WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.899
Imagine you are going to this really incredible

00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:05.919
dinner party. OK, I am in. Right. The food is

00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.800
amazing. The wine is just flowing. And the mood

00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:12.320
is it's absolutely electric. Yeah, good vibes

00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.839
all around. Exactly. You're sitting there laughing

00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:17.559
with your friends, having a great time. And then

00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:20.679
right in the middle of dessert, the host clinks

00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:24.440
their glass and stands up. Uh -oh. Speech time.

00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:28.660
Worse. The host has a servant come out. physically

00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:32.020
pass around a hyper realistic carved wooden corpse

00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:36.600
inside a tiny coffin. Oh wow that is yeah that's

00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.520
intense. Right and the host just looks at you

00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:42.600
and says look at this dead body. Drink up enjoy

00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:44.640
your night because tomorrow you could look exactly

00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.189
like this. Well, I mean, that definitely changes

00:00:47.189 --> 00:00:49.750
the vibe of the evening. It is the ultimate buzzkill

00:00:49.750 --> 00:00:51.729
by modern standards. I mean, if someone did that

00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:53.429
today, you'd leave. Oh, absolutely. I'd be out

00:00:53.429 --> 00:00:55.530
the door. But thousands of years ago, that was

00:00:55.530 --> 00:00:57.689
literally just a standard Tuesday night in ancient

00:00:57.689 --> 00:01:00.009
Egypt. Just a normal dinner party. Yeah. And

00:01:00.009 --> 00:01:01.409
honestly, it doesn't even stop there. Imagine

00:01:01.409 --> 00:01:05.209
a society where you need your bread dough with

00:01:05.209 --> 00:01:07.890
your bare feet, but you meticulously shape animal

00:01:07.890 --> 00:01:10.329
dung with your hands. It sounds completely backward

00:01:10.329 --> 00:01:13.390
to us. It really does. Welcome to the deep dive,

00:01:13.390 --> 00:01:15.689
everyone. I am so thrilled. you are joining us

00:01:15.689 --> 00:01:18.569
today because we are completely tearing down.

00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:21.359
the textbook version of history. We really are.

00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.319
We're throwing it out. You know the one I'm talking

00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.640
about, right? The grand sterile pictures of the

00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.500
Great Pyramid of Giza, the golden mask of King

00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:32.859
Tut, those frozen, silent statues. Yeah, the

00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:35.680
stuff you see in every museum brochure. Exactly.

00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.760
We are completely bypassing all of that monumental

00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.019
propaganda today. We are stepping entirely off

00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:43.319
the royal barge and just wading directly into

00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:46.959
the muddy, loud and incredibly complex streets

00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:49.980
of the everyday people. Yes. The mission today

00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.700
is to completely rewire how you picture this

00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:55.920
ancient civilization. We're going to explore

00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.480
how regular people actually survived. How they

00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:01.120
engineered their daily habits. Right. And the

00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:04.000
incredibly bizarre but shockingly logical rules

00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.540
they live by. Have you ever wondered what the

00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:09.080
daily grind actually looked like back then? Well,

00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:11.560
we have a literal guidebook for it. An absolutely

00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:14.139
incredible guidebook. We are diving deep into

00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:16.659
the historical accounts of Herodotus. The ancient

00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:18.520
Greek writer, right? Yeah, often called the father

00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.819
of history. He traveled extensively and documented

00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:25.110
the known world. And his account of Egypt is

00:02:25.110 --> 00:02:28.110
just an absolute anthropological goldmine. It's

00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:30.909
so detailed. It is. What makes the material we're

00:02:30.909 --> 00:02:33.370
using today so special is that we are actively

00:02:33.370 --> 00:02:38.530
ignoring. the lists of kings, you know, the dynasties,

00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:41.270
the wars. We're skipping the battles. Exactly.

00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:44.449
Instead, we are focusing on the granular, visceral

00:02:44.449 --> 00:02:46.830
realities of their daily rituals, their strict

00:02:46.830 --> 00:02:50.650
social hierarchies, and the ingenious and honestly,

00:02:50.990 --> 00:02:53.409
sometimes horrifying ways they adapted to life

00:02:53.409 --> 00:02:57.090
along the Nile River. And to even begin to understand

00:02:57.090 --> 00:02:59.349
these people through the eyes of Herodotus, we

00:02:59.349 --> 00:03:01.289
really have to start with a concept that fundamentally

00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:03.409
governed their entire society. It's fascinating.

00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:05.520
It's like they looked at the rest of the known

00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:07.860
world, looked at how everyone else was operating,

00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.539
and collectively decided, whatever you're doing,

00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:13.240
we're going to do the exact opposite. Herodotus

00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:16.060
actually makes a point to explicitly state this

00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:18.139
in the text. Oh, he calls it out directly. He

00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:21.500
does. He observes that the Egyptians, in agreement

00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:24.000
with their unique climate and the river, because

00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.120
the Nile behaves completely differently from

00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.120
all other rivers in the Mediterranean world,

00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:31.900
they established manners and customs that were

00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:35.000
essentially the reverse of other men in almost

00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.319
all matters. So it was intentional. It appears

00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.969
as a highly conscious deliberate differentiation.

00:03:42.530 --> 00:03:45.069
They define themselves by their contrast to the

00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:47.960
outside world. I was reading through these reversals

00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.180
and they are staggering. I mean, let's start

00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:52.280
with gender roles and the economy. Oh, this is

00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.639
a big one. Yeah, in the source material, Herodotus

00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:57.099
is absolutely baffled to report that in Egypt,

00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.120
the women frequent the market and carry on trade

00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.620
while the men remain at home to weave. To fully

00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.539
appreciate his shock there, you really have to

00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:07.699
put yourself in the sandals of an ancient Greek

00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:10.039
man. Right, because their society was so different.

00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:13.699
Exactly. In the wider ancient Mediterranean,

00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:17.240
the public sphere, commerce, the marketplace,

00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:20.180
you know, the agora, that was strictly almost

00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:23.500
aggressively the domain of men. Men did the trading.

