AN EGYPTIAN CARPENTER

Many of the products and tools used by ancient Egyptian carpenters have survived, including a variety of things made from the different timbers that grew either in the Nile delta or in the Nile valley. For making roof beams a carpenter could use either the date palm or dom palm. Pegs and dowels for coffins or furniture could be made from acacia. Walking sticks were cut from tamarisk trees. One of the best local woods was the sycamore fig, coffins, cosmetic chests, tables and statues were made from this. In the upper class of the Egyptian society imported timber was the most commonly used kind of wood. From the slopes of Lebanon and Syria came cedar, cypress, and juniper. From Africa the wood ebony was very highly priced for making furniture, harps, game boards and statues. Because of the quality of their work Egyptian carpenters were valued workers.

FOOD AND DRINK

The rich mud deposited by the frequent Nile flood let farmers grow barley and emmer wheat which was the main part of the Egyptian diet. The crops that were stored in granaries were later turned onto bread or beer. Some of the vegetables that they grew were garlic, onions, leeks, lettuce, lentils, and beans. There were also dates, gourds, cucumber, melons and figs but they had no citrus fruits. Egyptian bakers made delicious cakes of many shapes and sizes, they were sweetened by dates and honey. Grapes that grew in the Nile delta or oases of the western desert were plucked to make wine or to be dried and make raisins. The poorer people would have less poultry and meat and they would eat more fish.

This piece of bread which is more than four thousand years old was made from barley dough. Studies of mummies have shown how coarse bread made the people's teeth wear away.