Garlic

Garlic in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Htn, Tn hdw//, or //Khidjana//

One of the most common vegetables in ancient Egypt, garlic was highly valued. It was eaten and used in cooking, and used medically as well. The smell of garlic was thought to repel snakes, scorpions, and the agents of disease, and raw garlic was used to treat bruises, dog bites, and snakebite. According to Pliny, garlic and onions were invoked by the Egyptians when taking an oath, "in the number of their deities." Celibate priests were forbidden to eat garlic because of its supposed aphrodisiac effect. Ancient garlic was smaller than the modern cultivated species, had as many as 45 cloves to each bulb, and was probably milder in flavor.

Ramses III ordered garlic to be distributed in large quantities in the temples. Clay models of garlic or actual garlic was placed in tombs as an offering to the dead - one such offering was recovered from King Tutankhamen's tomb. One of the first recorded labor strikes involved garlic. The tomb builders of the Valley of the Kings marched en mass to the temples when hard times saw a reduction in their rations, of which garlic was an essential part.

The Israelites, who had become accustomed to the Egyptian diet of bread, fish, and vegetables, complained when they were wandering in the desert: "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic." (Numbers 11)

The Vegetables of Ancient Egypt

Seasonings and Spices