Egypt was one of the earliest cultures to start keeping extensive records for future generations. Their monuments like the Great Pyramids of Giza remain to impress and awe us to this day. However, just because we have made many important finds throughout history doesn’t mean every last secret of ancient Egypt has been exhausted. In fact, in just the past few years, we have uncovered impressive finds which give us even more knowledge into the lives of the Egyptians of the past.

10 Iron From Meteorites

In the northern Egyptian city of Gerzeh in 1911, archaeologists found a tomb that contained nine beads that appeared to be made of iron. The only problem is that they were dated from 2,000 years before Egypt had the capability to smelt iron. Since then, historians have puzzled over where the ancient Egyptians either found iron or learned to create it so early in their history.

The Egyptian hieroglyphics for iron literally translate to “metal from heaven,” which gives a pretty good clue as to its origins. Because of the rarity of the metal, it was mainly associated with wealth and power. It was mainly crafted into jewelry and trinkets for royalty rather than weapons as it was later used.

In the 1980s, chemical analysis showed levels of nickel, a metal associated with meteorites, but levels were too low to confirm. Recently, however, tests have conclusively shown that the iron did indeed come from fallen meteorites which would explain why the metal appeared thousands of years before the Egyptians learned to smelt it.

Interestingly, this would also explain the mystery of King Tut’s dagger. Along with a gold blade, a mysterious dagger apparently made of iron was found at Tutankhamen’s side. Since King Tut died before iron was smelted, it was theorized that his dagger came from fallen meteorites. After testing, this theory was finally proven true.

9 Religious Tattoos

Today, many people will get tattoos for a variety of reasons: to remember a loved one, to express uniqueness, or to show off their interests. But a mummy found in the village of Deir el-Medina shows what the ancient Egyptians may have used them for. Along with other mummies with visible tattoos, the Deir el-Medina mummy sheds light on a possible ancient religious practice.

The Deir el-Medina mummy is a headless, limbless torso that belonged to a woman from between 1300 and 1070 BC who lived in an artisanal village near the Valley of the Kings. Using infrared lights, 30 identifiable tattoos were found on her.

What’s unique about her is that the tattoos appear to have been put on her during her lifetime rather than after death for a religious ritual. She also has the first symbols that have significance rather than abstract designs.

These symbolic designs range from the so-called Wadjet eyes on her neck, shoulders, and back (which represent divine watching from every angle) to cows related to the powerful god Hathor. Other symbols were found on her neck and what remained of her arms. Most likely, they were also related to Hathor and were supposed to be a sort of boost for singing and playing music.

When the discovery of the tops was made, many Egyptologists were stunned because no tattoos of the sort had been found before. Three similar mummies were found, and their markings were most likely for women who wanted to express their religious piety. To get the tattoos would have been test enough because the method used was probably excruciatingly painful.

8 Depiction Of Demons

As far back as 4,000 years ago, Egyptians feared demons and what they would do to these ancient people. Of course, the ancient Egyptians were very religious people and their beliefs were passed down so effectively that we have a good grasp on their deities and practices today. However, when it comes to demons in Egyptian’s minds from the distant past, we were mostly in the dark as to what they imagined them to be—until now.

Two demons found on a coffin from the Middle Kingdom (around 4,500 years ago and the oldest depictions thus far) show exactly what the Egyptians believed were out there and what they would do to you. One named In-tep is a doglike baboon and the other named Chery-benut is an unspecified creature with a human head. They are depicted as two guards of an entrance but what they actually did is unknown.

According to archaeologists, In-tep may have punished intruders who entered sacred spaces by gruesomely decapitating them. Ikenty, a third demon also found on a Middle Kingdom coffin, was depicted as a large bird with a feline head. But an even older depiction found on a Cairo scroll describes it as a demon that could very quickly identify victims and hold them in its inescapable grasp.

Although demons were commonly depicted in Egyptian findings from the New Kingdom (1,000 years after the Middle Kingdom), it shows that belief in evil spirits by the ancient Egyptians occurred far earlier than previously thought by experts.

7 Ancient Heart Disease

Atherosclerosis, the hardening of the coronary arteries, is a common disease in modern populations. Sedentary lifestyles, diets rich in fatty foods, and more contribute to this disease. Seeing as most of its causes were almost nonexistent in the past, it would stand to reason that atherosclerosis would not be common in ancient populations. According to Egyptologists, it was actually a common affliction.

A study of 52 mummies at the National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo showed that 20 of them exhibited signs of calcification, which means that they most likely suffered from atherosclerosis during their lifetimes. As one would expect, those who had the disease had lived the longest. Their ages averaged around 45, and they lived during the 16th century BC.

One of the mummies was royalty: Princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon who lived in Thebes and died in her forties. She is the oldest recognized person to have coronary heart disease. A scan of her arteries showed that enough were clogged to warrant bypass surgery if she were alive today.

However, her diet and that of other ancient Egyptians was the exact opposite of most heart disease victims today: fruit, vegetables, wheat, beer, and lean domesticated meats. So why was heart disease common?

Parasitic infections were frequent in ancient Egypt, and the inflammation would have caused some to become more susceptible to heart disease. Salt for preservation may have been another factor. Finally, in the case of the princess, a diet of luxuries like meat, cheese, and butter could have caused her heart disease like most people today.

6 Egyptian Hair Work

When a woman’s hair starts to thin out today, there are multiple options to fix it. Apparently, women in the past had the same problem because the body of a woman found in the ruined Egyptian city of Amarna had 70 hair extensions similar to those we have today. The extensions were so well done that they were preserved to this day even though the rest of her body decomposed.

The woman’s body wasn’t mummified but remained in fairly good condition considering that she most likely died 3,300 years ago. Although it is believed that the hair extensions were placed on her for burial, evidence suggests that people at the time also used the same extensions in everyday life.

In the cemetery in which the woman was buried, other bodies with interesting hair work were found. One woman with graying hair was actually found to have dyed her hair using the henna plant. She had dyed her hair for the same reason that we do today. She wanted to cover up her gray spots.

All together, there were 28 skeletons with hair still attached, all displaying different hairstyles. The most common was tight braids around the ears. To keep the hair in place after death, some kind of fat was used. It seems to have worked well because the hair is still preserved to this day.

5 The Mummified Fetus

About 100 years ago, a 45-centimeter (17 in) coffin was unearthed in Giza. It was transported to Cambridge University where it was put away and left unchecked for the next century. At the time, all that was made of the bundle inside was that it was just some organs put into the tiny coffin for some unknown reason. However, after researchers found the coffin, they examined the bundle and came to a startling new conclusion.

A CT scan showed that it was actually a fetus and that it had been carefully preserved and buried in its own specially built coffin that contained intricate designs and decorations. Aged just 16–18 weeks, it is the youngest mummy ever found as of mid-2016 and the only academically verified, mummified fetus from this gestational period discovered thus far.

It shows just what lengths the ancient Egyptians would go to honor the dead and especially their young during the first weeks of life. It was most likely a miscarriage, a significant occurrence in ancient Egypt considering the care given to other mummified fetuses that have been discovered. Two mummies found in King Tut’s tomb were buried in individual coffins of their own.

The baby itself was mummified using the same methods as full-size mummies. Its arms were crossed over each other as other mummies are and had no deformations of any kinds. In the words of the museum where the mummy now resides: The efforts taken for the mummy, “coupled with the intricacy of the tiny coffin and its decoration, are clear indications of the importance and time given to this burial in Egyptian society.”

4 Cancer In Egyptians

Like heart disease, cancer has been described by some as a strictly modern disease, and it is true that cancer is mostly absent from historical records. However, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t occur in the ancient world. Discoveries in the past few years have shown that cancer did indeed show up in ancient Egypt, and we still have the proof. Two mummies, male and female, both show signs that they suffered from the disease.

In 2015, a Spanish university found a mummy that showed evidence of deterioration from breast cancer. Authorities now say that the mummy is the oldest victim of breast cancer in history. The 4,200-year-old mummy lived during the sixth pharaonic dynasty, and her bones showed extreme deterioration that is consistent with cancer.

According to the Egyptian antiquities minister: “The study of her remains shows the typical destructive damage provoked by the extension of a breast cancer as a metastasis.” She lived in Elephantine, the southernmost town in ancient Egypt at the time. A 3,000-year-old mummy found in Sudan near Elephantine also showed breast cancer, which suggests that it was in the Nile Valley at the time.

In 2011, a 2,250-year-old male mummy known as M1 was found with the oldest case of prostate cancer in ancient Egypt. Researchers have suggested that the reason cancer wasn’t often found in mummies in the past was simply a matter of available technology. We now have scanners that can detect tumors as small as 1.0 centimeter (0.4 in) that are commonly found on the spine after prostate cancer spreads. Possible causes for cancer in ancient times range from the bitumen used for building boats to smoke from wood-burning chimneys.

3 The Oldest Papyri In The World

In 2011, archaeologist Pierre Tallet made a remarkable discovery in a remote area of Egypt far away from any civilization. Thirty honeycombed caves in a limestone cliff turned out to have been a sort of boat storage depot in ancient Egypt. But even more stunning was a discovery he made a few years later in 2013—a series of papyri written in both hieroglyphics and hieratic (an informal, everyday sort of writing by ancient Egyptians) that are the oldest papyri ever discovered.

Tallet had used instructions given by an Englishman in the 19th century and French pilots in the 1950s to find the caves. The papyri are so old that the author actually wrote about the construction of the Great Pyramids of Giza. They also show that Egypt at the time had a bustling shipping economy that stretched across the entire empire. During the construction of the pyramids, all of Egypt was interconnected to enable the massive project.

The journal of an official named Merer was among the papyri. Apparently, Merer supervised a group of 200 men responsible for crisscrossing ancient Egypt and gathering supplies like food for workers or the massive amounts of copper needed to sand the limestone for the Great Pyramid’s exterior.

They went to Tura, a city on the Nile River famous for its limestone quarries, and actually dealt with Ankh-haf, the half brother of Khufu. The journals of Merer come from the last known years of Khufu’s reign and provide an account of the finishing touches of the first and largest of the pyramids in Giza.

It is the only account we have of the building of the Great Pyramids. According to Zahi Hawass, former chief inspector of the pyramid site, this makes the journals “the greatest discovery in Egypt in the 21st century.”

2 Ancient Egyptian Brain Drain

In 525 BC, Persian King Cambyses marched into the Egyptian capital of Memphis, which began a century-long rule over Egypt by Persia. During this time, most of the great Egyptian minds and artists were taken to Persia to serve the empire there. Meanwhile, back in Egypt, there was a sort of brain drain in which they were left with artists who were not talented enough for the Persians.

This is evident from a coffin discovered in 2014. Although whoever was buried in it is now gone, tests show that the coffin dates from around the time of the Persian occupation. Even more interesting are the designs on the coffin, which can be described as incredibly mediocre. They are so poorly done that some experts initially believed that the coffin was a fake.

However, the coffin was authenticated when it was proven to have the ancient Egyptian pigment known as Egyptian blue. The shoddy work was, in fact, the result of the best Egyptian artisans being taken to work in Persia.

There are a variety of bizarre images on the coffin, including poorly drawn falcons (representative of the god Horus) that appear fishlike, four jars with the heads of the four sons of Horus that are described as “goofy,” the only known image of a bed with the head of the deity Ba, and the goddess Hathor depicted with a snake-shaped crown that is also an oddity in ancient Egypt.

Other clumsy mistakes made by the artist have made experts wonder just how bad the art world in Egypt deteriorated during this period. Ancient texts by Diodoros Siculus, who died in 30 BC, record that all precious metals and artists were removed by Cambyses during the Persian occupation and that King Darius I of Persia reportedly bragged about the Egyptian artisans that he had gathered to build his palace in Susa.

