Comparing and Contrasting Ancient Egypt with our Current World.
Health Issues Differences
Overall, the ancient Egyptians’ regular, everyday lives were distinctively different from what we perceive as ‘normal’ in society today. However the civilisation of ancient Egypt has helped to shape the world into what it is now and has passed down valuable knowledge in both health and religion. Some of their traditions are still performed today and many of the things that originated in ancient Egypt (e.g. the knowledge of medicinal properties contained specific substances such as willow tree leaves used to create aspirin), have been directly passed down through many generations and developed over time into what our current world is.
Health Issues Differences
- Nowadays we have allocated businesses who pick up our rubbish once a week and we bury it underneath the ground. Unlike the Egyptians who were responsible for their own wastage. We also have the system of recycling now, which never existed in ancient Egypt because they never had any knowledge in that area and they weren’t as advanced in technology as we are currently.
- In today’s society, different international religions don’t believe that illnesses are caused by evil spirits and we don’t perform a series of spells and (believed to be magical), potions over a sick person. This is because in present day time, we have developed more advanced knowledge over the natural causes of common diseases and how the human body responds to certain treatments. Therefore, currently, we have the ability to develop effective treatments that evidently heal the human body.
- Currently, most humans do not live in such harsh conditions as the ancient Egyptians did and our teeth aren’t easily worn down to the enamel. Many of us still develop minor cavities and teeth issues however not to the extent the ancient Egyptians did. Presently, humans have their full set of teeth over 2 times longer than the ancient Egyptians did, with their teeth expectancy being 30 years. Additionally, we don’t use tools made of rough stone to ground grain down, preventing rock fragments from getting in our foods. This was a reason for the unhealthy state of the ancient Egyptians teeth. Instead we use electrical powered technologies such as grain mills, which the ancient Egyptians never had.
- Nowadays, we are aware of the nutritional values of grain and meat and the consequences of consuming too much grain. We also have knowledge on the iron contained in meat and how some people have allergies and intolerances to certain foods. The ancient Egyptians where unaware of the high level of iron contained in meat and that humans need efficient amounts of iron for our body to function correctly. Because of this, the ancient Egyptians were very low in iron because even though most people had access to meats and fish, they didn’t know it’s nutritional value so continued to base their diet on mainly grains which are hard on your digestive system. Therefore the ancient Egyptians developed health problems like anaemia caused by iron deficiency.
- For sanitation, some areas over the globe today still use one of the ancient Egyptian's methods to gather drinking water. This method is the water wheel which spirals the water up and drops it once it reaches the top of the wheel.
- Like the ancient Egyptians, today many people develop serious health problems such as osteoarthritis, malaria and pneumonia. Osteoarthritis commonly occurs in people over 50 nowadays, but younger people may also be affected after an injury or any joint condition. Malaria is an extremely harmful disease that often occurs in mainly the poorer countries of the world. Africa is the most susceptible region to malaria and it is estimated that 90% of all international malaria deaths occur in Africa. Especially in african children under 5 years old, who account for 78% of all malaria attributed deaths in the world. In 2013, there were 198 million malaria cases across the globe, which shows just how common this disease remains after the ancient Egyptians. Pneumonia is currently another common issue and is mainly caused by smoking cigarettes. The smoking of cigarettes is the most dangerous problem that leads to pneumonia and not just the adults who smoke cigarettes are effected, but the children in their environment who inhale their second hand smoke too. 935,000 children under the age of five died from pneumonia in 2013. This shows that pneumonia, malaria and osteoarthritis is still a problem which large quantities of people are prone to and in both ancient Egypt and present time, are caused by the inhalation of some sort of smoke either from oil lamps or cigarettes.
- The ancient Egyptians worshipped over 700 gods and goddesses whereas most religions across the globe in present day time, only have one main god each. Some having other gods which aren't as recognised as their main god. All ancient Egyptians believed in their religion and were loyal to it, whereas currently, some of us aren't religious at all and don’t worship any gods or goddesses.
- Most people around the world do not believe in the afterlife and don’t perform the process of mummification on the deceased. This system remains very unfamiliar in many international cultures and is not done very commonly. The concept of removing every internal organ apart from the heart is very strange to many of us currently, and some religions have different traditions after death such as funerals and in Tibet, ‘Sky Burials’ (the feeding of the deceased to wild animals).
- Marriage in present day time doesn’t always occur, although the majority of people are married. In ancient Egypt, you were considered married once the bride had accepted gifts from the groom and took up residency with him. However nowadays, people tend to get to know each other before marriage and must take part in a special ceremony with a celebrant who pronounces the two people as married. Also in ancient Egypt you must draw up a contract assigning some of the grooms belongings to the bride, whereas today, it doesn’t always happen that seriously and sometimes the couple makes those decisions in a more informal way. However if necessary, this may happen in court over the law and a judge. Additionally, in ancient Egypt, married couples never split up and today that happens reasonably often. It wasn’t needed to happen in ancient Egypt because it was just expected of them to remain married but presently, we have more freedom in decision making.
- Still today, we associate crystals and talismans with specific meanings like the ancient Egyptians did. Each religion has their own sacred amulets and crystals that resemble unique powers. For example the buddhist religion regard amethyst as a precious gem and carve prayer beads from amethyst crystal beads.
Overall, the ancient Egyptians’ regular, everyday lives were distinctively different from what we perceive as ‘normal’ in society today. However the civilisation of ancient Egypt has helped to shape the world into what it is now and has passed down valuable knowledge in both health and religion. Some of their traditions are still performed today and many of the things that originated in ancient Egypt (e.g. the knowledge of medicinal properties contained specific substances such as willow tree leaves used to create aspirin), have been directly passed down through many generations and developed over time into what our current world is.