Just read from gizmodo about the discovery of an ancient cheese lol cursed cheese:
The jar containing ancient cheese was buried alongside Ptahmes, the mayor of the sprawling Egyptian city of Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt at the time. The site dates back to the 19th Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. As a political figure, Ptahmes was a big deal; in addition to his mayoral duties, he worked as the military chief of staff and he oversaw the city’s treasury. Upon his death, Ptahmes’ status was elevated to High Priest of the god Amun, an early Egyptian deity. And as the new study points out, he may also have had a thing for cheese.
Nearly 33 centuries of exposure to the strong alkaline desert environment altered the chemical nature of the sample (particularly its fatty content), making analysis of the white substance difficult. To study the alleged cheese, a team led by Enrico Greco of the University of Catania in Italy had to devise an entirely new way of analyzing proteins and identifying peptide markers (short chains of amino acids that signal the presence of specific substances). After dissolving bits of the white mass, Greco’s team isolated and purified protein samples. The proteins were carefully analyzed using mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography. Despite the years of decay, the researchers were still able to identify specific peptide markers, identifying the substance as a type of hard cheese.
Analysis showed that the dairy product was produced by mixing milk from goat, sheep, and, strangely, African buffalo—a species not typically associated with domestic animals kept and milked in modern Africa. Analysis of the canvas cloth showed it was good for holding solid, and not liquid, substances; this cloth was likely used to cover the cheese, or the possibly the top of the jar.
But the researchers also found peptide markers consistent with
Brucella melitensis—a bacterium that causes brucellosis. Not surprisingly, this cheese was unpasteurized, making it a potentially dangerous, albeit tasty, food.