1 Egyptian Sex Spells

In 2016, two papyrus scrolls from the third century AD were deciphered from the Greek in which they were written. Over 1,700 years old, the scrolls had been found a century ago with several scrolls that were held at the University of Oxford in England until recently when they were translated. The subject of the two scrolls was sex spells to make whomever the caster wanted love them in return.

The spells were not exclusive since you could essentially put whatever name you wanted in them to get the desired effects. Apparently, one of the spells invokes the gods to “burn the heart” of a woman until she loved the caster. Another one for females was supposed to allow the caster to “subject” the male to whatever she wanted to force him to do.

The author of the spells is unknown, but they were apparently Gnostic as several Gnostic gods are actually mentioned in the spells. The spells give an interesting insight into the superstitions and beliefs of Egyptians so many centuries ago.

With the men’s spell, the caster was supposed to burn various ingredients in a bathhouse (the list of ingredients didn’t survive the degradation of the scroll) and then write a set of words on the bathhouse walls. The spell then lists magic words and the names of several gods. Finally, the scroll says: “Holy names, inflame in this way and burn the heart of her” and so on until the subject falls in love with the caster.

The spell for females says to inscribe a certain text in a copper plate and then attach it to one of the subject’s possessions. The result was to make him do whatever the caster wanted. Interestingly, the back of the scrolls contained recipes for various potions, including a mixture of honey and bird droppings that was supposed to “promote pleasure.”

Gordon Gora is a struggling author who is desperately trying to make it. He is working on several projects, but until he finishes one, he will write for for his bread and butter. You can write him at [email protected].

Egypt is the land of pyramids and pharaohs, tombs filled with glittering treasures, and powerful men who ruled a country like gods. When we think of ancient Egypt, we think of the wealth and glamour of kings. But we usually leave out the dirty—and disgusting—details.

10 Lice Was So Bad That People Just Gave Up On Hair

Most people shaved their heads in ancient Egypt. We know this from pictures and from records written by people in other countries who looked at Egypt’s fashion choices and puzzled over why Egyptians thought going bald was such a good look.

Today, though, historians are pretty sure they know why. Lice were everywhere in ancient Egypt. The tombs of Egyptian rulers are infested with lice, apparently flooding out from the remains of the bodies.

The ancient Egyptians had lice remedies, but they either didn’t work or weren’t worth the hassle. Most people got so fed up with the nationwide infestation that both men and women shaved every hair clean off their bodies. Women usually wore wigs—hair that could be discarded when it got infested—while some others just went around completely shaved from head to toe.

9 Egyptian Women Were Regularly Flashed By Men In Passing Boats

Catcalling isn’t a new invention. Women today might get frustrated when a man whistles or yells out a lewd comment, but that’s nothing compared to what women in ancient Egypt endured.

The Greek historian Herodotus watched Egyptians get together for a religious festival. Men gathered their families together into boats and sailed toward the city of Bubastis for a deeply spiritual and sacred ceremony.

But going to a sacred ceremony didn’t stop men from flashing girls on the way. According to Herodotus, the men would “cry aloud and jeer at the women” and “pull up their garments” as they passed through the towns. Apparently, the men held onto that distant hope that a girl might get so excited that she’d jump into the water and swim after them.

8 King Tut Was Buried Erect

When Howard Carter found the untouched tomb of King Tutankhamen, he discovered a wealth of treasures and relics the likes of which historians had never seen before. The world was abuzz with writings of every single thing found in there—except for one little detail that usually gets left out.

King Tut’s mummy was buried with an erection. Nobody knows exactly why, but Tut’s the only Egyptian ruler we’ve found so far who insisted on being mummified with a raging hard-on.

There are a lot of theories, some crazier than others. According to one theory, the erection might not really be his. Some people think that his embalmers switched his real member with that of a more impressive donor.

7 Egyptian Birth Control Was Disgusting

The Egyptians had their own ways of practicing planned parenting. For the time, these were amazing innovations that show the ancient Egyptians had an incredible interest in and understanding of medicine. But that doesn’t mean these methods weren’t horribly disgusting.

Women had a few options for birth control, including different mixtures for contraceptives. Some of the nicer ones involved honey, but the braver women mixed tree leaves and crocodile dung. Then the woman had to stick that concoction inside herself—or else deal with nine months of pregnancy.

Men weren’t off the hook, though. They had male contraceptives that weren’t much better. Men had to rub onion juice onto their foreskins to keep themselves from having kids.

It’s not clear how many people actually used these contraceptives. But given the choice, the ancient Egyptians had a strong argument for staying celibate.

6 Beautiful Women Were Left to Decay To Stop Necrophilia

When a man died in Egypt, he was embalmed right away. Women, though, were a different matter. By law, the beautiful and the powerful weren’t sent to embalmers until they had decayed for three or four days. This was because Egyptians didn’t trust the embalmers to keep their hands to themselves.

This wasn’t just paranoia. It was something that the Egyptians learned the hard way. An embalmer left in charge of mummifying a royal body was caught in the act by a coworker. The coworker ratted him out, and the Egyptians learned from their mistakes. After that, Egyptian rulers didn’t even trust their workers with dead women.

5 The Pharaohs Were Horribly Obese

Most drawings of pharaohs show them as thin, muscular people, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The pharaohs ordered their artists to make them look pretty, but the real bodies we’ve found left behind tell a different story. Most members of the Egyptian royalty were massively overweight.

Egyptian rulers had terrible diets. Their priests were ordered to prepare three banquets each day, all overflowing with wine, beef, and cake. They scarfed down food filled with saturated fats all day.

Mummies have been found with clogged arteries, bulging bellies, and massive fat folds. Obesity was a reality for Egyptian pharaohs. They were so familiar with it that the Egyptians were already writing medical texts on the dangers of obesity as early as 1500 BC.

4 The Egyptians Took Laxatives Three Times A Month

Egyptian royals were very concerned about overeating. They might have been fat, but that didn’t mean they wanted to be. Slim, muscular frames were still the beauty standard for Egyptian men. So they did what they had to do to keep themselves healthy.

Most Egyptians would take laxatives three days each month. They used a laxative made of castor oil and then got ready to spend the rest of the day on the toilet. This was before plumbing, of course, so that meant they had to clean up their mess by hand afterward.

There wasn’t a problem that they couldn’t fix with laxatives. Even diarrhea was treated with laxatives. Apparently, the idea was to get the disease out of their bodies by force and get through the whole mess as quickly as possible.

3 Egyptian Proctologists Were Called ‘Shepherds of the Anus’

Medicine was a major part of ancient Egyptian culture, and they made some incredible advances for their time. Like we do today, ancient Egyptians had doctors for every body part of the body. They had dentists for their teeth, optometrists for their eyes, and of course, proctologists for their backsides. Or, to translate the Egyptian word for “proctologists” literally, “shepherds of the anus.”

Proctology had only come so far at the time, so the job of a shepherd of the anus mostly consisted of giving people enemas. Proctologists were specialists who knew exactly how to concoct and administer medications that go up the buttocks and who didn’t really do anything else with their time.

The Egyptians were proud of their enemas. They even had a whole myth behind them. Enemas, they believed, were developed by the god of Thoth and then passed on to man—making Thoth a sort of Prometheus of the anus.

2 Egyptian Fertility Tests Were Disgusting

Egyptians had a whole medical system for giving birth. They had ways to test fertility and pregnancy that were truly advanced for their time—and incredibly weird.

To test fertility, some doctors would rub oil all over a woman’s body and tell her to lie down until the morning. If she looked “fresh and good,” they ruled that she was fertile. If she didn’t, they said she wasn’t fertile.

Others did something a bit weirder. A doctor would put a clove of garlic or an onion inside a woman’s vagina. In the morning, he’d smell her breath. Ancient Egyptians believed that every orifice in a woman’s body was linked and that their mouths had tubes that went all the way down.

If the doctor could smell the garlic, then the tubes were clear and the woman was fertile. But if the doctor couldn’t smell garlic, the tubes were blocked and the woman couldn’t give birth.

1 The Ancient Egyptians Believed That Men Menstruated

Ancient Egypt was plagued with diseases. In particular, schistosomiasis infected nearly everyone there. It’s an illness that makes people feel sick and causes blood in the urine and stool. It was so common that they didn’t even realize it was a disease.

Ancient Egyptians got schistosomiasis so often that they just thought they were menstruating. They accepted that men had to menstruate just like women, and they accepted the blood coming out of their bodies as a normal part of growing up.

Peeing blood was even treated as a bit of a good thing. They believed that a man who menstruated was fertile. To the Egyptians, there was no better sign that a man was ready to father a family than being infected with parasitic worms.

Research of ancient civilization evidently demonstrates that the Egyptians were well ahead of their time. The following cases not only demonstrate the ingenious innovations of a primordial society but their remarkably immaculate and admirable hygiene.

10The Breath Mint

Hesi-Re is credited as being the world’s first dentist, serving under pharaoh Djoser around 1600 BC during the Third Dynasty of Egypt. However, the first evidence of dentistry dates back to 3000 BC with the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, a manual with detailed instructions on how to cure wounds in the mouth.

It was during this time that the dawn of minor dental surgery was performed, slowly paving a way to more complex procedures such as pulling teeth and drilling out cavities. For those whose breath smelled as bad as the armpits of the lower class, honey was combined with boiled herbs and spices, such as cinnamon and myrrh, to form pellets which were then used as breath mints.

9Vermin

The Egyptians had their share of struggles when it came to warding off vermin and parasites. In an effort to rid themselves of head lice, men, women and children would shave their heads, while priests would shave their entire body every other day so that “no lice or any other foul thing may come to be upon them when they minister to the gods.”

While shaving would be temporarily effective, other remedies pertaining to repellents were questionable. For instance, a warm potion of date meal and water was believed to drive away fleas and lice. To keep mice from clothing, cats’ fat would be smeared “on everything possible.” One formula that perhaps was of value was sprinkling a solution of natron water, containing salt, in one’s home to eliminate and repel fleas.

8Circumcision

While anthropologists disagree on the origins of circumcision, it is certain that the ritual was practiced in Egypt as far back as 4000 BC. Mass circumcision ceremonies would take place primarily in the upper classes, being recognized as both a puberty rite as well as for the sake of cleanliness.

Although this comes as no surprise given that circumcision has been practiced by various religions spanning thousands of years, what is surprising is that some anthropologists argue that the procedure arose as a mark of defilement or slavery. In fact, captured warriors in ancient Egypt suffered amputation of digits as well as castration, however, such mutilation would often result in death. Therefore, slaves would be forced to undergo circumcision given that the procedure was viewed as a sufficiently humiliating compromise.

7Deodorant

It’s not hard to imagine that anyone living prior to the 20th century was a tad malodorous, and to date, the struggle continues for many. The Egyptians, who are often credited for developing the first deodorant, tried to find a respite from their pungent odors with the help of a variety of spices such as citrus and cinnamon.

By mixing and grounding numerous fragrances, including the flowering evergreen shrubs of a carob tree, they were able to mold natural deodorant pellets that they stored in their armpits. In addition, they shaved their underarm hair upon realizing that it decreased their harsh scent. The ancient Greeks are said to have copied the Egyptians underarm application of perfume, but it would not be until the late 18th century when sweat glands were discovered that the link between body odor and perspiration was understood.

6Ancient Recipes

Two thousand years before Hesi-Re was credited as being the world’s first dentist, the Egyptians as well as the Babylonians were making their own version of a toothbrush by fraying the ends of twigs. These “toothsticks” were discovered in tombs beside the mummified remains of their owners dating back to 3500 BC. What’s even more astonishing is that 1,500 years prior to this, Egyptians were using a paste to clean their teeth.

