Pyramids, Sphinx, Cleopatra - everyone has heard about it. But in fact, the heritage of Ancient Egypt is far from limited to this
1. For the first time, antibiotics began to be widely used only in the last century. At the same time, the ancient Egyptian doctors knew very well what it was about four thousand years ago. When treating infectious diseases, they used any moldy food, as well as soil.
2. The wealthy Egyptians wore wigs because they cut their hair. The same procedure was done with the children, only leaving them a long braid. And it's not about fashion, so the Egyptians got rid of lice and fleas. But the poor had a hard time, they walked with long hair.
3. Contrary to popular belief, it was not Napoleon's soldiers who "broke off" the nose of the Sphinx. Yes, they did shoot at him with cannons, but by that time the statue was already damaged. Since there is an image of the Sphinx in 1737 (several decades before the French ended up in Egypt), on which it is already without a nose. Only one name of the vandal has survived in history - Saim al-Dahr. An Islamic fanatic tried to destroy the statue in 1378. But it is not known how much damage he did to her.
4. The very first pyramid built in Egypt is the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser. It was erected approximately in the 2600s BC. And unlike the famous Cheops pyramid, it is stepped. At the same time, at first it was surrounded by a wall with fifteen doors, but only one opened.
5. In Egypt they firmly believed that all the pharaohs are the earthly incarnation of the god Horus. And therefore, the supreme power in the country belonged only to men. But one day an opportunity happened - a woman was on the throne. To prevent unrest among the people, the priests came up with a legend, they say, she is the daughter of the god Amon. But at various official ceremonies, Hatshepsut was still present in men's clothing and with a fake beard.
6. The Egyptians were the first to invent spoked wheels. Therefore, their two-wheeled chariots were light and maneuverable. And their main opponents at that time (Hittites) continued to use slow and heavy four-wheeled carts. In this case, the wheels were completely wooden.
7. The first people on earth to wear wedding rings on the ring finger are precisely the Egyptians. This custom was later borrowed from them by the Greeks and the Romans.
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8. Before taking her own life, Cleopatra experienced the effects of several poisons on slaves. She wanted to find the fastest and most painless.
9. The mother in ancient Egypt was the head of the family. Moreover, even the pedigree was kept only on the maternal side.
10. For a long time in Egypt, among rich women there was a fashion for transparent dresses.
11. In Ancient Egypt it was impossible to enter the house (even to your own) with shoes.
12. Pharaohs always kept special servants near them - the bearers of sandals. Although the rulers preferred to walk barefoot, footwear was an indispensable attribute of wealth.
13. During any large-scale feasts, the Egyptians considered it completely normal to rub themselves and others with incense, or start changing clothes in front of everyone.
14. Both men and women in Egypt used green (copper) and black (lead) makeup. The conventional wisdom about fashion or about the healing properties of such "coloring" is wrong. In fact, makeup protected people's faces from the sun's rays.
15. The Egyptians had a developed postal service. They sent letters to the right address with the help of tamed pigeons.
16. It was in ancient Egypt that the world's first official will was drawn up. Its author is one of the sons of Pharaoh Khafre. The document was written around 2601 BC.
17. The ancient Egyptians never celebrated their birthdays. The reason for this is still unknown.
18. Egyptian doctors were advanced not only by the standards of that time, but even by modern ones. They could carry out complex operations and knew the human body perfectly. Organ transplantation, heart bypass surgery, as studies of Egyptologists have shown, all this was not a problem for ancient doctors. All this knowledge, unfortunately, was burnt along with the Library of Alexandria.
19. In life, the Egyptians used three different calendars. At their disposal were: daily agricultural, astronomical and lunar. The first consisted of 365 days and included three seasons of four months. Astronomical was based on observations of Sirius, which "became available" every year at the beginning of the rainy season. And the lunar calendar was kept by the priests, where they indicated the dates of various religious ceremonies.
20. The main food of the Egyptians was bread, and their drink was beer. In the tombs of wealthy people, models of breweries were always placed so that they did not have a shortage of this drink.
21. The Egyptians used special whips made from the tails of giraffes as flywashers.
22. The beginning of Egyptian history is considered to be 3200 BC. At this time, the ruler Menes (sometimes called Narmer) managed to unite the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. In 341 BC. The Egyptian pharaohs were first deposed by the Persian governors, and then by the Greeks from the Ptolemaic dynasty. For example, the same Cleopatra according to her “passport” was Greek and did not know the Egyptian language.
23. The approximate date of the appearance of hieroglyphs is 3000 BC. In total, there are about 700 unique hieroglyphs, which could be either just a letter or a word or even a sentence.
24. The main god in the pantheon of the Egyptians was Ra. But at the same time they worshiped more than a thousand different gods and spirits. For example, a hippopotamus, like a crocodile, were considered divine creatures. Not to mention cats.
25. It is interesting that not only people or cats, but also other animals were subjected to mummification. Archaeologists managed to find a crocodile mummy, whose length exceeded four meters.
26. Although there was no matriarchy in Egyptian society, a woman had a large body of rights. For example, Egyptians could be the first to file for divorce.
27. It was in Egypt that soap, tooth powder, deodorants, combs, and high-heeled shoes were first invented.
28. The Egyptians were the first to learn how to make concrete. For this, they mixed crushed minerals with silt.
29. One of the Egyptian pharaohs acted as a "sponsor" during the voyage of the Phoenicians around Africa.
30. One of the most famous pharaohs - Ramses II - ruled the country for nearly seventy years (1279-1213 BC). During this time, several generations of Egyptians managed to change. Therefore, they sincerely believed that their ruler was an immortal deity.