The Curds of the Pharaohs

The world’s oldest cheese has been found in an egyptian tomb built in the 13th century BC.

And the 3,200-year-old vintage certainly brings with it the Curse of the Pharoahs – it carries potentially deadly bacteria.

The cheese – thought to have been made with a combination of cow’s milk and milk from either sheep or goats – was buried alongside Ptahmes, a mayor of the ancient egyptian capital of Memphis.

Archaeologists said broken jars recently found at the site included one containing a solidified whitish mass scientists have now identified as cheese. They said the contents were ‘probably the most ancient solid residue of cheese ever found’.

Scanning techniques also revealed the presence of bacteria that cause brucellosis, a potentially deadly disease of livestock that can spread to humans.