According to a recent article, ancient Egyptians followed a primarily vegetarian diet.
“In fact, eating lots of meat is a recent phenomenon,” states the article. “In ancient cultures vegetarianism was much more common, except in nomadic populations. Most sedentary populations ate fruit and vegetables.”
After examining mummies of people who had lived in Egypt until 600 A.D., a French research team was able to determine that their diet consisted primarily of plants.
Hair absorbs a higher rate of animal proteins than bone or teeth, and the isotope ratios in hair of the mummies corresponded to that found in hair of modern European vegetarians, confirming that the ancient Egyptians were also mainly vegetarians. As is the case with many modern people, their diet was wheat- and barley-based.
One of the best actions consumers can take to prevent animal cruelty and lessen the toll on the environment and human health is to adopt a healthy and compassionate plant-based diet.