'rrtd OOI !e€'#eql eql }o led ot lf,n$ sr l€rreleur enprser Jo dLunl y'(59

-Z6UAV, eureuv te a8el 1 ra s, uau1;o11 oW urort pet?^erxe'en prser JeequerrdlS3 luepue plo-.real-O0t't e uroJj JJeql learof, Jo tuou8eJ] V'Z 'E!l

'eur€ruvle e8e;p,r s,uar"u1.ro41eqt uroJ, p,raqs rod ue4dl33 luarcueue ro e)EFns JorJetur aql ot 3uqpns anplseJ lo lsnJl ulqt lerrdlr y'1 '3;1

ur parpld puE IEarar pa{oor puE punor8.(lasreor Jo serlrlupnb a8relqlll!\ pallrJ saurrlauos a.raM s.re( Pue sl.nog 's1assa,t Surploq-raaq

JO Seseq puP saprs roualur aql uo slsnrf PauroJ seq relletu Prlosaql lnq'paleroderra arurs Suol a eq sluauoduor allelo^ pue prnbrleql 'eteurrlr

PrrE aql .(q pa,r.rasa.rd llaslr raaq Jo sururuar rq] uro{sauor SurMarq uerldL8g luarluE lnoqu eruepr^e lreJrp lsour arlJ

'PrureS rq Plno)

slq8rsur .lvreu Jaqleqa aes ol ef,ueprle IelrSoloa?rlf,J? eql ol uJn]o] papDep I 'ssarord eql

Jo suoil?lo;dralur rraql ur rnruol .,(lerE.rsrEloq)s (tuauaerS?

Ierlu.radns alrdsep tnq'pelf,rdep ueuo sr Sur/!\erg'aJrlrsue eql uI anurluor lq8ru suorlednfro esaql ]?ql JePJo ur'seru,l,r]f,e JprlrurpJ Surlrrdap sl3pour Jo s8urlurud'sJelleJ q1r-4\ sqruolrraql PaleroraP suerld.(3a luarlue ar{J '1.r?

Jo a8?lqruassP qlrr ? uo

Peseq uaeq s?q 3ur&aJq luar)u? lnoqu alqel?AE .ry\ou uorlPurroJuraq1 Jo lsolu pu? ()rdol aq] parpnts paapur a eq gsr3o1o1dl8g

'pale8rlsa^ur aq ol paau Surr*arq pup raaq'dlanos uer1d,(39

luer)ue ur alor ro(eru e qrns padeld raaq arurs 'pcr8eur Jo Iear Jar{lra

ireeq popnllur suorsr,rord dreraun; :o spo8 aql ol sBuuaJO 'arrllerd

Ianues ua/rlao

Ienlrr pue Jerleq snor8qar ur elor lertuel u pa,(e1d raeq 'arourar{l;nC'tru?)rJqnl

lerJos e su lf,u ol padlaq raaq'sarur] luafar ur se 1sn('la,l\'spJof,el uallrJM ruoJC 'sururual p:rEoloauqrre pue sproJJJ

Tualllrllr :1sed s.punlueru lnoqe erueprla ;o sad.( onl ere JrJr{ LL

13uu,r,uqlSolouqrelorq Jo solduexa lsorlreo

aq] Jo auo !}r,n sleep allrlre +srg 3ql'qurJp pu€ pool

lerrSolorqorlrur eLuos/,,-. ,^^A -, ,. ,

JO sus'rio] ̂ltdut)no eql Jo enssr srqlusflg r{vrJd^cg JNsrf,rrv co ,[DoTolrvHf,uv EHJ- ocv suvg^ 000'E IDo-roNHf,EJ NorrvJNEr^NEc

FpnvpxrArroN TpcHxolocy 3,000 Ypens Aco -Tup Ancnerolocy oF ANCTENT Ecyprnx Bppn

Delwen Samuel

Fig. 3. A closer view of the residue shown in Fig. l.The large starchgranules are covered in pitting, indicating that they were attacked byenzymes, and therefore come from sprouted grain.

Fig.4. Starch granules heavily attacked by enzymes show concentric rings.The central granule has a fused outer layer, indicating that it had also beenexposed to heat in the presence ofwater. From a residue excavated fromthe Workment village at Amarna (TAVR92-42).

tombs. These seem to be from intermediate stages in brewing,or the by-products of preparing strong beer. In villages andtowns, people discarded pots once they were damaged or broken,and these sometimes have thin coatings of beer still adhering( F i g . 1 ) .

