Oldest known solid cheese (tomb of Ptahmes)
Queso sólido más antiguo conocido (tumba de Ptahmes)
- Date
- c. 1250 BCE (analizado en 2018) · confidence high
- Place
- Tomb of Ptahmes, Saqqara, Giza, Egypt
- Credited to
- New Kingdom Egyptians (Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A solid residue found in a jar from the tomb of the mayor of Memphis turned out, after its peptides were analysed in 2018, to be cheese made from cow's milk and sheep's or goat's milk. It is the oldest solid cheese identified and also supplied ancient evidence of Brucella melitensis.
The tomb was discovered in 1885 and lost; it was rediscovered in 2010. The analysis was published by Greco and colleagues in 2018. The date corresponds roughly to the reign of Ramesses II (13th century BC).
What it led to
- cheese as part of the Egyptian diet and funerary offerings
- evidence of brucellosis in ancient Egypt
- peptide analysis as a technique for identifying archaeological foods