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Abstract In this empirical study, we show that the shape of the distribution of relative prices of basic food and drink items has been extraordinarily robust, from ancient Egypt to modern Chile, whether there be peace and economic stability, war, revolution, depression or hyperinflation. The width of the distribution of log prices does not deviate significantly from a specific value, which would appear to be universal. This property of relative prices has not changed over the past three thousand years, wherever there have been food markets, despite great differences in culture, institutions, and the particular food and drink items consumed.