The pyramids are the best evidence of the skill and ingenuity of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt. Rising to 139 meters, the Cheops pyramid looks down on the Statue of Liberty - 93 meters and Big Ben - 96 meters. Of course, the pyramids or the Great Sphinx are only part of the heritage of the ancient Egyptians.
Over thousands of years of prosperity, Ancient Egypt became perhaps the most advanced civilization on Earth for that time, and many modern things and objects were completely commonplace for the Egyptians. For example, Egyptian women wore rich jewelry and wigs, men boxed and wrestled as sports, and their children played board games, dolls, and other toys. They also flourished as inventors, and as you'll see in this list of the most amazing Egyptian inventions, their creations changed the world around us, from fashion to agriculture, so much so that we still use them today.
Makeup
Of course, eye makeup may not rank next to the discovery of fire or the wheel as one of the most important discoveries in human history, but it gives the Egyptians a chance to set a record for the invention's longevity. Since they first used eye makeup back in 4000 BC, it has never gone out of style. What's even more impressive is that all modern cosmetics-obsessed cultures still apply eye makeup using virtually the same methods and materials as the Egyptians did thousands of years ago. They used the soot of the mineral galena to create a black ointment known as kohl, which is still extremely popular today. The Egyptians could also create green eye makeup by mixing malachite with galena.
Among the Egyptians, face painting was not limited to women. Social status and appearance went hand in hand. The upper class believed that the more makeup applied, the better. Fashion was only one of the reasons for the use of eyeliner by the Egyptians. They also believed that applying a thick layer of makeup could cure various eye diseases and even keep the wearer of luxurious makeup from falling victim to the evil eye.
Although eye makeup gave the Egyptians a look that stunned the imagination of the people of the time, they did not stop there, developing all types of cosmetics - from blush made from tinted clay to nail polish made from henna. Moreover, they created perfumes from various plants and flowers, as well as deodorant made from incense and oatmeal.
Writing
Using drawings to tell stories is nothing new. Rock art has been found in France and Spain dating back to 30,000 BC. But drawings and paintings would not develop into the first writing for thousands of years until the first writing systems developed in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Egyptian writing began with pictographs, the first of which dates back to 6000 BC. Pictograms were simple drawings of the words they represented, but they had limitations in their use. Over time, the Egyptians added other elements to their writing system, including alphabetic symbols that were assigned to specific sounds and a variety of characters, allowing names and abstract ideas to be written down.
Today everyone knows that the Egyptians created hieroglyphs that contained a mixture of alphabetic, syllabic symbols, as well as pictures that represented entire words. Hieroglyphs are found in huge numbers in Egyptian tombs and other public places. The Egyptians created many stories about wars, politics and culture that give us great insight into ancient Egyptian society. Of course, we must not forget to thank the French scientist Jean-François Champollion, who was able to decode a stone covered with hieroglyphs, which marked the end of a 1,500-year period during which Egyptian writing was shrouded in mystery.
Papyrus sheets
No one will deny that the Chinese changed the world forever with the invention of paper around 140 BC, but it must not be forgotten that the Egyptians had developed a remarkable paper substitute from papyrus thousands of years earlier. This tough, reed-like plant grew and continues to grow in the swampy areas surrounding the Nile River. Its tough, fibrous surface was ideal for creating durable sheets of writing material, along with sails, sandals, rugs and other necessities of ancient life. The sheets were often combined into scrolls, which were then filled with religious texts, literary works, and even recordings of music.
The ancient Egyptians kept the papyrus production process a closely guarded secret for a long time, allowing them to trade papyrus sheets throughout the region. Since the process was never documented, it was eventually lost until Dr. Hassan Ragab recreated the method of making papyrus sheets in 1965.
Calendar
In ancient Egypt, the calendar meant the time between feast and famine. Without a calendar, local residents would have no way of knowing when the annual flood of the Nile would begin. Without this knowledge, their entire agricultural system would be compromised.
Their civil calendar was so closely tied to agriculture that the Egyptians divided the year into three main seasons: the flooding of the Nile, the growing crops, and the harvest. Each season had four months divided into 30 days. If we add it all up, we get 360 days a year—slightly less than an actual year. To make up the difference, the Egyptians added five days between the harvest and the flooding season. These five days were designated as religious holidays dedicated to honor the gods.
Plow
While historians are still not entirely sure where exactly the plow originated, evidence suggests that the Egyptians and Sumerians were among the first societies to use it, around 4000 BC. These plows, of course, were imperfect. Most likely built from modified hand tools, the plows were so light and inefficient that they are now called "scratch plows" due to their inability to go deep into the ground. Egyptian wall paintings show four men pulling such a plow across a field - not the best way to spend a day in the scorching Egyptian sun.
Everything changed in 2000 BC, when the Egyptians harnessed oxen to their plows. Early plow designs were tied to the animals' horns, but this was found to affect the oxen's ability to breathe. Later versions consisted of a belt system and were much more efficient. The plow revolutionized agriculture in ancient Egypt and, combined with the constant rhythm of the Nile River's floods, made farming easier for the Egyptians than perhaps for any other human society at the time.
The plow certainly made growing crops much easier, but farming still required backbreaking labor. Egyptian farmers used short hand-held hoes to cultivate the soil in the hot sun all day long. The Egyptians also collected ripe grains in baskets and used scythes to harvest the crop. Perhaps the most ingenious farming tools were pigs and sheep, which the cunning Egyptians drove across the field to trample seeds into the dirt when planting.