00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:25.899
Women stayed home. Right. Women were largely

00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:28.639
confined to the domestic sphere, and their primary

00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:32.620
economic contribution was textile work. So seeing

00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:34.639
women controlling the commerce and men sitting

00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:38.500
at the looms, that was a complete inversion of

00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:41.500
his perceived now. And it isn't just a simple

00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:44.259
swap of job titles either. The physical mechanics

00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:46.959
of the jobs themselves were inverted. This is

00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:48.839
where it gets really granular. I had to read

00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.199
the section on weaving like three times to make

00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.240
sure I understood it. He points out that when

00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.540
men sit down to weave in Egypt, the physical

00:04:55.540 --> 00:04:58.439
act is backward. Backwards? How? Well, other

00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.199
nations push the wolf upwards, but the Egyptians

00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.879
push it downwards. Ah, let's unpack the mechanics

00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:05.540
of that because it's brilliant. If you look at

00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:08.040
a traditional ancient warp -weighted loom, the

00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:10.680
warp threads hang vertically. OK, got it. And

00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.519
the whiff, or the whift, are the horizontal threads

00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.740
that you weave in and out. In most ancient cultures,

00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.319
you start weaving at the top and beat those horizontal

00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.259
threads upward to pack them tight. So you're

00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:25.040
constantly pushing up. Exactly. You are working

00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.000
against gravity to create a dense fabric. But

00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.420
the Egyptians designed their looms to beat the

00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:34.040
whiff downwards, utilizing gravity rather than

00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.319
fighting it. Wow. So it's a completely different

00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.370
ergonomic approach. It's pure efficiency. a totally

00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:41.410
different approach to textile manufacturing.

00:05:41.610 --> 00:05:45.009
So even their muscle memory was contrarian. And

00:05:45.009 --> 00:05:47.970
we see this physical rebellion in how they carried

00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:50.829
things too. Oh, the burdens? Yeah, men carried

00:05:50.829 --> 00:05:53.389
burdens upon their heads while the women carried

00:05:53.389 --> 00:05:55.769
them upon their shoulders. It's just fascinating

00:05:55.769 --> 00:05:58.689
how deeply this identity of otherness was baked

00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:00.629
into their physical movements. It was everywhere.

00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:02.949
But they took this philosophy of inversion and

00:06:02.949 --> 00:06:04.629
applied it to something deeply personal too,

00:06:04.850 --> 00:06:07.449
like the categorization of bodily functions and

00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.490
modesty. The Egyptian philosophy on public versus

00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:14.029
private life is highly evolved. Herodotus notes

00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:17.269
another physical inversion here. Women stand

00:06:17.269 --> 00:06:20.470
to make water while men crouch down. Another

00:06:20.470 --> 00:06:23.750
physical flip. Right, but the more profound observation

00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.170
is about their spatial awareness of the body.

00:06:26.829 --> 00:06:29.310
He writes that they ease themselves, meaning

00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:32.170
They use the restroom indoors, hidden away in

00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:34.889
their houses. Which makes sense to us. Yes. But

00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:37.089
then they eat their meals outside, completely

00:06:37.089 --> 00:06:40.050
exposed in the streets. Now see, to you and me,

00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:42.410
eating at a sidewalk cafe and using indoor plumbing

00:06:42.410 --> 00:06:44.769
sounds like a normal Tuesday. Perfectly normal.

00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:47.750
But to an ancient outsider, this was incredibly

00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:51.250
strange. Why hide one bodily necessity and flaunt

00:06:51.250 --> 00:06:53.910
another? Great question. And Herodotus provides

00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:55.970
their justification, which I think is just one

00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.709
of the greatest quotes of ancient logic. He says

00:06:58.709 --> 00:07:01.269
they believe, It is right to do secretly the

00:07:01.269 --> 00:07:03.629
things that are unseemly though necessary, but

00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:07.129
those which are not unseemly in public. The phrasing

00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:10.910
unseemly though necessary reveals a highly sophisticated

00:07:10.910 --> 00:07:13.089
framework for human dignity. It really does.

00:07:13.269 --> 00:07:16.610
They recognize that biological waste is an inescapable

00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:19.569
requirement of being alive. You cannot survive

00:07:19.569 --> 00:07:22.529
without doing it. But they categorized it as

00:07:23.350 --> 00:07:25.449
inherently corrupting or shameful. So keep it

00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:28.029
inside. Therefore, it must be rigidly contained

00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:30.689
within the private sphere. Sustenance, on the

00:07:30.689 --> 00:07:33.329
other hand, the act of taking in food is life

00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:36.689
-giving, communal, and carries no inherent shame.

00:07:36.970 --> 00:07:39.250
So put it in the street. Let everyone see. Exactly.

00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:41.750
It belongs in the light of day, in the public

00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:43.970
square. It makes complete logical sense when

00:07:43.970 --> 00:07:46.310
you break it down like that. But this strict

00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:48.949
categorization of what is proper and improper,

00:07:49.550 --> 00:07:51.910
and specifically who is responsible for what,

00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:54.810
bleeds into their legal and family obligations.

00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:58.199
in a way that feels incredibly tense. The laws.

00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:00.220
Yeah. We have to talk about the laws regarding

00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:02.740
aging parents. A massively critical issue in

00:08:02.740 --> 00:08:04.600
the ancient world. I mean, there are no state

00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:06.839
-sponsored nursing homes or retirement funds.

00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:09.420
Right. No 401Ks. The family unit is literally

00:08:09.420 --> 00:08:12.379
the only social safety net that exists. So according

00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:15.379
to the text, sons are absolutely not compelled

00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:17.180
to support their aging parents if they don't

00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:19.180
want to. They could just walk away. Completely

00:08:19.180 --> 00:08:21.759
legally free to do so. But daughters are forced

00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.000
to care for them, no matter how unwilling they

00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.579
might be. The law legally binds the daughter

00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:29.800
to the burden of elder care while giving the

00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:32.779
son a free pass. It sounds incredibly harsh.

00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:35.700
Well, wait a minute, though. We just established

00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:38.460
that women hold the economic power because they're

00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:42.240
out in the markets trading. Yes. So is this law

00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.139
a reflection of female empowerment because they

00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:48.759
actually have the money, or is it just a deeply

00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.779
entrenched patriarchal system forcing the burden

00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.899
of caregiving exclusively onto women? That is

00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:57.320
the exact friction we need to explore here. Let's

00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:59.840
look at the macroeconomic reality of their society.

00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:02.840
In this structure, the women are the ones actively

00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.320
generating liquid wealth. The cash flow. Exactly.

00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:07.500
They are the merchants, the traders, the ones

00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:09.220
out in the public sphere making transactions

00:09:09.220 --> 00:09:12.019
and accumulating capital. The men are at home

00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:14.759
leaving. So the women literally hold the purse

00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:18.049
strings. Precisely. If a society needs to ensure

00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:20.750
that its vulnerable elderly population doesn't

00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:23.789
starve in the streets, you don't place the legal

00:09:23.789 --> 00:09:26.590
financial burden on the demographic that is engaged

00:09:26.590 --> 00:09:30.590
in domestic non -liquid labor. The weavers. Right.

