KING TUT’S BABIES
On Nov. 4, 1922, the greatest archeological find in history was made by British archeologist Howard Carter. On that day, he uncovered a stairway that led to a seal indicated it was the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, the “Boy King” who ruled from 1333-1324 B.C. He had taken over at age 9 and died around age 19, probably from a leg injury that became infected. Carter had begun excavating the Valley of the Kings in 1917 under the sponsorship of a wealthy Englishman who was fascinated by archeology, Lord Carnarvon. Four years passed with little to show. Carnarvon wanted to pull the plug on his financing, but Carter convinced him to give him one more season. When Carter made the discovery, he waited for Carnarvon to rush to the site to be there for the opening. A peek through a hole in the doorway revealed wonderful sights to the pair. Invaluable treasures preserved because after the tomb was completed a workers’ camp had been built on the site covering it. It was only disturbed by two sets of robbers who only managed to drill two small holes and remove a few small items over the years. Some of the odder items included two mummified premature babies (probably from Tut’s marriage to his half-sister) and 130 walking sticks (possibly confirming Tut’s lameness). As far as the supposed curse placed on all involved in disturbing his resting place, it is true that Carnarvon did die a few months later from an infected mosquito bite. However, Howard Carter continued to excavate the tomb and catalog the artifacts until 1932 and died in 1939 at age 64.
– Amazing 33-34 / “Close Call: How Howard Carter Almost Missed King Tut’s Tomb” by Maite Mascort in History Magazine https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2018/03-04/findingkingtutstomb/
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PREGNANCY TEST
Ancient Egyptians felt they had a sure-fire way of determining the sex of a baby. The mother to be was told to pee on a pile of wheat and barley for several days. If the wheat grew, it was going to be a girl. If the barley grew, it would be a boy. If neither grew, the woman would not give birth. As silly as this sounds, there was some science to it. We know today that this method can not determine the sex of a child, but when it was tested, it did predict whether the urinator was pregnant or not 70% of the time. Although the Egyptians did not realize it, the urine of a pregnant woman is different than that of a woman who is not pregnant. The urine of a non-pregnant woman has no effect on the seeds. The same effect could not be claimed for garlic. The Ancient Egyptians believed that you could determine whether you were pregnant or not by placing a clove of garlic next to their cervix before they went to bed. If you woke up with the taste of garlic in your mouth, you were pregnant. There is no science to back this up. Speaking of garlic, Egyptian men carried garlic with them when they visited their mistress or a prostitute. By chewing on the garlic before returning home, the male hoped to convince his wife that no woman would be kissing someone with such bad breath. There may be some science behind that one.
EGYPTIAN CATS
Everyone knows the Ancient Egyptians loved their cats. There are thousands of cat statues and mummified cats left from that time. Heck, there were so many mummified cats, that later Egyptian farmers would crush them and use them to fertilize their fields. Modern archeologists have challenged this belief in cat loving. It seems the Egyptians used cats in religious worship. You could sacrifice a cat to get a blessing from the gods. Temples bred lots of cats and then sold them to worshipers in need of a sacrificial offering.
THE EVOLUTION OF UNDERWEAR
The earliest known underwear was the loincloth (a single piece of cloth wrapped around the hips). 145 were found in King Tut’s tomb. The Greeks wore a type of loincloth called a perizoma that was triangular in shape. Women wore a band of linen or leather to cover their breasts. The Romans continue the loincloth tradition with a garment called a subligaculum and women wore the Greek style bras called strophiums. In the Middle Ages, men wore a braies which was like pants tied around the waist and mid-calf. It had a flap (codpiece) for urination. Women wore a shift which was a long linen garment. They also might wear short pants called panties. In the 18th Century, corsets became popular with the upper class women. It used whalebone for support. The corset had the purpose of flattening the bust-line, but later was used to get an hour-glass figure. In the 1800’s the chemise replaced the shift. It was loose-fitting dress made of silk or satin and often featuring some lace. Knickers became popular underwear for men in the 19th Century. For women, Amelia Bloomer popularized bloomers which were a looser version of knickers for women and allowed them to play tennis and ride bikes with modesty. These were loose-fitting trousers that were gathered at the calf. They gradually got shorter and shorter until they became known as drawers and even were called panties. In 1913, American Mary Phelps-Jacob invented the bra by tying two handkerchiefs with ribbon. In 1928, Maidenform developed cup sizes. In 1939, because the World’s Fair in New York City, Mayor La Guardia insisted that nude dancers wear thongs. This was also the year the first nylon stockings came out. In 1959, pantyhose was invented.
