I. The Mesopotamian Diet

The dietary knowledge available today about the ancient Mesopotamian period is largely deduced from countless archaeological findings, excavated artifacts, artistic presentations on bas-reliefs, cylinder seals, and a large number of cuneiform clay tablets. Cylinder seals, plaques, and reliefs depict scenes of people engaged in eating, drinking, and feasting. The cuneiform tablets give details of crops, cattle, and foods offered to the gods and to the king and his household, in addition to the food rations of the public. The most interesting of these documents are the official, economic and personal letters immortalized in the baked cuneiform tablets. They all attest to the fact that, apart from occasional famines due to wars and natural disasters, the Mesopotamians enjoyed a rich and varied diet. It was composed of plenty of indigenously grown and produced foods and ingredients such as cereals, legumes, animal and vegetable oils (sesame and olive), manna (a sweet tree exudation), garden products, milk, cheese, sea- and freshwater fish, shellfish, locusts, white and red meat, and mineral products such as salt and ashes (Bottéro, Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia). One can safely assume that the majority of the population took advantage of the available resources.