00:09:31.029 --> 00:09:33.250
You place it on the demographic that is actively

00:09:33.250 --> 00:09:36.379
generating income. While modern sensibilities

00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:38.919
might view it purely as a punitive gender burden

00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.320
within the context of their specific economic

00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.620
engine, it was a pragmatic legal mechanism. That

00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:46.759
makes total sense. The daughters had the capital,

00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:49.720
therefore the daughters bore the liability. It

00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.500
is a stark example of legal obligations trailing

00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:55.179
directly behind economic realities. That paints

00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:58.200
such a complex picture. It's a society engineered

00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:00.519
entirely around practical realities, even if

00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:02.480
those realities look completely upside down to

00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.210
outsiders. So if they are this pragmatic about

00:10:06.210 --> 00:10:08.230
economics and modesty, what does this mean for

00:10:08.230 --> 00:10:11.009
their physical bodies? Because this strict division

00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:14.470
of what is proper and improper naturally extends

00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:16.269
to how they treat their health and what they

00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:18.470
put into their mouths. The Egyptian approach

00:10:18.470 --> 00:10:21.370
to sustenance and bodily maintenance is arguably

00:10:21.370 --> 00:10:23.889
the most intense aspect of their culture. It

00:10:23.889 --> 00:10:26.549
is an incredibly regimented system of input and

00:10:26.549 --> 00:10:29.570
output. Okay, let's talk about the diet because

00:10:29.570 --> 00:10:32.980
the preparation methods are wild. The staples

00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:36.200
are pretty standard for the ancient world. Bread

00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:39.480
made of a grain, Herodotus calls maize or spelt,

00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:42.659
they call this bread, chelestis. A very heavy,

00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:44.879
dense grain. Right. And because they don't have

00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.240
vineyards in the fertile flood plains, they drink

00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.200
a wine made from barley. Basically ancient beer.

00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.379
Exactly. Basically they were fueling a massive

00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:56.860
civilization on bread and thick ancient beer.

00:10:57.019 --> 00:10:59.639
The nutritional baseline was heavily carbohydrate

00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.559
dependent. But it is the mechanical preparation

00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:04.740
of that food that introduces another one of those

00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.860
striking, deliberate inversions. The kneading.

00:11:07.940 --> 00:11:09.940
Oh my gosh, this detail completely stopped me

00:11:09.940 --> 00:11:11.860
in my tracks. It's a shocker. The text notes

00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:14.019
that they need dough. The exact dough they're

00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:15.820
going to bake and eat with their bare feet. Yep.

00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:18.519
But when they're working with mud and gathering

00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:20.940
up animal dungs for fuel or building materials,

00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.529
they need that with their hands. It defies every

00:11:24.529 --> 00:11:27.509
single modern instinct we have regarding sanitation.

00:11:28.110 --> 00:11:30.889
We intuitively associate our hands with cleanliness

00:11:30.889 --> 00:11:33.690
and our feet with the dirt of the earth. Exactly.

00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:35.970
If I go to a bakery right now and the baker is

00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:38.629
stomping on my sourdough, I am calling the health

00:11:38.629 --> 00:11:41.370
inspector. Of course you are. But look at it

00:11:41.370 --> 00:11:43.850
purely as an engineering problem. Have you ever

00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:48.429
tried to knead a massive, dense trough of spelt

00:11:48.429 --> 00:11:50.649
dough? I mean, kneading regular bread is tiring

00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:53.850
enough. Right. It requires immense sustained

00:11:53.850 --> 00:11:57.289
physical force. Using the musculature of the

00:11:57.289 --> 00:12:00.610
arms and hands is exhausting. By stepping into

00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:02.730
the trough and using the entire weight of the

00:12:02.730 --> 00:12:05.289
human body driven by the legs, they achieved

00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:07.909
maximum mechanical efficiency. So it's just physics.

00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:11.250
Exactly. Conversely, working with mud, clay,

00:12:11.429 --> 00:12:14.009
and dung to form bricks or fuel patties requires

00:12:14.009 --> 00:12:16.789
fine motor control. You need the dexterity of

00:12:16.789 --> 00:12:19.090
the fingers to shape the material properly. You

00:12:19.090 --> 00:12:21.440
can't sculpt a brick with your toes. Right. They

00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.299
completely discarded the symbolic notion of clean

00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:27.539
hands versus dirty feet in favor of pure utilitarian

00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:30.620
physics. It's brilliant, but honestly it's gross.

00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:33.059
And then you look at their protein. They eat

00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.799
fish, but the tech says they eat it sun -dried

00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.899
and raw or cured and brined. Very salty. And

00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.240
they do the same with birds. Quails and ducks

00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:44.120
eaten entirely raw after curing them in salt.

00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.240
So just picture it. A diet of foot -kneaded bread,

00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:52.450
barley beer, and raw brined waterfowl. And despite

00:12:52.450 --> 00:12:55.129
all of that, which sounds like a recipe for a

00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:58.370
stomach bug, Herodotus makes an incredibly bold

00:12:58.370 --> 00:13:01.169
medical claim. He really does. He states flat

00:13:01.169 --> 00:13:03.110
out that the Egyptians are the healthiest people

00:13:03.110 --> 00:13:05.629
of all men next to the Libyans. The healthiest

00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.330
in the known world. Yeah. And he attributes this

00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:11.289
incredible health to two distinct factors. The

00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:14.070
worst is environmental. Their climate and their

00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:15.950
seasons never really change, so their bodies

00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:18.110
aren't subjected to the shocks of shifting weather

00:13:18.110 --> 00:13:20.190
patterns. Stability is good for the immune system.

00:13:20.309 --> 00:13:22.450
Right. But the second factor is their health

00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:25.490
regimen. And calling it a regimen is an understatement.

00:13:25.610 --> 00:13:27.830
It is an aggressive, biological intervention.

00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:30.529
You are referring to the three -day purge? Yes.

00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:33.070
For three successive days every single month,

00:13:33.429 --> 00:13:36.389
they actively purge themselves. The text says

00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:39.059
they use emetics and clisters. Let's define those

00:13:39.059 --> 00:13:41.019
terms just so we really understand the severity

00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:42.620
of what they were doing to themselves. Please

00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:45.720
do. An emetic is a substance ingested specifically

00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:49.480
to induce violent vomiting. Oh, boy. And a clister

00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:52.200
is the ancient medical term for an enema, often

00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:54.940
administered using hollow reeds or animal bladders

00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:58.519
to flush the lower intestines. So for three straight

00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.960
days every single month, they are violently flushing

00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.000
out their entire digestive tract from both ends.

00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:07.759
Essentially, yes. They're intentionally dehydrated.