In the National Library in Vienna, Austria lies a collection of papyrus documents containing the world’s oldest-known recipe for toothpaste. The formula, which consists of dried iris flower, salt, pepper, and mint, are described as being ahead of its time given that iris is an effective agent against gum disease. Surprisingly, researchers have only recently discovered iris’s beneficial properties validating the innovative brilliance of the ancient Egyptians.

5The Tombs

The attention the Egyptians devoted to their appearance is evident from the contents of their tombs. Dating as far back as the Old Kingdom to the Late Period, hair implements as well as entire cosmetic sets were buried with their rightful owner as if to serve a purpose in the afterlife.

Such accessories, for example, included ornate hairpins and wide-tooth combs made of ivory and silver. Bronze tweezers to shape the eyebrows and gold razors were also found in abundance. Highly polished copper mirrors with intricate elegant handles were placed under the heads of the deceased or in front of their face waiting to be discovered centuries later.

4Preventative Medicine

Preventative medicine was just as important to the Egyptians as every other measure they took to maintain their health and avert the spread of disease. They primarily focused on their diet as a means to improve their wellbeing.

For example, the Egyptians fed their laborers a diet rich in onion, garlic, and radish to secure the production of their magnificent monuments. The benefit is that these vegetables are extremely rich in allistatin, allicin, and raphanin which are powerful antibiotics that aided in the prevention of disease in crowded working conditions. To cure night blindness, doctors fed their patients powdered liver, which is rich in Vitamin A, a vital nutrient for vision.

3Eye Makeup

Alluring eye makeup that has become an epitome of ancient Egyptian glamour served more of a purpose than sheer vanity. Upon analyzing 52 samples from makeup containers preserved in the Louvre museum, scientists found that much of the lead-based substances used in Egyptian cosmetics boosted nitric oxide “by up to 240% in cultured human skin cells.” The importance is that nitric oxide is a key signaling agent in the body, enhancing the immune system to help fight disease. This is of particular importance in tropical marshy areas such as the Nile where eye infections ran rampant.

Researchers noted that two of the compounds recently discovered do not occur naturally. The Egyptians deliberately synthesized and used particular eye cosmetics to help prevent or treat diseases of the eye.

2Prescriptions And Medical Knowledge

According to the Ebers Medical Papyrus, which dates back to 1500 BC, the Egyptians formed a soap-like material using alkaline salts in addition to vegetable and animals fats. This substance was not only used for washing but aided in treating skin diseases as well.

In fact, the Ebers Papyrus includes 877 prescriptions as well as the earliest documented awareness of tumors. This comes as no surprise—the medicine of the ancient Egyptians has been regarded as some of the oldest documented medical records to date. As Homer who remarked in The Odyssey circa 800 BC, “The Egyptians were skilled on medicine more than any other art.”

1Female Physicians

In a time where women were highly objectified and limited in terms of freedom of choice, the Egyptians differed from other societies in that the educated were entitled to study any field of their choosing. Female physicians primarily pursued obstetrics, and this field, in particular, used a variety of concoctions that are not only fascinating but quite puzzling as to how they came about.

For instance, the earliest-known pregnancy test was derived by the Egyptians using barley and emmer (wheat). What they would do is moisten the grains with a sample of urine each day, and if neither the barley nor emmer grew, than that indicated that the woman was not pregnant. The test was quite effective given that urine of non-pregnant women inhibited the growth, a test validated by modern science.

Adam is just a hubcap trying to hold on in the fast lane.

Through most of the known history of ancient Egypt, the population worshiped multiple gods, with private citizens free to worship whatever gods they saw fit within the privacy of their own home. Nevertheless, the comparatively brief period during which the country suddenly turned to monotheism in the form of Atenism is perhaps one of the most intriguing, and mysterious.

Just where did this strange and apparently alien religion come from? Why did it take hold with so little resistance? Why did it vanish so suddenly afterward? And why is it that arguably the most well-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt in our contemporary times, Tutankhamun, is seemingly at the middle of this strange time in one of the most glorious and far-reaching civilizations in all of known history? Here are ten intriguing facts about Aten, Atenism, and why its place in history is quite possibly very important.

10 It (Seemingly) Came Out Of Nowhere

Although we will come back to an intriguing aspect of just where such focus on Aten and Atenism came from later, it would appear that after over almost 2,000 years of steady, entrenched polytheism, such practices were simply wiped away when, in the fifth year of his reign, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten and introduced Atenism.^[1]

In his ninth year, instead of worshiping multiple gods, Akhenaten proclaimed Aten the one and only god. Furthermore, no image was to be made of this god, as it didn’t manifest and could not be “seen.” The only representation of Aten was the flat solar disk—essentially, the Sun.

What is even more interesting is the fact that despite some sparing mentions of Aten in old (even to the ancient Egyptians) writings confirm that it was a solar deity, it was not, as the ancient Egyptians would have understood it, a god. As we will examine later, the origins of this ideology were seemingly always underlying ancient Egyptian culture, although it very likely was only found in certain mystery schools of Heliopolis, whose far-reaching connections are as intriguing as they are entangling.

9 There Was No Apparent Resistance To The Change

Furthermore, as opposed to an expected resistance, such as an attempt to overthrow the pharaoh and his new religion, it would appear, at least from the historical records that remain of the period, that the entire population simply accepted the sweeping changes.^[2]

Despite ancient Egypt having a strong and well-trained army, there were seemingly no attempts whatsoever to overthrow Akhenaten. This was despite Akhenaten moving to a new capital, from Thebes to what is now called Amarna.

What maybe makes this even stranger is that Atenism disappeared so quickly after a period of around two decades. And, equally as suddenly, it was one of the successors to Akhenaten, perhaps one of the most famous pharaohs, who would restore the old ways of Amun-Ra. We will examine that particular pharaoh shortly.

8 The Similarities To Early Abrahamic Religions, Secret Societies, And The Freemasons

While this point could take up entire volumes in its own right, many of the apparent practices of Atenism, particularly as seemingly taught in the mystery schools at Heliopolis, seem to have been a precursor to the three main Abrahamic religions that would follow after, particularly very early Judaism and, in turn, Christianity.^[3]

These claims are perhaps even more convincing when we factor in the mysterious figure of Aper-El (also spelled Aperel), who served as Akhenaten’s chief minister and was, according to discoveries made in his tomb, very likely of early Hebrew/Israelite origin. In fact, the connections to early religions and more specific writings of the Old Testament are as intriguing as they are many.

In a similar vein, especially when we take the studies and investigations of numerous authors into account, much can be said for various secret societies and their customs and origins, perhaps not least the Knights Templar and, in turn, Freemasonry. And even within the teachings of Christianity and the Roman Church throughout Europe, during the thousands of years that followed the events we are discussing here, these secret teachings and discreet connections have continued.

7 The Attempts To Erase Atenism From Ancient Egyptian History

Following its disappearance from the collective psyche of ancient Egypt, there came an apparent attempt to erase all records of Atenism from history. Indeed, much of what we know of the period is from what little remains of it in Egyptian records (essentially what was overlooked or too inaccessible to destroy) or from surrounding civilizations’ records.

As mentioned in the introduction, perhaps the most famous, well-known, and easily recognizable of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs is a mystery himself. Of all the pharaohs during this period, despite being erased from history, his mummy was well-preserved and guarded as opposed to the desecration that was dished out upon the others.

Indeed, it appears that the pharaohs who followed went to great lengths to not only distance themselves from Atenism but, beginning with Horemheb, actively pursued anyone practicing or preaching such ideology, destroyed monuments, and erased inscriptions.^[4]

There has been much speculation as to the reason for this apparently delayed reaction, and it ranges from mundane claims of simple revolution to crazily outlandish assertions of extraterrestrial intervention. As we move into the second half of our list, we’ll see that the answer could have been somewhere in the middle, between those two extremes.

6 The Tutankhamun Connection

Before we get into the potential reasons for this intriguing but bizarre period in ancient Egyptian history, we should perhaps turn our attention back to the famous pharaoh whose reign came during the era but was nevertheless responsible for returning the religious focus back to the way it was before Akhenaten: Tutankhamun.^[5] He is arguably the most well-known of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, certainly to us in the modern age.

Indeed, he would change his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun as a public display of his casting off Atenism. Even so, his name was still removed from official royal records along with the other rulers during this time. Of even further interest is the tomb which sits directly across from that Tutankhamun, only meters away: Tomb 55, also known as KV55.

5 The Mysterious Tomb 55

Quite possibly the most intriguing and mysterious aspect of Atenism is the discovery of the contents of what became known as Tomb 55.^[6] What is particularly strange about it is that it reportedly originally bore the seal of Tutankhamun. (This claim remains unverified.) Tut, of course, was buried nearby, and his tomb wasn’t discovered until a number of years later.

What is even more interesting about Tomb 55 is the notion that it was actually sealed to keep the mummy inside as opposed to keeping rogue thieves and robbers out. Given what we know of the beliefs of the time in curses and the vengeance of the gods, this is an interesting, if ominous detail. Furthermore, the body of the mummy had been purposely desecrated as well as appearing and being displayed as female, despite the fact it was discovered to be male.

4 Statues Of Sekhmet Suddenly Appear Everywhere

During his reign, Amonhotep III erected 600 statues of Sekhmet at the Temple of Mut.^[7] He around 730 statues constructed in total. Why was this?

What is perhaps interesting here is that this particular deity was associated with, among other things, disaster. This, according to some researchers, suggests that something very grave was taking place in ancient Egypt.

Incidentally, according to ancient Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet, the daughter of Ra, had attempted to destroy the world and had to be kept at bay by Ra. This might be very important. Our final points, which we collectively owe to the research and investigative skills of author Graham Phillips, may just provide the missing answers to what is surely the most mysterious period in “known” ancient Egyptian history.

3 A Coincidental Cataclysmic Disaster?

In his book Act Of God, author, researcher, and investigator Graham Phillips argues that the reason for these statues, and indeed the apparent submission of the entire nation in the face of this drastic change, was down to a cataclysmic disaster striking the nation, specifically a huge, and deadly, volcanic eruption from Mount Thera (aka Santorini), the effects of which would have been more than felt in the lands of Egypt.^[8]

Might this have been the reason for accepting such drastic change? Might the skies have darkened as a result of a massive volcanic explosion? Might this prove to be the reason why Akhenaten made the decision to worship Aten—the sun disc?

What is also interesting here is that many of the apparent plagues which hit ancient Egypt, at least according to legends and Biblical writings, could be satisfactorily explained as a consequence of such a natural disaster, including, but certainly not limited to, the darkening of the skies (or the Sun). As these plagues continued, and with the nation coming to the realization that worshiping Aten was not stopping such disasters, a quick conversion back to the old gods was seen as the only way to end the horror.

In short, and given what we know of ancient Egyptian ideology, culture, and thought, there was an unintentional manipulation of a naturally occurring but cataclysmic event that not only ushered in Atenism but then ushered it out again. Our last points, though, are perhaps most spine-tingling of all.

2 The Hyksos And The Exodus

As an intriguing aside to the equally intriguing affair is the presence of a mysterious group of people in the region, the Hyksos. This mysterious group, according to some researchers, were the early Hebrews of the Old Testament and, in turn, part of the apparent bloodline of Jesus. Indeed, some researchers even claim that Jesus may well have been, by family ties and bloodlines, a pharaoh in exile in Jerusalem by the time of His birth, whose wealthy family were very likely from the Heliopolis region. When coming of age, He was likely taught the same teachings as were taught in the mystery schools of the regions thousands of years before His own existence.

Coming back to ancient Egypt, however, it would appear that the Hyksos were also part of the Exodus, which, while historically believed to be a myth, could well have taken place off the back of the outlawing of Atenism. Much of the Old Testament has obvious connections to ancient Egyptian writings. And while history, the Bible, and even the movies claim that the Exodus led by Moses took place during the reign of Ramses II, there is evidence to suggest, much of which we have examined above, that it, in fact, took place a century previously, during the reign of Akhenaten.^[9]

To understand this, we return once again to Graham Phillips.

