GM 247 (2015) 51 The nurture of children in ancient Egypt by Amandine Marshall In all societies, the breast-feeding is perceived as the most natural and economic way to feed a baby in the first time of its life. However, from a civilization to another one, from a woman to another one, from a social, family, economic contexts to another one, needs for a child to another one, times of breast-feeding differ and a semi-liquid or solid food can come to complete the nurture of the young child. Besides, his needs evolve at the same time as he becomes more and more autonomous. Are the infants really weaned at three? Is the milk given to the child always of human origin? Do feeding-bottles exist? From the nurture of infants, we will pass to the food consumed by older children. Is a special care brought to their food? Are there differences with the meals eaten by adults? The nurture of the Egyptian infants ‘The nurture of infants is exceptionally well documented in very different scientific fields: literature, iconography, anthropology, paleocoprology and archaeology. However, as we will see, this domain still keeps many secrets. Literary sources ‘The breast-feeding is the first source of nurture of infant: the Wise Ani, sent to his letter IV): The child who is in the lap of her mother, his desire isto be breast-fed. "See", he said he finds (the use of) his mouth to make (her) know: "Give me some food".” (Vernus 2001 257) in any culture. A letter from son, the scribe Khonsuhetep, echoes it (pBoulag 23, 15-17 = One of the teachings of the same Ani also reminds to the Egyptian the dedication of his mother during his infancy (pBoulag 20, 18) “She was yet yoked (fo you), her breast in your mouth for three years.” (Lichtheim 1976: 141) And a papyrus from the Late Period delivers a similar account (pLouvre E 3.148) Your (earthly) mother carried you for ten months, she nourished you for three years.” (Jonckheere 1955: 215) However, contrary to what these three quotations assert, the breast-feeding is not exclusively given by the mother. It can also be by the intervention of a wet nurse of whom the services were fastened for diverse motives: death or disease of the mother, interruption of the milky secretion, insufficient or polluted milk, milk not suiting to the child, or, simply, for comfort reasons. In the myth of The Sun's Eye is a very interesting mention: “And so he said: ilk i food to the mouth until i produces teeth.” (Cenival 1988: IX) This quotation qualifies the limit age of the three years old previously indicated. Indeed, “until the mouth produces teeth” means either an age between 6 and 8 months, if the text refers to the outbreak of the first teeth, or an age between 20 and 30 months, if the passage evokes the age of the child possessing all its milk teeth, This extract does not, however, mean that the outbreak of teeth leads systematically to the weaning of the child, but it infers that the feeding is not the exclusive food of the infants from two to three years old, even if breast-feeding has to be left their main source.52 GM 247 (2015) The period of three years mentioned in texts must probably be considered as an ideal duration rather than the reflection of the antique reality. Indeed, I was able to realize that still today, in the Egyptian campaigns, some relatives do not always know with certainty the age of their children (or they do not agree between them on this point), The difference in age can g0 from a few months to one year and a half. In Antiquity, the major part of population was an illiterate and had not many temporal landmarks in which to refer. It is thus likely that the relatives only had a vague idea of the age of their offspring. Besides, certain factors or events can lead an earlier weaning of the child, just like other reasons, essentially connected to the health of the child, may require postponing it Medical sources ‘The medical sources echo, repeatedly, the fear of the Egyptian, mother or wet nurse, not to have (enough) milk or that this latter is rejected by the child. The fact a child refuses to suck the breast can be lethal for him, especially if he has only a few months tians thus worked out several strategies to adom the problems of feeding that women can meet: examinations allow determining, according to the smell of the milk, if it is good or bad for the child: “Determination of spoiled milk: you should see its smell is like the smell of fish.” (pEbers (788), ease 93,17-93,18; Strouhal, Vachala, Vymazalovit 2014: 117) “Determining good milk: when its smell is like crushed earth