00:14:07.529 --> 00:14:11.070
themselves, stripping their gut biome, and dealing

00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:14.370
with intense electrolyte imbalances. Why would

00:14:14.370 --> 00:14:16.850
the healthiest people on earth subject themselves

00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:19.169
to this? It all comes back to their fundamental

00:14:19.169 --> 00:14:21.830
medical philosophy. They deeply believe that

00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:24.529
all human diseases, every ailment that corrupts

00:14:24.529 --> 00:14:27.090
the body, are produced entirely by the food we

00:14:27.090 --> 00:14:30.179
eat. Wait, all diseases? All of them. They viewed

00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:32.799
the human body as a pure vessel that is constantly

00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.600
forced to take in impurities just to survive.

00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:39.179
Sustenance is necessary, but it is also the root

00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:42.639
cause of internal corruption. So eating's literally

00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.139
slowly killing you? In their minds, yes. Therefore,

00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.620
the only logical countermeasure is scheduled,

00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:51.919
total evacuation. It wasn't a punishment. It

00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.360
was highly systematized internal hygiene. They

00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.250
viewed their food as a slow -acting poison. that

00:14:58.250 --> 00:15:01.009
they had to constantly flesh out. Precisely.

00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:03.409
And this extreme systematization didn't stop

00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:06.330
with the Purge. The entire medical profession

00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:09.649
was organized with the same rigid logic. I read

00:15:09.649 --> 00:15:11.870
this and immediately thought of a modern high

00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:14.190
-end hospital. It is very similar. In ancient

00:15:14.190 --> 00:15:16.090
Egypt, according to the source, there are no

00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:18.470
general practitioners. The concept of a family

00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:20.450
doctor who looks at your throat and also checks

00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:23.090
your knee That does not exist. The art of medicine

00:15:23.090 --> 00:15:25.429
was strictly distributed and aggressively localized.

00:15:25.789 --> 00:15:28.450
Each physician treats only one disease and absolutely

00:15:28.450 --> 00:15:31.330
no more. The country is just swarming with these

00:15:31.330 --> 00:15:33.190
hyper specialized doctors. It's fascinating.

00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:36.389
You have physicians just for the eyes, physicians

00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:39.659
just for the head. Doctors exclusively for the

00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:42.220
teeth, doctors for affections of the stomach,

00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:45.440
and doctors who specialize only in what Herodotus

00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.480
calls more obscure ailments. Which is a fascinating

00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:51.720
reflection of their broader worldview. Think

00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:54.039
about the categorizations we've already discussed.

00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:56.539
Right, indoor versus outdoor stuff. Exactly.

00:15:56.750 --> 00:15:59.269
They strictly compartmentalize public versus

00:15:59.269 --> 00:16:02.129
private life. They categorize men's labor versus

00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:05.490
women's labor, unseemly actions versus seemly

00:16:05.490 --> 00:16:07.750
actions. It makes perfect sense that they would

00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:09.970
compartmentalize the human body into distinct

00:16:09.970 --> 00:16:13.429
non -overlapping jurisdictions. If a physician

00:16:13.429 --> 00:16:15.769
spends his entire life studying nothing but the

00:16:15.769 --> 00:16:18.610
mechanics of the stomach, his exopiece is absolute.

00:16:18.769 --> 00:16:20.690
You're the best stomach guy in the world. Exactly.

00:16:21.110 --> 00:16:22.970
But it also means that if you have a systemic

00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:26.100
issue, say, a fever that affects your head and

00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.799
your stomach, you might be navigating a bureaucratic

00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:30.940
nightmare of different specialists who refuse

00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:33.440
to cross their jurisdictional lines. Sorry, I

00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.659
only do eyes. You need the head guy. Exactly

00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:38.919
that. It is a society obsessed with putting everything

00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.379
into a highly specific box. And speaking of putting

00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:44.700
things in boxes, this brings us back to that

00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:46.879
incredible scene we started the show with. Ah,

00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:49.460
the dinner party. The ultimate compartmentalization.

00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:52.419
The morbid banquet. The visual of the wooden

00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:55.200
corpse at the dinner party. It is one of the

00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.059
most striking anthropological details in the

00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:00.279
entire text. Let's look closer at the mechanics

00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.019
of this tradition. You are at a wealthy household

00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:07.099
enjoying your meal. A man enters carrying a highly

00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:10.880
realistic, carved and painted wooden corpse inside

00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.119
a coffin. A literal mini coffin. Herodotus specifies

00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.740
the size. It's about one to two cubits long,

00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:20.579
so anywhere from 18 to 36 inches. A substantial,

00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:23.119
heavy, detailed piece of craftsmanship. Not just

00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.859
a little trinket. No. He physically carries this

00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:27.700
miniature dead body to every single guest who

00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:29.880
is drinking, shows it in their face and says,

00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.539
when thou lookest upon this, drink and be merry,

00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.380
for thou shalt be such as this when thou art

00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:37.059
dead. It is the literal embodiment of memento

00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:39.660
mori. Remember that you must die. But what is

00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:42.640
crucial to understand is the psychological mechanism

00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:47.059
at play here. To our modern sensibilities, introducing

00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:50.740
a symbol of death into a celebration is macabre.

00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:54.259
It induces dread. Total dread. We spend enormous

00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:57.319
amounts of cultural energy hiding death, keeping

00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:00.180
it in hospitals and funeral homes away from our

00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:02.359
daily lives. Right. If someone brought a coffin

00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:04.359
to my birthday party, I would ask them to leave.

00:18:04.670 --> 00:18:07.150
But the Egyptians were already deeply anxious

00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:09.750
about physical corruption. Remember the three

00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:12.349
days of violent purging? Slushing out the poison.

00:18:12.569 --> 00:18:14.990
Right. They were constantly terrified of the

00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:16.710
food they were eating, destroying them from the

00:18:16.710 --> 00:18:20.410
inside out. By bringing a pristine, artificially

00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:23.369
perfect wooden corpse into the room, they are

00:18:23.369 --> 00:18:26.619
domesticating their greatest fear. Oh, wow. domesticating

00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:28.559
death. They are pulling death out of the shadows,

00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.460
putting it on the table, and acknowledging it

00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:33.299
as the undeniable destination. Instead of causing

00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:35.819
despair, the wooden corpse acted as a psychological

00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:38.920
release valve. So it was a relief. Yes. It was

00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:42.099
an engine for joy. The logic is, the purge will

00:18:42.099 --> 00:18:44.539
eventually fail. The doctors will eventually

00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:47.880
fail. We will all end up in a box. Therefore,

00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:50.799
the only rational response is to maximize the

00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.140
pleasure of this current cup of barley wine.

00:18:53.470 --> 00:18:56.750
It is a radical acceptance of mortality used

00:18:56.750 --> 00:18:59.569
as an excuse to party. They compartmentalize

00:18:59.569 --> 00:19:02.289
their existential dread. Beautifully put. But

00:19:02.289 --> 00:19:05.009
as intense as the average Egyptian's health regimen

00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:08.609
was, it was child's play compared to the absolute

00:19:08.609 --> 00:19:11.329
zenith of this society's obsession with purity.