1 Was Thutmose The Real Moses?

Indeed, Phillips notes that Crown Prince Thutmose should, by rights, have been the next in line for the throne following Amenhotep III.^[10] However, instead, Akhenaten takes charge, and Thutmose seemingly disappears from the picture. (Most historians assume he died.) When we know that an inscription on a wine jar for Akhenaten describes him as the “the true King’s son,” this now begins to sound like the Moses and Ramses II story. Now note that the word “son” in ancient Egyptian is mose. The Greek version of this word, incidentally, is mosis.

If we also believe, then, that Thutmose had to go into exile due to Akhenaten perhaps conspiring to kill him for his rightful place on the throne as the “king’s true son,” and if we also accept that Thutmose had abandoned the “Thut” (“god”) part of his name, then the connections between Mose and Moses are strong.

Might it be, as speculative as this all is, that the three main Abrahamic religions of our contemporary age are directly connected to the religious ideology from the mystery schools of ancient Egypt, preserving, in a bizarre way, the thought process and spirituality of one of the greatest civilizations to ever grace the Earth?

Too often, it might appear as if Egypt’s dunes no longer deliver Giza-grade delights. While it would be extremely difficult to top the famous pyramids, incredible discoveries are still being made. New ruins reveal vast, rich tombs and even when the plague came to Thebes. Even modern places such as Cairo’s museum and slums deliver unexpected historic gems.

10 Bonaparte’s Weapons

Ancient Egypt experienced invasions from several overlords, and Napoleon Bonaparte eventually joined that club. In 1798, he sailed with an armada of over 100 warships and surprised the famous city of Alexandria in the early hours of the morning.

Determined to rule the land of the pharaohs, he fought off the British successfully until the lure of power got the best of him. The English nabbed Egypt while Napoleon was attempting a coup in France.

In 2014, Russian divers found traces of his army near Pharos Island, which is located near Alexandria. The island once held the highest building of the time—a lighthouse that reached 117 meters (384 ft) into the sky.

While exploring the waters of Pharos Island, the team found 18th-century guns, pistols, and even cannons belonging to Bonaparte’s men. The cache is believed to have belonged to the crew aboard the French vessel Le Patriot, which lost in a skirmish with the British at the port of Alexandria.

9 The Unexpected Pyramid

While Egypt is not the most surprising place to find a new pyramid, one pointy wonder appeared unexpectedly. The structure was no longer recognizable since all that remained were some of its lower ruins.

Located inside the Dahshur necropolis south of Cairo, the remains consisted of rooms, alabaster paving blocks, and a stone corridor. The building was misidentified as an early tomb building attempt. A reexamination in 2017 revealed the truth.

It wasn’t merely an elaborate or experimental grave but a pyramid built around 3,700 years ago. The closest pyramid to this newcomer is the well-known Bent Pyramid. The latter was raised around 2600 BC on the orders of King Snefru.

It’s unknown whose body was supposed to be interred within the newly discovered Dahshur pyramid. Its age places it in the 13th dynasty and was most likely meant to be the eternal resting place of a highly born individual. The necropolis that surrounds it was also constructed on the west bank of the Nile, an area reserved for the tombs of royalty.

8 The Thousand Statues

A magnificent moment came for Egyptian archaeologists when they unearthed another tomb on the Nile’s west bank. This one was also within the boundaries of a necropolis. The Dra Abu-el Naga site in Luxor yielded a wealth of artifacts as well as caskets.

When the tomb was opened in 2017, it was discovered to belong to a nobleman who died 3,000 years ago. Named Userhat, he worked as a judge during his lifetime in the New Kingdom era (1500–1000 BC).

The tomb complex consisted of an open courtyard connected to a pair of halls. In one, there were four coffins. When the researchers investigated the second hall, they found six more sarcophagi.

Yet another room was uncovered, and inside was an army of over 1,000 small statues. The diminutive figurines represented the kings from several different dynasties, and more are expected to be found before excavations are completed. In the same room, there was also a wooden mask and the handle of a sarcophagus lid.

7 A New Necropolis

A necropolis (burial ground) is common in Egypt. However, when a new one was located in 2016, it tweaked the area’s history and presented a mystery. Gebel el Silsila was thought to be a quarry camp. The shrine and 42 tombs show that it was a flourishing community with families, religion, and commerce.

This led archaeologists to look for the ruins of homes, but there was no sign of them. There was the necropolis, quarry, statues, and stelae but no village or city. The tombs were discovered when archaeologists tried to reverse flood damage. They were aware of the rock-cut hollows but didn’t find out their exact nature until the Nile silt was being removed.

The double-chambered shrine was the first to be found. Inside one room was a carved solar disc with wings, a powerful protection symbol. The tombs had been looted, and human bones were in disarray.

The burial site appeared to have been for elites. The statues depicted important families from 1543–1189 BC. A scarab amulet displaying Pharaoh Thutmose III’s name also supports the notion that Silsila was far more important than just a quarry.

6 The Bird Dancers

In 2015, this treasure received the honor of being named “one of the 10 most important archaeological discoveries in Egypt.” At first glance, the rock art appears dull and faded. But its worth flows from the fact that it predates the pharaohs.

Almost nothing is known about the Neolithic Nile culture that later became the unique ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists working at Qubbet el-Hawa, a necropolis near Aswan, found images dating to the fourth millennium BC. They survived the eons because they were carved and not painted.

The style was interesting. Instead of lines, tiny dots formed the outlines of a dancer and an archer stalking an ostrich. They cannot be seen unless the dots are connected. The dancer, shown with arms raised in perhaps encouragement or a blessing for the hunt, wears what looks like a bird mask.

This could be a much sought-after link between the two cultures. Several years ago, similar clay masks and paintings of female dancers with bird masks were found in Hierakonpolis. They also date to the fourth millennium BC.

5 Meteoric Jewelry

Nine metal beads from northern Egypt, the oldest iron artifacts in the world, are from space. A burial ground in Gerzeh produced the tiny items from two different tombs. Grave goods helped to securely date the rare metal to 3200 BC.

Made of meteorite iron, the beads were created by hammering the metal into thin sheets before rolling them into the final form. The tubelike jewelry was highly prized.

Four were strung on a necklace with other valuable minerals such as gold, carnelian, agate, and lapis lazuli. Another three were found on the waist of the same corpse. The remaining two were at the hands of a person buried in another richly furnished grave.

The cemetery was excavated in 1911 and contains the remains of predynastic people who died sometime during the fourth millennium BC. Although the brittle and rough meteoric iron was harder than copper (which was more commonly used at the time), this ancient community already possessed the smelting skills to finely hammer sheets as thin as 1 millimeter (0.04 in) and roll them without causing any fractures.

4 The Third Kingdom

Flinders Petrie uncovered a site in 1902. But for some reason, the world-famous Egyptologist decided not to waste his time on the modest tombs. Had he done so, Petrie would have added another sterling discovery to his career.

In 2014, archaeologists took their spades, headed over to this area of Abydos, and found an unknown king. But this wasn’t just any old pharaoh. The looted body of King Senebkay dates back 3,600 years ago.

The significance is that scholars theorized about a dynasty that existed during that era but had no physical proof for their theories until now. Even more remarkable, it rewrites the long-held belief that Egypt only had two kingdoms before its unification.

In the central territory between the northern and southern kingdoms, another one existed and it was controlled by Senebkay’s dynasty around 1600 BC. What role this lost state played is unknown, but it will be interesting to find out with whom it was allied or whether it acted like a buffer between the other two.

Archaeologists remain hopeful that the remaining tombs will turn up more royalty and missing history.

3 Plague Of Cyprian

A grisly find occurred during the 1997–2012 excavations of Luxor. A team working at the funerary complex of Harwa and Akhimenru, once used by the ancient people of Thebes, discovered a human disposal site.

Three kilns at the complex produced massive amounts of lime, a disinfectant in olden times. There were bodies covered with lime and the remains of a bonfire with skeletons. The fire was fed the victims of a plague so horrific that the writer Saint Cyprian thought the end of the world was near.

Pottery dates the complex to the third century AD when a plague swept through the Roman Empire and decimated populations everywhere, Egypt included. Cyprian was a bishop of Carthage and described the harrowing sickness that occurred between AD 250–271. Symptoms included persistent vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, mouth sores, and rotting extremities.

The monument was meant to receive two grand stewards, Harwa and Akhimenru, but was used as an emergency funeral parlor instead. Examination of the victims shows that people died at such a rapid pace that none received burial rites. A strain of measles or smallpox is likely behind what history later called the “Plague of Cyprian.”

2 The Cairo Manuscript

A unique relic was forgotten for years in the storage section of the Egyptian museum in Cairo. The leather book’s modern origins are hazy. The French Institute for Oriental Archaeology purchased it after World War I. The seller was an antiquities dealer, but nobody knows who it was.

Just before the start of World War II, the book was donated to the museum where it lay forgotten until 2015. When it was rediscovered, the roll of leather was in pieces. After careful reconstruction, it turned out to be a 4,000-year-old manuscript brimming with religious spells and color images of sacred and supernatural creatures.

Writing and images adorn both sides of the 2.5-meter-long (8 ft) artifact, and it even predates the infamous Book of the Dead, which is also a collection of rituals. Created between 2300–2000 BC, the Cairo scroll is the oldest leather manuscript from ancient Egypt. Among the new religious texts, the reader is also taught the specifics of how to gain access to a restricted sacred site guarded by powerful magical beings.

1 Slum Statues

In 2017, two statues were found in a Cairo slum. One was the upper half of a life-size man, and the other was a breathtaking colossus measuring 8 meters (26 ft).

Although the smaller man was identified as Pharaoh Seti II, the jury is still out on the identity of the giant. The yet-to-be-named royal was submerged in groundwater and was unfortunately not in one piece. The head was lifted from the mud with a forklift but was incomplete as far as facial features went, obscuring any features that might have helped with a name.

One candidate is Pharaoh Ramses II (r. 1279–1213 BC). The other limestone statue is the upper part of his grandson, and nearby ruins belonged to a temple built by Ramses II.

As one of Egypt’s most revered leaders, one can imagine a massive statue being made in Ramses’s honor. Carved from quartzite, it was found in the slum of Matariya where roads are unpaved and buildings are incomplete.

Ironically, this is where the ancient Egyptians believed that the Sun god created the Earth. The pair of statues requires renovations and further study, but they are already being praised as one of Egypt’s most important discoveries.

If you’ve never been to Egypt, your bucket list really should include a cruise on the Nile, seeing the Pyramids of Giza, and the other archaeological treasures located in Luxor. However, Egypt offers many more memorable exciting experiences including beautiful beaches, pristine coral reefs, and top-rated resort towns. So, to help you flesh out your list, here are the 25 best things to do in Egypt.

25 Best Things To Do In Egypt

1. Visit The Pyramids Of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza are one of the world’s most iconic sights. The Great Pyramid of Giza, a.k.a. the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops, harkens back nearly 5000 years. It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids situated on the Giza plateau near Cairo, Egypt.

Once used as an actual tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu and his numerous queens. It was also surrounded by mastabas for relatives. The Great Pyramid is also the sole remaining structure of all the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 

2. Take A Cruise On The Nile River

Cruise lazily down the famous Nile River, past the ancient temples and tombs. The majority of these cruises sail between Luxor and Aswan, with brief stops at Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna, on the way. You can choose to travel the river via cruise ship, on a smaller wooden ship called a dahabiya, or a little Egyptian sailboat known as a felucca. The cruise ships are most popular but the dahabiya are more romantic. (The latter is also a good choice for small groups.)  

