Lentils were unearthed in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic layers of Franchthi Cave in Greece (13,000 to 9,500 years ago), in the end-Mesolithic at Mureybet and Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria, and at sites dating to 8000 BC in the area of Jericho.

[2] The Roman cookbook Apicius, compiled in the 1st century AD, includes a recipe for lentil soup with chestnuts.

[4] Lentil soup may include vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, celery, parsley, tomato, pumpkin, ripe plantain and onion.

In Iraqi and Levantine cuisine the soup is seasoned with turmeric and cumin and topped with toasted, thin vermicelli noodles called sha'iriyya (شعيرية), and served with a lemon for squeezing.

[6][7] Lentil soup is recognized as highly nutritious, a good source of protein, dietary fiber, iron and potassium.