Beer residues often have fragments of grain and chaff embeddedin them (Fig. 2). The cereal used for brewing can then be identifiedby looking for diagnostic features. The ancient Egyptians onlycultivated two cereals. These were barley, which is used for brewingtoday, and emmer wheat (Fig. 3), now very rare, but one of theoriginal domesticated crops which was dominant throughout muchof the Old World for several millennia. Since barley is the maincereal of modern beer, it has generaily been assumed that barleywas also brewed by the ancient Egyptians. The ancient residuesshow that barley was certainly used, but that emmer was also madeinto beer, and sometimes the two were mixed and brewed together.The choice of the two cereals may be one of the characteristics whichdistinguished ancient Egyptian beers.

The aridity of Egypt's climate has preserved not only the grossstructure ofthese residues, but also the microstructure. As a result, awealth of information about the ancient brewing process has beenpreserved. Earlier this century, a German microbiologist namedfohannes Griiss examined ancient Eglptian beer remnants withthe light microscope and discovered plant tissue fragments, starchgranules, yeast cells and bacteria. This was a great breakthrough inthe study of ancient desiccated foods, but he did not expand hisstudy to develop a model of ancient Egyptian brewing.

I have been able to collect a wide range of brewing remains fromtombs and settlement sites dating to a particular time in ancientEgyptian history called the New Kingdom. This period lasred fromabout 1550 to 1070 BC. The light microscope has been a usefultool, but scanning electron microscopy has proved a particularlypowerful method of examining the microstructure of the ancientremains. As Griiss observed, they contain starch granules, yeastcells, bacteria and different tissues from cereal grains, as well asplant tissues which have not yet been identified.

\Alhen yeast and bacteria are present, they are normally in suchlarge colonies and form such an integral part of the residue structurethat they must have been part of the originai food, rather thanrepresenting later contamination or spoilage micro-organisms.Particularly for the thin residues on broken pot sherds, these coloniesare most unlikely to have formed after the vessels were thrownaway, for the food deposits would have dried up veryrapidly. The bacteria are slightly elongated oval shapes, about 7-2 pmin length, suggesting that they might be lactic acid bacteria. Thiscannot be confirmed by morphology alone, but given the closeassociation with yeast in a starchy matrix, it seems a reasonableassumption.

The structure of ancient starch matches that of modern starchvery closely. Starch granules change their morphology according tothe conditions to which they have been exposed. So, for example,modern starch which comes from sprouted cereal - used to makemalt for brewing today - shows pits on the surface (Fig. 3) and,inside, channels in concentric rings (Fig. a). Starch heated in alimited amount of water swells and bends, while starch cooked inan excess amount of water fuses together. These changes in starchstructure can also be seen in the ancient beer residues and so the

Fig. 5. Modern emmer wheat growing at the National lnstitute forAgricultural Botany, Cambridge.

'3urqsr1qn4 snd6 :uopuol 'tdtr8g wartuy ur aln 'Qeet)'A 'TVH1OUJS

' 1 €-97,'VZI uorprant,ilaMarg

.:aaq uerrd.,(89 tuar:ue Sur.ra.torslpau'(E66I ) A,ilOS €

.CI .lAnhiVS

'06t-g8t '€LZ aiuarrs ddo:so:rrur arrlelar.ro: .{q spoqlaurSurna:q pue Suqeq ueqd,(39 luanue Jo uoqe8rlsa,rul '(966I)

C '.IAnhlVS

'zr-€'v9 uaq)Marg )oS wV [ 'raaq uzr1d,{3g }uar]ue

Jo , 3o1oaeq:ry '(966I) C

'-IiInhlVS

'BLZ-E LT' 77 ntanatg nl SunyazsaSol'uraqe:Suauoereq4

uap sne aJaH arp r1:o1ur14 sa:,{u oto4)ros' 16Z6I)' I'SSOUO

DNICV]U U]H.LUNI

' a8p u qua 2 lo tQB ra luun'quaa sa[

latSopaoqtty n{ a1n74su1 ppuoqrry aqt w sr pnuas uanLp(f

'leeqm Jeurrua uJeporu Sur.uor8 -ro;,(ue1og prnlprr.r8y yo etntrtsul IBuorl€N eqt pue suorlrrllol rraqlruor; Suqdrues paprurad q)rq,t\ sunasnru ,{ueu eql 'qrJEJseJ eql3ur1-roddns ro; -,Qanog uorleroldxg 1dl8g aql'Surpun; -ro;,(ruaperyqsrirrg rr{l pue sruaMarg altsu)MaN pue qsr}}ors o1 1rya1er8 rue 1

