10 not-so-pleasant oddities of the ancient Egyptians (11 photos)

Ancient Egypt is a land of sunshine, pyramids and tombs filled with glittering treasures. The pharaohs were considered the children of the gods and themselves ruled the country as gods, basking in luxury and wealth. But behind all this external gloss, as often happens, they hide ordinary, everyday life. Which in the case of Ancient Egypt are also dirty and disgusting. Here are just a few facts from the life of the ancient Egyptians that prove that from today's point of view they were real barbarians.

Wearing your hair on your head was the lot of the poor

The third of the ten Egyptian plagues was an invasion of blood-sucking insects, including midges, bedbugs and lice. It is not known for certain whether this biblical story actually happened, but the fact that all of Ancient Egypt suffered from lice is a fact. Over time, people found the easiest way to rid themselves of this scourge; they simply began to shave their heads bald. This applied to both men and women. Children up to the age of 12 had their head hair shaved regularly and forcibly. Wealthy citizens with high social status usually wore wigs. Those who were more modest still went bald. Well, the poor people wore their own hair, sometimes even very long and braided.

The ancient Egyptians had very unique methods of contraception.

Scientists and historians are still arguing whether condoms were used in antiquity. There is no reliable information about this, although the oldest condoms probably existed 12–15 thousand years ago. In Ancient Egypt, as later in Greece and Rome, having few children was valued, so various methods of contraception were practiced. Mostly, of course, for women, because it was believed that a woman should control her pregnancy herself. Most often, girls used honey for these purposes, although sometimes they prepared some special ointments by mixing tree leaves with crocodile dung. Men dipped their penis in resin or onion juice as contraception.

No less strange were the ways to determine a woman’s ability to have children.

Ancient Egyptian medicine was incredibly advanced for its time. But from the heights of the passing millennia, we understand how savage and barbaric their methods were. Methods for determining a woman’s “fertility” deserve special attention. For example, some doctors rubbed oil all over the patient’s body and told her to lie down until the morning. If she looked “good and fresh” in the morning, then the woman was able to get pregnant. Another, no less interesting way: in the evening the doctor inserted a clove of garlic or a small head of onion into the woman’s vagina, and in the morning checked her breathing. If at the same time he smelled garlic or onions, then everything was in order. The point here is that the ancient Egyptians believed that every hole in a woman’s body was directly connected. And if “the path is clear” from the mouth and down, then she can get pregnant without problems.

Beautiful women were not buried immediately to avoid necrophilia

In ancient Egypt, when a person died, he was embalmed and buried immediately. But this did not apply to noble or simply beautiful women. They were given to the embalmers only on the third or fourth day, when the corpse had already begun to decompose. This was done so that embalmers could not copulate with corpses. And such cases have happened.

Pharaohs were overweight

Images of the ancient Egyptians that have survived to this day show the pharaohs as slender and muscular people. However, the mummies themselves found in the tombs say that this was not always the case. They simply told the artists how to paint. Many written sources indicate that feasts were held every day in the royal palaces. The standard meal in Ancient Egypt included kilograms of meat, buckets of wine and many, many pies. Not surprisingly, the mummies were found to have clogged arteries, bulging bellies, and folds of fat. By the way, the Egyptians already wrote medical treatises on the dangers of obesity in 1500 BC.

Proctologists in Ancient Egypt were called “shepherds of the anus”

The ancient Egyptians paid quite a lot of attention to medicine. Like the modern world, doctors then also had different specializations: there were ophthalmologists, dentists and, of course, proctologists. True, almost their only work was preparing solutions for enemas, but they were proudly called “shepherds of the anus.” The ancient Egyptians (especially the pharaohs) had an interesting relationship with enemas. Due to constant overeating, every month for about three days they “cleaned” their bodies with laxatives and enemas. And then proctologists had plenty of work.

Men in Ancient Egypt also had "menstruation"

Or rather, they thought so. In fact, all the “menstruating” people were sick with schistosomiasis, a dangerous disease caused by tropical parasites. Until now, about 200 million people in the world suffer from this disease, and from 20 to 200 thousand people die from it every year. But in ancient Egypt, schistosomiasis was so common that no one considered it a disease. People simply thought that blood in men's urine was as normal as menstruation in women. If a man in Ancient Egypt peed in blood, it was a great sign that he was ready for fatherhood.

Cosmetics were used by both men and women, and mainly for medical purposes

That famous Egyptian makeup around the eyes was done not only for beauty. When analyzing numerous samples of these cosmetics, modern scientists found that most of them were made based on lead, which increased nitric oxide in skin cells by up to 240%. Importantly, nitric oxide is a key signaling agent in the body that enhances the immune system. In the tropical and swampy areas of the Nile, where eye infections were rampant, this was very important. In addition, makeup protected the skin from direct sunlight.

The ancient Egyptians were not only not shy about nudity, but also tried in every possible way to show off their bodies in public

This especially applies, of course, to noble and wealthy people. Noble Egyptian women wore dresses made of completely transparent material that showed off all body shapes. Simpler people didn’t bother about clothes at all. There was a time when both men and women simply wore short loincloths, which later transformed into skirts. However, in agricultural work everyone could work naked. Children up to a certain age did not wear any clothes at all.

Sandals were the only important, but least favorite attribute of clothing among the Egyptians.

Despite their general disregard for any wardrobe rules, the ancient Egyptians were extremely sensitive to sandals. Most often, for simpler people they were made from reed, for the nobility and pharaohs, of course, from leather. Sandals were part of the set of things an Egyptian needed in the afterlife. And the pharaohs even had a special position - sandal bearer. This man followed Pharaoh everywhere and wore his sandals. It’s just that the ancient Egyptians themselves did not like shoes very much, preferring to walk barefoot. And walking into a house with shoes on was still a terrible act, like spitting in a well, for example.