– Amazing 541
http://www.localhistories.org/underweartime.html
THE GREAT PYRAMID
The only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Cheops. It was the largest of ten pyramids built from 2600 – 2500 B.C. It was constructed around 2,700 B.C. It was built as the tomb for King Khufu.It is equivalent to a 42-story building in height. It covers 13 acres. It consisted of 2,500,000 stones ranging in size from 2-5 tons each. There is enough stones to build a ten foot high wall around France. It took 20 years to build. The first ten years were spent constructing a quarter mile long causeway from the Nile to the site to get the stones there. The stones were floated down the Nile, some of them from as far away as 600 miles. Wooden sledges were used to move the stones on the causeway. The labor was done by 100,000 farm laborers (not slaves) during the three months each year that the Nile was in flood. The engineers used levers, rollers, and inclined planes. It was originally covered with limestone to make the sides smooth. It was originally 481 feet high, but is today 450 feet because of decay over the centuries. Until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311 A.D., it was the tallest structure on Earth.Surprisingly, the Egyptians left no descriptions or visual depictions of how the blocks were placed. Our best guess is a giant ramp was built and then expanded to reach each new level. Or aliens helped.
– Strange 147-8
– Amazing 206 / Discover The Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World
By All That’s Interesting (https://allthatsinteresting.com/seven-wonders-of-the-ancient-world)
THE CHINESE FOG OF WAR
The ancient Chinese are credited with inventing biological warfare. In the 7th Century B.C., the fumigation of homes to kill pests gave the military the idea for chemical agents. Historians have uncovered hundreds of recipes for them. One was called the “soul-hunting fog” which used arsenic. Another was the “five-league fog” which had the main ingredient of wolf dung. In one incident, an army was attempting to tunnel under the wall of a besieged city. The defenders heated up some bits of lime and used bellows to pump the smoke into the tunnel to defeat the attack.
– Amazing 158
THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON
The Hanging Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife Amytis. She missed the hills of her youth. It used a water pipe system to pump water to a height of 60 feet. The water came from the Euphrates River. There were terraces planted with a variety of plants and flowers. Apparently, the Babylonians invented the flower garden. Stairways led to the terraces. The Hanging Gardens is the “wonder” that is the most problematical. There are no mentions of them in Babylonian records. Some experts think they were actually located in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.
