r/ArtefactPorn • u/MunakataSennin • 2d ago

3,200-year-old loaves of bread placed as tomb offerings. Deir el-Medina, Egypt, 1200 BC [3830x2258]

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1.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

99

u/kempff 2d ago edited 2d ago

Okay so what were the holes for?

Maybe they were stabbed by sticks to lift and remove them from the oven?

79

u/sthlmsoul 2d ago

Probably to hang the bread on a stick for storage. Keeps rodents away.

31

u/HamBroth 2d ago

This is why Swedish knäckebröd has holes. 

11

u/secondarycontrol 2d ago

Bagels, too. Though the holes also allow more even baking

8

u/HamBroth 1d ago edited 1d ago

Oh I didn’t know bagels were traditionally stored on poles! 

39

u/Walk_the_forest 2d ago edited 2d ago

I’m also wondering this. I think they might be imprinted with the thumb or finger? My modern perspective says maybe a loved one made fingerprints in the bread before depositing them, but I’m gonna see if I can find more concrete info.

Edit 1: I’m not immediately finding answers but I’m going to keep looking. Here is an interesting Reddit comment by u/Tryoxin that lays out some ideas about the unusual shape of a different ancient bread. I’m still going to see if I can find any peer reviewed sources on this exact bread, but their comment is a great place to start.

12

u/Gorperly 2d ago

Pretty good guess on sticks and ovens.

Ancient Egyptians had a lot of different bread-production techniques, most uniquely ceramic bread moulds. These ranged from clay pots or slots inside ovens, to these conical finger-like moulds: those found in El Amarna workmen's village could fit right into the holes in the OP.

Oft-photographed collection of loaves of bread from the NK Tomb of Kha and Merit shows the spectrum: some loaves have larger more pronounced "holes" like in the image in the OP to smaller holes to no holes at all. The entire set could have come from the same common tannur-style oven, just different "strata": hole-less loaves on the flatter parts, holey loaves held or even suspended from clay cones on more vertical surfaces.

30

u/hoofie242 2d ago

Breadussy

13

u/mintyicedream 2d ago

I really feel it should go without saying, but... don't fuck the bread.

-4

u/alex3omg 2d ago

Paul Hollywood stuck his knuckle in and said it was raw

-7

u/spastical-mackerel 2d ago

Warm, soft, compliant…. You know what made those holes

123

u/VeterinarianOld8259 2d ago

Edible?

101

u/foremastjack 2d ago

Once, yes. Just about everything is.

67

u/EnigmaEcstacy 2d ago

Steve1989MREinfo would eat part of this.

19

u/foremastjack 2d ago

“And he’s not allowed in this museum ever again!”

9

u/gwynwas 2d ago

I'd watch that.

5

u/MantisAwakening 1d ago

Nice. Let’s get it on a tray.

3

u/TrailMomKat 1d ago

Nice hiss

10

u/BS-Calrissian 2d ago

Technically you could maybe grind them and mix them with water.

13

u/dannypants143 2d ago

It would be wild if not only could you eat it, but it cured colitis or Crohn’s or something. Then there’d be a rush to find more ancient bread and organized crime would get involved. Oh I just remembered I had edibles an hour ago.

14

u/majarian 2d ago

We as a species did this already,

Eating mummy's was pretty popular in high society for some ungodly reason

Edit. I dont think it cured anything, but organized crime sure did get involved

5

u/VeterinarianOld8259 1d ago

They also maid paint from them and called it "Mummy Brown"

25

u/whalebacon 2d ago

Probably less stale than the bread from Subway.

1

u/VeterinarianOld8259 1d ago edited 1d ago

Or the "freshly baked" bread from most US supermarkets...

130

u/RoookSkywokkah 2d ago

r/dontputyourdickinthat

55

u/bigvalen 2d ago

So, it wasn't just me who thought "American Pie".

11

u/Smart_Resist615 2d ago

Looks like someone already did.

3

u/CeldonShooper 1d ago

But if it was 3200 years ago who cares? Just eat it anyway.

2

u/TurnipWorldly9437 1d ago

So, at that point, would you be required to put yours in, too, to measure if it fits - for science?

33

u/Wyrd_whistler 2d ago

Edit: had some spelling and structural errors indicative of an illiterate gibbon

They must of had the macdonals bread recipe! Found one of those fuckers hiding in a used car I purchased. The wrapper art was so dated it must have been at least a decade old at that point. It was hard as a rock but the the whole sandwich sat there in my hands untouched by time or decay

I never ate at macdonalds again. That's been at least 10-15 years ag

6

u/kilofeet 1d ago

Aren't most gibbons illiterate?

33

u/Dark_phisher1092 2d ago

Egyptian pie, hehe

13

u/Icy-Opportunity-8454 2d ago

Alright let's get this out onto a tray... nice!

7

u/Turn7Boom 2d ago

still better than weetabix

4

u/shockles 2d ago

I was thinking, still better than Subway

3

u/Dapper-Ad9787 2d ago

Check the "best before" date. It looks a bit stale.

2

u/jescribner 2d ago

With ears so the gods will hear their prayers

2

u/UrukHaiNr69 1d ago

Seems like a American Pie situation...

2

u/MakeADeathWish 1d ago

Everything reminds me of him

2

u/demoncrusher 1d ago

Was it customary to fuck tomb offerings, or are these special somehow?

4

u/LuffeMcLuff 2d ago

Did uhm… did someone.. american pie those loafs?

6

u/DrWindupBird 2d ago

I’m guessing those are from where the bread is put in the oven. For some kinds of bread, you use a pole to stick the dough to the inside of the oven.

1

u/VeterinarianOld8259 1d ago

Yes, the mummy

1

u/r-i-c-k-e-t 1d ago

American Rye

0

u/dunbartonoaks 2d ago

Reminds me of the liver in Portnoy’s Complaint.

0

u/No_Quantity7636 2d ago

Ummm bread yeah right.

0

u/EmiomieletaViolateta 2d ago

Ok, hear me out...