasionally eaten by the people of the higher classes, the assertion of
Herodotus to the contrary notwithstanding.
Geese and other tame and wild fowl were served up entire, and fish also
came to table deprived of only the tails and fins.
Vegetables were cooked in enormous quantities.
Bronze caldrons of various sizes were used for boiling. They were placed
over the fire on metal stands or tripods or supported on stones. Some of
the smaller vessels, used for stewing meats, were heated over pans of
charcoal. They resembled almost exactly the _magoor_ of modern Egypt.
The mortars used for the pounding of spices were made of hard stone and
the pestles of metal.
Most of the bowls, ewers, jugs, buckets, basins, vases and ladles used
in the kitchen were made of bronze alloyed with tin and iron. The usual
proportion of tin was 12 per cent. and iron 1 per cent., although
occasionally the amount of tin was as high as 15 (Ibid.) and as low as 6
per cent.
[Illustration: Slaves boiling meat and stirring fire.]
Simpula, or ladles, were commonly made of bronze (often gilded), with
the curved summit of the handle, which served to suspend the ladle at
the side of the tureen or other vessel, terminating in the likeness of a
goose's head (a favorite Egyptian ornament).
Small strainers or collanders of bronze were also used, though for
kitchen purposes they were made of strong papyrus stalks or rushes.
The spoons were of various forms and made from ivory, wood and divers
metals. In some the handle ended in a hook, by which when required they
were suspended on nails. The handles of others were made to represent
men, women or animals. Many were ornamented with lotus flowers.
Skins were also used for holding wine and water.
The roasting was performed over fire burning in shallow pans. These were
regulated by slaves, who raised them with pokers and blew them with
bellows worked by the feet.
Though the Egyptians, except when impelled by the desire for extravagant
display, partook sparingly of all but one or two meats, they were fond
of a great variety of cakes and dainty confections. The more elaborate
forms of pastry were mixed with fruits and spirits, and shaped to
represent animals, birds and human beings.
The plainer rolls were generally mixed and shaped by hand and sprinkled
with seeds before baking. At other times, though, they were prepared
from a thinner mixture, first well kneaded in a large wooden bowl (the
feet often being used for this purpose), and then carried in vases to
the chief pastry cook, who formed it into a sort of macaroni upon a
metal pan over the fire, stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula,
whilst an assistant stood ready with two pointed sticks to remove it
when sufficiently cooked.
Wine and water were placed in porous jars and fanned until cool. The
water was purified by the use of paste of almonds (as it is, indeed, at
the present day).
In the meantime, the reception room had been arranged for the guests.
Chairs or stools were placed in rows or groups, extra carpets and mats
strewn about, flowers put in and around vases and the house decorated in
every other conceivable manner.
When guests began to arrive, they were first received in the vestibule
by the attendants, who presented them with bouquets, placed garlands of
lotus upon their heads and sometimes collars of lotus around their
necks. To those who had come from a distance, they offered water and
rinsed their feet. They then anointed their heads with sweet-smelling
unguents and offered them wine and other beverages. During these
proceedings the visitors were generally seated on the mats.
[Illustration: A black and white slave waiting upon a lady.]
After having received these attentions, the ladies and gentlemen
intermingled and passed on to the main apartment, where the host and
hostess received them and begged them to take their seats on the chairs
and fauteuils which had been arranged for them. Here more refreshments
were handed around and more flowers offered, while the guests, generally
in couples, but sometimes in groups, conversed with one another. Music
was next commonly introduced, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The
performers in both acts were professionals and the dancing girls nearly
if not quite naked. Sometimes at the same party there would be two
bands, which we may suppose played alternately. Pet animals, such as
dogs, gazelles and monkeys, were also often present (Ibid.).
On some occasions the music, dancing and light refreshments constituted
the whole of the entertainment, but more generally the proceedings
described formed only the prelude to the more important part to follow.
The stone pictures show us round tables loaded with a great variety of
delicacies, such as joints of meat, geese, duck and waterfowl of
different kinds, cakes, pastry, fruits, etc., interspersed amongst the
guests.
These tables could be more accurately described as low stools supporting
round trays. The stool or pillar was often in the shape of a man,
usually a captive, who bore the slab on his head. The whole was made of
stone or some hard wood. It was not often covered with linen, but was
from time to time cleansed with a moist rag or cloth (Homer).
The dishes were probably handed round by the attendants and the guests
helped themselves with their hands, as knives and forks were then
unknown and the spoons that were manufactured do not seem to have been
used for eating. The guests took as much as they could hold in their
hands and, after eating, dipped them in water or wiped them in napkins
which, it will be observed, the waiters carried. Beer and wine were
supplied to quench the thirst.