00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:14.470
We have to examine the people at the very top

00:19:14.470 --> 00:19:16.630
of the hierarchy. The priesthood. The priests.

00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:19.569
The societal obsession with cleanliness created

00:19:19.569 --> 00:19:23.069
severe, insurmountable class divides. And the

00:19:23.069 --> 00:19:25.430
priests were the architectural peak of that pyramid

00:19:25.430 --> 00:19:27.630
of purity. They really were. Reading the daily

00:19:27.630 --> 00:19:29.789
requirements for an Egyptian priest made me exhausted.

00:19:29.970 --> 00:19:32.569
It wasn't just a vocation. It was an extreme,

00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:35.250
punishing physical state of being. It was a full

00:19:35.250 --> 00:19:37.670
-time biological commitment. Herodotus details

00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:39.710
the regiment. First, they shave their entire

00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:41.819
bodies every other day. completely hairless from

00:19:41.819 --> 00:19:44.880
head to toe every 48 hours. No hair at all. The

00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.420
reason provided is so that no lice or any foul

00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:50.539
thing can be on them when they minister to the

00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:53.160
gods. We have to consider the physical reality

00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.119
of the ancient world. Parasites, lice, fleas,

00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.599
these were ubiquitous facts of life. They were

00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.039
everywhere. Hair, in this context, is viewed

00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:04.339
entirely as a biological trap for dirt and infestation.

00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:08.079
To be pure is to be smooth, barren, and unobstructed.

00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.359
That makes sense. But the sheer physical labor

00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.160
of maintaining a completely hairless body with

00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:15.880
ancient bronze or copper razors every other day

00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.420
is staggering. I can't even imagine the razor

00:20:18.420 --> 00:20:21.359
burn. And then there is the wardrobe. They are

00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.339
legally forbidden from wearing anything other

00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:25.660
than... Let's think about the thermal and caloric

00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:29.279
impact of that lifestyle. Egypt can be incredibly

00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.009
hot. But the nights, especially in the desert

00:20:32.009 --> 00:20:35.529
margins, are cold. Really cold. Immersing oneself

00:20:35.529 --> 00:20:37.930
in cold water four times a day, particularly

00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:40.369
in the middle of the night, while possessing

00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:43.130
no insulating body hair and wearing only breathable

00:20:43.130 --> 00:20:46.009
linen, means these priests were living in a constant

00:20:46.009 --> 00:20:48.109
state of thermal friction. They must have been

00:20:48.109 --> 00:20:50.950
shivering constantly. Their bodies were enduring

00:20:50.950 --> 00:20:53.369
a completely different physical reality than

00:20:53.369 --> 00:20:57.410
the common people. This rigorous discomfort literally

00:20:57.410 --> 00:20:59.880
separated them from the masses. But the state

00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.279
made sure they were heavily compensated for this

00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:05.500
discomfort. The source points out a major economic

00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:08.319
perk. They don't have to spend any of their own

00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.579
money, which is huge. The society flowed to them

00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:13.579
entirely. They are provided with massive daily

00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:16.180
deliveries of sacred bread, beef, goose and grape

00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:18.720
wine, which, by the way, was vastly superior

00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.039
to the barley beer the commoners drank. Top shelf

00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:23.859
stuff. But even with all this luxury, their diet

00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:26.279
is intensely restricted. They are banned from

00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:30.049
even tasting fish. And then there is the absolute

00:21:30.049 --> 00:21:33.829
strangest dietary prohibition in the entire text.

00:21:34.150 --> 00:21:36.670
Oh, the bean. The beans. The prohibition against

00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:39.769
the bean is a fascinating study in symbolic biology.

00:21:40.269 --> 00:21:42.789
Herodotus notes that the Egyptians don't generally

00:21:42.789 --> 00:21:46.230
sow beans in their land. But whatever beans do

00:21:46.230 --> 00:21:48.369
happen to grow naturally, they refuse to eat

00:21:48.369 --> 00:21:51.049
them raw and they refuse to boil them. They avoid

00:21:51.049 --> 00:21:53.869
them. But for the priests, the hatred of the

00:21:53.869 --> 00:21:56.130
bean goes to an extreme psychological level.

00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.160
A priest cannot even endure to look upon a bean.

00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.240
Just looking at it is a sin. Just laying eyes

00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:04.519
on a legume is considered deeply offensive to

00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:06.579
their purity. They consider it an inherently

00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.799
unclean kind of pulse. What is the ancient beef

00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.259
with beans? If we connect this fear to the rest

00:22:12.259 --> 00:22:14.519
of their medical philosophy, the logic actually

00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:16.559
reveals itself. Remember, this is a culture that

00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:18.799
believes food is the source of all internal disease,

00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:21.019
leading them to purge their bowels for three

00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:22.980
days a month. Right. The food poison theory.

00:22:23.150 --> 00:22:26.069
Beans are notoriously complex carbohydrates that

00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:28.269
are difficult for the human digestive tract to

00:22:28.269 --> 00:22:31.049
break down. They ferment in the gut, producing

00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:33.410
significant amounts of gas. They cause flatulence.

00:22:33.809 --> 00:22:36.849
Exactly. For a priesthood obsessed with absolute

00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:40.609
internal and external control, hairless, frozen,

00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:44.109
wrapped in fresh linen, A food item that causes

00:22:44.109 --> 00:22:47.089
a sudden, unpredictable, audible, and odorous

00:22:47.089 --> 00:22:50.990
bodily reaction is the ultimate symbol of biological

00:22:50.990 --> 00:22:54.490
chaos. Oh my gosh. Flatulence is a loss of internal

00:22:54.490 --> 00:22:57.589
control. Therefore, the bean is the physical

00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:00.750
manifestation of corruption. To ingest it is

00:23:00.750 --> 00:23:03.930
to invite chaos into the body. To even look at

00:23:03.930 --> 00:23:06.470
it is to invite the concept of impurity into

00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:08.849
the mind. The bean is the ultimate enemy of the

00:23:08.849 --> 00:23:11.569
three -day purge. It really is. It is so logical

00:23:11.569 --> 00:23:14.140
when you view through their twisted medical framework.

