Some tomb raiders (aka archaeologists) dug up the tomb of an Egyptian mayor known as Pthames in 2010. As the researchers uncovered things about the high ranking official, they recently found a jar filled with a white substance that was identified as cheese, with the findings published in the journal, Analytical Chemistry.
Researchers knew it was some sort of food, and eventually discovered it to be a cheese made of both sheep and goat’s milk.
Ironically enough, they also might have found a dairy-based bacteria that causes a deadly infection called brucellosis. If confirmed, they might have inadvertently found a 3,000-year-old form of food poisoning. While rare, brucellosis is still an active disease that causes fever, anorexia, pain in muscles and joints which can last from weeks to several months. The brucellosis bacteria was even weaponized after World War II, when the U.S. was testing forms of biological weapons.
While researchers continue to uncover more from the tomb of Pthames, at least we know this old cheese will make for a good trivia question.
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Foodbeast Editors