As individual cups were not usually seen, the women were presented with
the desired beverage in silver vases, and the men with it in hand
goblets, which after being drained were returned to the attendant. Women
and men both imbibed freely and drunkenness was a universal and
fashionable habit of both sexes.
When the country was in the zenith of her power and magnificence, the
drinking goblets were of gold, silver, glass, porcelain, alabaster and
bronze. They varied also in form, some plain in appearance, others
beautifully engraved and studded with precious stones. Heads of animals
often adorned the handles, the eyes frequently composed of various
gems. Many were without handles, while others were so shaped as to more
properly come under the name of beakers and saucers. The beakers were
frequently made of alabaster with a round base, which prevented their
maintaining an upright position without additional support; and when
empty they were turned downwards upon their rims. The saucers, which
were of glazed pottery, were ornamented with lotus and fish carved or
molded on their concave surface.
Many of the vases have never yet been surpassed in daintiness of
ornamentation. The most remarkable were those fashioned from porcelain
which was made of a fine sand or grit, loosely fused and covered with a
thick silicious glaze of a blue, green, white, purple or yellow color.
The blue tints obtained have never been equalled in modern times.
Herodotus tells us that, after the heavier part of a banquet, it was the
custom to have a man carry round a coffin containing a wooden image in
exact imitation of a corpse. Showing this to each of the revelers, the
bearer would say: "Look upon this and then drink and enjoy yourself, for
when dead you will be like unto this." A rather weird observance, which
might be traced back to the death of Osiris.
If the phrases are correctly reported, we must suppose the figure,
brought in after the eating was ended and when the drinking began, was
for the purpose of stimulating the guests to still greater conviviality.
But if that were the case when Herodotus visited Egypt it must have been
originated with a very different intention. The Egyptians were too much
inclined to excesses in eating and drinking, both men and women
(Herodotus and Plutarch), and the priests probably endeavored to thus
check their too riotous mirth without personally interfering. Plutarch
said concerning it:
"The skeleton which the Egyptians appropriately introduce at their
banquets, exhorting the guests to remember that they shall soon be like
him, though he comes as an unwelcome and unseasonable boon companion,
is nevertheless in a certain degree seasonable, if he exhorts them not
to drink too deeply or indulge only in pleasures, but to cultivate
mutual friendship and affection and not to render life, which is short
in duration, long by evil deeds."
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN PARTY. (From a Tomb at Thebes.)
Host and hostess receiving presents. Dancing girls. Slaves waiting on
guests. Placing collars of lotus around their necks. Slaves preparing
bouquets. Scribe. Butchers cutting up ox. Carrying trays of meat. Man
clapping hands and singing. Guitar player. Harpist. Slave carrying head
and haunch. Stick custodian rewarded.]
After the skeleton, there was sung a doleful song in honor of Maneros,
whose identity is clouded by traditional disputes.
Next, music and songs of more mirthful character were resumed. Sometimes
jugglers, male and female, were hired for the occasion. They amused
their audience with ball tossing, turning somersaults, leaping and
wrestling. Occasionally, games, resembling our draughts or checkers,
served to amuse those present (Ibid.), but as a rule the fumes of wine
prevented any such quiet occupation, and the festival in many cases
ended with a most riotous carousal.
The foregoing is probably a true picture of a banquet in ancient
Egypt--except that, according to some writers, the diners were seated on
the floor and ate from very low stools or tables.
Yet, in spite of all, the moral code of the early Egyptians was purer
than that of contemporary nations. And commerce and war carried abroad
the advanced thoughts, great learning and luxurious tastes of these
ancient people, to be the foundations in after years of divers
civilizations, amongst them our own.
THE "VEGETABLE KINGDOM" OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
The vegetable kingdom of ancient Egypt may be roughly divided into four
great classes--trees and shrubs, esculent plants, grains and artificial
grasses.
Of the first named, the most important food providing trees were the
doom and date palms, the sycamore, tamarisk and mokhayp or _myxa_.
The doom palm (_Cucifera Thebaica_) grows abundantly throughout all
upper Egypt. It is a very picturesque tree which, unlike its
date-bearing sister, spreads out into numerous limbs or branches,
reaching an elevation of about thirty feet. Its wood is more solid than
that of the date tree, and was found to be very serviceable for the
building of boats, etc.