Fresh breath
We have the ancient Egyptians to thank for developing a way to hide the unpleasant odors that our mouths sometimes emit. Just as in modern times, bad breath in ancient Egypt was often a symptom of poor dental health. Unlike us, the Egyptians did not subsist on sugary soft drinks and foods that contribute to tooth decay, but the stones they used to grind grains into flour for bread added a lot of grit to the ancient Egyptian diet, which mercilessly wore away tooth enamel, leaving teeth vulnerable to infections.
The Egyptians had specialists to solve many medical problems, but unfortunately they did not have dentists or oral surgeons to treat their deteriorating teeth and gums. Instead, they simply suffered, and scientists who examined the mummies found severely worn teeth and evidence of abscesses even in young Egyptians. To combat the bad odors from their sore mouths, the Egyptians invented the first “mint tablets,” which contained frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon, boiled with honey and formed into granules.
Bowling
In Narmuteos, a village 90 km south of Cairo that dates back to Roman occupation in the second and third centuries AD, archaeologists discovered a site containing a set of strips carved in stone and a collection of balls of various sizes. The grooves are about 4 meters long, 20 centimeters wide, and 10 centimeters deep. In the center there was a square hole with a side size of 12 centimeters.
Unlike modern bowling, in which players aim to knock down pins set at the end of the lane, Egyptian balls were aimed at a hole in the middle. Competitors stood at opposite ends of the lane, trying to hit the central hole with balls of various sizes and, in the process of throwing, also knock the opponent's ball off course.
Shaving and haircut
The Egyptians may have been the first ancient people to take care of their hair. In any case, in their opinion, wearing hair was unhygienic, and the sweltering heat of North Africa made wearing long braids and beards uncomfortable. Thus, they shaved or cut their hair short and shaved their faces regularly. The priests completely shaved their entire bodies every three days. For most of ancient Egyptian history, being clean-shaven was considered fashionable, and being unshaven was considered a sign of low social status.
To this end, the Egyptians invented tools that may have been the first shaving implements - a set of sharp stone blades mounted in wooden handles, later replaced by razors with copper blades. They also invented the profession of barbering. The first hairdressers worked in the homes of wealthy aristocrats, and served ordinary clients outdoors, sitting under shady trees.
However, the presence of facial hair, or at least the appearance of such presence, was highly valued. The Egyptians took sheep's wool and made wigs and false beards from it, which, oddly enough, were sometimes worn by Egyptian queens and pharaohs. False beards came in various shapes to indicate the dignity and social position of their owner. Ordinary citizens wore small beards about 5 cm in length, while the pharaohs wore square beards. Egyptian gods had even more luxurious long beards that were braided.
Door locks
The earliest such devices, created around 4000 BC, were mostly falling pins. These wooden or metal cylinders, which served as locks protruding from the lock shaft, could be manipulated using a tension wrench that pushed them upward from holes in the shaft. Once all the pins were lifted, the shaft could be turned, thereby opening the lock. The tension wrench is the simplest wrench currently known. Its function was only to push the pins up, so even a thin screwdriver could act as a key.
One of the disadvantages of these ancient castles was their size. The largest of them were of such dimensions that the key had to be carried on the shoulders. Despite the primitiveness of the falling pin mechanism and the tension keys used to open them, Egyptian locks were actually more secure than Roman door lock technology.
Dentifrice
As we mentioned earlier, the Egyptians had a lot of dental problems, largely due to the fact that their bread contained sand, which wore away tooth enamel. Due to the lack of dentistry among Egyptians, they made some efforts to keep their teeth clean. Archaeologists have found toothpicks buried next to mummies, apparently intended to clean food debris from the deceased's teeth in the afterlife. Along with the Babylonians, the Egyptians are also credited with inventing the first toothbrushes, which were made from the soaked ends of wooden rods.
But the Egyptians also promoted innovation for oral hygiene, in the form of tooth powder. Early ingredients included grated ox hooves, ash, burnt eggshells, and pumice. Archaeologists have recently discovered a more advanced toothpaste recipe. The guide is written on papyrus that dates back to the Roman occupation in the fourth century AD. The unknown author explains how to mix precise amounts of rock salt, mint, dried iris flower and peppercorns to form a "powder for white and beautiful teeth."
The civilization of Ancient Egypt amazes researchers with its development compared to other states of that time. In addition to the impressive historical and artistic value, there is also the applied value of ancient Egyptian knowledge: the technologies discovered in this ancient kingdom are not forgotten for centuries. Many of them are used by our contemporaries, who do not even suspect that they owe their comfort to their centuries-old heritage. Bowling
90 km south of Cairo, archaeologists discovered an interesting room equipped with paths and storing a large number of balls of various sizes. In the middle of each track (which was 3.9 m long) there was a square hole. The conditions of the ancient game were somewhat different from modern bowling: the goal of the participants was to roll different-sized balls into the hole, while simultaneously trying to throw the enemy’s “guns” off course. 
Breath freshener
Like modern people, the ancient Egyptians sometimes suffered from bad breath. Numerous oral infections contributed to its appearance. Medicine was quite developed in Ancient Egypt, but, alas, dentists had not yet appeared. As a result, people had to endure toothache from year to year. Such conclusions can be drawn from a study of mummies, among which healthy teeth were very rare, even in young people. In order to somehow mask the unhealthy state of the oral cavity and the accompanying odor, the Egyptians invented granules that combined cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh and honey, designed to give a pleasant aroma to the breath. 
