World’s 'Oldest' Cheese Discovered in Ancient Egyptian Tomb

Archaeologists have always been captivated by tombs because they give a window to the buried individual's taste and the society in which they lived. To this date, many things have been found in tombs, ranging from jewelry to clothes, ARCE reported. For the first time, researchers found a piece of cheese in an individual's tomb, Time reported.

The tomb is located at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo. It was first unearthed in 1885 but got lost in shifting sands. 

The tomb belongs to Ptahmes, a high-ranking Egyptian official in the 13th century B.C., BBC reported. The analysis regarding the "solidified whitish mass" found by a team of archeologists in 2010 has been put out in a study published in Analytical Chemistry. 

At first, there was confusion regarding the white mass and several experts collaborated to find its true nature, Time reported. Researchers believe the findings are significant since it could be the oldest cheese residue on Earth originating 3200 years ago. 

"The material analyzed is probably the most ancient archaeological solid residue of cheese ever found to date," said Dr Enrico Greco, from the University of Catania, who collaborated with researchers at the Cairo University in Egypt to determine its identity, BBC reported. "We know it was made mostly from sheep's and goat's milk, but for me, it's really hard to imagine a specific flavor."

Professor Paul Kindstedt, a cheese historian and chemistry professor, also studied the white mass and concluded that the cheese would have had a "really, really acidy" bite.

Scientists also discovered what they believe to be traces of bacteria on the cheese that are known to cause an infectious disease called brucellosis. The disease continues to occur in the present-day population. If scientists can prove that the traces are the brucellosis-causing bacteria, then it would be the oldest evidence of the disease, Time reported.