almonds. It's a way to determine.” (pEbers (796), case 94,8-94,10; Strouhal, Vachala, Vymaralova 2014 118) ‘Treatments and magical rituals are proposed as well to women having problems with their milk (not at all or not enough) or to woman whose child refuses to suckle: “Restoring milk for a wet nurse who cares fora child: the spine of the Nile bass, boil with oil and spread iton her back.” (pEbers (836), ease 97,10-97, 11; Strouhal, Vachala, Vymazalova 2014: 123) n amulet for a woman who has milk.” (pBerlin 3027, spell O (9,7); Strouhal, Vachala, Vymazalovs 2014; 132) “To see tit that a child who does not suck accepts (the breast). (Words to be recited:) "Horus will gulp down and Seth will chew [..]".”(pRarnesseurn I], chapter B (10-11); Bardinet 1995: 469) Iconographic sources [ collected, so far, 112 iconographical testimonies of breast-feeding from any periods and supports: paintings and reliefs, small statuary, anthropomorphic flasks, ostraca and seals These diverse documents show 125 infants (among which 95 babies) and 5 older children suckling (pl. 1). It was, however, difficult, in certain cases, to make the distinction between both age groups. In several cases, it is not impossible that Egyptians wanted to represent a baby but it was easier for them to draw, to sculpture or to model a child in bigger proportions. However, the suckling of children who are no more babies is doubtless for several documents The iconography thus confirms the antique writings as for the late weaning of the Egyptian young children. Anthropological sources ‘The anthropological studies detailing exactly the age of the children at death are very rare: the Egyptologist and anthropologist Eugen Stroubal is at the origin of two of them, made ‘on the bodies of graves dug up outside and inside the tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara (Raven etGM 247 (2015) 53 alii 2011: 316) and on the subjects which were buried in one of the cemeteries of Abusit (Strouhal 1992: 23) Eugen Strouhal noticed that the most frequent time for the death of children was situated between 2 and 5 years at Saggara and between 3 and 4 years at Abusir. In both cases, the results involve children in period of more or less advanced weaning, who died in largest ‘number that the still breast-fed infants. The change of food - progressive or rough -, from human and liquid milk, in more varied and solid food, came along invariably with an increase of intestinal infections. It inevitably contributed to a notable infantile mortality rate, but which will never be estimated exactly. Indeed, these results were obtained from a sampling which remains low and which cannot be thus considered as representative of the infant mortality of the time. Besides, the subjects of these two studies lived between the New Empire and the Roman period, which excludes a large part of Egyptian period. In this last case however, we can consider that the infant mortality must not be subjected to many changes for this age bracket, the conditions of life and hygiene not having undergone major changes. Paleocoprotogical sources The textual sources allow establishing that the children between 2 and 3 years old can receive, as supplement to human milk, a more solid food, An additional study, realized thanks to the paleocoprology, completes our knowledge. On the Palaeolithic site (approximately 16 000-15 000 BCE) of Wadi Kubbaniya, in Upper Egypt. studies of paleocoprology were able to be led thanks to the exceptional preservation of fecal remains distributed on several points of the antique camp (Hillman 1989: 228-230). Their analysis highlighted the fact that these excrements belonged, for the greater part, to very young individuals. Inside the excrements, the scientists discovered remains of plants finely crushed which were ingested by the children (half)-weaned, in the form of porridge. It is mainly about wild nut-grass (Cyperus rotundus), club-rush tubers and nutlets (Scirpus tuberosus), fern rhizome (indefinite family) and dum nut (Hypheene thebaica) These results show that, already in a very early period, a particular care was able to be brought to the food of infants. Archaeological sources Up to now, Lonly listed about fifteen graves of infants in which were discovered remains of drink or food. The study of these foodstuffs shows that some offerings (like bread, pancakes and cakes) were cooked or ready to be consumed (like fruits), when others, deposited unprepared, cannot be eaten as such. However, some of the consumable food found are in clear gap with the very young age of