The Ancient Egyptians are shrouded
in an aura of mystery and intrigue, cultivated by continuing archeological
discoveries. Unfortunately, the sense of awe that pervades Ancient Egypt has
also produced countless myths. This list will investigate the most common
misconceptions about Ancient Egypt, and include some interesting digressions
that will illuminate new areas of their advanced culture.
1-Cleopatra VII,
the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, has always
been a cultural figure, renowned for her alluring beauty. This idea has been
perpetuated by everybody from Shakespeare to film director Joseph L.
Mankiewicz. However, Roman coins show Cleopatra to have masculine features: a
large nose, protruding chin and thin lips – not any culture’s archetype of good
looks. On the other hand, she wasn’t lacking in brains; contemporary sources
note Cleopatra as being charismatic and clever, as opposed to possessing
physical beauty.
2- Obsessed With Death,
Reading about the Ancient
Egyptians with their pyramids, mummies and imposing gods, it is easy to reach
the conclusion that they were preoccupied with death. In fact, nothing could be
further from the truth. The great labor that the Egyptians took in burying each
other was actually a way of glorifying life. For example, many of the
illustrations that adorn the inside of tombs are celebrations of farming,
hunting and fishing. Furthermore, the expensive ornaments buried with the
Egyptians helped them reach the afterlife, where they continued their current
job without any hardships. Mummifying was a way to keep the corpse lifelike,
ready for this idealized form of everyday life. Clearly the Egyptians were
obsessed with life, not death.
3- Aliens
Listverse attracts a very rational
crowd, but unfortunately there are some who believe that the Egyptians were in
contact with aliens. They allege that the pyramids are superhuman achievements
and that some murals actually depict extraterrestrials. This is simply
insulting to the legacy of the Ancient Egyptians. Whilst the Great Pyramid at
Giza is mathematically astounding, its construction was not beyond the
ingenious astronomers, scholars and architects of the time. And while the Great
Pyramid stood as the tallest structure for almost 4000 years, that does not
mean that the Egyptians were friends with aliens; it only means that no culture
rivaled the Egyptians at building monuments until the 19th century. Concerning
murals, the picture above speaks for itself.
4- Fully Discovered
Many believe that we have found
out everything we can about Ancient Egypt, and that Egyptology is a dead and
buried subject. This is simply incorrect. Fascinating discoveries are still
being made daily about Ancient Egypt, shedding new light on their civilization.
For instance, a “solar boat” is currently being extracted from the Great
Pyramid. It is presumed that this solar boat would allow the dead Pharaohs to
assist sun-god Ra in his eternal battle with Apep, demon of darkness. Every
night, Ra sails his solar boat into combat with Apep and at dawn he emerges
triumphant and cruises across the sky.
5- Hieroglyphs,
People seem to assume that the
Ancient Egyptians invented hieroglyphs. However, primitive hieroglyphs were
probably brought to Egypt by West Asian invaders. Another myth, fueled by the
images of snakes and disembodied legs, is that the hieroglyphs were a language
of curses and magical incantations. In reality, most of the time hieroglyphs
were used for innocuous inscriptions or historical depictions. Curses are
rarely found in tombs and most of those discovered have been impotent: “His
years shall be diminished”, “He shall have no heir”. Interestingly, until the
Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1798, and later translated, most scholars
believed that the hieroglyphs were illustrations, not phonetic sounds making up
an alphabet.
6- Pyramid Decoration,
Hieroglyphs cover the interior of
many Ancient Egyptian tombs and palaces. But contrary to myth, the pyramids are
relatively undecorated. Indeed, until recently the pyramids at Giza were
thought to be absolutely bare inside. This supposition was shattered when
hieroglyphs were found behind a secret door in the Great Pyramid a few months
ago. Also, the pyramids were not all limestone-colored 4000 years ago: some
sections, such as interior pillars, were painted red or white. This basic paint
and hidden writing still leaves the pyramids extremely austere; it is their
architecture that cements the pyramids as the oldest and most popular stone
buildings in the world.
7- Pharaohs Killed Servants,
When the Pharaohs died, their
servants were not killed and entombed with them as is popularly believed, bar a
few exceptions. Two Pharaohs of the First Dynasty of Egypt are known to have
had their servants buried with them. The human tendency to generalize has led
to the myth that this was a common occurrence amongst all of the other 300 or
so Pharaohs. The later Pharaohs probably realized that their trusty servants
were more useful living than dead, so they buried themselves with ‘shabtis’
instead. These were figurines that could be animated to help the Pharaohs in
the afterlife.
8- Slaves Built The Pyramids
The idea that slaves built the
pyramids in Egypt has been circulating since Greek historian Herodotus reported
it in the 5th century BC. It was confirmed as false when tombs containing the
remains of the pyramid builders were found next to the pyramids at Giza. Being
buried beside the divine Pharaohs would be the greatest honor, never granted to
slaves. In addition, huge numbers of cattle bones excavated at Giza show that
beef, a delicacy in Ancient Egypt, was a staple food of the builders. The
builders of the pyramids were evidently highly skilled Egyptian craftsmen, not
slaves as Hollywood or perhaps the Bible makes people think.
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