3. Learn Some History In The Grand Egyptian Museum

At press time, the Grand Egyptian Museum is reported to be under construction although “limited tours” are available. It is not going to be officially open until later this year. It will replace the Egyptian Museum. The museum will be the new home of the planet’s biggest collection of Egyptian artifacts including the famous Tutankhamun collection. 

The museum is situated in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Be sure to see the Royal Mummies room and the gold mask and the golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. Allow yourself at least two hours to see everything.

4. Explore Cairo

The historic capital city of Egypt is located on the Nile River, where the arid desert transitions into the delta. Here you will see one of the Islamic world’s largest groupings of historic architecture ranging from 639 to some time in the early 1500s. Be sure to check out Al-Rifa’i Mosque, Salah El-Din Citadel, and Al-Azhar Mosque. Walk down popular Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatima Street, and shop for souvenirs in Khan el-Khalili. Old Cairo highlights include the Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus, Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As, and the Hanging Church.

5. See The Step Pyramid Of Djoser

You will find this pyramid, and others, in the Saqqara necropolis just outside the ancient city of Memphis. Experts note that it is the world’s “oldest stone building complex.” Following 14 years of restorations, it opened to the general public on March 5, 2020.  

In fact, French architect Jean-Philippe Lauer was reportedly the main modern excavator in charge of reconstructing important parts of the complex. Today travelers can go down noticeably narrow stairways and wander through an olden labyrinth of various passageways that may be found ‘neath the Step Pyramid.  

6. Venture Into The Pyramids In Dahshur

Not far from Cairo, sit a pair of Egypt’s oldest pyramids. They’re the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. The ancient Egyptians actually perfected their pyramid-constructing skills here. In fact, it was here that they built the Red Pyramid which was the world’s very first smooth-sided pyramid.  

Touring these pyramids can be adventurous. Indeed, just to get inside, you’ll need to navigate steep, tight tunnels. Once below, you walk through the pyramid’s ancient chambers. Veteran visitors say that in a way, touring these pyramids is more exciting than touring the Pyramids of Giza.

7. Visit The City Of Alexandria

Nestled on the gleaming Mediterranean Sea, Egypt’s second-largest city, Alexandria, is also a well-known tourist destination. While you can take a day trip from Cairo to see this place, some travel writers suggest spending at least a night there. Some of the highlights here in the city of Alexandria include the Alexandria National Museum, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, the Citadel of Qaitbay, the Corniche, the Montazah Palace Gardens, the Serapeum, and the Stanley Bridge.           

8. Kick It In Sharm El-Sheikh

For those travelers not yet in the know, Sharm El-Sheikh is arguably one of the most renowned beach resort towns in all of Egypt. If you need a break from touring temples and tombs, this is a great place to relax. Those in the know suggest trying a bit of scuba diving, chilling at Shark’s Bay, strolling through rad Ras Mohammed National Park, visiting Naama Bay, and picking up some super souvenirs at the Sharm Old Market.

9. Explore Dahab And Taba

These small resort towns nestled near the shining shore of the gorgeous Gulf of Aqaba, on the famous Sinai Peninsula, are truly list-worthy. Once a genuine Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now world-famous for windsurfing and one of the peninsula’s best scuba diving destinations as well. In fact, if you’re an experienced scuba diver, you might want to consider diving in the infamous Blue Hole which is known to many as “The World’s Most Dangerous Diving Site.”

Taba is on the Red Sea Riviera. Specifically, it is across the official border from the city of Eilat in Israel. Naturally, it is quite a busy place in terms of crossing the border. Recommended activities here include swimming in Fjord Bay, exploring Salah El-Din Castle, scuba diving, and taking a fun day trip to the attractive Colored Canyon.  

10. Hike To The Top Of Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai is a world-famous sacred pilgrimage site for Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Egypt. This is where the Old Testament notes that Moses was given the Ten Commandments. Anyone who hikes here starts their trek at the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Saint Catherine’s Monastery. Before dawn, they choose between the challenging Steps of Penitence trail or the wider, easier Camel Path. Either way, the hike to the summit is more than six kilometers in total and you can enjoy seeing the sunrise from the summit.

11. Go Scuba Diving In The Red Sea

As previously noted, Egypt is actually a surprisingly exceptional place to go scuba diving if you know where to go and are the least bit adventurous. Believe it or not, the Red Sea has long been one of the top scuba diving locations on the planet. The water here is usually welcomingly warm and the visibility is excellent. Here you will discover pristine reefs and a number of different shipwrecks to explore as well. Undoubtedly, the Red Sea should be on your scuba diving bucket list too.

12. See Marsa Alam and Hurghada

The resort town of Marsa Alam on the Red Sea is growing in popularity. Some people come here just to see sea turtles on Abu Dabab Beach. It’s also a hot spot for scuba diving, snorkeling, and kitesurfing.  

Also on the Red Sea, just north of Marsa Alam, is Hurghada. Europeans already know this is a popular winter destination. The beaches here are lined with upscale resorts. Recommended activities here include kitesurfing, windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming with the dolphins. You can also visit the Giftun Islands or Luxor.

13. Visit The Valley Of The Kings

The Valley of the Kings is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites. It is also a royal burial ground in Egypt with more than 60 tombs of Egyptian rulers from 1539 to 1075 BC. All the tombs here are exquisitely decorated.  

Only a handful are open to the public. Your main entrance ticket includes eight tombs, three of which you can visit. If you’d care to visit the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti I, and Ramesses V and VI, you will have to pay an extra fee.  

14. Venture Into The Tomb Of Nefertari   

Travel to the famous Valley of the Queens; the official burial site of all the pharaohs’ wives. The tombs here are less grand and smaller in size than those in the previously mentioned Valley of the Kings. There is, however, one noteworthy exception, the tomb of the famous Queen Nefertari. The incredible tomb of Queen Nefertari is actually one of Egypt’s most spectacular. The colors are a lot more vibrant and the degree of detail is more memorable than what you may see anywhere else in Egypt.

15. See The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for more than two decades and was one of the world’s most powerful female rulers. You will find her mortuary temple on Deir el-Bahri’s impressive cliffs. It’s arguably one of the most beautiful temples and architectural achievements in Egypt.

Its colonnaded structure actually tells a story. The Birth Colonnade tells the tale of Hatshepsut’s divine creation. The Punt Colonnade speaks to her travels to Punt and the valuable goods with which she returned. Visit the impressive Temple of Anubis and the Temple of Hathor too.  

16. Check Out The Mortuary Temple Of Ramesses III 

This impressive mortuary temple is located at Medinet Habu on the West Bank of Luxor. It is a large temple complex that is dedicated to Ramesses III. The temple features several courtyards, peristyle hals, and pylons highlighted with well-known reliefs of the Sea People’s defeat during Ramesses III’s reign. This temple has an orthodox design and resembles the neighboring mortuary temple of Ramesses II a.k.a. The Ramesseum.  

17. Be Amazed By The Karnak Temple Complex

Karnak Temple is a popular tourist destination and attracts many visitors every year. It is second only to the Pyramids of Giza in terms of popularity. It is second only to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, this huge Karnak Temple is the world’s largest temple complex.  

For more than two centuries, nearly 30 pharaohs have erected additional buildings, monuments, and temples added to it. Visitors can stroll the walkway lined with striking ram-headed sphinxes, visit Hypostyle Hall, study the reliefs on the pylons, and check out the obelisks of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis I.

18. Explore Luxor Temple

The Luxor Temple is quite similar in appearance to Karnak Temple. Veteran visitors say it has the overall feel of a smaller version but the fact is that this building actually served a much different purpose than a lot of the others in the area of Luxor. It was not dedicated to one specific pharaoh or god. Built in 1400 BC, by Ramesses II and Amenhotep III, it was probably the place where numerous ancient Egyptian kings were officially crowned.

19. Journey To Abydos And Dendera

A day trip from Luxor can take you to the shores of the Nile where you will find two of Egypt’s most well-preserved temple complexes. Abydos is a sacred city that is home to the striking temple of Seti I. Dendera is where you will see The Hathor Temple which some say is one of Egypt’s “most colorful temples.” Indeed, it features incredible hypostyle halls and an exceptionally detailed ceiling. Seeing them both in one day involves hours of driving but there aren’t many tourists even at the peak of the season.

20. See The Temple Of Horus

The temple in Edfu is dedicated to the well-known god Horus and was constructed in the Ptolemaic period somewhere between 237 and 57 BC. Despite being more than 2000 years old, this temple is in excellent condition and the first pylon is almost perfect. You can visit this temple on a drive between Aswan and Luxor or even while you are on certain Nile cruises. Take a good look and you will get a good idea about just how these temples once looked and even how they were first built.  

21. Visit The Temple Of Kom Ombo

The famous Temple of Kom Ombo, in the village of the same name, is a unique temple that was built for two different gods. One-half of the temple complex is dedicated to the falcon-headed god named Horus. The other half is dedicated to the crocodile-headed known as Sobek. Sobek was the god of fertility of the land by the Nile while Horus was the god of healing, kingship, protection, the sky, and the sun. Stop and see it as you drive from Aswan to Luxor, on a cruise, or even a day trip.

22. Travel To The Twin Temples

Abu Simbel is one of Egypt’s most stunning monuments found on the bank of lovely Lake Nasser. This pair of twin temples were constructed by Ramesses II more than 3,000 years ago and have survived the ravages of time. More importantly, following the construction of the massive Aswan High Dam, this entire ancient complex was taken apart, moved to higher ground, and reassembled.  

You can reach the temples on a day trip from either Cairo or Aswan. Driving there is cheaper but takes more time. Flying takes less time but is costlier.

23. Take In The Sights At The Philae Temple

The famous Philae Temple is one of Egypt’s most well-preserved Ptolemaic temples. It was constructed during the Ptolemaic period, between 332 and 30 BC. At least two-thirds of the remaining structures in the complex were built at that time.

The temple was officially dedicated to Isis, but Hathor and Osiris were honored here as well. In 1902 following the erection of the Aswan Old Dam, all of Philae Island, including the temples, was submerged. The temples were painstakingly dismantled and reassembled on the neighboring island of Agilkia in the 1960s. 

24. Brave The White Desert

The wondrous White Desert is an Egyptian national park nestled in the Western Desert in the Sahara. This almost alien landscape is dotted with a number of uniquely shaped, rugged limestone rock formations. In order to reach this place, you will have to rent a four-by-four because it is a rather lengthy drive from the center of Cairo. Most travelers interested in seeing the White Desert sign up for a guided tour which often includes a stop at the Black Desert and the Bahariya Oasis as well.

25. Venture To The Oases In The Western Desert

Get away from the temples, tombs, and busy cities here in the Western Desert. Here you will discover several worthwhile oases replete with freshwater springs and groves of palm trees. The Bahariya Oasis features some small ancient sites and is often a part of tours of the White Desert.

The Fayoum Oasis is south of Cairo, nestled next to the Nile River. The beautiful, remote Siwa Oasis is near the Libyan border and 560 kilometers from Cairo. Visit the waterfalls and man-made lakes at Wadi El Rayan and see all the ancient skeletons of whales, sharks, and other fossils at the fascinating (albeit stark) Valley of the Whales too.

Solving crimes was a lot harder before DNA testing. Detectives today have a whole arsenal of crime scene investigation tools and gadgets to help them prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but it wasn’t always that easy.

Crime investigators have been around for thousands of years. All the way back in ancient Egypt, there were men hired to solve crimes. The Egyptians kept incredibly detailed records about it—and because of that, we have a pretty good idea what it was like to be a detective more than 3,000 years ago.

10 Trained Monkeys Would Attack Thieves

Ideally, a crime would be stopped before it was committed. Most of the police force in ancient Egypt were posted as guards around the cities, keeping an eye on the tombs and the markets to make sure nobody got out of line.

It was a pretty good deterrent. After all, if you got caught breaking the law in ancient Egypt, you might just end the day with an attack monkey on your face.