Writing
In ancient times, drawings telling about something were a natural thing, but their systematization into a universal language was an invention of Ancient Egypt. The first such symbols appeared around 6000 BC. e., were pictograms representing real objects. Over time, they became more complex with the appearance of elements similar to alphabetic signs and auxiliary details that made it possible to express more and more abstract concepts.
Today, ancient Egyptian civilization is strongly associated with long narratives from hieroglyphs on the walls of the pyramids. Thanks to them, we know so many details about the life of this amazing people. 
Papyrus sheets
Everyone will agree on the absolute significance of the invention of paper in China around 140 BC. e. However, a thousand years earlier, the ancient Egyptians solved this problem no less elegantly, learning to process the fibers of plants that grew in abundance along the banks of the Nile. By using sheets of papyrus for writing, clothing and sails, they reached the cutting edge of industry at the time. Keeping the technology for their creation secret, the Egyptians successfully traded this material throughout the region. 
Calendar
The significance of the calendar for a modern person, who entrusts it with the functions of reminding about holidays and planned visits, is lost in front of its colossal importance for the ancient Egyptian. For the latter, the calendar was a source of knowledge about the floods of the Nile, the changing seasons of the year and other key moments in life. This much-needed item was invented around 1000 BC. e.
The calendar included three seasons: flood, growth and harvest, each of which lasted four 30-day months. The total amount practically turned out to be the familiar sum of 360 days. By adding 5 days each year reserved for religious holidays, the Egyptians brought their system to the modern norm. 
Eye makeup
Since its first use (around 4000 BC), eye makeup has never ceased to be relevant. To create the mascara, beauty experts used a mixture of the mineral galena with soot (to obtain a black color) or with malachite (for a green tint).
Makeup in Ancient Egypt was not an exclusively feminine attribute. Acting as an indicator of status, rimmed eyes distinguished representatives of the noble classes. Also, the Egyptians believed that properly applied makeup would protect against disease and the evil eye. 
Plow
Much evidence indicates that the first device for plowing fields appeared in Egypt around 4000 BC. e. Of course, the first mechanisms were rather weak in their impact on the soil and were created on the basis of hand tools, but they made a huge contribution to the improvement of agriculture. Egyptian agriculture took an even more significant step when around 2000 BC. e. people figured out to use oxen as a driving force for the construction. 
Haircuts and shaving
Hygienic considerations for people living in hot climates formed the first fashion in history for short hairstyles. Long hair and beards were considered a sign of the lower classes. The Egyptians introduced the profession of hairdresser to the world: the masters of this craft used sharpened stone and, with the advent of new technologies, copper blades. And yet, despite the prevailing trends, especially noble people loved to wear wigs and even artificial mustaches, making their appearance especially stylish. 
Door locks
The very first door lock was discovered in Egypt. The design of this mechanism included a 60-centimeter bolt connected to contacts on the door frame. The opening was carried out using a specially selected key. Inserted into the hole, it pressed on the contacts and released the bolt locking the door. The well-thought-out device had only one drawback - excessive massiveness, however, given the security provided by the lock, one could turn a blind eye to this.
Toothpaste
Archaeologists often find toothpicks in ancient Egyptian burial sites. The inhabitants of Ancient Egypt are also credited with using toothbrushes (wooden sticks split at the ends). But the representatives of this wise civilization achieved particular success in creating a substance for dental care. Recently, during excavations, recipes and instructions for the use of a certain “Remedy for Perfect White Teeth” were discovered, including rock salt, mint, dried iris flowers and black pepper.
Of course, the famous Egyptian pyramids are something extraordinary, but the ancient Egyptians were capable of much more...
There is perhaps no more original invention than the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. The original height of the pyramid becomes 481 feet (147 meters) and is significantly greater than the height of such famous monuments as the Statue of Liberty or Big Ben. But the pyramids are only part of the entire heritage of Ancient Egypt.
For thousands of years, the ancient Egyptians prospered, they were perhaps the most advanced civilization the world has ever known, and many of their adaptations are still relevant today. For example, women in Ancient Egypt wore a lot of jewelry and wigs, men played various sports, and children played board games with dolls and other toys. The ancient Egyptians were also great inventors, and as you'll see in this list of the 10 most incredible ancient Egyptian inventions, their creations changed everything from fashion to agriculture so dramatically that their influence is still felt today.
10. Eye makeup
Of course, makeup is not on a par with such important inventions in human history as, for example, fire or the first wheel, but this is also a very important discovery that has never lost its relevance. The Egyptians began wearing eye makeup as early as 4000 BC, and to this day, makeup never goes out of style. Even more impressive is the fact that in modern times, some makeup styles continue to use the same makeup application techniques that were used by the Egyptians thousands of years ago. They combined the soot with a mineral called galena to create a special black eye ointment that is used today as eyeliner. They could also create green eye kohl by combining malachite with galena.
In Ancient Egypt, makeup was not limited to women. Status in society and appearance went hand in hand, so the higher the class, the more makeup was used. But fashion is only one reason why the Egyptians used cosmetics and eyeliner in particular. They also believed that applying a thick layer of paint could cure various eye diseases and even protect against the evil eye.
