Bread stamps
Bread stamps with religious symbols (Egypt, c. 1100-1200) at the British Museum in London, United Kingdom.
Bead stamps have been around since the Roman era and were used for a variety of purposes including as a mark of ownership when baking dough in a communal oven, as a sort of brand name used by professional bakers or as mark of quality.
Bread-stamping sometimes also had a religious background, e.g. marking bread as kosher in Judaism (often using a stamp depicting a menorah). In both Coptic and Greek Orthodox Christianity stamps were also used to mark communion bread. Whether the Star of David and the fish/ichthys on these stamps from Fatamid Egypt point to such a use or just the faith of their owners remains unclear.
According to the description at the museum, the bottom stamp's Arabic inscription can be translated as "eat with enjoyment", resembling the slogans used on our modern day food packaging.
Bread stamps
Bread stamps with religious symbols (Egypt, c. 1100-1200) at the British Museum in London, United Kingdom.
Bead stamps have been around since the Roman era and were used for a variety of purposes including as a mark of ownership when baking dough in a communal oven, as a sort of brand name used by professional bakers or as mark of quality.
Bread-stamping sometimes also had a religious background, e.g. marking bread as kosher in Judaism (often using a stamp depicting a menorah). In both Coptic and Greek Orthodox Christianity stamps were also used to mark communion bread. Whether the Star of David and the fish/ichthys on these stamps from Fatamid Egypt point to such a use or just the faith of their owners remains unclear.
According to the description at the museum, the bottom stamp's Arabic inscription can be translated as "eat with enjoyment", resembling the slogans used on our modern day food packaging.