Guards in ancient Egypt would often have trained animals with them. Most of the time, they were dogs, but more than a few walked around with monkeys on leashes, poised to attack. There’s even a picture of them in action in one servant’s tomb. It shows a thief at a market trying to make his getaway, only to have an attack monkey on a leash tackle his leg, pulling him down to the ground and holding him in place until help arrived.^[1]

9 Snitching Was Mandatory By Law

When the detectives were called in, their jobs weren’t easy. Tracking down a criminal with ancient Egyptian technology can be tough to do without a good witness. So, the Egyptian courts made sure they had a witness by laying out serious penalties for failing to report a crime.^[2]

When Ramses III was assassinated, the police didn’t just round up the people responsible. They rounded up their butlers and servants, as well. They’d had plenty of chances to overhear the conspiracy, the courts ruled, and their failure to report it made them criminals. As punishment, their ears were cut off—since, as far as the courts were concerned, they weren’t making good use of them, anyway.

But you didn’t have to overlook a plot to overthrow the king to get in trouble. Any failure to report a crime carried heavy consequences, and that was a serious motivator.

One man, after hearing his boss for conspiring to rob a tomb, immediately sent a letter ratting him out. In his letter, he made it clear that it was fear of punishment that motivated him, writing: “I report them to my lord, for it were a crime for one like me to hear such words and conceal them.”

8 Ancient Egypt Had Crime Scene Investigators

Most investigations started with somebody ratting someone out. A citizen would get in line outside the court to complain about his neighbor, and if it was a serious enough crime, an investigator would be sent out on the job.

These investigations were surprisingly thorough. They didn’t just draw straws or go off a hunch—they would round up suspects, questions witnesses, investigate the crime scene, and even arrange reenactments to test theories about the crime. They even had detailed records of past accusations they could check to monitor peoples’ criminal histories.

When a tomb was robbed during the reign of Ramses IX, he sent out a team of investigators to check every single tomb in the area, just in case the thieves had broken in anywhere else.^[3] The team found the tunnel that the thieves had used to break in, measured its width and length, and even made educated guesses on the tools they’d used to get in.

Then they went to work rounding up suspects. They checked the city records for people with a knowledge of mining and a criminal history of robbery, brought them in, and started their investigation there.

7 Suspects And Witnesses Were Beaten Until They Talked

When it came time to get answers, though, the detectives didn’t exactly play nice. They just beat people senseless until they confessed.

They were very cavalier about torturing people. In the court records we have today, they very casually talked about it, with one quickly noting that the “examination was held by beating with a double rod.”

Typically, they’d tie the person to a stake and beat his hands and feet until he gave them the answers they wanted.^[4] If he denied all wrongdoing, they’d beat him again—or, as they worded it in one document, the witness would be “further examined with a rod.”

This wasn’t limited to suspects. Sometimes, witnesses who had done nothing wrong would be beaten until they gave their side of the story, especially if they had a reason to protect the accused. There are records of suspects’ sons, slaves, and wives being pulled out of their homes and beaten with a rod until they told the police exactly what they’d seen.

6 Confessions Were Compared To The Evidence

That all might sound barbaric today, but to the Egyptians’ credit, they did realize that beating prisoners could lead to false confessions. That’s why they spent so much time investigating crime scenes. They wanted to make sure these people weren’t just saying anything they wanted to hear.

Criminals’ testimonies would be compared to what they’d found at the crime scenes. Or, if a gang had worked together as a team, they would be separated before they were tortured to make sure their stories were the same.^[5] If all the details matched up, they knew they had the right people.

In one case, a man who had confessed to robbing a tomb was blindfolded and carried out to the valley where the robbery had taken place. Once he was there, the vizier who’d questioned him showed him rows upon rows of tombs. The suspect had to show him which one he had robbed so that they could see if he’d point at the right one.

5 Witnesses Had To Describe How They Would Be Mutilated If They Lied

It would have been easy to lie and feign ignorance, of course, but the consequences for lying were often worse than the consequences for the crime itself. In the case above, the coppersmith was warned that if the investigators were satisfied that he had lied, his nose and ears would be cut off, and his body would be stretched apart on the rack.

Threats like these were fairly common in ancient Egypt. When a witness gave a testimony in court, they wouldn’t swear an oath on the Bible like we do today. They’d outline in graphic detail exactly how the court could torture them if they found they’d lied.^[6]

The tortures varied. The judges would make them up on the spot, based on how serious they felt the crime was and whether the witness was rich or poor.

One woman was ordered to swear before the court: “Should witnesses be brought against me [ . . . ] I shall be liable to 100 blows.” Another was ordered to declare, “Should we speak falsely, the servants shall be taken away from us.” And a poor field laborer was ordered to tell the truth “on pain of mutilation.”

4 Corruption Was Rampant

All this investigation would be a lot of work—and there’s a lot of reason to believe that if you weren’t important, the courts didn’t bother doing much about it. There’s every indication that bribery and corruption were rampant in the ancient Egyptian courts, and a wealthy man could get the verdict he wanted by slipping the judge a few golden coins.

An Egyptian writer wrote a song begging the god Amun to help out the poor that gives a little insight into how people saw their legal system. In it, he complains that “the court extorts” the people in it, demanding “silver and gold for the clerks” in exchange for justice.

It was a major political problem. The head of Tutankhamun’s army put the judges in the country on trial for corruption, declaring: “They will not show mercy and be compassionate on the day they will judge the poor.” Those he convicted had their noses cut off and were sent off into exile.

But more than 200 years later, Rameses XI was still struggling with the same problem. When two policemen were accused of framing an innocent man, his general sent an order to “put them in two baskets and they shall be thrown into the water at night.”^[7]

He wanted to get rid of the problem before word got out that the police were unjust. The next words of the letter read: “Do not let anybody in the land find out!”

3 Infidelity Could Be Punished By Death

Divorce court was brutal. In ancient Egypt, anyone could take anyone else to court for having an affair. Unlike most of their neighbors, this wasn’t a right reserved for men. They let women sue their husbands for infidelity and divorce. They even let people sue random neighbors in their town who they thought were cheating on their wives.

The punishment was severe. If a woman was found guilty of cheating on her husband, she could have her nose cut off or, in some cases, could even be burned alive. Men, it seems, never got the death penalty for infidelity, but breaking the marriage bonds could still get him 1,000 blows and a writ of divorce.

In one case, an Egyptian official describes catching a mob prowling through the streets, yelling out that they’ve “come to beat up” a man in town who was caught sleeping with a woman who wasn’t his wife. After hearing them out, the official said in a letter, he decided to just let them do it.

“Indeed, [even] if I can repulse them this time, I shall not be able to repulse them again,” he wrote. Instead, he just admonished the girl for sleeping with a married man and ordered his men to let the beating happen and keep it quiet.

“When this letter reaches you,” the letter ends, “do not go to Neferti with this matter.”^[8]

2 Even If You Were Innocent, You Were Labeled A Criminal

The overwhelming majority of court cases in ancient Egypt ended with a guilty verdict. There only a handful of records of people leaving the courts as free men, and even then, they weren’t left off free.

One court record describes a man named Amenkhau who was repeatedly beaten by the police. No matter how hard they hit, he kept insisting: “I haven’t seen anything. Whatever I’ve seen you have heard from my mouth.”^[9] When no amount of torture would loosen his tongue, they decided he was probably telling the truth and let him go.

He wasn’t totally free, though. Even after he was found innocent, the accusation was permanently kept in the record books with the words “great criminal” next to his name.

That was just how it was done in ancient Egypt. If someone was accused of a crime, they believed, they’d probably done something wrong. And so, even if it was clear that you were innocent, you were labeled a “great criminal” for life.

1 Toward The End, They Just Let A Statue Decide

The above entries, at least, are how Egypt laid down the law during their prime. Sometime around 1000 BC, though, they gave up on this whole system of law and justice and settled in for one that was completely and totally insane.

In the last several hundred years of ancient Egypt’s power, the priests of Amun had taken over most of the country, including the legal system.^[10] Whenever a charge was filed against someone, they decided the verdict by asking a statue what to do.

The priests would ask a statue of Amun questions and watch how it moved to get their answers. If the statue moved forward, they told people it was saying “yes,” but if it moved backward, it was saying “no.”

Of course, the statue wasn’t really moving on its own. Secretly, they had a man inside or behind it pretending to be a god.

Sometimes, there wouldn’t even be an investigation. A court record from this time shows that in the trial of a man named Thutmose, they just put two tablets in front of the statue and asked Amun to move toward the verdict he wanted. They didn’t just say “guilty” or “not guilty”—the tablets were to decide whether they should bother investigating the case at all.

Thutmose, it seems, had some friends in the priesthood. In the new Egypt ruled by the corrupt priests, he was let go without a single witness being questioned.

When it comes to humanity, very little in life shows us who we really are more than how we express ourselves through sex. From sex habits to sex laws, our sexuality tells much about humans in many, many other facets of life, such as how we view and care for one another, how we think of our place on the social ladder (and the places of others), and, of course, what we find desirable or undesirable in other people.

Sex is one of the most fundamental forms of both communication and introspection that we have, and it’s been this way since the dawn of time. Ancient Egypt was one of the marvels of the ancient world, exotic and unusual in almost every way. It seems that we can hardly get enough of their unorthodox practices and bizarre beliefs; even by ancient world standards, Egypt was definitely a weird place. Here are ten bizarre sex habits from the world of ancient Egypt.

10 Masturbation And Creation

Christians believed that God spoke the world into existence; Genesis tells us that God said, “Let there be light,” before a succession of other statements which literally spoke everything into existence through the use of mere words. The formless chaos became formed and predictable, and life came into existence. But the ancient Egyptians were no prudes; they were a lot kinkier and a lot more bizarre.

In one ancient Egyptian creation myth, the world and all of creation came into existence through nothing other than an act of masturbation. (And here we thought masturbation was a useless endeavor.) Somewhat similar to the Christian telling of creation, in the Egyptian version, the universe started as absolute nothingness, like the formless abyss of the Christian tale, but there was one living god, Atum, who masturbated, and through that act, he gave birth to a pair of twin gods. Thus, the first act of creation was performed.^[1] This myth laid the groundwork for what would be a uniquely strange culture in the way of sex, and it would actually be present in other sex rituals that people would perform.

9 Pharaoh Masturbation

From this myth came sexual practices and ceremonies that involved masturbation, which the ancient Egyptians saw as a life-giving process of creation. The ancient world, especially ancient Egypt, was obsessed with growth, birth, creation, and that which gave life, with many myths and legends springing up in and around the concept of fertility. So, in a way, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, regardless of how bizarre it is to us today, that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt are said to have ceremoniously masturbated into the Nile river, which was also revered for its life-giving properties.^[2]

The symbolism here is pretty powerful when we consider the fact that the ancients viewed time in a circular format, rather than a linear succession of moments. In fact, the ancient Egyptian word for “semen,” “progeny,” and describing the floods of the Nile were all the same word, mtwt. The ancient Egyptians knew the life-giving, fertilizing ways of the predictable floods of the Nile—and they saw the same properties in semen.

8 Food Of The Gods

Another unusual sex myth which sprang up from this ancient culture was that of Horus and Seth (or Set), which was highly sexually charged, with an ultra-kinky element to it. Horus and Seth were a pair of gods that were always fighting with each other, perpetually in bitter conflict, and their story is representative of a lot of how the ancient Egyptians viewed life. The two would basically fight over who would inherit the throne of ancient Egypt from Osiris, Seth’s brother and Horus’s father, and Horus would end up taking it—Seth would constantly challenge him for it, though.

Much like the ancient Greeks and Romans, the ancient Egyptians likely viewed homosexual acts as tolerable, even socially accepted, and the dominant party would warrant a higher social status; in homosexual interactions, the receiving party was considered the submissive, and the giving party, or the party pleasured, was the dominant party. This carried over into the myth.