00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.539
Okay, so at the absolute top of the social ladder,

00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:18.960
we have these hairless cold -water wash, bean

00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:21.680
-hating priests dining on state -funded beef

00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:24.119
and wine. The peak of purity. Let's look at the

00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:26.259
absolute bottom of the ladder. Because the contrast

00:23:26.259 --> 00:23:28.259
is heartbreaking and structurally brutal, we

00:23:28.259 --> 00:23:30.400
need to talk about the swine herds. The untouchables

00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.519
of ancient Egypt. Herodotus describes a societal

00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:37.059
hatred for the pig that borders on phobia. It's

00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:39.740
intense. The pig is considered such an abominable

00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:42.200
polluting animal that if an average Egyptian

00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:44.920
is walking down the street and even accidentally

00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:47.559
brushes against a pig in passing, they have to

00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:49.880
immediately stop what they're doing, walk into

00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:53.059
the river and submerge themselves, clothes and

00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:56.259
all, to wash the physical taint away. Immediate

00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:58.730
decontamination. And because the animal is so

00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:01.730
hated, the human beings whose job it is to tend

00:24:01.730 --> 00:24:04.589
the pigs, the swineherds, are treated as walking

00:24:04.589 --> 00:24:07.170
contagions. The stigma transfers entirely from

00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:09.670
the animal to the laborer. Even though these

00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:12.009
swineherds are native Egyptians born in the same

00:24:12.009 --> 00:24:14.670
land, they are legally banned from entering any

00:24:14.670 --> 00:24:16.529
temple in the country. Completely locked out

00:24:16.529 --> 00:24:18.809
of the spiritual life of the society. Furthermore,

00:24:19.150 --> 00:24:21.069
no one from any other class will give their daughter

00:24:21.069 --> 00:24:23.829
in marriage to a swineherd, and no one will marry

00:24:23.829 --> 00:24:26.319
a swineherd's daughter. They are forced to marry

00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:28.839
exclusively among themselves. They are an entirely

00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:31.500
endogamous class. A closed loop. The society

00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:34.220
has built an impenetrable wall around them, ensuring

00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:36.519
that their uncleanliness can never genetically

00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:38.900
or socially infiltrate the rest of the population.

00:24:38.980 --> 00:24:41.680
But this creates a massive logical paradox. It

00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.559
does. If the pig is so universally hated, and

00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.099
if simply touching one forces you to jump into

00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:49.519
a river with your clothes on, why do they allow

00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.940
pigs to exist in the society at all? Right, why

00:24:51.940 --> 00:24:54.140
not just get rid of them? Why not just slaughter

00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:56.700
all the pigs, eradicate the species from the

00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:58.619
borders, and free these native Egyptians from

00:24:58.619 --> 00:25:01.339
this miserable existence? It is the central paradox

00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:04.480
of a purity -based society. The text provides

00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:06.880
a very specific answer that shows how religious

00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.319
dogma traps people. Okay, what is it? The pig

00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:12.839
is abominable, yes, but it is also the singular

00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.920
non -negotiable requirement for a highly specific

00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:19.740
cosmic ritual. Wait, really? Yes. Herodotus notes

00:25:19.740 --> 00:25:22.039
the one exception to the hatred of the pig. They

00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.059
are required to sacrifice pigs to the moon and

00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:26.339
to Dionysos, which is the Greek equivalent he

00:25:26.339 --> 00:25:29.119
uses for the Egyptian god Osiris, once a month,

00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.640
precisely on the full moon. Only on the full

00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:34.180
moon. Yeah. The rest of the month, the pig is

00:25:34.180 --> 00:25:37.380
a walking biohazard. Only on the full moon. And

00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:39.980
on that specific day, the flesh of the pig is

00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:43.240
actually eaten by the society. Wow. It is such

00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:46.200
a vital ritual that the poor, who cannot afford

00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:48.920
to buy a real pig from the swine herds, will

00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:52.259
literally shape pigs out of dough and bake them

00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:55.059
to offer as a sacrifice, just to participate

00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:57.660
in the spiritual mechanics of the day. So the

00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:00.640
society fundamentally hates the pig. But they

00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.440
absolutely need the pig to balance their cosmic

00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:06.339
checkbook once a month. And that need creates

00:26:06.339 --> 00:26:08.440
the prison for the swine herds. Because someone

00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:11.339
has to raise them. Exactly. The society requires

00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.940
the unclean animal to appease specific deities.

00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:18.059
Therefore, the society requires a specific group

00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:20.559
of human beings to manage and cultivate that

00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:24.640
uncleanliness 365 days a year. That is so dark.

00:26:24.910 --> 00:26:27.869
The swine herds bear the burden of the society's

00:26:27.869 --> 00:26:29.609
spiritual pollution so that the priests and the

00:26:29.609 --> 00:26:31.890
elites can remain pure. They are essential to

00:26:31.890 --> 00:26:33.789
the spiritual survival of Egypt, yet they are

00:26:33.789 --> 00:26:35.809
utterly despised for providing that essential

00:26:35.809 --> 00:26:38.490
service. It is a designated containment zone

00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:40.630
for sin. It's incredible social engineering.

00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:43.609
You lock the swine herds in a social cage, you

00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:46.049
extract their unclean product once a month to

00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:48.630
satisfy the gods, and then you go back to washing

00:26:48.630 --> 00:26:50.809
in cold water and pretending they don't exist.

00:26:51.049 --> 00:26:54.039
Exactly. And this intense obsession with managing

00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.440
the physical body, keeping it pure, dealing with

00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:59.339
its corruption, it naturally leads us to how

00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:01.579
they handle the ultimate failure of the physical

00:27:01.579 --> 00:27:05.099
body. When the three -day purges fail. When the

00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:07.920
hyper -specialized doctors fail. We must transition

00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.380
to the handling of the dead. Because the moment

00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:13.759
life ceases, the Egyptian society does not stop

00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:16.220
managing the body. No, they don't. Instead, a

00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:19.180
highly regulated, deeply commercial, and incredibly

00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:21.980
complex industrial machine kicks into gear. And

00:27:21.980 --> 00:27:24.400
it begins instantly, before the body is even

00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.880
cold, with the visceral reality of mourning.

00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:30.599
And true to form, their grieving process is a

00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:32.759
complete inversion of their daily habits. The

00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.619
moment of death triggers a very public, intensely

00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:38.059
physical reaction that deliberately sheds all

00:27:38.059 --> 00:27:40.299
the trappings of their normally highly ordered

00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:44.319
civilization. Herodotus paints a terrifying cinematic

00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:48.680
picture. When a man of regard dies, the women

00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:50.940
of the household don't just sit in a parlor and

00:27:50.940 --> 00:27:53.259
weep quietly. No, they take it to the streets.

00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.519
They go out to the mud. They take wet earth and

00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:58.980
plaster it thickly over their heads and even

00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:01.640
entirely cover their faces with mud. They obscure

00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:04.160
their identities. They leave the actual corpse

00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.319
inside the house and they roam through the city

00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:08.740
streets. They bind up their garments, physically

00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:11.200
expose their breasts, and wander the city beating

00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.480
themselves in grief. And the men do the exact

00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:15.660
same thing on their side of the city, beating

00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:18.339
their chests. Think about the contrast here.

