Could You Survive In Ancient Egypt?


Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin. We’ve taken a few trips now back into the
past to see what life was like in different places at different times. How about we spin the Deblocked wheel and
see where we go next? Alright, and it’s… Mars in the year 2500? Oh no, no, no, no! I don’t think they’re ready to see that
just yet. Let’s pick… ancient Egypt instead! There we go, that was a highly requested one,
we’ll do that. So, how hard would it have been for you to
survive back in ancient Egypt? Well it turns out it was pretty darn difficult. There were a bunch of diseases and other dangers
that people had to deal with. Oddly enough, many of those dangers came from
something that, in a lot of ways, allowed life to flourish. I’m talking about the Nile River. The Nile River was a cornerstone of ancient
Egyptian life, allowing people to settle down and base their lives around farming, agriculture,
and some fishing rather than having to roam the lands. Hey, Karen, go hunt and gather somewhere else! Mine! But the river came with some pretty significant
drawbacks. If you interacted with the water, you could
come in contact with some pretty nasty parasites. One such parasite was the Schistosoma worm,
which could enter a human host through their extremities and lay eggs in their bloodstream,
causing some serious damage as the worms travelled through their internal organs. Wow ! Wow ! Sorry, just had to pause for a
second. Wow! Another major issue, especially near the water,
was malaria, which can cause flu-like symptoms and lead to death if left untreated. Oh yeah, and you better watch out for those
crocodiles, too! And, if you were a servant, you’d also have
to worry about the life of your ruler as well, because if they died, you might have been
sacrificed and buried along with them! In the earlier times of ancient Egypt, some
of a ruler’s chosen servants were buried with them around their tomb, which was seen
as a high privilege. Later down the line, they switched over to
statues or models of the servants instead. To help themselves out against some of these
dangers, people back in ancient Egypt placed a pretty high importance on amulets. Amulets were charms or jewelry, that had a
very symbolic meaning and were believed to have magical or protective properties. That supposed magical power came, in part,
from what the amulet looked like — its shape, color, and what it was made out of. Many of the amulets looked like animals or
gods. And I don’t really know how well they protected
people, but, hey, if you didn’t survive, they also used amulets for people who died
and were mummified, believed to help them out in the afterlife. What’s really interesting is that researchers
believe that some of their practices back then actually did have some science-backed
means of protection to the dangers of the time. A 2010 study found that ancient Egyptians’
iconic black eye makeup, which was thought to summon the power of the gods to help ward
off illness, had antibacterial properties that helped fend off infections. The makeup was lead-based, and since lead
can be toxic, the researchers argue that the makeup could have killed-off bacteria and
may have helped further prevent and treat eye illnesses by promoting the action of immune
cells. It’s pretty neat! You shouldn’t try this today though. Since lead poisoning is very dangerous, the
cons really outweigh the pros on this one. So all in all, life was pretty tough back
in ancient Egypt. I think we should all go to Mars in 2500 and
get a level 3 mind massage… I’m telling you, they work wonders! So is there a time period or a place that
you want me to travel to next? Let me know in the comment section below and
your suggestion could be a future episode of Deblocked. Curious to know what you would need to do
to survive trapped on the International Space Station? Check out this video! Well, it would probably depend a lot on how
many people you had up there with you. The more people, the more you’ll be consuming
your resources. As always my name is Blocko! This has been Life Noggin! Don’t forget to keep on thinking.

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