The Babylonian World (Routledge Worlds)

Oils

The staple fat (ˇamnums ) in the Babylonians’ diet was oil from the pressed seeds of the
sesame plant (sˇamasˇsˇammu ̄; Sesamum indicum) (Charpin et al. 2004 : 941 – 43 , 975 ;
Powell 1991 ). Sesame oil also had its elite uses, as in the Yale recipes and a dish of
ostrich eggs for the king’s table at Mari (Bottéro 1995 : 161 ; Sasson 2004 : 187 ). Olive
oil was imported into Mari from the west, although not always as a foodstuff (Stol
2003 : 33 ).

Vinegars

Vinegar (t.a ̄ba ̄ tum) could be fermented from barley or grapes and was a household
staple often grouped together with sauce (sˇiqqum) (CADSˇ/ 3 , 99 – 100 ; AHw, 1376 ).
Vinegar is used in the Yale recipes (Bottéro 1995 : 161 ).

Animal-based foods

Foods derived from animals, whether domesticated or wild, were secondary to plant-
based ones and featured more in the diet of the elite and as offerings to gods or the
dead. Most domesticated animals were not kept with the primary aim of killing and
eating them. High-maintenance cattle were kept primarily for their strength as
draught animals, and sheep, and to a lesser extent goats, for their wool, although
cows and goats were also milked (Charpin et al. 2004 : 949 – 72 ). Fish were naturally
abundant, served primarily as a food and were more widely eaten. Fresh milk and
fresh milk products, as well as fresh meat and offal (whether of mammals, birds, fish
or insects), did not keep well, so fresh products were higher status and preserved
products the norm (Sasson 2004 : 192 – 95 , 206 – 09 ).

Mammals: milk and its products

This section, based on Stol ( 1993 ) and Stol ( 1993 – 97 ), mainly draws on evidence
predating the Old Babylonian period. Fresh milk (sˇizbum) and cream (lisˇdum) did not
keep well and were not part of the normal diet. Milk from cows and goats only was
processed into sour milk. This was churned into buttermilk and butter (possibly
itirtum), which was usually clarified into longer-lasting ghee (h
̆

ime ̄tum). Dried cheese
made from sour milk or buttermilk could be stored and mixed as powder with water
to make reconstituted sour milk. True cheese (eqı ̄dum) was made by curdling milk,
and kisimmum, a solid milk product, may be a true cheese. The Yale recipes include
sˇizbum, itirtum, h
̆

ime ̄tumand kisimmum(Bottéro 1995 : 161 ).

Mammals: meat, offal, fat and blood

Meat came from a wide range of animals (Potts 1997 : 86 – 89 ; Curtis 2001 : 233 – 34 ;
Sasson 2004 : 206 – 10 ). Sheep were the most common domesticated animal but goats,
cattle and, to a lesser extent, pigs were also eaten. Wild animals, although these were
sometimes at least semi-domesticated, included wild boar, hares (arnaba ̄ tum), deer
(na ̄lu ̄), stags (ayalu ̄) and gazelle (s.abı ̄tum). A type of mouse (usˇummum) was a great

— Food and drink in Babylonia —