Seth and Horus were battling for the throne one day and were basically trying to pin one another, forcing the other to be a submissive sexual partner.^[3] Seth was trying to shame Horus by making him accept the female sexual role, thereby garnering the support of the other gods. However, the plot was foiled by Isis, who managed to keep Seth’s semen from coming into contact with Horus. In turn, she managed to trick Seth into eating Horus’s semen, thereby handing the victory to Horus.

7 Incest

There is an abundance of evidence showing that marriages or sexual relations between members of the “nuclear family“—parents and children—were common among royalty or special classes of priests since they were the representatives of the divine on Earth. They were often privileged to do what was forbidden to members of the ordinary family. During the Ptolemaic period (305 to 30 BCE), King Ptolemy II even used the practice as “a major theme of propaganda, stressing the nature of the couple, which could not be bound by ordinary rules of humanity.”

Even King Tut was not spared from the practice of incest in ancient Egypt. His parents—Akhenaten and Akhenaten’s sister—were brother and sister. DNA analysis has recently been completed on 11 mummies that were closely related to Tuthenkamen. The results revealed that Tutankhamun was, beyond doubt, the child born from a first-degree brother-sister relationship.^[4] Tut was also wed to his half-sister. Of course, serious health issues surrounded these relationships, as inbreeding among successive generations took its toll on the family. While the practice helped solidify the ruling family’s power, it was not only seen in the royal class, even though it was forbidden by law.

6 Necrophilia And The Embalmers

It makes sense when we consider the Egyptians’ sex obsession and couple it with their bizarre death obsession (or, more appropriately, obsession with life after death) that necrophilia might be part of their culture. The Greek writer Herodotus tells us a lot about the practices of other cultures in the ancient world, especially when it comes to sex; he told us plenty about the sexuality of the ancient Babylonians. He had some things to say about Egypt as well—particularly concerning necrophilia.

Herodotus said that in ancient Egypt, one would want to let the bodies of their loved ones sit out for three or four days to dissuade the embalmers from having sex with the corpses, as embalmers wouldn’t want to have sex with a body that was already beginning to rot.^[5] So, apparently, it happened at least frequently enough for Herodotus to mention it.

5 Necrophilia Gods

Further, the Egyptians had necrophilia built right into their mythology. Remember Seth and Horus? Seth was the brother of Osiris. After Osiris died, which set off the bitter rivalry between Horus and Seth, another god named Re had pretty extensive sexual relations with the dead body of Osiris. Even crazier than that? Re is a different name for the same figure that first masturbated the world into existence, Atum. Also, Horus, the son of Osiris, was created through the union of Isis and the dead body of Osiris; Horus was a god born out of necrophilia.^[6]

If the Egyptian gods did it, it’s safe to say the Egyptians themselves did it on some level too. Atum, aka Re, masturbated the universe into existence by creating the first two gods. Later, Osiris comes along and dies, and then Isis has sex with the dead body of Osiris and gives birth to Horus. Then Horus and Seth battle constantly to have sex with each other in a strange struggle for dominance.

4 Circumcision

Aside from the ancient Hebrews, circumcision was an unusual thing in the ancient world that many must have seen as absolutely insane. (Imagine being from a culture that had no circumcision at all and discovering a people who did it.) Today, many societies have augmented the practice into their culture, at least partially, through thousands of years of Judeo-Christian domination. But in the fifth century BC, the time when Herodotus was writing, the Hebrews were a very small culture, and Christianity didn’t even exist.

The ancient Egyptians, however, definitely practiced circumcision, as Herodotus again notes.^[7] He tells us that Egyptian men were circumcised, but people from other countries who traveled to ancient Egypt were not and didn’t have to be circumcised. The Egyptians not only had circumcisions but also textual mentions of the practice of mass circumcision exist, with one text noting the circumcising of up to 120 men in a single day. In other words, the Egyptians had circumcision parties.

3 Sacred Prostitution

Like in ancient Babylon, prostitution was seen as a divine and respectable act done for the gods.^[8] Prostitutes were afforded a relatively high social status in ancient Egypt, especially if we compare it to prostitution today. In many nations, prostitution is illegal and relegated to clandestine affairs done behind closed doors. Ancient Egyptian prostitutes, however, were able to work openly and freely and would tattoo themselves and wear red lipstick and other makeup to signify and differentiate themselves from non-prostitutes.

Prostitution was likely an extremely common practice that the Egyptians viewed as just another trade—one that carried a bit of social status. Unlike Babylon, however, prostitutes were limited in the places where they could service clients.

2 Gender Fluidity

The ancient Egyptians even had a concept of gender fluidity that deeply permeated their culture, especially regarding the gods and the afterlife. The gods were constantly going through rebirths, with cycles of life and death which matched those of the Earth, with crops growing, being harvested, and growing again. And sometimes, sex changes would transpire. This was even believed to happen to humans posthumously. It was believed that women would have to transform into men to achieve a successful transition into the prized, beloved afterlife that this culture did so much to obtain.^[9]

Aside from this, the genders weren’t very differentiated in ancient Egypt, and women did most of the same things men did, which was extremely unusual for the time, to say the least. Their highly sexualized gods also had various features of the other gender. For example, depictions of Egyptian goddesses featuring beards have been uncovered.

1 Contraception

Much like today, the ancient Egyptians also had a desire for working contraceptives. They enjoyed a sexually liberal society and, accordingly, enjoyed sex for the sheer pleasure it brings. Thus, good contraception was a valuable thing to have.

Condoms made from sheep intestines served to protect from pregnancy and also prevented the spread of STDs. They even knew what has been confirmed today, that acacia gum, from the acacia tree, worked as a spermicide and would reduce the likelihood of pregnancy.^[10] Women would even take animal dung (including that of crocodiles) and shove it into their vaginas in hopes of blocking the sperm and, thus, preventing pregnancy. When it came to both sex and contraception, the ancient Egyptians took it seriously and did it like no others.

I like to write about history and dark stuff.

Egyptology’s quiet years seem to be over. More dazzling finds from the extinct culture have risen in recent months than in the last few decades. Tiny socks, a new sphinx, large ruins, and tombs are among the most exciting discoveries that reveal more about the ancient Egyptians.

Additional finds also unravel the deeper nuances of the civilization. They provide glimpses at challenges, unexpected connections, and tantalizing clues to mysteries.

10 The Sandstone Sphinx

Near the town of Aswan stands an old temple. Called Kom Ombo, it has been the subject of study for years.

In 2018, archaeologists had to drain groundwater from the pharaonic ruins. During the process, an enigmatic statue rose into view—a sandstone sphinx. Compared to the more famous one at Giza, the 38-centimeter-high (15 in) creature was a miniature.

Nevertheless, the discovery was remarkable. It added more flavor to the temple’s past and, despite thousands of years, was in mint condition. Two months before the statue made its appearance, two sandstone reliefs showing King Ptolemy V were found in the same part of the building. This placed the sphinx in the Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC), although its purpose remains unknown.

Sphinxes were important. Sometimes, they were used as tomb guardians, and they often depicted the face of a real pharaoh. Archaeologists are fervently hoping that the sandstone sphinx is a portrait of one of the royal Ptolemies. If future studies can confirm this, the statue’s remarkably undamaged facial features could provide a direct glimpse at a lost pharaoh.^[1]

9 Massive Ritual Structure

Founded around 3100 BC, the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis is located around 20 kilometers (12 mi) south of modern-day Cairo. It was the home of King Menes, who merged Upper and Lower Egypt into a single, powerful entity. Part of Memphis can be found in the modern-day town of Mit Rahina.

In 2018, archaeologists worked at Mit Rahina when they unearthed something remarkable. Though a little shy on the details, the find was described to the press as a massive building that was most likely a residential block occupied during the time of Memphis.

In addition to the Egyptian building, the team also found another attached to the block. However, the second structure was not entirely native. It contained a big Roman bath and a room. According to the archaeologists, the chamber was most probably used for religious ceremonies.^[2]

8 A Priest Graveyard

The site of Tuna el-Gebel is no stranger to ancient discoveries. This makes the 2018 appearance of a large cemetery even more amazing. The subterranean graveyard was 2,300 years old and west of the Nile River. Experts estimate it could take five years to fully excavate all the burial shafts.

Thus far, 40 sarcophagi, or stone coffins, were recovered and many contained priests. This particular group worshiped the god Thoth, said to have brought the skill of writing to mankind.

The mummified remains of one man suggested that he was a high priest. Inside the richly packed coffin, one item stood out. He wore an amulet with writing. Once deciphered, the hieroglyphics translated into a quirky-sounding “Happy New Year.”

Apart from a vast collection of ceramics, jewelry, and charms, the graveyard also yielded more than 1,000 shabti statues. These tiny figures are believed to be the helpers of the dead, doing the deceased’s career duties in the afterlife.^[3]

7 The Dakhleh Cases

At Dakhleh Oasis rests the remains of 1,087 ancient Egyptians. When researchers investigated the bodies in 2018, six cases showed cancer. They included a child with leukemia, a man with rectal tumors, and several others who might have contracted the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV).

Although cancer is nothing new—even HPV developed before humans—it was interesting to compare notes. Similar to today, HPV is prevalent in young adults in their twenties and thirties. This was also the case at the oasis cemetery.

Though the disease could not be genetically confirmed, the age group and bone lesions suggested that HPV behaved the same among ancient populations. Statistics also suggested that the chances of developing cancer today in Western societies was around 100 times more than when these individuals were buried (3,000–1,500 years ago).

Nothing in the culture’s vast records proves that ancient Egyptians had a solid concept of cancer. They probably knew something was terribly wrong but had no specific treatment other than caring for visible symptoms, such as skin ulcers and pain.^[4]

6 The Striped Sock

This ancient artifact looks like it was knitted a week ago. Complete with stripes that remain popular today, this sock once belonged to an Egyptian child. It was woven around AD 300, which was also about the time that somebody no longer had any use for it. (The sock was found in an ancient rubbish dump.)

However, to the British Museum, it was incredibly precious. Experts wanted to dive into the dye and weaving techniques used to make the garment. However, all available techniques demanded destruction of a section or the whole sock. Only in 2018 did the museum pioneer an imaging tool that was noninvasive.

Using the scan, they found that the stripes’ colors came from three natural dyes. Madder was used for producing red, woad for blue, and weld for yellow. The scan also gave a good preliminary understanding of the weaving techniques used.

The obsession with this tiny sock’s manufacturing secrets may seem odd, but there is a reason. Ancient Egyptians are considered to be the ones who invented the knitted sock, and the infant’s garment could shed more light on their craft.^[5]

5 Village With Silos

Long before the pharaohs and the construction of the pyramids, a village stood along Egypt’s Nile River. Discovered in 2018, it turned out to be one of the most ancient ever to resurface on the Nile Delta.

The age of the village is just one remarkable thing. Apart from beating the invention of Egyptian royalty and pyramids, the nameless location also existed over 2,000 years before somebody scratched the first hieroglyphics.

The 7,000-year-old settlement also yielded ruins that included the remains of deep storage silos. They contained a massive number of plants and animal bones. Finding out more about these scraps could lead to the understanding of how farming developed in Egypt.

With this village situated around 140 kilometers (87 mi) north of modern-day Cairo, a mystery surrounds the reason why the site was ultimately abandoned. The village clearly enjoyed successful habitation for almost 2,000 years but emptied around two centuries after Egypt was unified by an unknown pharaoh.^[6]

4 The Black Sarcophagus

In 2018, a black granite sarcophagus hit the news big-time. Found in Alexandria, it weighed 30 tons and required help from the Egyptian military to remove its lid. Scholars thought that they would find an important individual, possibly even Alexander the Great.

