The principal products of grain were bread and beer, the staples of the Egyptian diet.
Above & below: The processing of grain into bread and beer was depicted in tomb models, like these Fifth Dynasty servant figures from Giza, now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
From its first Prehistoric agrarian settlements, Egyptian society depended on the cultivation of grains. Barley predominated in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, while wheat gained importance from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards. By Roman times, vast areas of Lower Egypt were devoted to growing cereals, and Egypt was known as the Empire’s granary.
The principal products of grain were bread and beer, the staples of the Egyptian diet. Every stage in the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of cereals is represented in tomb scenes and models intended to provide a perpetual supply of grain in the afterlife.
The Treasures of Sanxingdui