The blossoms are of two kinds, male and female. The fruit, which is
developed from the female blossom, grows in large clusters, each fruit
attaining the size of a goose's egg, although the nut within the fibrous
external envelope is not much bigger than a large almond. The flavor of
the nut is peculiarly sweet, resembling our ginger bread. It was eaten
both in a ripe and unripe condition--in the latter it has about the
texture of cartilage; in the former it is harder, and has been compared
to the edible portion of the cocoanut.
The date palm is too well known to need any general description. Two
kinds, however, flourished--the wild and the cultivated. The wild
variety grew from seeds, and often bore an enormous quantity of fruit.
Sir G. Wilkinson is authority for the statement that a single bunch has
been known to contain between 6,000 and 7,000 dates, and as it is a
common thing for a tree to bear from five to twenty-two bunches, the
average total is often from 30,000 to 100,000 dates per tree. The fruit
is, though, small and of poor quality, and consequently it is not often
gathered.
The cultivated variety was grown from off-shoots selected with care,
planted out at regular intervals and abundantly irrigated (Ibid.). It
began to bear in five or six years and continued productive for sixty or
seventy.
Besides the amount of nourishing food furnished and the value of the
wood of the date palm, an exhilarating drink was made from its sap and
brandy or _lowbgeh_, date wine and vinegar from the fruit without much
difficulty.
The fruit of the sycamore (_Ficus sycamorus_) ripens in June. Although
it was much esteemed by the ancients, it has been denounced by moderns
as insipid.
The mokhayt (_Cardia myxa_) grows to the height of about thirty feet,
commencing to branch out at a distance of twelve feet from the ground,
with a diameter at the base of about three feet. Its fruit is of a pale
yellow color, inclosed in two skins. Its texture is viscous and its
taste not very agreeable. It was used extensively as a medicine, and was
also, according to Pliny, made into a fermented liquor ("Ex myxis in
Aegypto et vina fiunt").
Among other fruit trees and shrubs may be mentioned the fig,
pomegranate, vine, olive, peach, pear, plum, apple, carob or locust
(_Ceratonia siliqua_), persea, palma, christi or castor oil plant, nebk
(_Rhamnus Nabeca_), and the prickly pear or _shok_.
The persea (_Balanite Aegyptiaca_) is a bushy tree or shrub which under
favorable circumstances reaches an altitude of eighteen or twenty feet.
Its bark is of whitish color, its branches gracefully curved, its
foliage of an ashy gray hue. Its lower branches are supplied with long
thorns; on its upper branches grows the fruit, which resembles a small
date in general character. Its exterior consists of a pulpy substance
of subacid flavor; its stone is large for the size of the fruit, and
incloses a kernel of yellowish-white color and an oily, rather bitter
flavor. Both the exterior and the kernel were eaten.
The nebk or _sidr_ is another fruit of the date variety. It was eaten
raw, or the flesh, detached from the stone, was dried in the sun. It
enjoyed the reputation of being a sustaining as well as agreeable
article.
The most common fig was that known to the Romans as "cottana," and by
the modern Arabs as "qottaya."
The olives grown were large and fleshy, but contained little oil.
Vines were undoubtedly much cultivated, in spite of the assertion of
Herodotus to the contrary. The bunches of grapes, when intended for
immediate consumption, were, after being gathered, placed in flat open
baskets. When intended for the wine press they were closely packed in
deep baskets or hampers, which were carried to the shed or storehouse on
men's heads or by means of shoulder yokes. The juice was extracted by
treading or squeezing in a bag.
The juice of the grape was sometimes drunk in its fresh condition
(Genesis), but fermentation was usually awaited, and the wine was then
stored away in vases or amphorae of elegant shape, closed with stoppers
and hermetically sealed with moist clay, pitch, gypsum or other similar
substances.
The best brands came from Anthylla (Athenaeus), Marestis (Pliny and
Strabo), and the tract about Lake Marea. Sebennytic, Thebaid and Coptos
also produced light, wholesome wines.
The esculent plants consisted of both wild and cultivated varieties.
Those most in demand were the byblus or papyrus, the Nymphaea lotus,
lotus coerulea and the Nymphaea nelumbo (called by Pliny "colocasia" and
also "cyamon").
The papyrus grew luxuriantly in ancient Egypt, especially in the marshy
districts of the Delta, although it is no longer found in the country.
The pith of the upper and middle portions of the tall, smooth,
triangular-shaped reed was used for paper, but that of the lower portion
and the root were regarded as an edible delicacy. According to
Herodotus, it was prepared for the table by being baked in a closed
vessel.