Sl-N]N]DC]IMON)3V

,{ep }uasard aql ur aldoad;o tuaueq eqt roJ Surlrla.rqUoM aq ol a,rord ,(eru lsed ar{l Jo suorlp}uaurreJ pooJ sdeqra4'sprle ouiure

Pue suruPlr^ sP qlns sluarrlnu lelluassa Jo sle^el

'sonprsal pelpf,)rsep luarruu lueu;o ldorso.rrrr.u eqluo peseq'3urr"ra;q ue1rdl33 tuaoue u.rop8ur; ^AeN JoJ lapoLu y'9'3;1

lanulus ua^/l.lec

Surlsooq pue 'sluauodruol InJuJeq pu? surxol urnrop 8ur1ea.rq

'alqrlsa8rp ,(psee a:ou spooJ n?J Surluru 'uorlulnu uo lraJJJ

Ierrlrrl e s€q uorleluau;a; ;o ssaro:d rql teqr paqsrlqelsa IIe.\4.uarq seq tr 'slarp

Ipuorlrperl urJporu Jo .{pnls xlt ruorC 'ritpeq

pup larp luanue uo uorleluJrure; ;o 1:edrur Ipuorlrrlnu aql lnoqeluasard ]e u,4\oDI sr Surqlou ol lxaN 'spooJ paluaurJal luenuu

Joanle^ Ipuorurtnu eql sr lxau a;o1dxa o1 adoq I qrlqm eer? auo

'uorle.t.rasa.rd poo8.(11ensnun eler{ lou op qrlr{,l\ seeJe JoJpapaau .,{lenadsa sr srql 'pauuar pue padola,rap aq u€f, }r as.(puepu? sJJnlsPooJ pa,rrasard rs^o)ar slsrSoloaeq::e qrrq.u, dq spoqiauaqt ireptriuud u1 'ssa.r8ord ur .,{pearle qlreasrr ar{} uo puedxaol auoP eq u€J {.roM e.rou qlnw 'uerl }sue quou

Jo sur€lunourso"r8eT aql Jo silrqlooJ eqt ur uortp^erxa ue uro4 'lg 00I€-0099ot alpp raaq pue aurM lsarppa Jrll ]prll srurull rllrrrt'pnuplodosJlN

luellue ;o sa8ur:; eql ruo.r; sa8era,taq pa}uaural ;o srs,(1eue

I€rluraq) uo auop uaaq suq {Jo..r,r eruos 'sassarord uorle:eda:dpue sluarpar8ur uo uorlpruJoJur aruos aprrrord ssalaqlra,rau deuddo:sonru qlr^{ uorleururpxe Jraql lnq 'pelJeseJd

IIel{ os Jq lou

I]rM saleurrTl prre ssal tuo{ spooJ luarf,uv'srs.{puu prtuaqt Sursnpegriuapr aq dluo lq8ru sdnrds se qf,ns suortrppe 'aldruexa .ro;:su?rur pnsrl ,(q alqer:arap aq lou deu sluarpar8ur auos 'aur]

Ja^o pa^lola a.teq ,(eru ssaro.rd Surna-rq eql ,vror{ aas o1 pale8rlsa,Luraq ol taI a.teq sporrad raqrea '1d.,{39 uI 'uorlu}uaurral }uertu€uo qr.rueseJ aJnlnJ roJ suorldo ;o a8ue"r Surlrtxa ue sr eJJr{J

i$lae.^{aarql urqlr.^4. lno plos pu€ 'tsJrJtur ssard snopueuart pasn€f lrrtrr{,^,r'taurtuns aq} ur sporr€H tE al?s uo luaM sell}oq 000,I Jouorupe palltull aqJ .rlv unu?q{urtnJ, perrruu raaq .,t1se1 tnqpnsnun ue Surtea.rr '(S '3lS ur paqulsap) a:nparo;d uer1d.{39

turrrup eql pa^{oiloJ sraMerq aql 'lulrdrnbe ureporu Sursn '(9 '3rg)

a8pr,rque3 ur ,,(ue1og 1e.rn1prr.r8y Jo alnlrlsul IeuorlpN aql l€asod:nd al{l JoJ .{ll?rledsa ur*o;8 }eaq.^.\ Jaurrue uJapou q}rm asnoq.ta.a.rq topd r{Srnqurpg rrar{t ur adnar aqt patean-ar

uorte rlyVOLUME 24 PART I

FEBRUARY I997

-

-

II

-

E

Ancient Egyptian beerChocolate, mushrooms and cheese!Microbiology in BudapestSGM Web page goes 'l ive'

Microbiology Golden JubileePUBLISHED BYTHE 5O(II]Y FOR

GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY