The earliest known hummus recipes appeared in the 13th century. They were recorded in medieval Arabic cookbooks from the Middle East, centuries before hummus became a packaged supermarket staple.
The earliest surviving recipe resembling hummus comes from a 13th-century Syrian cookbook associated with Aleppo and sometimes attributed to the historian Ibn al-Adim. It describes a purée of chickpeas combined with ingredients such as sesame, lemon, and olive oil. Another medieval preparation, hummus kasa, used chickpeas and tahini but included vinegar, herbs, spices, and nuts rather than exactly matching modern hummus.
That distinction matters: the recipes were predecessors, not identical versions of today's standard dip. Modern hummus commonly combines cooked chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil, but the historical recipes often omitted garlic and used vinegar or preserved lemons. Similar recipes also appeared in 14th-century Cairo cookbooks, reinforcing the dish's long Levantine and Egyptian culinary history.