00:28:18.619 --> 00:28:21.619
This is a society that values freshly washed

00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:25.180
linen, indoor modesty for bodily functions, and

00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:27.660
extreme cleanliness. Right. But in the face of

00:28:27.660 --> 00:28:29.579
death, they deliberately cover themselves in

00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:31.839
the filth of the earth, they expose their bodies

00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:34.079
in the public streets, and they perform physical

00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.779
violence upon themselves. It is a temporary,

00:28:37.059 --> 00:28:39.839
socially sanctioned descent into chaos. Like

00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:42.200
a pressure release valve. Exactly. They are physically

00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:44.680
mirroring the biological chaos that has just

00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:46.730
overtaken their loved one. And there's another

00:28:46.730 --> 00:28:49.170
physical reversal here. We just talk about how

00:28:49.170 --> 00:28:51.309
men normally shave their heads and chins, and

00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:53.329
the priests shave their entire bodies. Smooth

00:28:53.329 --> 00:28:56.470
and pure. But during mourning, the men deliberately

00:28:56.470 --> 00:28:59.309
let the hair on their head and chin grow long.

00:28:59.549 --> 00:29:02.849
They allow the body's natural, unclean processes

00:29:02.849 --> 00:29:05.869
to proceed completely unchecked as a visible

00:29:05.869 --> 00:29:08.869
manifestation of their sorrow. It's a striking

00:29:08.869 --> 00:29:11.470
visual marker of grief. But once this public

00:29:11.470 --> 00:29:14.230
display of chaos concludes, the body is handed

00:29:14.230 --> 00:29:16.490
over to the embalmers. And this is where the

00:29:16.490 --> 00:29:20.710
text shifts from emotional chaos to cold, hard.

00:29:20.829 --> 00:29:23.569
commercial science. Embalming in ancient Egypt

00:29:23.569 --> 00:29:26.309
was not just a religious duty performed by solemn

00:29:26.309 --> 00:29:29.829
clerics. It was a dedicated, inherited craft.

00:29:30.230 --> 00:29:32.569
It was a massive industry. The text describes

00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:34.769
it exactly like a modern sales pitch. It really

00:29:34.769 --> 00:29:36.809
does. When a grieving family brings a body to

00:29:36.809 --> 00:29:39.250
the embalming workshop, the craftsmen act like

00:29:39.250 --> 00:29:41.950
salesmen. They don't just take the body, they

00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:44.309
present the family with a literal showroom of

00:29:44.309 --> 00:29:47.529
options. Like buying a car. Yes. They have wooden

00:29:47.529 --> 00:29:50.410
models of corpses, intricately carved and painted

00:29:50.410 --> 00:29:53.309
to look incredibly realistic, representing three

00:29:53.309 --> 00:29:56.589
different tiers of service. And the family has

00:29:56.589 --> 00:29:58.710
to decide how much money they are willing to

00:29:58.710 --> 00:30:01.289
spend to preserve their loved one. It is the

00:30:01.289 --> 00:30:03.829
ancient equivalent of choosing a funeral package.

00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:07.940
There are clear, rigid price points and wildly

00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:10.259
different chemical and mechanical methodologies

00:30:10.259 --> 00:30:12.900
for each tier. Let's walk through these showroom

00:30:12.900 --> 00:30:15.299
options because the details are graphic, highly

00:30:15.299 --> 00:30:18.099
scientific, and absolutely mesmerizing. Let's

00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:20.619
start with tier one, the most expensive option,

00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:23.359
the premium package for the ultra wealthy. This

00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:25.880
is the process most people associate with mummies,

00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:28.640
involving intense surgical intervention and expensive

00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:30.700
imported materials. Right, it starts with the

00:30:30.700 --> 00:30:33.359
brain. They take a specialized crooked iron tool,

00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:35.799
insert it up through the nostrils, and physically

00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:38.279
draw the brain tissue out. Just hook it right

00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:40.720
out. Whatever they can't hook out, they dissolve

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.339
by pouring harsh drugs up into the cranial cavity

00:30:43.339 --> 00:30:46.019
to flesh it out. It's incredibly invasive. Then

00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:49.109
they take a sharp Ethiopian stone, essentially

00:30:49.109 --> 00:30:52.170
a specialized obsidian scalpel, and slice open

00:30:52.170 --> 00:30:54.769
the side of the belly. They surgically remove

00:30:54.769 --> 00:30:57.170
all the internal organs. To stop the rot. They

00:30:57.170 --> 00:30:59.470
cleanse the empty abdominal cavity with palm

00:30:59.470 --> 00:31:02.970
wine and a mixture of pounded spices. Then they

00:31:02.970 --> 00:31:05.910
pack the belly completely full of pure pounded

00:31:05.910 --> 00:31:08.890
myrrh, cassia, and other aromatics, though Herodotus

00:31:08.890 --> 00:31:11.130
notes they specifically do not use frankincense

00:31:11.130 --> 00:31:13.420
for this. Interesting distinction. Then they

00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:16.160
sew the body back up. And it is crucial to understand

00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:18.480
that everything you just described is merely

00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:20.880
the surgical preparation. The actual preservation,

00:31:21.059 --> 00:31:23.799
the process of halting biological decay comes

00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:26.680
next. And it relies on a very specific chemical

00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:29.160
agent. Yes, the Natron. A Natron. They cover

00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:31.380
the surgically prepped body entirely in Natron

00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:35.220
for exactly 70 days. The text is incredibly firm

00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:38.240
on this point. Not one day more. Not one day

00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:41.259
left. It's a very strict timeline. After 70 days,

00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:44.140
they wash the corpse, wrap the entire body in

00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:46.779
bands of fine linen, and smear the linen with

00:31:46.779 --> 00:31:49.640
a specific gum instead of standard glue. Then

00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:52.279
they hand this perfectly preserved fragrant package

00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:55.170
back to the family. who places it in a wooden,

00:31:55.329 --> 00:31:58.430
human -shaped case and stores it upright against

00:31:58.430 --> 00:32:00.829
a wall in a sepulchral chamber. Let's discuss

00:32:00.829 --> 00:32:02.950
the mechanics of Natron because it is the secret

00:32:02.950 --> 00:32:05.230
engine of this entire industry. What exactly

00:32:05.230 --> 00:32:08.150
is it? Natron is a naturally occurring mixture

00:32:08.150 --> 00:32:11.529
of sodium carbonate decahydrate, sodium bicarbonate,

00:32:11.970 --> 00:32:14.130
and small amounts of sodium chloride and sodium

00:32:14.130 --> 00:32:16.910
sulfate. So it's basically super salt. Essentially,

00:32:17.109 --> 00:32:19.470
yes. It is harvested from dried lake beds in

00:32:19.470 --> 00:32:22.420
Egypt. When you bury a body in Natron, it does

00:32:22.420 --> 00:32:25.240
several things simultaneously. First, it is a

00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:27.740
hyper -efficient desiccant. It violently pulls

00:32:27.740 --> 00:32:29.640
all the moisture out of the human tissue. It

00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:32.380
dries it out. Right. Bacteria require water to

00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:34.839
cause decomposition. Without water, the decay

00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:38.200
stops. Second, it creates a highly alkaline environment,

00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.039
which is deeply hostile to microbial life. So

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:44.269
nothing can grow? Nothing. Third, it actually

00:32:44.269 --> 00:32:47.089
saponifies the body's fat, meaning it chemically

00:32:47.089 --> 00:32:49.029
reacts with the lipids and turns them into a

00:32:49.029 --> 00:32:51.450
hard soap, preventing them from going rancid.