But the Egyptians did not stop at eye makeup, inventing such new cosmetics as blush made from colored clay or nail polish made from henna. Moreover, the Egyptians invented perfumes from various plants and flowers and deodorants from incense and ordinary porridge.
Of course, the use of drawings to tell stories is a long-known phenomenon, with drawings found in caves in France and Spain dating back to 30,000 BC. But cave paintings were not the first written language, and the first writing systems arose in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Egyptian writing began with pictographs, the first of which date back to 6000 BC. Pictograms were simple descriptions of the words they represented, but they had their drawbacks. Over time, the Egyptians added other elements to their written language, such as alphabet signs that represented certain sounds, allowing the Egyptians to write their names and abstract ideas.
Today, the Egyptians are known for their hieroglyphs, which combine alphabetic characters and ideograms - symbols that represent entire words. They were found both in Egyptian tombs and in other places. What is written tells us stories of war, politics and culture, and gives a general idea of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. Of course, it would be impossible to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs without the Rosetta Stone. It was studied and deciphered by the French scientist Jean-François Champollion, ending the 1500-year period of mystery of Egyptian writing.
No one will deny that the Chinese changed the world forever with the invention of paper around 140 BC, but many people don't know that thousands of years before that, the Egyptians developed a remarkable paper substitute from papyrus. This tough, reed-like plant grew (and continues to grow) in swampy areas near the Nile. Its strong fibrous structure was ideal for creating writing sheets, as well as for sails, sandals, rugs and other objects used by the ancient Egyptians. Once the sheets of papyrus were created, they were often combined into scrolls, which were later filled with religious texts, literature, and even music.
The ancient Egyptians kept the papyrus production process a closely guarded secret for many years, allowing them to trade papyrus sheets throughout the region. Since the process itself was not recorded anywhere, it was eventually lost until Dr. Hassan Ragab found a way to make papyrus sheets himself in 1965.
For many of us, the calendar is very important, reminding us of upcoming dentist appointments and other important appointments, but in ancient Egypt, the calendar could mean the difference between celebration and famine. Without a calendar, the ancient Egyptians had no way of knowing when the next Nile flood would begin. And without such knowledge, their entire agricultural system would be at risk, which is why several thousand years BC the Egyptians began to use a calendar.
Their calendar was so closely tied to agriculture that the Egyptians divided it into three main seasons: flood, growth and harvest. Each season had four months, and each month had 30 days. If you add everything up, you get 360 days - a little less than today's calendar. To make up for this difference, the Egyptians added 5 days between the harvest season and the flood. These five days were designated as a religious holiday, created to honor the children of the gods.
6. Plow
While historians are not entirely sure where the plow originated, evidence suggests that the Egyptians and Sumerians were the first peoples to use it, around 4000 BC. Of course, these instruments were not perfect. Constructed from modified hand tools, the plows were very light and ineffective. In addition, such plows could not dig deep into the ground. Wall paintings illustrate four men pulling a plow across a field together - not the best way to spend time in Egypt's blazing sun.
But everything changed in 2000 BC, when the Egyptians entrusted the work of plows to oxen. The first models were attached to the horns of thinness, but, as it turned out, they prevented the oxen from breathing. Subsequent plow designs used belts and were more efficient. The plow was a great discovery and, together with the constant rhythm of the Nile, made farming much easier for the Egyptians than perhaps for any other people of the time.
The next time you use any breath freshener, you can thank the ancient Egyptians for developing a way to hide unpleasant odors from your mouth. Just as in our time, bad breath in Ancient Egypt was often a symptom of dental disease. Unlike us, the Egyptians certainly didn't consume sugary soft drinks and foods that erode enamel, but the stones they used to grind flour for bread had a lot of sand and gravel in them, which eroded enamel and left teeth vulnerable to infection. .
The Egyptians had many medical specialists, but unfortunately they did not have dentists or oral surgeons to treat teeth and gums. By the way, scientists who examined the mummies found seriously damaged teeth and even abscesses, including in young Egyptians. To combat unpleasant odors from bad teeth and abscesses, the Egyptians invented the first breath fresheners in the form of granules that combined frankincense, myrrh and cinnamon, boiled with honey.
The directors of the comedy film “The Big Lebowski” (1998), where the main scenes are played out in a bowling alley, could have looked for a different plot if not for the ancient Egyptians. At the settlement of Narmotheos, 56 miles (90 km) south of Cairo, which existed in the third and fourth centuries BC during the Roman occupation, archaeologists discovered a room with a set of paths and a collection of balls of various sizes. The walkway measured 13 feet (3.9 m) long, 7.9 inches (20 cm) wide, 3.8 inches (9.6 cm) deep, and in the center of the walkway there was a square-shaped depression with a side of 4.7 inches (11.9 cm).
Unlike modern bowling, where players try to knock down the pins at the end of the lane, ancient Egyptian players tried to hit the center of the lane. The competitors stood on opposite sides and tried to roll balls of different sizes into the depression in the middle of the track and, of course, push the competitor's ball off course in the process.
Perhaps it was the Egyptians who were the first people to attach special importance to their hair. One way or another, they considered hair unhygienic, and the hot climate of their homeland made long braids and beards simply inconvenient. That is why they had short haircuts or shaved their hair altogether. Interestingly, the priests removed hair from the entire body every three days. For most of ancient Egyptian history, close shaving was fashionable, and an unshaven face and body was a sign of low social status.
