14 Old Customs That Will Make You Thank You for Living in the 21st Century

In the age of digital technology and the Internet, it is difficult to imagine the particularities of the lives of our ancestors.

Behaviors that were considered normal back then now cause laughter, estrangement, and even fear. awesome.club gathered some facts from antiquity that will make you happy to live in the 21st century.

Women began to dye their hair 3,000 years ago. But at that time, there were no beauty salons, no special paints; so they used everything to get the job done, from leeks and cinnamon to sulfur and ash. Also, to lighten their hair, they had to spend hours under a scorching sun. It is not surprising that these experiments often ended with disastrous results.

This custom existed in China, and was almost exclusive to the upper class. Children between 4 and 5 years old had their feet tied and were forced to walk in very small shoes, causing their feet to become deformed.

That’s because healthy feet as we know them today were considered “low class”, and that could be an obstacle to getting married.

Books of complaints and suggestions or their analogues were common in Babylonia, over 1000 BC. For example, in the stone, we can see a complaint about an incorrect delivery of a copper load. But to carve the complaint in stone, it took the injured consumer several days. So next time you spend 30 minutes hanging on the phone trying to cancel pay TV, be grateful for living in the 21st century.

Lachrymators are small vessels with a narrow neck, found in some tombs. Possibly, there were deposited the tears of those who cried for those who died. Also, from the full containers, husbands could tell how much their wife missed them while he was away.

You can’t complain about today’s medicines, even if some are bitter or the pills are too big. The medicines elaborated in 1,500 aC took excrements of many animals, birds and even of human beings. Magical rituals were also part of the methods for healing. Keep this in mind when you have to take some bad medicine next time.

In the past, people were responsible for the workforce in constructions, especially in temples. For example, the “Stone of the South” or “Stone of the Pregnant Woman”, found in the temple complex of Baalbek, present-day Lebanon, weighs over 1,000 tons! It’s hard to imagine that normal people like us created them, transported them and built huge buildings with them.

In ancient Rome, parents had unlimited power over their children during their lifetime. He could arrange divorces, marriages, and even sell or kill newborns if he wanted to. If you complain about your parents putting a time to get home after the club, thank heaven you don’t live in Roman times.

Nowadays, the pregnancy test is bought at any pharmacy, and in a few minutes it allows you to know the result. In antiquity, the methods for determining whether a woman was pregnant reached absurd situations. For example, sacks of wheat or barley were urinated on; if the seeds germinated, it was a sign of pregnancy. The woman could also be invited to drink water with honey in the evening; if she were pregnant, she would have an inflamed abdomen and some cramps.

A dryland water supply system called qanat uses deep wells shaped like a huge canal with a horizontal tunnel to supply dry regions. This system emerged in 1000 BC in what is now Iran and is still used in some places. Thousands of small wells are needed to bring water from one place to another.

If doctors were still using medieval methods, after a headache or a seizure, we could be given medicines with human blood. The Romans believed that blood taken from gladiators could cure epilepsy, and in 17th century pharmacies you could find powder made from human mummies. This type of medicine has been widespread for many centuries.

Everyone knows that in ancient Egypt people worshiped cats, which were considered sacred animals. In palaces, these animals lived in the same luxuries as their masters. When the cat died, people had to shave their eyebrows as a sign of mourning, which lasted 70 days.

In ancient times it was considered that the more people attended the funeral, the more important the deceased was. In some cases, “wailers” were hired, people who did not even know the deceased, but went to the ceremony to cry. Over time, this tradition was banned.

In ancient Egypt, teeth were treated with a mouthwash based on celery and beer. In the Middle Ages (photo), dental service was performed, in most cases, by barbers.

Ancient Egyptians used to embalm the bodies of the dead right after death. However, when it came to beautiful women, the process was delayed a few days, and here’s why: the deceased woman’s relatives wanted to prevent anyone from touching her body, so they let it rot for 2 or 3 days.

What ancient custom surprised you the most? Share your answer in the comments!