From covering people in honey to fake facial hair, today we look at Bizarre Things The
Ancient Egyptians Did
Number 11.
“No Flies On Me”-In Ancient Egypt flies were appropriately considered filthy and harbingers
of disease.
One Pharaoh so detested these pests that he went to bizarre lengths in order to keep flies
away from him.
Pepi II, who ruled Egypt’s Old Kingdom during the Sixth Dynasty, ordered his guards to make
sure that he always had several naked servants or slaves coated completely in honey by his
side, so that the flies would stick to them instead of him.
This wasn’t the only strange way in which the Egyptians used honey it is also believed
that they used it as an anti-inflammatory after surgery, ointment for skin conditions,
as eye drops to cure conjunctivitis, and even mixed it with elephant excrement to use in
contraception.
Number 10.
“No Hair, Don’t Care”-The ancient egyptians were also depicted in their art and sculptures
as having short black hair or elegant braids, as is the case of Cleopatra.
This too, is a false representation of the reality of the times.
In reality both the men and women of Egypt were mostly bald, having shaved their heads
in order to prevent hygiene problems such as lice.
The younger men of esteem usually wore only a single braid coming from their head and
the older and younger men usually wore wigs.
These wigs are where we get the images of short black hair and were not necessarily
worn for ornate reasons but for the more practical reasons such as shielding their heads from
the sun.
Number 9.
“Feline Funeral”-If you think you have taken the loss of a pet hard you can probably
relate to the bizarre mourning practices of the Ancient Egyptians when one of their beloved
cats passed away.
The Egyptians revered their cats as gods walking among them, so when Anubis came to guide the
cat’s soul to the underworld they undertook traditions that they believed were fitting
of these feline deities.
The family to who the cat belonged would start their grieving process by shaving their eyebrows,
entering a period of mourning that would last until the eyebrows grew back.
They would then mummify the cat as if it were a fallen pharaoh and bury it with a ceremony
that was much more divine than that of the average Egyptian.
In its grave they would provide the cat with all the things it cherished from this life
such as mice, milk and toys in order for the cat to bring these with it on its journey
to the next life.
Here are some other fun facts about the Egyptians and their feline companions: because they
were sacred, it was illegal to export cats out of the country and pharaohs would even
send the army to stop smugglers or retrieve cats that left Egypt.
It was also illegal to purposely or accidentally cause the untimely demise of cat and would
be punished with the ultimate sentencing allowed by law.
Also, most modern domesticated cat species can be genetically linked to those that roamed
Egypt.
Number 8.
“Got Your Nose”- There have been many bizarre punishment for criminals throughout
history but the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Aktisanes takes the cake with his sentences.
During his reign over the glorious ancient empire any criminal convicted of a crime would
have their nose cut off and subsequently be banished to the aptly named city Rhinocolura
which translates to “city of noseless people”.
Though this may sound brutal it was actually considered a very lenient punishment for this
time period.
Number 7.
“One Hundred Heirs”-- In ancient times polygamy and having dozens of children was
the thing to do, especially among royalty.
One of the most unbelievable examples of this was the family of one of the most famous pharaohs,
Ramses II.
Also known as Ozymandias and Ramses the Great, Ramses the II is considered to be the most
powerful pharaoh who ever lived and is the ruler that is most commonly put forward as
a candidate as the pharaoh in the Bible’s story of Moses.
Ramses left a lasting legacy on Egyptian culture and not just because of his politics and the
public works that were constructed during his time but because of his huge impact on
Egypt’s gene pool.
It is believed that Ramses had at least 8 wives and more just over 100 confirmed children.
Though he outlived most of his descendents, there is no doubt that this insane amount
of children assured that his genetic legacy lived on for centuries.
Ramses had so many children that he is ranked number 8 on the list of historical men with
the most children.
Number 6.
“Job For Everyone”- The ancient Egyptians were ingenious in several aspects of life
and one of the most ingenious aspects of their culture was a way that they found jobs for
those who could be considered outcasts.
Instead of ridiculing or casting out those with dwarfism or gigantism they used these
people’s ability to stand out from a crowd to their advantage.
In order to prevent that precious gold wouldn’t be stolen by the workers assigned to the tasks
of collecting, guarding and using it, they used people with dwarfism and gigantism as
gold workers.
This not only gave these people jobs in a world that mainly valued physical labor, but
it assured that if they tried to steal they wouldn’t be able to hide in groups of people.
Adside from easily finding jobs in Egypt’s gold industry, dwarfs and pygmies were revered
as people that had special gifts endowed on them from the gods, so they were treated favorably
in other aspects of life.
Number 5.
“Pick Your Brain”- You may be fairly familiar with the Egyptians practice of mummification
but some of the details of the process are bizarre to say the least.
