In ancient Egypt, the meal is organized around the "hetep" (offering/satisfaction): bread, beer jars, fruits, and roasted meats are placed before the deity or the deceased, then the priests "overturn" the offering to consume it themselves. No starter-main-dessert: a simultaneous assortment laid on mats or low stone tables, where bread and beer form the foundation (the nourishing duo of all Egypt), surrounded by honey and date sweets, poultry, and Nile vegetables.

Hathor, "lady of the sycamore" and mistress of joy, is linked to sweets: honey (associated with her tears according to some texts), the date, and the sycamore fig perfume her offerings. Sweetness is not a dessert but a mark of love and celebration — the gustatory signature of the goddess of music and drunkenness.