Ancient Egypt: Food of the Gods is a killer

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Food of the Gods is a killer

University of Manchester News, 26 Feb 2010

 

The splendid banquets offered to ancient Egyptian gods may have been

delicious and bountiful but they were also a killer, blocking the

arteries of the high priests who made the offerings in the temples then

took them home to their families. For the first time a team of

scientists at The University of Manchester have combined a new

translation of hieroglyphic inscriptions on Egyptian temple walls that

give details of the food offered daily to the gods with computed

tomography of the mummified remains of priests to assess their

atherosclerosis. They have found that the priests would offer the gods

sumptuous meals of beef, wild fowl, bread, fruit, vegetables, cake, wine

and beer at the temple three times a day, then take them back home to

their families. They also found their mummified remains showed high

levels of atheromatous plaques and vascular calcification; that is,

blocked arteries.

 

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=5499