So the Egyptians invented what may have been the first shaving implement. These were whole sets of sharp stone blades with wooden handles, which were soon replaced by razors with a copper blade. They also invented the profession of hairdressing. The first hairdressers provided haircuts to wealthy aristocrats at home, while ordinary clients were served outside, sitting on benches in the shade of trees.
Oddly enough, the ancient Egyptians considered it attractive to have a beard, if it was an artificial beard, of course. They took hair clippings and sheep's wool and created wigs and beards from them. Interestingly, not only pharaohs, but also Egyptian queens wore artificial beards. These beards were made in various lengths to show the social status of the owner. Commoners wore beards 2 inches (5 cm) long, while the pharaohs had longer beards that were square at the end. The Egyptians depicted their gods with even longer and more luxurious beards, which were collected at the end.
Every time you lock your door at night and slide the door bolt, thank the ancient Egyptians for inventing door locks. The very first of these devices, created approximately 4000 BC, was a set of vertical delay pins and a bolt, and such a lock was opened using a key.
One of the disadvantages of ancient castles was their size. The largest were up to 2 feet (0.6 m) long. But Egyptian locks were much safer than those that the Romans later came up with, their design was much simpler and the Romans used a spring instead of a bolt. Roman locks were hidden in the door, but, compared to Egyptian locks, they were easy to find a key.
As mentioned above, the Egyptians had many problems with their teeth, largely due to the fact that the bread contained sand and gravel, which wore away the enamel. They did not have dentistry, and the Egyptians had to put in some effort to keep their teeth clean. Interestingly, next to the mummies, archaeologists discovered toothpicks left there, apparently so that the Egyptians could extract leftover food from their teeth in the afterlife. Together with the Babylonians, the Egyptians are considered the inventors of toothbrushes, which were frayed tree branches at the end.
The Egyptians also created an innovation for oral hygiene in the form of toothpaste. At first, the paste's ingredients were: ox hoof powder, ash, burnt eggshells and pumice, which contributed to a refreshing morning dental care routine. Archaeologists recently discovered a newer toothpaste recipe and instructions on how to properly brush your teeth, written on papyrus that date back to the fourth century AD. An unknown author explains how to properly mix a certain amount of rock salt, mint, dried iris flower and peppercorns to obtain “powder for white and excellent teeth.”
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Egypt has a glorious past. At one time, Egyptian civilization was the most highly intellectually and technically developed. And there is hardly anyone who will undertake to challenge her achievements. Just a few of the most popular inventions made by the Egyptians will act as a powerful argument against any doubt in any dispute.
1. Eye makeup, 4000 BC e.
Egyptians began actively using eye cosmetics a long time ago. The first so-called eyeshadow palettes appeared back in 5000 BC. e. The most popular colors at that time were green - obtained from malachite (copper dihydroxycarbonate) - and black, obtained from galena (lead ore).
2. Writing system (pictograms), 3200 BC. e.
It consisted of approximately 500 Egyptian hieroglyphs and is considered the first writing system based on graphic illustrations of words and sounds.
3. Papyrus paper, 3000 BC e.
They began to make it from the papyrus plant that grew on the banks of the Nile. The ancient Egyptians were the first to write on the resulting tablets. By 1000 BC. e. papyrus paper began to be exported to Western Asia, since it turned out to be much more convenient to use than clay tablets.
4. 365-day calendar, 4000 BC. e.
The ancient Egyptians originally used a 360-day calendar, which had 12 months of 30 days each. Only in 4000 BC it was decided to add another 5 days. Thanks to this, the lag from the solar calendar was eliminated. In 238 BC, the Egyptians introduced the concept of “leap year.”
5. Plow, 2500 BC e.
On the banks of the Nile there were numerous agricultural lands. The ancient Egyptians grew wheat and various vegetables. To ease their lot, farmers invented the plow. At first, however, the device was moved by a person. But then the Egyptians invented a design that would allow cattle to pull plows.
6. Breath freshener
Many Egyptians had serious dental problems. This happened due to the impressive amount of sand and pathogens on the stones that were used to grind bread and flour. That is why most mummies show traces of large abscesses and empty spaces in the jaws. The ancient people could not cure the problem, but they came up with a way to get rid of bad breath. For this purpose, they used special plates of cinnamon, myrrh, frankincense and honey.
7. Shaving and haircuts
In Ancient Egypt, everyone had their hair cut and shaved - both men and women. Simply, excess hair on the body was considered bad manners. Hairy people were associated with barbarians, while smooth skin indicated a noble, intelligent origin.
8. Door lock, 4000 BC e.
The design consisted of a bolt and several pins. Such a lock, the size of which, by the way, reached half a meter, was opened with a key. Remarkably, the Egyptian invention was much more reliable than the Roman one.
9. Toothbrushes and toothpaste, 5000 BC e.
Although unsuccessfully, the Egyptians still tried to solve their dental problems. To do this, they invented toothbrushes and toothpaste. The latter was prepared from burnt eggshells, powder from bull hooves, ash, and pumice. Instead of brushes, they used wood twigs frayed at the ends.
10. Pens and ink
The Egyptians invented not only papyrus paper, but also pens with ink (which is absolutely logical - otherwise, why would there be paper?). The latter were made from soot, beeswax and vegetable resin.
