The Ancient Mesopotamiath Shape

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Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the most culturally significant civilizations in the early world and the Mesopotamians also produced some of the earliest known recipes. Among these recipes was the palace cake. This is an ancient dessert dating back to the Third Millennium, which originated in the city of Ur around 2100 B.C.E. The name of the cake itself is very fitting because it looked elegant and was to be served and enjoyed at the palace of a Sumerian king or queen by the higher citizens of Ur during feasts or banquets. The ingredients for the desert included: 3 sila of chopped dates, 1/3 sila of raisins, 2 teaspoons of ground fennel, 1/3 sila of cottage cheese, 1 sila of butter, 2 eggs, 2/3 sila of milk, and 1 ½ sila of flour (Kaufman). While the cake itself is important, the specific ingredients, the environment, and the the food connotations to their culture also had a large impact on the Mesopotamian society.
The ingredients of the palace cake were far more accessible to those in higher classes in Mesopotamia. The most important of these was the date, which served purposes in food, medicine, trade, as well as agricultural advancements. Dates were consumed regularly and were widely considered a staple of the Mesopotamian diet because they provided the people with a rich source of sugar and iron (Bertman). Although honey was reserved for the wealthy, date syrup was also used as a sweetening agent both as a substitute for honey or in beer (Nemet-Nejat). This popularity paved the way to make the date one of the largest cash crops and the earliest domesticated fruits in Mesopotamia's predominantly agrarian society. Orchards and the process of growing trees were not foreign to farmers, but they learned quickly that in order to ...

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...amians commonly used dates as a sweetener. The cultural connotations food held in accordance with religious deities provide us with context on how important fruit, nuts and seeds, which were central for dessert during this time, were to the Mesopotamian society.
In Mesopotamia, more specifically the city of Ur, agriculture reigned supreme. Every ingredient required for the palace cake were important to their culture. From the date-palm, which was glorified by religious connections, agricultural advancements, and trade, to the milk and butter which relied on the domestication of animals by humans to be produced, everything was utilized to create a cake fit for the palace halls. Although it was meant to be enjoyed by only the elite members of Mesopotamian society, the recipe for palace cake that shows us the significance of a piece food history to be enjoyed by all.

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