A Two-fold question: A) When was the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt and B) If I were to walk down to the marketplace at that time, what could I buy?

by csmalley3777

As the title says, my question is two fold;

A)When was the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt; when was the most politically and economically stable time in the history of ancient Egypt? Why was it so stable?

and

B) If, during the Golden Age, I found myself in a marketplace what goods could I buy? What grains and greens and meats were on offer? What about spices? Wines? Beers?

BONUS QUESTION: How would I pay for the goods I wanted to buy?

cleopatra_philopater

Well that depends on what you mean by "Golden Age", as Ancient Egyptian history goes back to around roughly 3400 BC you could argue that there were many "Golden Ages".

The First Dynasty was when most of the enduring elements of Ancient Egyptian culture, religion and politics emerged and was when most distinctly Ancient Egyptian traditions originated, under King Narmer Upper (Southern) and Lower (Northern) Egypt were united around 3100 BC, and the Old Kingdom began with it and ended sometime between 2400 -2100 BC (with either the 6th, 7th or 8th Dynasty) after which Egypt experienced a decline with the First Intermediate Period until the Middle Kingdom when it was reunified. Then the Middle Kingdom fell and there was a Second Intermediate Period followed by the New Kingdom.

The New Kingdom was a period of resurgence, with widespread growth and is when Egypt reached the pinnacle of its power rivalling the Hittites, Assyrians and Mittani. which lasted until the 19th Dynasty's collapse in 1077 BC.

The Third Intermediate Period followed this and was in turn followed by the Late Period, during which wars with the Babylon, Media, Scythia and Chaldea and was later annexed by Persia.

The Achaemenid Persian Period was also a better than not time to be alive as increased trade and centralization of power brought economic stability.

The Hellenistic Period began when Alexander the Great annexed Egypt from Acheamenid Persia and when it passed to his general Ptolemy I the Ptolemaic Kingdom (which included Cyraenica or Libya and Cyprus for much of its history) began a period of economic growth with the newly built capital of Alexandria serving as an important center of trade and culture in the Mediterranean for centuries despite frequent civil wars and usurpations between the various members of the Royal family as well as insurrections by the people.

After the defeat of Cleopatra VII and Marcus Antonius by Octavius Caesar and Cleopatra's subsequent suicide and the execution of her successor Ptolemy Caesarion Egypt in 30 BC became a Roman province operating under direct Imperial supervision.

The Roman Period Being part of an Empire had many benefits and the economy flourished during this period, as better management and a network of other provinces mostly overseen by Rome aided it.

As for the market, most common goods would have been more or less the same throughout much of Egyptian history:

When it came to grains the area around the Nile produced plenty of wheat, rye and oats so flatbreads, beer (closer to African beer than European so rather than the drink you might recognize it would be thicker with solids more like an alcoholic protein shake) would have been plentiful and pastries and desserts would have been made as well.

Veggies and seasonings would be fairly diverse (especially from the New Kingdom onward and reaching a peak in the Roman Period) scallions, garlic, celery, lettuce, safflower, tubers, peas, chickpeas, coriander, tiger nuts, lentils, olives and olive oil, figs, dates, grapes, carob beans, honey and even some flowers would be used.

Meat and fish would be available if you had the cash to spend of course, game meats and birds, as well as domesticated cows, goats, sheep and later pigs were eaten, as well as the cheeses of cows/goats/sheep etc. Something you might find that you would not today would be roasted hedgehogs which were evidentally quite popular and prepared by rolling them in clay and baking them. Once the clay mould was broken off the spikes came off as well. Being that most Egyptian settlements were near the Nile freshwater fish would be less expensive and more plentiful than meats and if you were in a coastal village or city than saltwater fish would be more common as well.

Various wine varieties would be found at least from the Achaemenid Persian period onward but wine was still drunk earlier just not as popular, and would come in a variety of types even possibly flavoured with things like berries, dates, figs, citrus, or spices.

And all these ingredients were combined into various stews, baked, grilled, boiled, roasted, toasted into different recipes, although the low classes would have primarily consumed bread and beer.

Textiles like cotton, wool, and dyes would be found in abundance although the quality and variety was directly linked with price, but if you could afford it you could find some quality threads.

Rare or more imported goods might come from places like Greece, India, Ethiopia, Nubia, and Pontus. Things like silk, exotic animals and their parts, precious stones, and artwork were imported and exported through port-cities like Canopus, and Alexandria.

And when you finally reached for your purse you would likely be paying with coins although the denomination would of course change depending on your Age of choice. Coins were at first weighted at the value of precious metals but later came to have more symbolic value and during the Achaemenid period Persian currency would be seen and in the Hellenistic Ptolemaic drachmas and tetradrachms were minted and circulated, and in the Roman Period Roman drachmas would be circulated.

What you would buy would depend on you, your background, your purposes, and your means and the availability of all of these things would depend on external factors.

Sources for the various tradegoods:

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (a handy go to guide)

Mountains of the Pharoahs by Zahi Hawass

Food in the Ancient World : From A to Z by Andrew Dalby

The Histories by Herodotus

Natural History by Pliny