Because of the fact that Egyptians believed the heart, not the brain, was the source of
thinking, they considered the brain a waste organ.
So when it came time for a body to be mummified they would take the brain out through the
nose and basically throw it in the trash.
This was usually the first step in the mummification process and would be followed by removing
all the internal organs.
Unlike the brain, they valued these organs and placed them in special canopic jars after
dehydrating them, which would be buried alongside the mummy.
The only organ that they put back in the body after the drying out process would be the
heart, after they thoroughly rinsed the inside of the body out with wine and spices.
One can only hope that they made sure these mummies-to-be completely shuffled off this
mortal coil before the deep nose-picking started.
Number 4.
“Phat Pharaoh”- If you close your eyes and picture the pharaohs of ancient Egypt
you probably picture them as being slender and toned as they are portrayed in movies
and in artwork from their time, but this is mostly incorrect.
In reality, the pharaohs were incredibly unhealthy gluttons who enjoyed their kingly lifestyles
to the point of excess.
Scientists have studied the remains of the ancient royalty and found that many of them
suffered from obesity and the problems that come with it such as diabetes and heart disease.
This is probably due to their constant feasting on foods that are high in sugar and saturated
fats as well as their love of beer.
The pharaohs also rarely had to engage in any strenuous physical activity as everything
was done by their slaves or servants.
When examining the remains of the renowned Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, researchers found
that she was likely obese, balding and suffering from diabetes.
This is contrary to the image of her depicted in statues and other artwork.
It appears that even the pharaohs were very image-conscious and made sure that they would
be seen as perfect-bodied gods to those who came after them.
Number 3.
"Fake Beards"- In the early days of Ancient Egypt facial
hair was common and even early rulers were depicted with beards and mustaches.
Over time, shaving became fashionable and also fit in with the Egyptian obsession with
hygeine as hair was associated with uncleanliness.
Facial hair became seen as barbaric and an attribute of foreigners.
Yet, strangely, at the same time beards were associated with the divine and many representations
of gods showed them with beards.
The pharaohs would wear false beards to represent their status as living gods.
Why exactly gods were shown with beards is not known however the gods were often depicted
with animal heads or other things to differentiate them from ordinary humans.
Even Queen Hatshepsut, a woman, who ruled over Egypt as pharaoh for some 20 years wore
a false beard.
In addition to the beard, in drawings she was shown with large muscles and the body
of a man, not because she was trying to be a man but because these were associated with
power.
Number 2.
“Mad Medicine”- There have been some odd medical practices throughout history mainly
due to people’s understandable ignorance about human anatomy.
The Egyptians were no different, having some strange yet in some cases innovative medical
methods and medicines.
For instance the Egyptian were incredibly concerned about personal hygiene and were
wise in the fact that they knew keeping clean could prevent disease.
Their hygiene didn’t stop at just bathing or shaving their heads they actually invented
the first toothpaste.
Though it’s probably not one you’d find in stores.
This didn’t ancient toothpaste most likely didn’t leave your teeth with that minty
fresh feeling as it was made with ox hooves, ashes, pumice and burnt eggshells.
The Egyptians were somewhat innovative in their understanding of fighting infections
as they used primitive antibiotics to treat wounds in the form of moldy bread.
The mold in bread contains fungi such as penicillium which can help to fight the bad bacteria that
form infections.
Though they likely did not know the exact reason that the mold helped to fight off infection,
they were the first peoples in recorded history to use fungus as an antibiotic.
Only in ancient history could you find a civilization that could put forth so much innovation and
yet still practice forms of healing that make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Take for instance the ancient egyptians cure for wetting the bed.
All a sufferer had to do to cure this unfortunate affliction was to wear bag full of mouse bones
around their neck while they slept.
The crazy thing is, this might have technically worked as a lot of bed-wetting is caused by
psychological factors.
Number 1.
“Will Work For Beer”- There has long been a misconception about who exactly built the
pyramids, and no we aren’t talking about aliens, more about what type of worker the
pharaohs enlisted to build their massive tombs.
People have long thought that the pyramids were built by slaves who worked endless days
without pay, being whipped and abused by slave masters who cared little about their health.
Recent research has shown that this was not the case at all.
In fact, the workers who built the pyramids actually enjoyed much better lives than that
of the average Egyptian citizen.
They were well fed, guaranteed shelter, had access to the best healthcare of the time
and were paid well for their work.
Even more interestingly is their form of payment: Beer.
Yes, the workers who built the pyramids were paid for their tedious labor with a gallon
of beer a day per worker.
Which makes the construction of iconic wonders even more amazing if you picture most of the
workers being hungover.