some deceased and it is obvious that infants are unfit of feeding on such food. These foodstuffs must be moved closer thus to symbolic rather than functional offerings. ‘As for not prepared foodstuffs, they consist essentially of seeds and dum nuts. The deposit of cereals in a grave can symbolize the idea of life, revival and by echo, the resurrection of the child in the afterlife. As for the dum nut, it is necessary to know that to be able to consume this fruit, its shell must be broken, because only the pulp is edible, although of strong and bitter taste, This fruit can be also used in the preparation of certain porridges (as the ones given to the young children at Wadi Kubbaniya) and of certain cakes. Dum is thus edible but not as such for young individuals. In addition to their alimentary function, dum nuts could also be deposited in tombs in a magic objective, by a game of symbolic associations dealing with the god Thoth (Santolini 1984: 214, 216).54 GM 247 (2015) Is the mitk always of human origin? That milk constitutes the staple nurture of infants is not to be any more demonstrated. However, it remains to determine if it is only of human origin, The wise Ani evokes exclusively mother milk when the extract from the myth of The Sun's Eve only talks about “milk” without mentioning its origin, That milk from the mother or the wet nurse is implied is however very likely, because it is the function of the human milk to feed infants. Moreover, the breast milk is considered as source of life and is the object of all the attentions, In the ‘medical and magie domains, we previously observe that several prescriptions were made to secure the quality of the milk. In the royal iconography, pharaohs are sometimes represented suckling powerful goddesses such as Isis, Hathor, Merseger, Renenutet or Nut. By this act they officially show, among others, an Immortal is given a part of her: her own milk to them (Leclant 1951: 123-127). Moreover, the theme of the suckling prince is the object of a chapter of The Book of the Dead (Darby, Ghaliounghi, Grivetti 1977: 18). Finally, numerous are the reliefs, paintings, anthropomorphic flasks, ostraca, seals and small statuary showing women, mothers or wet nurses, breast-feeding, ‘That human milk is the main source of nurture of infants remains an indisputable point. But the question of the recourse to milk of animal origin arises, because several kinds of animal milk are known and used in ancient Egypt: cow milk, goat milk and ass milk, only to ‘mention the ones indicated in the medical papyrus (Bardinet 1995: 574). If I didn’t meet any text attesting that animal milk could feed children, on the other hand, texts (ie. Barta 1963: 78-79; Bardinet 1995: 252-463) and iconography (i.e. Rosellini 1834: pl. MCXXVII) show that adults could consume it. I share the opinions expressed by Thierry Bardinet and Gustave Lefebvre who admit that when the ofigin of the milk is not explicitly mentioned in the medical and magic papyrus, it must be cow milk (Lefebvre 1960: 59-65; Bardinet 1995: 574). Indeed, though donkey milk is the closest one from human milk, in gustative term, ass was an animal in strong relation with the god of evil and chaos, Seth. It’s very likely Egyptians decided to push it aside of the nurture, at least, of the little ones, and so, the most fragile ones, and favored the cow milk, whose taste would have less destabilized or disgusted the children than goat milk. In some cases, motivated by financial or medical questions, ancient Egyptians must have chosen to feed infants with animal than human milk. ‘The nurture of infants still remains a badly known domain, even if the rare sources at our disposal let us know that the breast-feeding is not the only source of food of the little children. ‘The fact remains that the feeding by the women occupies a dominating place in the nurture of infants. But it is necessary to understand that this act, either mentioned in texts or reproduced in the iconography, serves above all to anchor profoundly the role expected from the woman, as a mother, in the Egyptian society. In the iconography, the theme of the breast-feeding woman is very strong and touches just as much the world of the men than the divine sphere The milk is symbolically associated with life and that’s the idea traditionally fixed in the wo or three dimensions depictions. If the maternal milk is, by nature, the food adapted to the infant and planned to support him (energy, growth, cognitive and immunizing development...) up to the age of approximately 6 months, afterward, its food