The world's oldest cheese has been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, but after 3200 years of entombment, it probably looked way worse off than this moldy modern sample. (pxhere)
Posted on 08/16/2018 10:09:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Last month, archaeologists cracked open a tomb excavated in Alexandria, Egypt, revealing three skeletons bathing in an crimson pool of sludgy sewage. In response, tens of thousands around the world immediately petitioned for the right to sip from the freshly uncorked casket of amontillado. (Spoiler: It hasn't worked out.) But fear not, coffin connoisseurs: There's a new artisanal artifact in town -- the world's oldest solid cheese, over 3,000 years in the making.
The tomb of Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt during the 13th century BC, contains quite the trove of treasures. First uncovered in 1885, the site was then lost to time for over a century. But between 2013 and 2014, Cairo University archaeologists rooting around the grave stumbled across a few broken jars with puzzling contents. One had remnants of a solid, whitish mass, as well as a canvas fabric the researchers speculate may have covered the jar when it was whole -- perhaps to preserve its contents...
The lump still contained a few recognizable bits of proteins, including casein from both cow milk and either sheep or goat milk. Since the cloth covering wouldn't have kept a liquid from spilling out, the researchers reasoned that they were probably dealing with a solid dairy product, rather than, say, an old bottle of very spoiled milk...
It turns out this antique cheese had a blood- (and milk-) curdling secret: a possible infestation of Brucella melitensis, a species of bacteria that causes the infectious disease brucellosis, which comes with a whole set of kicky symptoms including fever, sweating and muscle pain. Unsurprisingly, eating or drinking unpasteurized or raw dairy products is one of the most common ways to contract Brucella.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
The world's oldest cheese has been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, but after 3200 years of entombment, it probably looked way worse off than this moldy modern sample. (pxhere)
Thousands petition to let people DRINK liquid found inside 2,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus(tr)
Daily Mail| 7/22/18 | JESSICA GREEN
Posted on 07/23/2018 3:18:23 PM PDT by BBell
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3673232/posts
Who moved my cheese? —Tutankhamun
When I first glanced the title, I thought I read “Hillary’s thighs”.
Thank God for small favors
Brucella... Mmmm Mmmm good.
Any relation to Bruce Jenner?
It's the same question, fromage to age.
Toe cheese?
Only Velveeta could last that long. The Cheese-That-Could-Never-Die.
The Egyptians were making wine in Spain?
"As I recall it was such a wonderful cheese".
any hieroglyphics indicating who cut the cheese?
...and not just making Amontillado, they were making it in CASKETS.
Yeah, I missed that until I posted. I guess they were going for long term aging.
Fromunda fromage?
Puny attempt at humor?
egyptian tomb cheese?
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