Egyptian Tomb Bread

Flat round loaves of emmer wheat bread cooked on a griddle

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City/Region: Egypt

Time Period: c. 1991-1802 B.C.E.

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Though the Ancient Egyptians didn’t leave us any written recipes, they left many depictions of food and cooking on the walls of tombs. Senet’s Tomb, near Luxor, shows people making flatbread, the transcription of which is below. Egyptians loved bread, and this is just one of the dozens of kinds we know about.

Emmer wheat is harder to work with than regular modern flour, especially if you’re grinding your own, but it has so much more flavor. These flatbreads would be great with some cheese or with another Ancient Egyptian favorite: beer.

“Grind emmer or barley to make flour. Mix the flour with water to form a dough. Knead the dough in large jars or by treading on it. Take a ball of dough and shape it into a round. Bake on coals or a griddle.”

— From the depictions of food preparation on the walls of Senet’s Tomb, c. 1991-1802 B.C.E.

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Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups (350 g) emmer wheat or barley*
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (224 g) fed sourdough starter, optional*
• 1 cup (240 ml) water, more or less as needed

*Grinding your own emmer or barley will be closer to what the Ancient Egyptians had, but you can use emmer or barley flour instead to make things easier. Use about 3 1/2 to 4 cups (350 g).

**Not all Ancient Egyptian bread was leavened. If you want to make yours unleavened, leave out the sourdough starter and instead of the rise, let the dough rest, covered, for 1 hour before shaping.

Instructions:

1. Grind the emmer wheat or barley. I used a hand grinder to produce a very coarse flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coarse flour and salt. Add the sourdough starter if you’re using it and about half of the water. Work it all together, adding more water as needed, until it forms a kneadable dough.
3. Turn the dough out and knead it for about 10 to 15 minutes. There isn’t much gluten in the grains we’re using, so it won’t become a nice, stretchy dough, but the kneading step here is important to help the water incorporate into the flour. Add a bit more water if you need to.
4. Set the dough in a bowl and cover it. Let it rise for about 6 hours. It won’t rise a lot like a modern sourdough bread, but it will get puffy. Every 2 hours, gently deflate the dough a bit.
5. Shape the dough into flat rounds, a little thicker than tortillas. The size is up to you, mine were about 6 inches (15 cm) wide.
6. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Add one of the rounds to the dry pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side. They should be browned and crisp.
7. Serve them forth with some beer for a more authentic Ancient Egyptian meal.

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