Ovens have existed for over 5,000 years. Back then, however, they were mostly separate buildings or at least structures built outside of houses. They were used to bake a mixture of cultivated grains, milk, and fat into flatbreads. These flatbreads are not comparable to today's bread, as they quickly became rock-hard and then had to be softened again before consumption. The forerunner of our bread was only discovered around 1500 BC. The first ovens looked something like a large beehive. The bread mobile database was added from above, and the oven was fired from below.
During the Roman Empire, there were already huge ovens in which bread was baked daily for thousands of people. Bread was the staple food of the population at that time. Hence the saying "the people need bread (food) and games (entertainment)" to prevent civil unrest. As part of this concept, up to 150,000 citizens were provided with free bread. It was also the Romans who brought the oven to parts of Europe where it was not yet known.
The type of oven used at that time was a stone oven. Its design was roughly dome-shaped. Its heat insulation and retention were optimal. Before baking began, a fire was lit in the oven, and then the embers