Flax and Linen: The Ancient Egyptian Story of Linum

Flax is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, and its story is really two stories braided together. One is about fibre, the stems that become linen cloth. The other is about the seeds, which people have eaten and pressed for oil for a very long time.

Linen and the Nile

Ancient Egypt is famous for linen. Flax grew well in the fertile land along the Nile, and linen was valued for being light, breathable and comfortable in a hot climate. Priests, royalty and ordinary people wore it, and the quality ranged from coarse cloth to very fine fabric.

Linen also had a role in burial customs. The wrappings used in mummification were made of linen strips, and tomb paintings show the stages of flax harvesting and spinning. These images are one reason flax is so strongly linked with Egypt in the popular imagination.

Older than Egypt

Egypt did not invent flax farming. Evidence suggests that people in the Fertile Crescent and nearby regions were using flax thousands of years before the pharaohs. Remains of flax seeds and fibres have been found at many ancient sites across Europe and Asia, and it is believed that the plant was first used for seed and oil before its fibre became a priority.

Because of that, flax is often listed among the earliest domesticated crops. Different varieties were later selected, some for tall fibre-rich stems and others for seed-rich plants, which is why modern fibre flax and seed flax look slightly different.

From field to kitchen

In many cultures, flax seed was ground into flour, mixed into breads, or pressed for oil. Linseed oil, the oil from flax, has been used both as food in some regions and as a finish for wood and paint. Today, the oil sold for eating is labelled differently from the type sold in hardware shops, so never mix them up.

You will still find flax in traditional breads, especially in northern and eastern Europe, where seeded loaves and porridges are common.

Why the seed is eaten ground

Whole flax seeds have a hard shell and often pass through the body untouched. That is why most cooks use ground flax, also called flax meal, when they want the seed in baking, porridge or smoothies. Once ground, it also goes stale faster, so keep it in a sealed container in a cool place, ideally the fridge.

A teaspoon or two stirred into food is a simple way to carry on a very old tradition. If you are pregnant, take medicines, or have a health condition affecting digestion or hormones, ask your doctor before making flax a daily habit.

A seed with a long memory

Flax links the clothes of ancient Egypt to the breakfast table today. Next time you wear a linen shirt or sprinkle ground flax on porridge, you are touching a plant that has travelled with people for many thousands of years.

This article is general information, not medical advice.