Ancient Egypt never fails to amaze us when it comes to their history. There are tons of great things that they pretty much contributed to the world. From the forgotten female Pharaoh, the lost city of Heracleion, to the unseen finished product of the limestone-polished pyramid, there are still more of its secrets that need unraveling. Also, some of the Egyptians ways of living are already incorporated in our lives as of this moment. There’s the origin of hair removal, the fundamentals of makeup, as well as proper hygiene regimes. Now let us take a close look at some of the things that perhaps all of us might feel curious about knowing.
Masturbation, or onanism, is the stimulation, often manual, of the genitals for sexual gratification. Masturbation is depicted in prehistoric cave paintings and has been observed in many animal species. — Neel Burton M.D.
Masturbation Rituals
There is this ancient Egyptian mythology that tells the god Atum creates the vast of nothingness from masturbation. That the other gods spontaneously grew out of his ejaculation and spit. It is a funny thing that even the outgoing tide and flow of the river Nile seem also attributed to this god’s semen. Though it looks very much unlikely, the concept inspired the annual Pharaoh’s ceremony. As the human representative of gods on Earth, the Pharaoh needs to recreate the myth of the creation of nothingness. By that, the Pharaoh would masturbate in front of the crowd and ejaculate into the river Nile. Regardless of the age of the audience, no single concern appeared given. People do not condemn nor look at it as something inappropriate because they believed that the process of the ceremony ensures an outstanding and bountiful harvest throughout the year. Of course, that is due to the help of their god, Atum.
Incest
A lot of deities married their siblings in ancient Egyptian mythology. With that, it allows Egyptian people to acknowledge that incest is a deliberate act. However, although there is little evidence that proves that ordinary Egyptians are marrying their siblings, it was desirable for generations, especially for the royal family. Many of its members believe that incest became a way of creating a better successor, including Tutankhamun. However, due to incompatible DNAs from his father Pharaoh Akhenaten and his sister, he suffered from a wide range of infections, malformation, as well as genetic diseases. There is also a case of him having weak bones which makes him unable to walk by himself.
Some taxpayers were advised to send their daughters along—“prepare your daughter for the king, your lord, and prepare the contributions.” And Akhenaten wanted another 40 women from the prince of Gezer, at a cost of 40 shekels of silver per woman. — Laura Betzig Ph.D.
Mummification
The Egyptians have this elaborate preservation of dead bodies through mummification. That is because they believe the process will help the mummified body to reach an afterlife. The whole idea of the process was from Osiris. He was the first ancient Egyptian god who died and got reborn into the afterlife. So being wrapped up and getting preserved during mummification is merely an imitation of the process that Osiris went through in Egyptian mythology. Which is, in a way, the aim is to live on into the afterlife. But all through its consistent practice, it became evident that mummification is merely a way to buy more time for preparation of the tomb.
Views about death and dead people’s bodies and souls vary from culture to culture and century to century, from embalming and mummification techniques to funeral pyres and cremation. —
There are still a lot of ancient Egyptian things out there. Would you be interested in knowing them all?