In Ancient Egypt, both men and women wore them. Representatives of the fair sex used them as a fashion accessory, and strong ones - to cover their bald heads. Wigs were made from human hair and date palm fibers.
12. Heels, 3500 BC e.
It was in 3500 BC that the first images of high-heeled shoes appeared. This was worn by representatives of the nobility - and of all genders. Commoners usually walked barefoot. The only exceptions were butchers - they had to wear high heels so as not to get their feet dirty in pools of blood.
Photo: Wikipedia.org
Already from the beginning of the 3rd century BC. at the court of the Egyptian kings, nobles were known who performed the duties of court doctors and healers - sunu; often they were priests of the lion-headed Sekhmet, a formidable goddess who, sometimes sending incurable diseases, also patronized doctors. Almost every Egyptian doctor necessarily had a specialization, was a gynecologist or osteopath, a professional in the treatment of eye diseases or surgery. Most often, doctors were men, although at least one mention of a female doctor is known from the Old Kingdom. In the 3rd millennium BC, as a study of the skulls of the pyramid builders at Giza showed, court dentists performed complex operations to remove pus from inflammation of the periosteum and performed prosthetics, fastening a denture or loose tooth to an adjacent one with gold wire. At the same time, the first medical texts appeared, serving as a guide for doctors in their daily practice.
The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, dating from the 17th century BC, one of the most famous Egyptian medical texts, appears to have been written by a physician who was directly involved in the construction of the pyramids, attending to the injured workers and construction workers. The text pays most attention to bone fractures, displacements, and other injuries to the body. The author of the text knew the blood circulation system in the body; he determined the condition of the heart by the pulse. Egyptian surgeons dared to undertake quite complex surgical interventions and successfully performed, for example, craniotomy, using opium as an anesthetic. The Kahuna Medical Papyrus (20th century BC) - the most ancient medical scroll known to us - is dedicated to gynecology, various types of female diseases, pregnancy and fetal development. The text mentions contraceptives: "Part of crocodile excrement mixed with sour milk" or injection into the vagina of a mixture of honey and natron - a natural mixture of soda and salt. The Berlin Papyrus (16th century BC), in addition to research on rheumatism and blood vessels, cites the oldest pregnancy test in human history: seeds of barley and wheat should have been planted in the ground and watered daily with a woman’s urine; if both grow evenly, she should give birth, if only barley grows, then there will be a boy, if wheat, then a girl, but if both sprouts die, then the woman is not pregnant. Modern studies have shown that the urine of a non-pregnant woman actually stopped the growth of barley, which indicates the quality of the proposed test.
Almost an encyclopedia on ancient Egyptian medicine and, probably, the best work on the topic: Nunn J. Ancient Egyptian Medicine. - London, 1995. Don’t forget about a good review on the topic in Russian: Stuchevsky I.A. Medicine. Scientific thought in ancient Egypt // Culture of Ancient Egypt. - M., 1976.
Masonry
Pyramid of King Necherikhet Djoser in Saqqara
Photo: Victor Solkin
For the first time in the history of mankind, an architectural structure appeared in Egypt, created from stone, and not from raw brick, which was common in the Middle East in ancient times. This is the first Egyptian pyramid, built in the Saqqara necropolis (south of modern Cairo) in the first half of the 27th century BC. for King Necherikhet (“Divine in the flesh”). Later, in Egyptian tradition, the king was nicknamed Djoser, that is, the Sacred Ancestor, and by this name he became known in history. The author of the grandiose project was Imhotep - the vizier of the king, the priest of the god Ra, the famous creator of the calendar and many important texts, among which was the canon of temple architecture. Imhotep, as a sage to whom the Egyptian tradition of knowledge and culture dates back, was revered on the banks of the Nile until the first centuries of the new era. The creation of Imhotep - a six-step royal pyramid 60 m high - resembled a ladder along which the king was supposed to ascend to heaven. Limestone was used for construction. During the construction process, the shape of the pyramid was not chosen immediately; it was preceded by an architectural search and intermediate structures. Under the pyramid is a royal burial chamber, the ceiling of which was covered with images of sacred stars and a grandiose labyrinth of passages with a total length of more than 6 km. The pyramid was the center of an architectural complex covering an area of 15 hectares, symbolizing Egypt and becoming the prototype for many later famous monuments of the Nile Valley.
The French architect and archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer dedicated his entire life to the pyramid, whose excellent book was translated into Russian: Lauer J.-F. Mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids. - M.: Nauka, 1966. A more modern work by the outstanding American archaeologist Mark Lehner will also be useful: Lehner M. The Complete Pyramids. - Cairo, 1997, reprints.
Encyclopedia
Scribes at work. Relief from the tomb of the military leader Horemheb at Saqqara. XIV century BC
Photo: Victor Solkin
It was in the Egypt of the pharaohs that not only most literary genres were born, but even the concept of an encyclopedia, the lines of which helped the Egyptian to better understand the space around him. One of these scrolls, stored in Moscow at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin and coming from the collection of V.S. Golenishchev, was created by the scribe Amenemope in the 11th century BC. The purpose of the text is indicated by its very title: “The beginning of the teaching for the clarification of thought, the instruction of the ignorant, for the knowledge of everything that exists, what Ptah created, what He wrote down, the heavens with their deeds, the earth, and what is on it, what they vomit up the mountains that are watered by the flood, and everything that the sun illuminates that grows on the earth.” This text contains a listing in thematic order of various words and names, divided by topic: sky, water, earth, different persons, court, offices, professions, social strata of society, tribes and types of humanity. The demotic papyrus of the 2nd century BC, a kind of geographical dictionary kept in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, contains a list of cities of the Nile Delta from west to east, as well as the names of foreign countries. One of the papyri of the museum in Copenhagen preserves "Explanation of the use of (hieroglyphic) signs, explanation of difficulties, revelation of hidden things, explanation of dark places." These scrolls, fragments of which were sometimes even copied onto the walls of temples, were the keys to the civilization of the pharaohs and the heritage of Ancient Egypt.