must be completed by a solid or semi-solid diet so that the child does not develop deficiencies, in particular zine and iron, Besides, a child suffering from anemia has to receive a complementary nurture at the risk of a worsening of his health problems. It seems not very likely that the breast-feeding is the exclusive source of food of the infants up to the age of 3 years. It is thus advisable to interpret texts relative to thisGM 247 (2015) 55 age as an indication on the average duration of the feeding, however, it does not mean that is the exclusive nurture of the infant, Are there feeding-bottles? In a civilization where the suckling of the children is generalized and lasts several years, we could wonder of the anachronistic intervention of the feeding-bottle, intended to replace the nurture of the breast-fed infants. Nevertheless, in the Egyptological literature, we sometimes meet mentions of antique feeding-bottles under the shape of real or artificial horn, or under the aspect of a feeding cup. We are going to examine which credit to bring to these identi Horns used as baby’s bottles? Egypt has produced a great number of bovine or gazelle homs, sometimes mock faience homs imitating animal ones, whose slender end displays a blunt bevel shape ot has been equipped with a shell or faience beak (pl. 2), Frans Jonckheere was the first Egyptologist to suggest these objects could be regarded as the Egyptian forerunners of baby's bottles (lonekheere 1955: 217-220). Nevertheless, the four arguments he puts forward to back up his theory do not withstand a systematic data analysis. First of all, the feeding function he attributes to the horn relies on three flasks in shape of a woman carrying a child on her back and holding a similar horn in her hands. In his reasoning though, he voluntarily rules out of all the plastic vessels representing Egyptian women holding this type of horn but with no child nearby. Frans Jonckheere then explains that since the anthropomorphic bottles originally contained milk, as a consequence the horn must have a similar function. It is indeed likely that the vials featuring women and child were destined to receive milk, but it is impossible to justify the use of a hom as a baby’s bottle on the basis of such an argument: on the one hand, itis still not proved to date, and on the other hand, this function is associated to all the flasks representing women, be they associated with a child or not Moreover, the Egyptologist also indicates that these homs have a small filling capacity, coherent with the delivering of a small portion, Here arises another problem: if these horns are to be used as botiles, then the babies have to be fed on a regular basis. Frans Jonckheere though forgets to mention the horns” sealing system. And yet it is crucial: at last two among, the homs he mentions had their lids sealed with cement (Petrie 1909: pl. XV (unknown current storage place) and London, Petrie Museum, UCL, UC 30087), and the faience hom had been made in such a way as to be definitely sealed (Paris, Musée du Louvre, AF 1669). In all other cases anyway the sealing system, sometimes conceived using wooden pegs, would hardly resist a several times a day opening and closing manipulation, Lastly, he relies on what his colleagues Georges Bénédite and William Flinders Petrie are saying ~ they both notice a device enabling to regulate the flow of the horn’s filling -, in order to imply the feeding function of these artifacts: “...the end of the horn is formed into a device which, as Bénédite himself thinks, allows to regulate the flow [...] (Petrie says too "/t seems as if these horns were intended for sprinkling, by the small hole and splaying mouth") does not this plead in favor of a vessel, — shaped from a hom of the quintessential dairy animal — destined to conveniently feed the babies with animal milk?” (Jonckheere 1955: 219). Not only is it impossible to deduce such a fact from the regulation system, since aromatic oil, koh! or balm also require a similar control for a use in small amount, but when one looks closer at the list of the vessels on which the Egyptologist is founding his remarks, it becomes clear that he makes an incorrect use of the data. He indeed forgets to precise that the56 GM 247 (2015) excavation reports or the chemical analyses mention oily traces in five homs he deseribes as ancient feeding-bottles, which completely rules out their role in baby feeding process (Bruyére 1937: 84-86, 152). No indication has been provided for the other horns. Considering the residues found inside the