And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
All manner of bake-meats for Pharaoh - literally, all kinds of food, the work of the baker. [So the Septuagint, pantoon toon genoon oon Pharaoo esthiei, ergon sitopoiou.] The meats were carried to table upon the head in three baskets, one piled upon the other, and in the uppermost the bakemeats. And in crossing the open courts, from the kitchen to the dining rooms, the abstraction of the viands by an eagle, ibis, hawk, or other rapacious bird, was a frequent occurrence in the palaces of Egypt, as it is an everyday incident in the hot countries of the East still. The risk from these carnivorous birds was the greater in the cities of Egypt, that, being held sacred, it was unlawful to destroy them; and they swarmed in such numbers as to be a great annoyance to the people.