The outstanding Russian Egyptologist Yu.Ya. Perepelkin wrote about the Egyptian encyclopedia from the Pushkin Museum, which was never published in full (Perepelkin Yu.Ya. On the issue of the emergence of the encyclopedia in the Ancient East // Proceedings of the Institute of Books, Documents and Letters. Volume II: Articles on history of encyclopedias. - L., 1932.) B.A. Turaev and M.A. Korostovtsev wrote a lot about genres and individual works of ancient Egyptian literature.
Cosmetics
Casket with cosmetic accessories of the noble lady Merit. XIV century BC Turin, Egyptian Museum Photo: Vladimir Larchenko Since ancient times, the Egyptians knew a large number of cosmetics, aromatic oils and ointments; Cosmetic vessels have been found in large numbers among other grave goods from even the earliest Egyptian tombs. Since ancient times, green malachite eyeliner - uju - has been popular, which has been popular since the 2nd millennium BC. supplanted by the Khol variety, Mesdemet paint, based on galena. The pigments were mixed with water, gum and sometimes aromatic substances to form a paste and applied with a thin stick. Various shades of ocher were used to make blush and lipstick, and henna was used to color hair if the woman did not wear a wig. In all eras of the existence of ancient Egyptian civilization, oils and fats were widely used - both for the manufacture of perfumes and aromatic cones installed on the wig, and for protecting the skin from the harmful effects of sunlight. Greek physician of the 1st century AD. Dioscorides reported that the Egyptians were very successful in making oils, and in particular oil from lilies, which, according to him, they knew how to make better than all other peoples. Ancient authors also mention that the Egyptians often used cinnamon and myrrh to make oils. Pliny (also in the 1st century AD) indicates that in the Roman world the most valued was the Egyptian ointment from Mendes, which, according to his description, included acorn oil, resin and myrrh, oil from unripe olives, cardamom, sweet rush , honey, wine, balsam seed, galbanum and turpentine resin.
A lot of important information not only about cosmetics, but also about the life of the ancient Egyptians in general is contained in the excellent book by Pierre Montet “Egypt of the Ramesses” (M., 1989, reprints). If you want to dive deep into the world of Egyptian rubs and oils, then you need the work of Lisa Mannich: Manniche L. Egyptian Luxuries. Fragrance, Aromatherapy and Cosmetics in Pharaonic Times. - London, 1999).
Diplomatic correspondence
Photo: Elizaveta Tsareva
Egypt 2nd millennium BC - this is a powerful state, under whose rule was a huge territory from modern southern Turkey in the north and all the way to central Sudan in the south. Numerous military campaigns allowed Egypt to inject into its economy not only cheap labor, but also incredible wealth captured in Asia and Africa. The pharaoh conducted diplomatic correspondence with friendly states, which was carried out in the Akkadian language, which was then international. Accordingly, diplomatic correspondence weighed quite a lot - they were clay tablets covered with cuneiform. At the end of the 19th century, an Egyptian peasant woman found in the ruins of Amarna, ancient Akhetaten, the city that was the capital of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his brilliant wife Nefertiti, hundreds of such tablets, on which, in addition to cuneiform, there were ink marks made by Egyptian scribes. Letters from the pharaoh with the kings of Babylonia, the Hittite kingdom, and the rulers of the cities of Phenicia and Palestine contain a lot of interesting information, ranging from diplomatic marriages, when Asian rulers married their daughters to the pharaoh, up to the curious case when King Amenhotep III sent his friend, the Babylonian, to the room of curiosities king - a hippopotamus mummy. The first peace treaty in human history, signed in the 13th century BC, was also cuneiform, recorded on silver tablets. Egyptian king Ramesses II and the ruler of the kingdom of Hatti (modern southern Türkiye) Hattusili III. The rulers guaranteed each other peace and prosperity after long years of war and swore this in the names of the main gods of their countries. A copy of this treaty is depicted on the wall at the UN headquarters in New York.
This is a rare case when an excellent work on a topic is published in Russian: Stuchevsky I.A. Interstate relations and diplomacy in the Ancient East. - M., 1987. There is a special chapter in my book about contacts between Egypt and the countries of Asia and Africa in ancient times: Solkin V.V. Egypt. Universe of the Pharaohs. - M., 2014. There are also interesting data in the lecture dedicated to the brilliant ruler Amenhotep III and his world.