horns, it is as a consequence very unlikely that they were ever used as baby’s bottles. Finally, let us mention the fact that such homs have never been attested among the objects identified and described by the diggers in the 2 500 children graves I recorded so far, whatever their age category. Hom vessels cannot, as a consequence, be considered as bottles specifically intended for feeding the babies. Spouted bowls used as baby’s bottles? This is the second category of artifacts some Egyptologists consider to be some kind of baby’s bottles, yet no study has ever been made on this category of tableware. It then remains up to the digger or the curator to identify them. Moreover, the ignorance of the archaeological context of the artifact is often a problem. To date, four artifacts have been identified as spouted bowls for children. The first one comes from Gebel Moya and dates to the Neolithic period (London, Petrie Museum, UCL, UC 70119). It could thus be the earliest object proving the use of specific tableware for feeding the children. It is a ceramic bow! whose quite prominent and downwards pointing spout is fixed in the middle of the body. This position is significant since it implies that the bowl cannot be filled with liquid higher than the level of the spout, which represents only about half the height of the bowl. Given the dimensions of the bowl (4,2 ems in height and 6,1 cms in diameter), the quantity of liquid available is therefore quite small. This means also that the bowl can be manipulated only by adults or older children, It can be deduced from the spout’s width (around 0,4 cms) that the abject may have been created for a child, but certainly not for a baby, the hole being too large to enable an efficient control of the liquid flow Moreover, the size of the spout could prove dangerous for a very young child. This artifact cannot thus be considered as a container meant for feeding the babies. The second dish comes from a grave in Lisht cemetery. The museum notice does not tell if this was an adults or a child’s grave (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 09.180.768c.). The object is a tiny bowl (5 ems in height and 7,8 cms in diameter) on which a small part of the upper rim was pinched to create a flared beak. The form, size and small capacity of the object completely meet the criteria for a vessel adapted to a child. And yet, due to the lack of a better established archaeological context and further data, it is impossible to certify that this object was actually a bow! used for feeding Egyptian children. Its beak may have had a purpose other than helping a child to eat more easily. The third vessel is a unique and utterly exceptional object (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944.44.4.4.). This small faience bowl has a spout inserted at rim level, forming an extension of the vessel. The opening has an estimated diameter of 0,5 cms, which means that itis highly unlikely the bowl was ever used to feed a baby, since the liquid flow ‘would have been too high for this age, even if handled by an adult, The diameter of the hole makes the ingestion of solid or semi-liquid food difficult as well. The decorative patterns of the artifact noticeably differ from the vegetal or geometrical pattems commonly observed on tableware. It clearly is an apotropaic decoration, similar in every aspect to the one found on magic wands, displaying all kind of deities, protecting animals, faney creatures and knives, most of them pictured twice on the bowl: two lions, two snakes, two long-necked wild beasts, two Aha or Bes holding two snakes in their hands, theGM 247 (2018) 87 female hippo holding the protective sa-sign R (s3), a god ofa gene, a lioness biting a snake and finally a turtle, usually considered as a Sethian animal but which, in some cases, can be regarded as a beneficial cosmic animal (Koenig 1994: 92 ‘The form and size of the vessel (3,5 ems in height), the presence of this specific and so small opening, the small quantity of liquid it can contain and its decoration, all speak in favor of a vessel meant for a child, though not a baby. Because of its decorative pattem and fabric, it may have been conceived for a ritual, maybe funerary, goal and wasn’t necessarily used in everyday life. Florence Friedman goes further in her reflection by suggesting that this abject could have had a medical purpose and been used for curing a young child by giving him a potion via a prophylactic bowl, which would have enhanced the magic power of the remedy administered (Friedman 1998: 207). Her