Eye makeup is one of the oldest surviving inventions of the ancient Egyptians
Of course, eye makeup is not an invention as important as fire or the wheel, but it is also an invention that dates back to the ancient Egyptians . The first time they invented eye makeup was 4000 BC and of course, it never went out of style. Even more impressive, the cultural features associated with the art of makeup, people still use the technology that the ancient Egyptians used thousands of years ago. They combined scum with a mineral called galena to create a black ointment – called kohl, which is still famous today. As for the blue eyeshadow, they combine the minerals malachite and galena.
The Egyptian writing system with drawings has been discovered dating back to 6000 BC. Initially, if it was just drawings describing the meaning of the word it represented, but there were limits. They added other elements to the writing system – elements that resemble today’s Latin alphabet to represent sounds for them to write names and other ideas.
Today, it is well known that the Egyptians created hieroglyphics, consisting of Latin letters, sound symbols – a picture representing a word. Pa intings found in ancient Egyptian catacombs and elsewhere tell stories of war, politics and culture, helping us to understand them better. Of course, thanks to ancient stone inscriptions, we can translate those records – ending a 1500 year period of mysterious language of the Egyptians.
Papyrus
The Chinese invented paper around 140 BC, but before that the ancient Egyptians invented papyrus thousands of years ago. Since there were a lot of papyrus growing along the Nile and other areas here, they thought about making tough paper to store documents and other essentials. After the invention of papyrus, they archived everything from literature to music.
The ancient Egyptians kept the secret of making papyrus for a long time to be able to trade and trade papyrus everywhere. Since there were no archives, it was not until 1965 that Professor Hassan Ragab found a way to produce papyrus.
Calendar
For the ancient Egyptians, the calendar had a great influence on their poverty. Without a calendar, the ancient Egyptians could not know when the Nile rose and greatly affected agriculture, so a few thousand years ago they used the calendar. Because it is associated with cultivation, the Egyptian calendar is also divided into 3 main seasons: soil improvement, planting and harvesting. Each season has 4 months, each month 30 days, 1 year has 360 days – shorter than the modern calendar.
Plowshare
Historians also don’t know when plowshares date from, but there is ample evidence that the ancient Egyptians used plowshares as early as 4000 BC. Because they were made by hand, these plowshares were usually very light and could not plow as deep into the soil as today’s plows. In addition, these plowshares still have to use animal support.
But by about 2000 BC, they were using horned animals. In early designs, plowshares were often attached to their horns but still allowed them to breathe. After that, people adjusted and made a more efficient plow. The improvement of plowshares was associated with planting and the flow of water from the Nile, farming was much easier for the ancient Egyptians.
Mints
Just like in today’s life, the problem of bad breath was also associated with dental problems for the ancient Egyptians. But it’s not like we have dental problems due to the sweeteners in the food but the breads they eat are too hard and cause damage to their teeth.
The Egyptians did not have a cure for their teeth. So they always have to suffer from constant toothache. To minimize bad breath, they made the first mints out of frankincense, myrrh and cinnamon, boiled with honey and chopped into small pieces.
Bowling
In Narmoutheous, about 90km south of Cairo, Egypt, archaeologists found a room of long trenches and balls of various sizes dating back to the time of Roman rule. , between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. These trenches are about 3.9m long, about 20cm wide, and about 9.6cm deep with a plot about 11.9cm2 wide in the middle.
Unlike modern-day bowling, which involves throwing down the keels, the ancient Egyptians threw the ball to the square in the middle. Players will have to be on opposite sides of the grooves, to throw balls of different sizes into the middle square and, of course, block the opponent’s ball.
Shave your head and cut your hair short
The ancient Egyptians were probably the first to pay attention to hair beauty, but they also knew that long hairstyles or beards were not suitable for the weather in their land. Because of that, they often cut their hair short or shaved their heads and faces regularly. In their culture, people who usually shave clean are considered fashionable and high-class, while those with a thick beard are associated with the poor.
The ancient Egyptians also invented shaving tools such as razors made of sharp stone with wooden handles, which were later replaced by metal razors.
However, the ancient Egyptians often appeared with fake hair and beards, in which were often kings and queens. Fake beards come in many shapes and sizes, and represent the social class a person belongs to. Ordinary people only wore fake beards about 5cm long while kings wore longer ones. Ancient Egyptian saints also wore long and expensive beards.
Lock the door
These door locks, which were used by the Egyptians as early as 4000 BC, were just the usual pin-locking systems – the latch is connected to the battery system and requires a key to open. When the key is inserted and pushed forward, causing the joints to slide out and pull out the latch.
The only disadvantage of this locking system is its large size. The largest can be up to 0.6m long. The ancient Egyptian locking system was more secure than the later Roman locking system. The Roman lock was hidden in the door and compared to the Egyptian it was much easier to use.
Toothpaste
Due to many dental problems, the ancient Egyptians had to find ways to keep their teeth clean. Archaeologists have found tubes of toothpaste next to mummies, meaning that the dead can clean their teeth even if they have gone to the afterlife. Along with the ancient Babylonians, they had the first wooden toothbrushes.
But the ancient Egyptians also invented a cleaning solution, like toothpaste. The ingredients of this toothpaste include animal nails, medicinal ashes, burnt egg shells and pumice. Archaeologists have also discovered improved toothpaste recipes and written instructions for brushing teeth from the fourth century AD. This recipe includes a generous amount of rock salt, mint, dried iris and pepper to whiten teeth.