Papyrus
Photo: Victor Solkin
The heartwood of swamp reed (Cyperus papyrus) was cut into thin strips, which were then laid on top of each other perpendicularly in two layers, beaten with a wooden hammer and placed under a press. The sticky juice and pressure made it possible to obtain an excellent, slightly yellowish writing material, small sheets of which could be glued together into huge scrolls. The oldest papyrus was found in the tomb of Hemak, the head of the palace of the king of the 1st dynasty Dena (mid-29th century BC). Huge scrolls have been preserved from later eras: for example, the Great Harris Papyrus, on which the political will of Pharaoh Ramses III (12th century BC) is recorded, has a length of 42 meters. The name of the material itself comes from the ancient Egyptian pa per-aa -"one that (belongs to) the royal house." Indeed, the material was very expensive; Often the unnecessary text was washed off the scroll and another was written on it. Fortunately, the soot ink did not completely wash off, and using modern technology, it is possible to read multiple layers from a single scroll - a palimpsest. Many of the texts of the 2nd–1st millennia BC, especially funeral texts, were decorated with colorful vignettes, which made some scrolls genuine masterpieces of fine art. Papyrus was the main writing material throughout the Mediterranean until the early Middle Ages. Alas, pollution of the Nile in the 20th century destroyed the papyrus thickets, which were returned to Egypt in the 1980s by replanting plantations from Sudan.
What to see
A lecture about the famous Egyptian “Book of the Dead” and what masterpieces of papyrus graphics were born in the temple workshops of Ancient Egypt.
Mummification
Mummy of Queen Teye (14th century BC), at the time of discovery in 1898 Photo: Victor Lore Archive, University of Milan
The art of embalming originated at the dawn of Egyptian history. In the graves of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, long before the creation of the pharaonic state, the body of the deceased was perfectly preserved thanks to the desert sand, which dried the remains, losing more than three-quarters of their weight. Gradually the funeral ritual improved. From approximately the 26th century BC. Innards that contributed to decomposition began to be removed from the body. Later, the body wrapped in shrouds began to be covered with a layer of plaster and painted, trying to display the portrait features of the deceased. Seeing all the imperfections of this method, Egyptian embalmers continued their search until they settled on natron. Unfortunately, not a single complete description of the embalming process, which was considered a particularly sacred art, has survived; only fragments of such texts are known, showing that it was a dramatic ritual in which priests portrayed the gods. The mummification ritual most often lasted 70 days - this is how long the star Sirius, the heavenly incarnation of the goddess Isis, is not visible in the sky. Faithful wife and sister, Isis, together with the jackal-headed god Anubis, the patron of necropolises and embalming, created, according to legend, the first mummy from the body of her murdered husband - the fertility god Osiris, who was reborn, trampling death.
The process of the funeral ritual was supposed to identify the deceased with Osiris and grant him eternal life in another world. All the work on making mummies was supervised by a priest depicting Anubis. The opening of the abdominal cavity was done with a ritual flint knife. Then the body was placed on a special bed and began to be treated with natron. The dried remains were treated with several types of resins and oils. The entrails removed from the body were washed, treated with oils and, wrapped individually in shrouds, placed in four vessels, traditionally called canopic jars. To prevent the mummy from becoming deformed, the body was stuffed with linen soaked in resins, natron, onions and peppers. The skin was anointed with wine, milk, oil, wax, incense and, again, natron, and the incision in the abdominal cavity was “sealed” with a wax or metal plate decorated with magical symbols protecting the deceased. Finally, the entire body was covered with a thin layer of hot liquid resin, painted with red or yellow ocher, or, as was popular in Greco-Roman times, decorated with leaves of thin gold foil. During the last fifteen days of mummification, the body was carefully wrapped in linen shrouds, between which numerous amulets were placed.
An excellent book by François Jeannot has been translated into Russian: Jeannot F. Mummies of the Pharaohs. Immortality in Ancient Egypt. - M., 2014, - which, above all, will impress you with fantastic illustrations. It is worth noting the excellent English-language work: Dodson A., Ikram S. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt. Equipping the Dead for Eternity. - Cairo, 1998. The famous film by Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz “Pharaoh”, filmed in 1966 based on the novel of the same name by Boleslaw Prus, will allow you to imagine the embalming process, depicted very close to the original.
Where to see artifacts of Ancient Egypt in Russia?
Photo: Sergey Kupriyanov
These days mark the 200th anniversary of the oldest collection of ancient Egyptian art in Russia. A unique collection of monuments from the 20th–3rd centuries BC. stored in the Voronezh Regional Art Museum named after I.N. Kramskoy; its core was the antiquities acquired on the banks of the Nile in 1815 by the Dorpat nobleman Otto Friedrich von Richter, and gifts from the Khedive - the ruler of Egypt, who presented Emperor Alexander III with amazing sarcophagi and objects found in Thebes, in the secret tomb of the priests and priestesses of the god Amun in Bab -el-Ghazus.
The intelligentsia of the city of Voronezh, where the collection was transported in 1915 due to the threat of an approaching front, together with the evacuated Dorpat University, saved these masterpieces several times. During the First World War, things were saved in Voronezh itself; In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, Voronezh residents evacuated the best monuments to Omsk, then, doing the almost impossible, so that the monuments - contemporaries of the great pharaohs, the pride of the city museum - returned to their hometown.
On the occasion of the anniversary - October 1, 2015 - the Voronezh Museum opens a new Egyptian exhibition with the support of Moscow Egyptologists and the capital's M.A. Voloshin Library of the Central Library of the Central Administrative District. The funds needed to create a new, relevant exhibition were collected by concerned Russians who learned that the oldest Egyptian collection in the country did not receive support from the state or specialized funds. Many monuments, raised from storage, will appear before the public for the first time in many decades.