9 crazy things ancient Egyptians used to do

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It seems that ancient people should definitely be very different from us. Weird practices, strange language and so on. But it is not right. As shown by archeology, we are not as different as it seems.

These several interesting findings from the life of ancient Egyptians are more than convincing.

#1

Archaeologists found some metal beads in an Egyptian tomb. The unique about them is that they started to produce metal in Egypt only 2000 later. Where did these beads come from then? The answer is in the hieroglyph defining ferrum - it is translated as "metal from the sky". Most likely, the beads were made just of a skystone.

#2

Some evidence testifies that ancient Egyptians had been making toothpaste starting from 5000 BC. That was a powder made of different ingredients available at that time (burned eggshells and pumice were among them). Unfortunately, records about how exactly they used this paste haven't reached our times, leaving us to guess.

#3

Despite the fact antibiotics were invented in the 20th century, Egyptiac doctors used moldy breadstuffs as a cure for sordid wounds, and this worked pretty effectively.

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#4

The first police appeared at the times of Middle Kingdom (around 2050 - 1800 BC). It was formed of the most allegiant warriors and foreign mercenaries. Ancient policemen were accompanied by dogs and monkeys. Warriors used to protect temples and squares, magnates and caravans from criminals - same as modern policemen, except for the monkeys.

#5

It's common knowledge that builders of the Great Pyramids were to get 4-5 liters of beer. This speaks for a very well developed brewing. Egypt was among the first nation to start making this small drink.

#6

Ancient Egyptians possessed unique medical knowledge comparable with contemporary medicine. Studying mummies, modern scientists found traces of such operations as heart shunting, organs transplantation and even plastic surgery. Too bad, this knowledge was lost. Who knows what level would the ancient doctors have achieved today?

#7

Door locks were invented in Egypt, China and Mesopotamia. Probably, it was caused by the demand. The more people live side by side, the more reasons emerge to lock the door. These locks were made of wood and essentially were simple locking mechanisms.

#8

In an Egyptiac settlement nearby Cairo a playing room was found with lanes carved in stone and a set of balls, different in size, with a hole in the middle, dated nearly 3200 year BC. The rules were slightly different but still the game remained pretty recognizable.

#9

Eye infections were widespread among Egyptians. To fight them, many means had been used, including pretty doubtful ones. For example, they tried to cure the infection with germicide paint and medicines made of human brain.


Here is what one of the recipes looked like: "Divide a human brain in two parts. One is to be mixed with honey and anointed on the eye in the evening. The second part is to be dried up, sifted and anointed in the morning." Whether it was helpful or not - there is no way to tell.

Do you like ancient history? Was this information new for you? Do you have any other interesting facts about the ancient world to share with us?

We are waiting for your comments!

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