Pharaohs in Egypt were treated like gods. They were the rulers of one of the first great civilizations, living in absolute luxury and dominating an empire like the world has never seen. They ate milk and honey, while thousands of people died during the construction of huge statues in their honor. And when their own lives came to an end, the pharaohs were buried so that their bodies were preserved for over 4,000 years. They had absolute power, they enjoyed life like no one else at the time, but at times they clearly went too far.
1. Giant monuments with genitals
Sesostris was one of the greatest military leaders in Egyptian history. He sent warships and troops to every corner of the known world and expanded his kingdom more than anyone in Egyptian history. And after each battle, he celebrated his success by erecting a large column with the image of the genitals. Sesostris left such pillars at the site of every battle. Moreover, Sesostris did it quite amusingly: if the opposing army fought valiantly, then he ordered to engrave the image of a penis on the column. But if the enemy was defeated without the slightest problem, then the image of the vagina was cut out on the column.
2. Washing with urine
The son of Sesostris, Feros was blind. Most likely, it was some kind of congenital disease that he inherited from his father, but the official Egyptian story said that he was cursed by offending the gods. Ten years after Feros went blind, the oracle told him that he could get his sight back. All Feros had to do was flush her eyes with the urine of a woman who had never slept with anyone other than her husband. Feros tried this with the help of his wife, but it didn't work. He was still blind, and a series of questions arose for his wife. After that, Feros made all the women in the city take turns urinating into a pot and splashing urine in his eyes. After many dozens of women, a miracle happened - sight returned. As a result, Feros immediately married this woman, and ordered his previous wife to be burned.
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3. A city built on broken backs
Akhenaten completely changed Egypt. Before he ascended the throne, the Egyptians had many gods, but Akhenaten forbade belief in all gods except one: Aton, the sun god. He also built a whole new city, Amarna, in honor of his god. 20,000 people were involved in the construction of the city. Based on the bones found at the local city cemetery, scientists determined that more than two-thirds of these workers broke at least one bone during construction, and a third of people had a spinal fracture. And it was all in vain. As soon as Akhenaten died, everything he did was destroyed, and his name was erased from the history of Egypt.
4. Fake beard
Hatshepsut was one of the few women who ruled Egypt. Hatshepsut became famous for building some of Egypt's greatest wonders, but it was not easy for her. Egypt may have been a little more progressive than other countries around it, but women were still not treated as equals in this country. Therefore, it was very difficult for a woman to rule Egypt. Unsurprisingly, Hatshepsut ordered her men to portray her as a man. In all the paintings, she was painted with relief muscles and a thick beard. She called herself "the son of Ra" and (according to some historians) wore a fake beard in real life. In the end, her son eventually did everything to "erase" the memory of Hapshesut from history, to hide that the woman was a pharaoh. He did it so wellthat no one knew about its existence until 1903.
5. Smelly diplomacy
Amasis was clearly not the most polite pharaoh to ever sit on the throne of Egypt. He was an alcoholic and kleptomaniac who would steal things from his friends, bring them into his house, and then try to convince friends that these things always belonged to him. He got the throne by force. The previous ruler sent Amasis to suppress the rebellion, but when he came to the rebels, he realized that they had a pretty good chance of winning. Therefore, instead of suppressing the rebellion, he decided to lead it. Amasis sent a declaration of war to Pharaoh in a very extravagant way, lifting his leg, letting go of gases and telling the messenger: "Give Pharaoh everything that is behind me." During his reign, Amasis continued to steal things from those close to him, but now he sent for the oracles to tell them whether he was guilty or not. If the oracle said that the pharaoh was innocent,then he was executed as a swindler.
6. City of Noseless Criminals
Amasis did not last long on the throne. He was either a harsh ruler and was soon overthrown. This time, the revolution was led by a Nubian named Aktisanes. When he came to power, Aktisanes began to fight criminals in a very original way. Every person who committed a crime during his reign had their nose cut off. After that, they were exiled to the city of Rinokolura, whose name literally translated as "the city of cut off noses." It was a very strange city. It was inhabited exclusively by noseless criminals forced to exist in some of the harshest climatic conditions in the country. The water here was polluted, and people lived in houses that they themselves built from pieces of rubble scattered everywhere.
7.100 children from nine wives
Ramses II lived for so long that people began to seriously worry that he would never die. At a time when most of the rulers were killed during the first few years of their reign, Ramses II lived 91 years. During his life, he built more statues and monuments than any of the Egyptian pharaohs. Also, naturally, he had more women than anyone else. By the time of his death, Ramses II had at least 100 children from 9 wives. When he invaded the Hittite kingdom, he refused to sign a peace treaty, unless the eldest daughter of the ruler was given to him as his wife. He also did not "disdain" his daughters, having married at least three of them.
8. Animal hatred
Cambyses was not actually Egyptian, he was a Persian and the son of Cyrus the Great. After his people conquered Egypt, Cambyses was placed at the head of this country. Almost every story that the Egyptians told about Cambyses was related to how he mocked one or another animal. At the very beginning of his reign, he went to Apis - a sacred bull, whom the Egyptians considered a god. Right in front of the priests of Apis, he pulled out a dagger and began stabbing the bull, laughing at them and saying: "Such a god is worthy of the Egyptians!" Moreover, this was done not just to make fun of the Egyptians, he just loved to watch how animals suffer. In his spare time, he often fought between lion cubs and puppies and made his wife watch them tear each other apart.
9. Obsession with pygmies
Pepi II was about six years old when he inherited the throne of Egypt. He was just a small child reigning over a vast kingdom, so it should come as no surprise that his interests were about the same as those of a normal six-year-old boy. Shortly after Pepi II became pharaoh, an explorer named Harkhuf wrote him a letter informing him that he had met a dancing pygmy. Since then, it has become an obsession for Pepi II. Pepi II ordered to immediately drop all business and bring the pygmy to his palace to entertain him with dancing. As a result, the whole expedition delivered the pygmy boy to the pharaoh. When he grew up, he was already so spoiled that he ordered his slaves to strip, smear themselves with honey, and follow him. And this was done so that the Pharaoh was not disturbed by flies.
10. Denial of death
Although the pharaohs were called immortals, they nevertheless died. And while they built pyramids for the afterlife, each pharaoh actually doubted what would happen when he closed his eyes for the last time. When an oracle came to Pharaoh Mikerin, who ruled in the XXVI century BC and said that the ruler had only 6 years to live, Pharaoh was horrified. He did his best to avoid this, determined to deceive the gods. Mikerin believed that you can stop time by making the day endless. After that, every night he lit so many lamps that it seemed that the day was going on in his chambers, and he never slept, arranging feasts at night. And more recently, in the slums of Cairo, a giant statue of Pharaoh Ramses II was found, which has already generated a lot of controversy in scientific community.