10 myths about the ancient world, in which many for some reason still believe

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The whole truth about the appearance of dinosaurs, the color of the pyramids and the features of Roman hygiene.

1. Dinosaurs looked like reptiles

In popular culture, dinosaurs look like giant bipedal reptiles with scaly skin, like modern crocodiles. They are, for example, represented in Steven Spielberg's film Jurassic Park. And at the time when the picture was filmed, such an image was considered quite scientific. But modern paleontological finds show that dinosaurs were more like birds than lizards.

Most of them had feathers - even the famous Tyrannosaurus!

In fact, this is not so surprising, because birds are descended from dinosaurs. So the terrible lizards in reality looked like huge, toothy, clawed and wingless chickens or kiwis, moved accordingly and had bird habits.

And one more thing about the monstrous roar that scares the audience in films: in reality, dinosaurs rather chuckled and cooed Coos, booms, and hoots: The evolution of closed-mouth vocal behavior in birds, like doves.

2. Ancient people sat on a paleo diet

Recently, many healthy lifestyle fans are inclined to believe that returning to the diet of our distant ancestors helps to become healthier. The popular paleo diet contains only what ancient hunters and gatherers could get: meat and fish, vegetables and fruits, herbs and nuts. It contains no milk, grains or legumes.

However, in fact, the modern paleo diet has very little in common with the diet of people of the Paleolithic era. There is too much meat and fish in it, while the ancient gatherers had problems with these products. And plants, on the contrary, are not enough: in the distant past, people even ate those roots, flowers and herbs that we would definitely consider inedible. For example, water lilies and thistles.

With all your desire, you will not be able to reproduce a real Paleolithic diet, since over the millennia the plant world has changed and the current fruits and roots are not at all similar to those that surrounded our distant ancestors. Not to mention the fact that it was clearly difficult to cook such complex dishes that this diet abounds in, in the absence of ovens and multicooker.

3. Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs

Ask any person what Ancient Egypt is associated with, and he will name the pyramids, pharaohs and hieroglyphs - mysterious drawings that served people as writing and depicting household items, gods, animals, birds and other things. The Egyptians used them for almost 4,000 years.

However, one should not assume that they wrote in hieroglyphs all the time. According to researcher Rosalie David, these complex drawings were used only in special cases. The Egyptians believed that if something was written in this way, it would come true. So the hieroglyphs had a magical purpose.

In addition, it is too long and difficult to write with these signs all the time. Therefore, the Egyptians had an everyday, so-called hieratic, and later - demotic writing. This is the cursive type of writing that looked like.

4. The pyramids have always been sandy

By the way, more about Ancient Egypt. In the films about him, the pyramids are always depicted in their modern form - covered with yellowish sand. That's just under the pharaohs, they were snow-white!

They were built of white limestone, and the polished surface of the stone reflected the sun's rays so well that it was difficult to look at it. This is what a fragment of the facing of the Great Pyramid at Giza looks like:

Over time, the polished stone became uneven and covered with sand. And if you think the Great Pyramid looks impressive, just imagine what it was like when it was also shining in the sun.

5. Ancient Greeks wore togas

Usually people represent the ancient Greeks either as muscular athletes, or as gray-bearded philosophers (also of athletic build), dressed in some kind of rags - right on their naked bodies. Take a look at the painting “Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David and you will understand what it is about. Those who are especially interested in history may even remember the name of this veil - toga.

But the Greeks did not wear togas. They were invented by the Etruscans, who called this garment tebenna. Later it was borrowed by the Romans and gave it its current name - toga. The Romans often painted togas in different colors and complemented the background with patterns. And white models, "candida", were worn by applicants for public office - hence the word "candidate".

The Greeks preferred cloaks called "himations". And they were not worn on a naked body - only over their underwear.

6. In Greek myth, Pandora opened a box

In mythology, the curious Pandora, the first woman on Earth, opened the chest given to her by Zeus, where all the troubles of the world were kept. Realizing what she had done, she slammed the drawer, but it was too late: at the bottom there was only one hope.

Since then, the expressions "box / casket / Pandora's box" have become common nouns. But in the real myth that the Greeks told each other, there was no box.

Zeus handed Pandora a pithos, a large ceramic vessel for olive oil.

When in the 16th century Erasmus of Rotterdam translated Hesiod's story about Pandora into Latin, he confused pythos with another Greek word - pyxis ("box"). And because of this mistake, the idiom "Pandora's box" was born.

7. Gladiators have always fought to the death

When people talk about gladiatorial battles, they imagine that in them, under the screams and hooting of the crowd, the warriors fought to the last drop of blood. But research shows that gladiators did not actually die as often as is commonly believed.

The death of your gladiator in the arena means Why gladiators of Rome didn’t die as often as you thought a huge loss of investment.

Professor Michael J. Carter

Before the games, people who wanted to participate in them rented gladiators from coaches. And if a fighter died, the sponsor was forced to pay almost 50 times the rental price.

The training and preparation of a gladiator cost his master a pretty penny. Therefore, the fighters were well cared for and after the fight, the loser was not finished off, but treated. It is believed that out of 10 fights, only one ended in murder.

8. Gladiators had perfect abs

Something else about the regulars at the Colosseum. Through Ridley Scott's film, we imagine the fighters in the arenas as muscular, handsome athletes, often half naked. But real gladiators could hardly be called the dream of any girl, because their muscles were covered with a trembling layer of subcutaneous fat.

Studies by anthropologists from the Medical University of Vienna, who studied the remains of the fighters, showed that they ate little animal protein, but at the same time ate a lot of legumes and grains rich in carbohydrates. The historian Pliny also claimed that gladiators were nicknamed hordearii - "barley eaters."

Such a diet helped to build up fat, and he protected from injury. Gladiator fights did not always end in death, but they were still bloody and cruel. And the plump fighter had a better chance of avoiding damage to internal organs when struck with a sword. So gladiators were definitely not guys with perfect terrain.

9. The Romans had excellent hygiene

Some argue that if the Roman Empire had not collapsed and its achievements had not been forgotten in the Middle Ages, we would now be colonizing the Galaxy. Judge for yourself: the Romans had plumbing, sewerage ("cesspool"), baths and aqueducts. And in the gloomy Middle Ages, people will throw out their chamber pots from the windows. The degradation of humanity is evident.

However, Roman hygiene is greatly overrated. Archaeologists know that people then suffered massively from intestinal parasites, fleas, lice, as well as diseases such as dysentery, typhoid and cholera.

Yes, the Romans had steam baths and public toilets. But the water in the first was changed very rarely, and the toilets were dirty, and rats often bit people there in the most unexpected places. For intimate hygiene, reusable sponges on sticks - xylospongiums - were used. After being used, they were thrown into a dirty water tank, where they waited for the next visitor.

The Romans also rinsed out their mouths with urine to keep their teeth clean, and used it as an ingredient in some medicines. Moreover, according to the Roman poet Catula, both human and animal fluids were used.

10. People in the past were much shorter

Someone is inclined to idealize the past and argue that thousands of years ago the Earth was inhabited entirely by tall giants. Others believe that in ancient times, people were short. But, as archaeological studies show, the population of the planet used to be about the same growth as we are now.

Average growth in the human population fluctuates. People become higher and lower - this is due to changes in living conditions. Over the past 150 years, the average human height in developed countries has increased by about 10 cm. And before that it decreased - from 173.4 cm in the early Middle Ages to 167 cm in the 17th – 18th centuries.

These fluctuations are associated with nutrition and health status of people. So growth only increases when living conditions improve, not just over time.