However, three mummies inside drifted in a mysterious red goop. The latter turned out to be modern sewage water that had destroyed and mixed with mummy parts.

The next guess suggested that the trio were soldiers. One skull showed arrow wounds, and there were no elite grave goods. The military officer theory crashed when one body turned out to be a young woman. With the exception of royal leaders, women were not a part of the ancient Egyptian military.

All the bodies dated to the early Ptolemaic period, which began in 323 BC. They appeared to have been buried at different times. One man showed signs of having survived trepanation (ancient skull surgery). This is a rare sight among Egyptian remains. The mystery surrounding the identities of the three mummies has not yet been solved.^[7]

3 The Lost Oasis

The site of Bir Umm Tineidba, which was found in the Egyptian desert of Elkab, was once thought to be an archaeological blank. Yale researchers arrived in 2018 with cutting-edge technology, and the story changed.

Bir Umm Tineidba was once an ancient hub where people left graffiti, art, tombs, and buildings. The rock art dated to an age before hieroglyphics (about 3300 BC) and showed exceptional examples of early Egyptian drawings. The images resembled those from the Nile Valley, suggesting that the two populations had mixed. The possible discovery of hybrid groups could change how archaeologists view Egypt’s evolution into a state.

Among several burial mounds, the most noteworthy belonged to a young Egyptian woman. Her elite grave goods showed that the site also had connections with the Red Sea region. To the south of the rock art and graves stood an unknown Roman settlement. Consisting of over a dozen ruins, it dated to AD 400–600.

Its presence also filled in another blank in the region. But this time, it was about similar Roman sites in the desert. More studies at Bir Umm Tineidba also promise to reveal more on how the region transitioned from the Late Antique to the Early Islamic Period.^[8]

2 Unraveling Mummification Mystery

Experts know a lot about the ancient Egyptians. However, nobody alive today knows how to turn somebody into a mummy.

In 2018, scholars caught a big break. At the Saqqara necropolis in the Nile Delta, excavations unearthed an embalming workshop. Five mummies were inside the workshop, and an additional 35 were found in an adjoining burial shaft. Those in the shaft dated from 664–404 BC. They revealed that mummification was not a social equalizer. The elite got better treatment.

But it was the tools left behind in the workshop that caused the most excitement. Researchers already know that embalming took 70 days, starting with washing the body, removing the organs, and drying the corpse in salt for 40 days. Before being wrapped in linen, the body was treated with oils.^[9]

The type, quantity, and order in which the oils were used is where modern understanding of mummification hits the wall. Incredibly, the workshop had labeled measuring cups with the mysterious oils. Future chemical testing will identify exactly what substances were used and perhaps help solve the mystery of the process.

1 Pits With Severed Hands

Not every ancient Egyptian find is a golden mask or a beautifully painted mural. Sometimes, discoveries are downright gruesome. In 2017, Egyptologists working at royal ruins in Avaris found four pits, two of which were located in what some believe was once the throne room. Together, the shafts contained 16 human hands chopped off 3,600 years ago.

The entire batch consisted of right hands, and their exceptionally large sizes showed that the victims were all men. The creepy sight confirmed a practice already seen in hieroglyphics—hacking off an undesirable party’s hand in exchange for a reward. Experts believe that Egyptian noblemen “bought” enemy hands from their own soldiers with gold and then ritually buried the body parts.

Though it is hard to say to whom the hands belonged, a strong clue is the historical level in which they were found. It dated back to the time when the Egyptian army finally expelled the Hyksos, a foreign nation that conquered Egypt in 1650 BC. If not Hyksos hands, the horrific amputations might have been punishment for Egyptian soldiers who revolted while fighting the Hyksos.^[10]

Why did the Egyptians turn their dead into mummies and inter their pharaohs in large tombs? How did famous movie figures like the Scorpion King and Imhotep carve their names in history? Facts of the earliest days of Egypt are found only on incomplete shards and in weathered tombs, but what we do know tells us an incredible story.

10 Facts About Ancient Egyptian Mummies You Didn’t Know

10 The Birth of the Sahara Desert

8,000 years ago, the Sahara was fertile and green. Farmers produced grains and millets in peace until — little did they know — gravitational influences from the solar system changed the Earth’s tilt by one degree,^[1] causing a flood of sunlight to permanently hit the Sahara. Almost instantly, it turned into a scorching desert, expanding, leaving dead crops in its wake, chasing the farmers to the Oases where they became stranded like shipwrecked survivors. Many sought refuge in the Nile, a resilient river that the Sahara could not encroach upon because of its regular flooding.

For the survivors of the Sahara, the Nile was no paradise. High floods devastated their settlements. But soon the Egyptians were able to predict the flooding by watching the star Sirius’s path through the night sky.^[2] When the flood waters receded, the land left behind was fertile thanks to sediments in the water. Organizing their lives around the flooding of the Nile, the ancient Egyptians divided their year into three seasons: the inundation, the growth, and the harvest.

9 The Scorpion King

The ancient Egyptians established two main kingdoms around 3400BC: the Lower Kingdom at the northern mouth of the Nile (called lower because the Nile flows down from the south), and the Upper Kingdom in the southern desert lands.

During this era, a king from the Upper Kingdom arose whose name was known only as “Scorpion.”^[3] He invaded and conquered, his aim to unite all the lands of ancient Egypt. The people developed a crude form of writing and it was used to record the Scorpion King’s exploits.^[4] This form of writing would soon evolve into what we know today as hieroglyphs, the written language of ancient Egypt. However, the Scorpion King died before he could accomplish his goal. The two kingdoms remained separate.

Facts about the Scorpion King’s life are rare archaeological finds. A stone relief that bears his name is possibly the oldest writing in human existence. Archaeologists have discovered a fragmented royal mace-head attributed to the Scorpion King. And they have found what many believe to be his tomb in Abydos, containing relics inscribed with some of Egypt’s earliest known writing.^[5] There may have been more clues inside, but we may never know. Treasure hunters had plundered the tomb long ago.

8 The Divine King Invents Luxury

100 years after the Scorpion King had failed, another succeeded. From the Upper Kingdom city of Hierkanpolis came a man named Menes.^[6] First he conquered his neighbors, then he marched on Lower Egypt and united the two lands, and then he marched on barbarian hordes and expanded the borders of his new kingdom. He sealed the unification by marrying a Lower Egyptian princess.

Under Menes, the land was at peace. He founded the capital, Memphis, by building a dike in the Nile and reclaiming the marshland. He escaped rabid hounds by jumping on the back of a crocodile and riding it to another shore, where he founded the city of Crocodilopolis. Menes’ people, their lives free from major worries, developed sports, sculpting, woodworking, and even learned how to brew beer. Egypt became a land of opulence. The Roman historian Diodorus Siculus claimed that Menes invented the concept of luxury. After 62 years of prosperity, Menes met a violent end when he was chewed to death by a hippopotamus.

7 Egypt’s Oldest Mystery

If you think stories about Menes may sound a bit like the exaggerated exploits of “The Most Interesting Man In The World,” historians agree. No one yet has discovered any contemporary evidence of Menes’s existence. All of his stories come from later in history, leading some to believe he is a fictionalized folk hero, or that “Menes” is an honorary title given to many individual rulers. The name meaning of Menes is “he who endures.”^[7]

Menes’ true identity is one of the great mysteries in Egyptian history. The prevailing theory is that he was actually Narmer,^[8] the first recorded king of the First Dynasty, or his successor Hor-Aha, or both. Hor-Aha may be Menes because there are many hieroglyphs that associate the names of the two. However, archaeologists have discovered the Tablet of Narmer, a stone relief with many vague allusions to Narmer’s possible identity as Menes. Most telling is that the front of the palette shows Narmer wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt while on the back he is wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt. The crown of the pharaohs would go on to be a combination of these two crowns. Many Egyptologists believe this implies that Narmer was the unifier of ancient Egypt, and therefore King Menes.

6 Mummies

Before 3500BC, the Egyptians buried their dead in shallow graves. The dryness of the sand, the heat of the day and the cold of the night, and the lack of air in the grave dehydrated the body, causing it to be naturally preserved. The ancient Egyptians developed the belief^[9] that the soul would return to its body after death, but if the soul could not recognize its body because of decay, the soul would become lost. They began aiding the natural preservation process by dehydrating bodies with sunlight or fire, and by curing the flesh with smoke.^[10]

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5 Mastabas

Religious beliefs and the obsession with the afterlife flourished under Hor-Aha. The type of tomb he built for himself was called a mastaba,^[11] which looks like the lower level of a pyramid without the other levels stacked on top — imagine a pyramid cut off after the second step. However, bodies not stored in the arid sand were separated from the natural preservation process. Since the kings still wanted to be buried securely with their possessions, this led the ancient Egyptians to develop mummification techniques so their bodies would not rot away in their luxurious tombs.

4 The Earliest Known Female Ruler

When the First Dynasty queen Merneith’s husband died around 2990BC, her son Den was made king. Den was too young to rule effectively, and so Merneith ruled as queen regent, making her the first female ruler in recorded history.^[12]

How long Merneith’s regency lasted is unknown. Den’s reign spanned 50 years, and during that time Epypt expanded militarily and economically, so much so that Den is regarded the greatest pharaoh of the First Dynasty. But how much of that can be credited to his mother? It is impossible to know for certain, but what we do know is that Merneith’s tomb was as luxurious as any king, which was not typical of a queen mother. Entombed with her were 40 servants, sacrificed animals, and even a solar boat. Such boats were assembled within tombs so that mummies could use them to sail in the heavens with Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun.

3 Free Women

While ancient Egyptian wives^[13] tended to manage the home, there were no restrictions that kept women from pursuing an independent lifestyle. Any woman that chose a career would receive equal pay for equal work. Women managed farms or businesses, worked in the fields, or as weavers, nannies, entertainers.

There were no known marriage ceremonies in ancient Egypt. The wife simply moved into a home with the husband and they were considered married, similar to today’s common-law relationship. The wife could divorce by moving back into her parents’ home, at which point she would be free to remarry. A woman’s ability to give birth was considered more important than her virginity, so she was able to get married and divorced multiple times, and single people were free to have sex before marriage.

Although the sexes were closer to equality in ancient Egypt than they would be in many civilizations to follow,^[14] things were not perfect. Women were punished more harshly than men after committing adultery.^[15] An adulterous man was forced into a divorce, but the woman was believed to receive punishments as extreme as execution.

2 The Dark Dynasty

Egypt continued to prosper under the reigns of the rulers who followed Merneith. The First Dynasty ended when the two potential heirs of King Qa’a quarreled for the throne. The details are lost to history, but what is known is that a third party intervened and claimed the throne for himself, beginning a new royal line. Little is known of the Second Dynasty of Egypt because records of the time were poorly kept, have not been found, or were destroyed.

The sparse records^[16] do tell us that it was a chaotic and unusual period of Egyptian history. Traditionally the kings had aligned themselves with Horus, the god who in the myths had become king of all Egypt. But one king allied himself with Seth, the god of the desert and bringer of chaos.

1 Imhotep

The Third Dynasty began with King Djoser in 2670 BC, whose peacefully reign allowed for the building of many monuments. A commoner by the name of Imhotep^[17] rose through the ranks to become Djoser’s most trusted adviser. Imhotep was one of the smartest people in human history, and was both a doctor and an architect. He authored a medical papyrus devoid of magical thinking that contained practical cures and surgeries, as well as described anatomies and ailments. He was the first architect to come up with the idea of using support columns for building, and he designed the first ever pyramid. The tomb of Djoser ushered in the age of the pyramid builders, also known as the Old Kingdom. In the ages to follow, Imhotep was venerated as a god of healing and wisdom.

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About The Author: Matt is a former editor and current knight at Medieval Times. Check out his old blog for extended articles and other neat stuff.