argument partly relies on the fact that the bow! was found in a basket with a blue faience crocodile figurine, in an area she considered as sacred (the basket was discovered under a layer of debris in the western cemetery of Amenemhat I in Lisht), Whether this object was ritually used for giving a medicine to a child, or was the prophylactic copy of some kind of spouted bow! used in everyday life to feed a child, in any case this artifact testifies to the existence of dishes specifically meant, through their dimensions, form and reduced capacity, for the children. ‘The last example, dating to the Middle Kingdom, is a bow! fitted with a narrow spout that allows a controlled ingestion of a liquid or semi-liquid food. This object is cut out of limestone and was found in a grave at Elephantine (Von Pilgrim 1996: 132), next to a child, presumably aged between 6 and 9 months. In this case, the archaeological context was not only positively identified, but the child’s age could also be precisely evaluated, and this is clearly a baby. It is thus likely that this specific vessel was used for a feeding purpos Hemispheric bowls with a spout have also been reported by Eugen Strouhal in several child graves in Wadi Qitna, in Nubia (Strouhal 1977: 290). No pictures of these objects have ever been published, so it is impossible to determine whether these bowls are similar to the few specimens known in the Egyptian documentation or not. As a conclusion, even if we can certified that the Egyptians have conceived and crafted several vessels adapted to a use for or by the youngest ones, identifying this very type of object remains however a rather tricky task The nurture of the Egyptian children Although the nurture of children is different from the food given to infants, there are however differences, sometimes notable, with the food consumed by adults. This second part will be the occasion to see it Numerous sources evoke the food given to young Egyptians: literature, iconography, archaeology as well as a relatively recent scientific domain, the anthropo-botany. Literary sources For the chronological period I set for my PhD studies (from the Predynastic period to the end of the New Kingdom), no mention of food for children beyond early childhood has reached us. However, two texts dating to the Ptolemaic period refer to the young Egyptians” diet. Considering that their content can apply to earlier periods, 1 chose to mention them here The first passage is from Diodorus Sicilus’ Historical Library (Book 1, chapter LXXX):58 GM 247 (2015) They the parents) feed thei children without spending any money and with unbelievable frugality. They serve them With very simple cooked food, papyrus stems that ean be roasted inthe coals, roots and stems ‘of marsh plants, either raw or boiled or roasted...” This remark echoes an allusion by Theophrastus who mentions in his Enquiry into plants ‘what use the ancient Egyptians made of papyrus (Book IV, 8) inthe countryside everyone chew raw, boiled or roasted papyrus; they swallow the juice and spit cout the chewed fibres.” Although these two passages postdate by several centuries the end of the New Kingdom, we can nevertheless assume that child diet has not evolved much over time. Moreover, it is safe to think that had the nutrition of the youngest evolved over centuries, it would have meant improvement, not deterioration. And yet Diodorus Sicilus basic and coarse food, almost costless for the parents. As far as nutrition is concerned, obviously no significant improvement took place. ‘Assuming that Theophrastus’ and Diodorus Sicilus’ texts can apply to earlier centuries, one will keep in mind the important role played by the plant roots and stems in the Egyptians” and the fact that the children ate them raw, grilled, boiled or roasted. We may assume that raw roots certainly did not have much impact on their health, but cating marsh plant stems, growing in direct contact with the Nile’s or marsh waters, might have proved bad for their health, and certainly lethal for the weakest ones, due to the presence of parasites and to the quality of the waters which widely contributed to numbers of infections, namely ancylostomiasis, schistosimiasis (bilharzias) and dysentery (Moussa 1934: 37). Iconographic sources Only three, possibly four scenes refer to the children’s diet, The first example dates back to the Old Kingdom and seemingly illustrates Theophrastus’ words. In the mastaba of Kagemni at Saqgara, a little boy is seen chewing or licking what seems to be a plant stalk (a papyrus shoot?) (pl. 3). The child