ABSTRACT
Past and the Technology of Present Aly F. El Sheikhaa,b
Around 7000 BC humans (probably the Egyptians) somehow learned to grind grains in water and heat the mix on hot stoves to make unleavened bread. Later (around 3500 BC) the ancient Egyptians made the bread. They made bread and beer from the two major cereals cultivated in Dynastic Egypt, emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) and six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare subsp. Hexastichum) (Bouthyette 2008). Bread was made from fl our ground on grinding stones and mixed with water that was then kneaded and left to rise. The dough could be shaped in a fl at loaf or baked in ceramic molds. Potsherds from bread molds are often found in the remains of ancient settlements. Figure 1, as the fi rst photo, shows kitchen workers baking bread on a fairly large scale. The man with the large staff, while two of them standing behind him are doing two steps in the process of grinding grain. Other two bakers are work kneading the dough, and the crouching fi gure is reaching towards a beehive-shaped oven.1
