2465 b.c.e.) workers’ village at Giza, and documents show that
soldiers, priests, and artisans were oft en paid with quantities
of fi sh. During the Roman period, dried catfi sh were exported
from Egypt to many parts of the Mediterranean.
Although their early development of agriculture en-
abled the Egyptians to cultivate most vegetables, they nev-
ertheless continued to gather important wild plants. For
example, wall scenes show men carrying large bundles of
papyrus back from the marshes. Th is aquatic plant had mul-
tiple uses, particularly in the production of paper, but the
rhizomes were also eaten. Th e rhizomes of white and blue lo-
tus plants were also consumed, and their petals, which have
narcotic qualities, were used in medicines. Th e sweet fruits
of the wild sycamore fi g, the thornbush, and the doum palm
were so relished by the Egyptians that they were frequently
included among tomb off erings left for the dead to enjoy in
the hereaft er.
THE MIDDLE EAST
BY LYN GREEN
Th e Fertile Crescent of the Middle East is usually regarded as
one of the areas where humans fi rst domesticated plants and
animals. However, the earliest cultures of the region relied on
hunting, fi shing, and gathering for their subsistence. Th ese
activities continued to be important sources for foodstuff s
to supplement people’s diets and for trade. Although many
types of plants and trees would eventually be cultivated in
some way or another, wild plant gathering continued to be
the usual way to obtain various herbs for medicine and cook-
ing and for certain types of food.
Nuts and seeds or kernels were a signifi cant part of the
subsistence diet throughout ancient Near Eastern history.
Acorns could provide both animal fodder and food for the
poorest classes of people. Almonds, pine nuts, pistachios,
and kernels from the fruit of the terebinth tree were widely
eaten throughout Mesopotamia and Persia. Greek authors
such as Strabo and Plutarch, of approximately the fi rst cen-
tury c.e., mention pistachios and terebinth kernels as par-
ticular foods of the Persians. Although some varieties of
trees eventually were cultivated in orchards or gardens, in
areas where these trees grew plentifully on their own it was
oft en much easier just to gather the nuts, fruits, and kernels
in the forests. Some varieties of mushrooms also did not
lend themselves easily to cultivation and continued to be
gathered in the woods. Truffl es were considered a delicacy
by the Babylonians.
Even aft er the rise of agriculture, fi shing was part of food
production throughout the ancient Near East. Archaeological
fi nds and texts recording trade or rations for workers show
that both saltwater and freshwater fi sh were a part of the diet.
It is also clear that many varieties of freshwater fi sh were raised
in ponds for easy access. Saltwater fi sh, of course, would still
have been caught by fi sherman in boats. Once caught, fi sh of
all types might be dried, salted, or otherwise preserved for
trade. Th e bones of a saltwater fi sh called a tunny have been
excavated in the ruins of the inland Sumerian city of Ur in
southern Iraq, showing that preserved fi sh might have been
traded over long distances.
Th ere is some evidence that in Israel during the Iron
Age fi sh were both salted and pickled. Fishing was done with
hooks of bone or metal much like modern ones. Nets were
also used: Individual fi shermen cast nets with stone or lead
sinkers, and groups of fi sherman used dragnets to catch fi sh
in rivers or in the sea. Th ese nets were originally made of
plant fi bers, but eventually linen and cotton became more
common. Clams and other mollusks were gathered and eaten
by most of the cultures of the ancient Near East. However,
seafood was oft en considered food for the poor. Th e well-off
preferred to show their wealth by eating red meat, especially
from large animals that were either were expensive to raise or
dangerous to hunt.
Although the domestication of animals such as sheep,
goats, and cows proceeded at the same time as the develop-
ment and spread of agriculture, there was always a place for
hunting in food production. However, as hunting is a time-
consuming and unreliable method of meat production com-
pared with the slaughter of domesticated animals, hunting
tended to provide meat for two widely disparate classes of
people. At one end of the social scale, hunting would still have
been important in the lives of those fringe groups who lived
outside the urban centers.
A group of early cuneiform tablets called the Yale Cu-
linary Tablets (housed at Yale University in Connecticut),
dating to about 1700 b.c.e., includes a number of recipes for
various types of meat, including stag. Th e recipes on the YaleImpressions of cylinder seals on clay, depicting hunting scenes; found
in the treasury of the palace at Persepolis. (Courtesy of the Oriental
Institute of the University of Chicago)hunting, fishing, and gathering: The Middle East 575