Movies cause quite a lot of misconceptions about ancient Egypt, the mysterious world has always had a strong appeal to modern people.
Movies are one of the most important drivers of popular culture. That is also the reason what appears on the screen is often stuck in our minds. Many mystical things, including historical events, have been reproduced on screen with incomplete information such as a finger pointing to the ground indicating a death sentence for a gladiator or Vikings. usually wears horned hats…
Ancient Egyptian civilization with mysterious stories is always a “magnet” with strong attraction to people… Therefore, there are many movies set in ancient Egypt. But not all works accurately reflect the reality at that time.
What was Cleopatra really like?
Queen Cleopatra is the most famous Egyptian woman in the world, known for her beautiful beauty. However, through the restored images, it can be seen that Queen Cleopatra is not really as beautiful as in the movies. Historians believe that the queen had a petite figure, a masculine face, and especially a beaked nose. Movie works that build the character of Queen Cleopatra depend on the content of the film and the intentions of the director, but do not completely adhere to history.
Traps and treasures in the pyramid
The filmmakers love to fill the graves and crypts with many well-thought-out traps. And if the protagonist overcomes all those challenges, a sparkling treasure awaits them at the end of the long corridor. If not, why would they go into these terrifying ancient labyrinths in the first place?
In fact, the builders of the pyramids tried to protect the tombs, but they did not have the rich imaginations that many screenwriters do. For example, they would build a fake room next to the real one and make it look like it was robbed to fool the grave thief. In addition, they will build deep wells that a person will not be able to get out of alone.
According to Professor Lehner, the system of a “primitive machine” found in the pyramids of Giza was quite complex at the time. It blocked the way to the pharaoh’s room with huge granite blocks, making it difficult for robbers to get inside.
As for the treasure, it’s often just a dream as not many of the tombs excavated by archaeologists contain jewelry. In most cases, any present treasure has historical and cultural value rather than material value.
Sphynx has no nose because of Napoleon
The Egyptian Sphynx statue is as famous as the pyramids at Giza, many people still wonder why this ancient statue lacks a nose. Most of them like to believe that Napoleon’s army learned to shoot guns by aiming at this part of the statue. However, images of Sphynx without a nose appear in works from 1755, while Napoleon was not born until 1769. This means that the great king of France has nothing to do with this missing nose. Why the Sphynx doesn’t have this body part is still a mystery.
Pyramids were built by slaves
Unfortunately, there is still a popular belief that the pharaohs built the pyramids to honor their greatness and to register history after their death. That is why many people think that a large number of Egyptians enslaved took part in the construction.
However, this is not true. Archaeologists have found the graves of ordinary people near the pyramid, who were buried there with special honor. It is believed that it is workers of different professions who are well paid for this enormous work that spans many years.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
From movies, we know that the Egyptians used hieroglyphs. That’s true, but they also have common writing. Around the 1st century AD, the Coptic alphabet began to be used along with popular writing. The Coptic script is a variant of the Greek alphabet with the addition of some signs of the popular script. Although hieroglyphs were officially used in rituals until the fourth century, by the end of the day only a handful of monks could still read them. When traditional religions were banned, the knowledge of hieroglyphics was considered lost.
Curse of the pharaohs
The myth of the “curse of the pharaohs” may have appeared after the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun. According to legend, several archaeologists died after discovering the tomb. That is why society began to believe in the existence of curses, even though all the participants in the excavation died for reasons that are quite understandable and unrelated to this mystery. However, film directors still liked this “truth” and started using it in films about mysterious tombs and pyramids.
What did pharaohs and priests look like?
Not all pharaohs are this handsome.
For the pharaohs, their lives were far from a fairy tale, even though they were kings. It’s filled with sand, lice, parasites, and many other nasty things the movie doesn’t talk about. This is probably why many filmmakers make the mistake of portraying the life of the ancient Egyptians.
For example, the Egyptians would wear wigs that not everyone could afford to signify beauty and status. In addition, many women and men would use eye makeup because they believed that cosmetics at the time had antiseptic and protective effects.
The frescoes discovered depict pharaohs and other dignitaries depicting tall, dignified, and handsome people. Movies foster the belief that they are all like this. However, taking into account their diet (which included bread, honey, and yeast-containing beverages) as well as their lifestyle, the ancient kings of Egypt, along with the priests, did not Not everyone has ideal beauty. It is likely that some of them are obese and have diabetes.
