Monks not only nourished their souls with frequent prayers, but they also had to nourish their bodies with one or two meals a day in the monastic dining room. They were divided into groups of six, each sitting on a circular bench around a table. At one of them sat the abbot with senior monks, while the other tables were also seated according to rank. As the number of monks grew between mid-10th and mid-12th centuries, the neighbouring room, originally a kitchen, was turned into another refectory with more round benches.The Ghazali monks ate well: beef, pork, gazelle meat and poultry were frequent, as well as sorghum and purslane (regla).
