Carob

The Carob Tree in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Bener//, //Sesnejem//, or //Nedjem// ("Sweet")

The earliest finds of the Carob Tree in ancient Egypt date to the Middle Kingdom. The wood was used to make chairs, tables, chests, shrines, chariots, staffs, mummy labels, and weapons such as bows. The pods and seeds were used whole as an animal feed, ground up as an ingredient in beer, and powered into a vermifuge. Pellets of ground carob were rubbed on the body as a type of deodorant.

The fruit was used as a sweetener, and buried with the dead. The hieroglyphic of a carob tree was used in the ancient Egyptian word for "sweet." A type of chocolate pudding was made from ground carob beans mixed with milk, which then jellied. According to the Harris Papyrus, Ramses III offered 106,000 carob pods to the temples during festivals.

Fruit of Ancient Egypt

Trees of Ancient Egypt