Ready, steady, bake! With the new series of The Great British Bake Off starting tonight, take some inspiration from the ancient Egyptians! This model depicting the stages of bread-making is over 4,000 years old. The first stage was to grind the grain (barley or emmer) between a grinding stone and a saddle quern. The flour was then sieved to remove the larger impurities, and then made into dough before being shaped into loaves which were baked in circular ovens. Bread was the staple food of ancient Egypt. It was so important in everyday life that several hieroglyphic signs are of different types of loaf, and the symbol for 'offering' is a loaf of bread on a mat. This model was placed in the tomb of King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (r. 2055–2004 BC) to ensure that he would be provided with bread for eternity http://ow.ly/ThUv303x40N