World's oldest cheese unearthed in Egypt

PanARMENIAN.Net - World's oldest cheese has been found inside an Egyptian tomb, proving that our beloved cheese has been gloriously surviving the test of time for ages, NDTV says.

The tomb of Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis in Egypt during the 13th century BC, was initially unearthed in 1885. After being lost under drifting sand, it was rediscovered in 2010, and archeologists found broken jars at the site a few years later.

One of the jars contained a solidified whitish mass, as well as canvas fabric that might have covered the jar or been used to preserve its contents. After dissolving the sample, the researchers purified its protein constituents and analyzed them with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

The peptides detected by these techniques show the sample was a dairy product made from milk. The characteristics of the canvas fabric, which was suitable for containing a solid rather than a liquid substance, supported the conclusion that the dairy product was a solid cheese.