3200 years old cheese found in Egypt

A group of scientists from the University of Catania, Italy and the Cairo University, Egypt have discovered 3200 years old cheese from the tomb of Ptahmes. Ptahmes was a mayor of Memphis, the ancient capital city of Lower Egypt and a high ranking official during the reign of the Pharaohs Seti I (1290 – 1279 BC) and Ramses II (1279 – 1213 BC) of 19th dynasty. Some treasure hunters discovered this tomb in 1885 and the archaeologists rediscovered it in 2010. 

(A picture of cheese from Wikipedia)

The cheese samples are discovered along with broken jars during the excavation done by the Cairo University during 2013 – 2014. A solidified white cheesy substance covered in canvas was found in a broken jar. The scientists used microscopy, X-Ray Diffractometer, Mass spectrometry and other proteomic analysis techniques to find the materials in the cheese. They specifically looked for the proteins and peptides in the cheese. 

From the proteomic analysis, they have found the proteins like caseins, lysozyme and serum albumin in the cheese. The peptide analysis shows that the peptides in the cheese were from sheep, goat, cow and buffalo. It indicates that the cheese was made with the mixture of milks from cow and goat or sheep. They didnotfind any proteins or peptides from lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens. The lactic acid bacteria are commonly used in food fermentations. 

Interestingly, they have found a peptide belongs to Brucella melitensisbacteria. B. melitensiscause brucellosis in cattle, sheep, goats and humans. It is mostly present in unpasteurized milk and poorly cooked meats. The scientists also found the presence of sodium carbonate in the soil, which makes the environment alkaline. It is interesting that the cheese was stable for thousands of years in the highly alkaline environment. 

Related to this interesting news, last month another group of scientists have discovered that bread was made 14,400 years ago in Jordan. It was 4,000 years before the humans started to do agriculture.