Details About Ancient Egypt That Definitely Weren't In The History Books

In films and history books, the ancient Egyptians are portrayed as athletic Adonises. Royals were depicted as almost unimaginably beautiful, with rumors of Cleopatra's tantalizing scent lasting through the centuries. But actually, ancient Egyptians were gross. Like, really gross, by modern standards. While the civilization was extremely advanced and impressive understanding of how the world worked, the… um… unique methods they used to alleviate their own problems. You won’t find this information in most history books. 

Lice

First off, lice was a major issue. It was such a large problem that most ancient Egyptians decided to shave their heads instead of dealing with the pesky vermin. Even the tombs were filled with lice (so you couldn’t even escape them in the afterlife).

Wig Solution

Most of the men preferred to shave themselves from head to toe. Women normally wore a wig that could be easily exchanged when it became too invested with lice. Lovely. There was probably a whole pile of these nasty lice wigs sitting around somewhere.

Flashing

One activity that ancient Egyptian men enjoyed was flashing women as they sailed past them. This was a part of a religious festival. They’d take the entire family and head to Bubastis for the celebration with a huge crowd of people.

Impressive Display

Along the way, men would flash the pretty girls they saw. They hoped the women would jump in the water and swim after them because they were so impressed with their “display.” It’s so weird historians generally leave that out when they write about this civilization.