The Nymphaea lotus, which resembles our white water lily, was also a
product of the lowlands. The seed vessels were collected and dried, to
be afterward crushed and made into cakes. The rest of the plant was also
eaten cooked or raw, and was said to be of a "pleasant sweet taste," but
nineteenth century palates declare it to be no better than a bad
truffle. The lotus coerulea was merely another variety of the same
plant.
The Nymphaea nelumbo, which is, by the way, no longer found in Africa,
was called by the Greeks and Romans the "Egyptian bean," and was
regarded by those races as emblematic of Egypt. It did not differ from
the ordinary lotus except in the large dimensions of the leaves and the
size and loveliness of its blossoms. The leaf of the flower varied from
one to one and a half feet in diameter. It had two rows of petals six
inches in length, of a crimson or rose-colored purple, and inside of
these was a dense fringe of stamens surrounding and protecting the
ovary. The fruit developed into a sweet, wholesome nut or almond,
divided into two lobes by a bitter green leaf or corculum (removed
before eating), with a shell shaped like the rose of a watering pot and
studded with seeds (about the size of small acorns and to the number of
twenty or thirty), which projected from the upper surface in a circle
about three inches in diameter. Both the nuts and roots were eaten by
the poorer classes.
Wheat and barley were grown in all the provinces in the valley of the
Nile, as were also, though to a lesser extent, rice, millet, pulse,
peas, beans, lentils, hommos (_Cicer arietinum_), gilban (_Lathyrus
sativus_), carthamus, lupins, bamia, jigl (_Raphanus sativus_--Linn.,
Herodot., Pliny), simsin, indigo, cassia, senna, colocynth, cummin (the
seeds of which were used for bread), durrha, coriander, cucurbitae,
onions, cucumbers, leeks, etc.
The onions were mild and of an excellent flavor. Nicerates quotes Homer
as authority for the statement that they were much relished when eaten
with wine.
According to Diodorus, children and even some grown persons lived at
that time solely on roots and esculent herbs, eating them both raw and
cooked.
The bread or cake used in the homes of the wealthy was made from wheaten
flour; those one degree lower in the social scale made use of barley
meal, and the poorer classes ate bread of the durrha (Holcus sorghum)
flour.
GREECE BEFORE THE AGE OF LUXURY.
It is impossible within these pages to tabulate with absolute
correctness any hard and fast menu as the diet of the ancient Greeks, as
it varied greatly according to the products of the several parts of the
diversified country over which they ruled, but one can by the process of
elimination arrive at fairly satisfactory generalities.
The principal food of the poorer classes was bread. It was not a very
appetizing kind, however, as it usually consisted of a simple dough of
barley meal moistened with water, or, occasionally, poor wine. It was
eaten without cooking or any further preparation. This was the universal
food of the Spartans.
The middle and wealthy classes partook, though, of baked wheaten bread,
which was called by Homer "the strength of life."
All other kinds of food, with the exception of sweet cakes, cheese and a
few vegetables and fruits, were at first considered (save by the
inhabitants of the cities) as luxuries--somewhat as even now amongst
old-fashioned people in Scotland, the term "kitchen" is applied to all
edible articles other than dry bread.
Of sweet cakes there were many kinds. They were flavored with various
seeds and sweetened with honey. Sugar, though, if known at all, was used
only for its medicinal properties.
Cheese was eaten mixed with wine or honey and salt.
Dried figs and grapes were much liked, especially by the Athenians, and
olives were even then pickled for a relish.
The vegetables that were formerly cultivated are not easily
distinguished by the names applied to them by different writers, but it
is certain that lettuce, cabbage, peas, beans, vetches, leeks, onions,
parsley and thyme were grown, as well as truffles and mushrooms.
Vegetables were eaten in the form of soup, served on hot dishes with
sauce or dressed as salad.
In the numerous towns large quantities of fish were sold. The salt water
were more generally preferred than the fresh water varieties, although
especial favor was bestowed on the eels that were obtained from Lake
Copais in Boeotia. There grew up early in history a heavy trade in fish
from the Black Sea and even from the coasts of Spain.
Although frequent mention is made of fish, cheese and vegetable markets,
a meat market seems to have been almost unknown. From this and also from
the fact that the word which designated butchers' meat also signified
"victim," it may be concluded that oxen were primarily slaughtered only
at sacrificial feasts.
The flesh of the hare was more highly esteemed than that of any other
kind of four-footed game. Of wild birds the thrush was most relished.
Pheasants and woodcock were plentiful, and quails were made to act as
combatants for the edification of the Grecian youth.
Domestic fowls and eggs were common.
Butter was seldom made, as it was considered unwholesome, olive oil (as
at the present time) being used in its place.