Food: A Cultural Culinary History

Considers food as a major catalyst in human history and what food choices reveal about human values and ambitions. Also, the study of food culture in prehistoric times, including the wide-ranging diet of human ancestors and the way they ate.

The transition to agriculture; exploring the factors surrounding the rise of agriculture; how plants and animals were domesticated; why agriculture directly led to civilization; how the menu of foods favored by agricultural societies came about.

Ancient Egypt's prosperity and advantages; a sophisticated food tradition and the first elite cuisine; the archeological evidence of Egypt's food customs; the religious significance of foodstuffs and animals; the components of Egyptian cuisine.

Why practices regarding food were integral to the lives of the ancient Hebrews; exploring prescriptions regarding food in Genesis; considering that the Fall was an act of eating; Hebrew rituals and the meaning of sacrifice; complex food prohibitions.

How the ancient Greeks' need for arable land led to their imperial and mercantile systems; what can be learned about ancient Greek food culture; the role of food in rituals; classical Greek diet components that later influenced the rest of the world.

Alexander's conquests herald an era where previously unconnected cultures mix; tracing the diffusion of foodstuffs over trade networks in the Hellenistic period; studying early dietary regimens based on Galen's famous theory of the body's humors.