Crocodile Mummies
According to the Smithsonian, ancient Egyptians hunted crocodiles for the sole purpose of turning them into mummies.
That’s right. In ancient Egypt, embalmers needed animals to mummify for religious offerings. Now some animals were bred for the purpose of being made into mummies, but crocodiles are not animals that people want crawling around their backyards. Instead, hunters would sneak up on crocodiles in the wild and then deliver a deadly blow to the tops of their heads.
The carcasses would then be delivered to the embalmers who would hide the skull fractures during the embalming process. [1]
Tattoos
In pop culture today, Egyptian tattoos are becoming a fast growing trend. Interestingly enough, ancient Egyptian mummies have also been discovered with a bit of ink, but the designs are not what you might expect.
In 2018, it was reported that the tattoos of two Egyptian mummies were examined. Both mummies were roughly 5,000 years old, and instead of having traditional Egyptian symbols inked into their skin, their tattoos were of animals, such as the wild bull and sheep. A female mummy had an L shape and an S shape tattooed onto her skin.
Egyptologists believe that these tattoos were made using copper needles and soot. [2]
Cinderella
In a National Geographic article detailing the reasons why the Brothers Grimm fairy tales were not originally created for children, we are reminded that the story of Cinderella can also be found in both ancient China and in ancient Egypt. In the ancient Egyptian version of Cinderella, Cinderella is given a pair of red slippers instead of glass. She was also a slave who was born in Greece and sold into slavery in Egypt. The blond haired, green eyed slave was teased relentlessly by the other slave girls because she looked different.
She also acted differently than all the other slave girls. She loved to sing and dance when she was alone by the river. One night, as she twirled around, the master of the house saw her and ordered a pair of red slippers for her feet because a young dancer should have shoes.
Soon the Pharaoh announced that he was holding court and all the girls in the kingdom prepared for the big event. The Egyptian Cinderella, however, was given so many chores to complete that it was impossible for her to attend the event.
As the girl washed clothes in the river, her beautiful red shoes got wet. She took them off and placed them in the sun to dry.
A falcon swooped down, grabbed one of the red slippers, and took it to the Pharaoh. Taking this as a sign from the gods, the Pharaoh knew that whoever’s foot fitted the red slipper should be his queen. Sure enough, the Pharaoh found the slave girl and married her. [3]