is pictured in a fishing scene, the proper environment to find such plants, The second scene dates to the same period and is situated in the mastaba of Nefer and Kahay, also at Saqqara. On one of the wall, the deceased is pictured sitting facing his wife front of a table crammed with food. Under the table are three miniature representations of children: on the left, a git! is kneeling in front of a tiny table, on the right, two boys are crouching with their botiom on the ground, in front of a small stand. On each table three breads have been placed, to which the children are holding out their hands. Of course this mere example cannot apply to all Egyptian children, but it may pretty well back up Diodorus Sicilus’ words by showing the children having a more frugal and less varied meal than their parents. The third scene dates to the Middle Kingdom and is located in Antefoker’s house of eternity (TT 60). It features men bustling about various tasks and, among them, is a boy holding out a bow! to a man brewing beer in front of him. The caption above their heads, erased today, gives us information about this quick exchange: “Give me some zeremout, look, I'm hungry”. His intervention disturbs the man whe mocks: “Move away! That the one who gave you bigth move assay! Look, the hippopotamus eats [...] more than the royal servant when ploughing! See, you [...] work!” Beyond the anecdote which shows that children were sometimes perceived as a constraint rather than as a hand of work appreciated in the workplace of the adults, the hieroglyphic legend hints at the zeremout, a term which sends back most probably to a bread or anom 247 (2015) 59 alcoholic cake (Tallet, Christiansen 2006: 34; Houlihan 2001: 39-40) and which was consumed, apparently, as much by the adults as by the children, The last scene is located in Ipui’s tomb at Deir el-Medina (TT 217) and dates to the New Kingdom. One boy is shouting to frighten the birds pecking the cereals he is obviously looking after and is threatening them with what seems to be a stone. Sitting in front of him and feeling unconcerned, his friend seems to be bringing a small bread roll to his mouth. Iconographic sources concerning children’s diet are few and far between and are usually anecdotal; they consequently provide very few information. Archaeological sources Evidence of foodstuff have been found in around twenty children’s graves, which is extremely few regarding the number of tombs (nearly 1500) containing grave goods I have isted so far. This food can be classified in several categories: products cooked or edible as they are (bread, fruits like berries, figs, grenades, dum nuts... roots and vegetable stalks), raw commodities non-edible without preparation, and potential food, the exact nature of which could not be precisely determined due to the poor state of preservation of the products. The archaeological documentation only confirms Diodorus Sicilus’ words without bringing anything new about the nurture of children. Archaeobotanical sources ‘An original archaeobotanical analysis was conducted in nine burials at the HK43 Predynastic cemetery at Hierakonpolis (Fahmy 2008: 425). Seven belonged to adults and two to children (one was less than five years old and the second one, around ten years old). The exceptionally fine preservation in the burials allowed the archaeological team to collect a variety of “soft” materials including the desiccated contents of the gut (intestines and stomach), not contaminated by an exterior environment. Specialists found out that the two children consumed, just before their death, a meal differently and more carefully prepared than the one of the adults. Indeed, the samples collected to their gut contained pure starch grains, with no husk fragments whatsoever. This result implies that wheat had been well cleaned before being grinded to fine flour, a fact without equivalence in the tracks of food ingested by the seven adults. The way this wheat was then cooked is however unknown: impossible to determine if these cereals were used in porridge, in bread or in the composition of another meal. Nevertheless, it proves unmistakably that at Hierakonpolis, at a precise period of the Predynastic period, some children could receive a food to which a careful attention was brought. This doesn’t mean one can generalize this fact to the whole children of this period and the following ones, not even to the whole young Egyptians who lived at Hierakonpolis at this period, Moreover, one more important detail that has to be pointed out is that this food represents