Very interesting BBC Travel story about re-creating ancient Mesopotamian recipes. Read it here. They include a lamb stew which sounds worth trying.
The only surprising thing, really, is that anyone should be surprised that people living nearly 4000 years ago ate much the same things their modern descendants do. Food is a bedrock of culture — it's transmitted by families, not governments or schools; it reflects not only the traditions of the people but the land and its products; and foods seldom become obsolete. (I say seldom because it does seem that a lot of people in the Old World cheerfully gave up on turnips once they got their hands on potatoes.) Few regimes in history have been so totalitarian as to attempt to control how their subjects cook (though sadly more than a few have managed to prevent their subjects from getting any food at all).
If I do get around to trying the recipe, I'll write up an after-action report. If anyone else cares to tackle it, please share your results!
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