Egyptian Culture Articles

For its time, the study and practice of medicine in Ancient Egypt was revolutionary. Primitive by today’s standards, physicians in Egypt nonetheless showed great initiative and impressive knowledge of the human body and its inner workings, as well as the treatment of illness and disease. The Egyptians were famously clean and fearful of illness and disease... [continue reading]

The intoxicant known in English as `beer' takes its name from the Latin `bibere' (by way of the German `bier') meaning `to drink' and the Spanish word for beer, cerveza' comes from the Latin word `cerevisia' for `of beer', giving some indication of the long span human beings have been drinking beer. Even so, beer brewing... [continue reading]

The Ancient Egyptians were quite advanced in their diagnoses and treatments of various illnesses. Their advancements in ancient medical techniques were quite extraordinary, considering the lack of “modern” facilities, sterilization, sanitation, and researching capabilities. The remedies used by Ancient Egyptian physicians came mostly... [continue reading]

Women in Ancient Egypt enjoyed many more freedoms than women in Ancient Greece or Rome. Egyptian Women who were educated were entitled to study any field they chose, and to become respected professionals in their chosen exploits. Unlike their ancient counterparts who were largely relegated to such positions as handmaidens, housewives, or prostitutes, Ancient... [continue reading]

II:66. Of the animals that live with men there are great numbers, and would be many more but for the accidents which befall the cats. For when the females have produced young they are no longer in the habit of going to the males, and these seeking to be united with them are not able. To this end then they contrive as follows, they either take away by force... [continue reading]

II:35. The Egyptians in agreement with their climate, which is unlike any other, and with the river, which shows a nature different from all other rivers, established for themselves manners and customs in a way opposite to other men in almost all matters: for among them the women frequent the market and carry on trade, while the men remain at home and weave... [continue reading]

Shabti dolls (also known as `shawbti’ and `ushabti’) were funerary figures in ancient Egypt who accompanied the deceased to the after-life. Their name is derived from the Egyptian `swb’ for stick but also corresponds to the word for `answer’ (`wSb’) and so the Shabtis were known as `The Answerers’. The figures, shaped... [continue reading]

Is it possible to have a heart that is lighter than a feather? To the ancient Egyptians it was not only possible but highly desirable.  The after-life of the ancient Egyptians was known as the Field of Reeds and was a land very much like one's life on earth save that there was no sickness, no disappointment and, of course, no death. One lived eternally... [continue reading]

Hathor: The Mother Goddess In ancient Egypt, Hathor was the goddess of old, later re-imagined as Isis, who gave all the good gifts of life to humanity. Early depictions of the goddess show a queenly woman with the sun disk and horns on her head; later she came to be seen as a woman with the head of a cow or, simply, as a cow, symbolizing her life-giving energy... [continue reading]

The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious texts in the world (some scholars cite the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest, though it is debatable whether the Epic of Gilgamesh is a religious text). They comprise the texts which were inscribed on the sarcophogi and walls of the pyramids at Saqqara in the 5th and 6th Dynasties of the Old Kingdom (2465-2150... [continue reading]