the last meal for children dead shortly after; hence the assumption that a specific and carefully prepared dish could have been served to ill children in order to try to cure them with some reinvigorating food. Conclusion Although the food of the Egyptian children is jointly documented by several scientific domains, our knowledge remains very incomplete. The literary and iconographic sources are indeed almost dumb on the subject, the food offerings found in graves are not specific to the60 GM 247 (2015) children, as for the anthropological and paleocoprological studies, th few individuals, in a given place and in a precise period. The infants were breast-fed during several years and received a complementary food as well. However, in the present state of the documentation, it is impossible to know from which age bracket approximately infants could reach a complementary food, nor even how it appeared. As for the weaned children, it remains complicated to determine if they shared or not a meal similar to that of the adults. Some sources at our disposal tend to indicate the ‘opposite and rather seem to indicate a coarse and basic nurture which seems to echo basic food (fruits and bread) found in graves. A particular care in the food of the weaned children could be brought, but this established fact is impossible to estimate, in the time, according to regions, social level of families, age of children and maybe even according to their sex. re specific to very Bibliography Bardinet, Th. 1995. Les papyrus médicaux de l'Egypte pharaonique. Paris. Barta, W. 1963. Die Altigyptische Opferlisie, Miinchner Agyptologische Studien 3. Munich- Berlin, Bruyére, B. 1937. Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Médineh (1934 ~ 1935), Fouilles de Mnstitut Frangais d'Archéologie Orientale XV, Le Caire. Cenival, Fr. de. 1988, Le Mvthe de l'ail du soleil, Demotische Studien 9. Leipzig. Darby, W., Ghaliounghi, P. and Grivetti, L. 1977. Food: The Gift of Osiris, Vol. 1. London. Diodorus Sicilus. Historical Library. Book | Erman, A. 1901. Zauberspriiche fiir Mutier und Kind: Aus dem Papyrus 3027 des Berliner Museums. Berlin. Fahmy, A. 2008. Analysis of mummies’ gut contents. In: B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Orientalia lovaniensia analecta, 172: 419-426. Friedman, FI. 1998. Gifis of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Faience, Singapout. Hillman, G. 1989. Late Paleolithic plant foods from Wadi Kubbaniya in Upper Egypt: dietary diversity, infant weaning and seasonality in a riverine environment. In: D, Harris and G. Hillman, Foraging and Farming, London, 207-239. Houlihan, P.Fr. 2001. Wir & Humour in Ancient Egypt. London. Jonekheere, Fr. 1955. Un chapitre de pédiatrie égyptienne: V'allaitement, 223 Koenig, Y. 1994. Magie et magiciens dans I'Egypte ancienne. Paris. Moussa, E. 1934. Hygiéne dans I’Egypte pharaonique. PhD Thesis, University of Bordeaux. (unpublished work). Leclant, J. 1951. Le role du lait et de Mallaitement d"aprés les Textes des Pyramides. Journal of Near Eastern Studies X: 123-127 Lefebvre, G. 1960. Lait de vache et autres laits en Egypte. Revue d'Egyptologie 12: 59-65. Lichtheim, M. 1976. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London. Petrie, W. Flinders. 1909. Quneh, British School of Archaeology in Egypt 16. London. Raven, M. et al. 2011, The Memphite Tomb of Horemheb V. Tumhout, Rosellini, I. 1834. / monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia, 1, Pise. Santolini, G. 1984. Thot, le babouin et le palmier doum. Mélanges Adolphe Gutbub, Institut 'Egyptologie de l'Université Paul Valery, 211-218. Strouhal, E. 1992. Life in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge. Strouhal, E. 1977. Maternity of ancient Egypt. In: Anthropology of Maternity, Proceedings of the Conference held in Prague, November 26-29, 1975, Praguc, 281-292. rsculape 36 : 203-GM 247 (2015) 6 Strouhal, E., Vachala, Bf. and Vymazalova, H. 2014. The Medecine of the Ancient Egyptians Oxford. Tallet, P. and Christiansen, J. 2006. 4 Ja table des pharaons: gotits d’hier et recettes daujourd hui, Paris Theophrastus. Enguiry into Plants. Books U1 and IV. Vernus. P. 2001. Sagesses de I'Egypte pharaonique. Paris. Von Pilgrim, C. 1996, Elephantine XVM, Archdologische Verdffentlichungen 91. Mayence. Amandine Marshall is Doctor in Egyptology. Her doctoral and post-doctoral researches deal with childhood and mothethood. She wrote Auguste Mariette, Les momies égyptiennes with R. Lichtenberg, Etre un enfant en Egypte ancienne and Maternité et petite enfance en Egypte ancienne.