New study reveals ancient Egyptians were mostly vegetarian

All carbon atoms are taken in by plants from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by the process of photosynthesis. 

By eating plants, and the animals that had eaten plants, the carbon ends up in our bodies.

Analysing this carbon can actually reveal what a person has eaten.

The results revealed that the ancient Egyptians were mainly vegetarian and their diet was primarily wheat- and barley-based. 

Cereals, such as millet and sorghum, formed a minor part of their diet (less than 10 per cent).

One of the most unusual discoveries was that there seems to have been little fish in their diet. 

Most people would probably expect the ancient Egyptians living along the Nile to have eaten a lot of fish, and archaeological excavations have found mummified fish in large quantities. However, at least in the 45 individuals studied, fish was not prominent in their diets.

"There is abundant evidence for fishing in Egyptian wall reliefs and models (both spear and net fishing), and fish shows up in offering lists.  

There is also a lot of archeological evidence for fish consumption from sites such as Gaza and Amama," said Kate Spence, an archaeologist and specialist in ancient Egypt at the University of Cambridge in England. 

"All this makes it a bit surprising that the isotopes should suggest that fish was not widely consumed."

In ancient cultures vegetarianism was much more common, except in nomadic populations, and eating meat was a development that occurred more recently.


http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/new-study-reveals-ancient-egyptians-were-mostly-vegetarian-001638