– Amazing 206 / Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Mark Cartwright (https://www.ancient.eu/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon/)
THE GRAVE ROBBERS
This is my favorite story by Herodotus from his The Histories. It may not be true, but Herodotus loved a good story and included it in the book. Once upon a time in Ancient Egypt, an elderly man was on his death bed. He called his two sons to his side and said: “Sons, I am not a rich man and I have no wealth to leave you. But I know a secret that you will find valuable. Years ago, I worked on the pharaoh’s tomb and I made sure one of the stones in the wall was not sealed. If you pull out the stone you can go into the tomb and take some of the treasure.” He explained where the stone was and then he died. The brothers were skeptical, but after the funeral they visited the tomb late at night and sure enough the stone was loose and they were able to get into the tomb and steal a bunch of jewelry. For the next few nights, they had a great time out on the town drinking and going to brothels. Meanwhile, the pharaoh’s official who was in charge of preparing his tomb for the afterlife noticed some of the jewelry was missing. He told the pharaoh and they both wondered how this could be since the tomb was well guarded. The pharaoh insisted the robber be caught so the official rigged a trap. A few nights later, the brothers returned to the throne for more loot and the elder brother entered first and was immediately trapped. He whispered to his brother through the hole where the stone had been, telling him that he was trapped and would not be able to get out. When the younger brother asked him what should he do, the elder said: “There is only one thing you can do to protect yourself and our whole family from retribution. You must cut off my head and take it with you. That way the guards will not be able to identify me. I’m a dead man anyway. You must do this.” The younger was very upset with this turn of events, but realized his brother was right. He stuck his sword through the opening, decapitated his brother and took the head with him. The next day, the official inspected the tomb and found the headless body. He rushed to tell the pharaoh they had caught the robber, but the pharaoh realized he must have had an accomplice. That was the only way to explain the missing head. The pharaoh ordered the body to be hung in the city and guarded. Perhaps the other robber would try to get the body to give it a decent burial and he would be caught. But the younger brother disguised himself as a wine trader and offered free samples to the guards. When they fell asleep he took his brothers body and buried it. At this point the pharaohs detectives determined that some of the jewels were being used at a particular brothel. The pharaoh’s daughter volunteered to go undercover to catch the thief. A few nights later the thief came to the brothel and recognized the pharaoh’s daughter on the menu, so to speak. He asked for her and they went to the room where they had a good time. When he offered a ring which she recognized in the dim light of the room, she grabbed his arm and called the guards. They came running in to find the daughter holding a severed arm with the ring in its hand and the thief having escaped in the confusion. When he heard of this, the pharaoh gave up and offered a pardon to the thief. The young man came to the palace to get his pardon and ended up marrying the princess who had fallen in love with him that night.
ZOPYRUS
Here is a story from Herodotus. In the 6th Century B.C., the city of Babylon rebelled against Persian rule. When Darius I approached the city to restore control, the city gates were closed to him and he had to begin a siege of the city. The Babylonians were confident the massive walls of the city would never fall and they would stand on the top of the walls and taunt the Persians. “Why are you Persians sitting there? You are wasting your time. You’ll capture our city when mules have foals.” That insult was equivalent to saying “when pigs fly” since mules never gave birth. Several frustrating months passed by and every plan by Darius failed. One day a nobleman in his army named Zopyrus had a mule who had a foal. Assuming this to be a sign from the gods, Zopyrus hatched a plan to take the city. He proceeded to cut off his nose and ears and have a servant whip him until he was in terrible shape. He then went to see Darius. The Emperor was shocked at the appearance of his friend and demanded to know who had done this to him. He was shocked when Zopyrus revealed he had done it to himself! Zopyrus asked Darius to trust him because he had a plan. He asked Darius to send 1,000 men to assault the north gate of the city ten days from then, but be prepared to lose all 1,000. Then send 2,000 men to attack the east gate a week later, but again accept the loss of all. And another week later, do the same to the south gate with 4,000 men. One week later, assault the west gate with the whole army and the gate would be open and he could surprise the city. Darius was skeptical, but agreed to the scheme because he had nothing to lose (other than 7,000 men). Zopyrus proceeded to run to the city as though pursued. The guards took one look at him and accepted his tale that he was a deserter. When he identified himself, he was taken to the leaders of the city. He told a story of being unjustly tortured by Darius and his desire for revenge by helping the Babylonians. Knowing his reputation as a leader of warriors, the Babylonians gave him a small unit to command. One week later, he laid an ambush for the 1,000 Persians and wiped them out. The Babylonians were impressed and gave him more men to command. One week later, he laid an ambush for the 2,000 with similar results. And then he destroyed the 4,000-man attack. With this latest success, he was promoted to overall commander of the city and given the keys to all the gates. When Darius made his full-scale assault on the west gate, Zopyrus was there to open the gate and let his army in. The city was sacked and Darius gratefully rewarded the man who was most responsible for his victory.
– The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings pp. 13-17