00:32:51.529 --> 00:32:54.269
Wait, it turns fat into soap? It does. The 70

00:32:54.269 --> 00:32:57.190
-day timeline isn't arbitrary magic. It is the

00:32:57.190 --> 00:32:59.490
empirically tested duration required for this

00:32:59.490 --> 00:33:02.630
specific chemical mixture to completely dehydrate

00:33:02.630 --> 00:33:05.210
a human mass without causing the skin to become

00:33:05.210 --> 00:33:07.990
too brittle to wrap. It is advanced chemistry

00:33:07.990 --> 00:33:10.759
and biology. But what if the family standing

00:33:10.759 --> 00:33:13.539
in the showroom can't afford the exorbitant cost

00:33:13.539 --> 00:33:17.579
of pure mer, obsidian surgery, and imported palm

00:33:17.579 --> 00:33:20.309
wine? Then the embalmers pivot to tier two, the

00:33:20.309 --> 00:33:23.369
middle cost option. And this methodology is radically

00:33:23.369 --> 00:33:25.930
different. It relies entirely on chemical solvents

00:33:25.930 --> 00:33:28.250
rather than surgical labor. Honestly, tier two

00:33:28.250 --> 00:33:30.289
sounds like a terrifying industrial science experiment.

00:33:30.589 --> 00:33:32.750
It really is. There's absolutely no cutting involved,

00:33:32.910 --> 00:33:35.289
no obsidian blades. Instead, they take massive

00:33:35.289 --> 00:33:37.490
syringes and fill them with an oil extracted

00:33:37.490 --> 00:33:39.890
from cedar wood. Cedar oil? They inject this

00:33:39.890 --> 00:33:42.029
heavy cedar oil directly into the belly of the

00:33:42.029 --> 00:33:44.710
corpse via the breach, meaning through the anus,

00:33:44.710 --> 00:33:46.670
and they physically plug it up so the oil cannot

00:33:46.670 --> 00:33:49.390
escape. They essentially turn the abdominal cavity

00:33:49.390 --> 00:33:52.329
into a sealed biological pressure cooker. Exactly.

00:33:52.589 --> 00:33:55.410
An internal chemical vat. Once the oil is sealed

00:33:55.410 --> 00:33:57.730
inside, they bury the body in the natron salt

00:33:57.730 --> 00:34:00.009
for the appointed number of days. The same 70

00:34:00.009 --> 00:34:02.809
days. On the final day, they remove the plug

00:34:02.809 --> 00:34:05.710
and let the cedar oil drain out. And Herodotus

00:34:05.710 --> 00:34:08.489
says the cedar oil possesses such incredible

00:34:08.489 --> 00:34:11.530
chemical power that as it drains, it brings out

00:34:11.530 --> 00:34:14.230
the entirely dissolved internal organs and bowels

00:34:14.230 --> 00:34:17.010
along with it in a liquid state. Just liquefies

00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:19.170
everything. Meanwhile, the nature and salt on

00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:21.630
the outside has completely dissolved the flesh.

00:34:22.070 --> 00:34:24.409
So what the family gets back is literally nothing

00:34:24.409 --> 00:34:26.809
but skin and bones. Think about the efficiency

00:34:26.809 --> 00:34:29.369
of this process. It completely eliminates the

00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:32.170
labor intensive, highly skilled surgical extraction.

00:34:32.769 --> 00:34:35.960
It bypasses the need for expensive aromatic spices

00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:38.579
to mask the smell of decay. It's just injection

00:34:38.579 --> 00:34:41.099
and weight. It relies on the cedar oil acting

00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:44.440
as a powerful enzymatic cleaner or organic solvent,

00:34:44.980 --> 00:34:46.840
breaking down the soft tissues internally while

00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.599
the natron handles the external flesh. It is

00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:53.179
a brutal, brilliantly engineered biological shortcut.

00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:57.869
And finally, there is Tier 3. The least expensive

00:34:57.869 --> 00:35:00.429
option for the poorest citizens, it's purely

00:35:00.429 --> 00:35:02.949
utilitarian. They simply cleanse out the belly

00:35:02.949 --> 00:35:05.630
with a strong liquid purge, cover the body in

00:35:05.630 --> 00:35:08.829
Natron for 70 days, and hand the desiccated remains

00:35:08.829 --> 00:35:11.250
back. The budget option. But in reading through

00:35:11.250 --> 00:35:13.250
this highly regulated, incredibly structured

00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.349
business of death, there was one societal rule,

00:35:16.630 --> 00:35:19.309
Herodotus mentions, that completely chilled me.

00:35:19.510 --> 00:35:22.269
You are referring to the dark protocol regarding

00:35:22.269 --> 00:35:25.650
women of rank. Yes. It is a detail that exposes

00:35:25.650 --> 00:35:28.250
a terrifying crack in their highly ordered society.

00:35:28.989 --> 00:35:30.630
Herodotus writes that when the wife of a man

00:35:30.630 --> 00:35:33.210
of rank dies or if a woman who is considered

00:35:33.210 --> 00:35:35.650
very beautiful or highly regarded passes away,

00:35:36.050 --> 00:35:38.369
her body is not given to the embalmers immediately.

00:35:38.489 --> 00:35:40.889
There's a waiting period. The family legally

00:35:40.889 --> 00:35:42.849
holds the corpse at home for three or four days

00:35:42.849 --> 00:35:45.329
before delivering it to the workshop. And the

00:35:45.329 --> 00:35:47.449
reason for this delay is horrifyingly practical.

00:35:47.710 --> 00:35:50.369
It's to prevent the embalmers from sexually abusing

00:35:50.369 --> 00:35:52.530
the corpses. It is incredibly grim. He notes

00:35:52.530 --> 00:35:54.909
that this strict protocol was enacted after a

00:35:54.909 --> 00:35:56.849
fellow craftsman actually turned someone in for

00:35:56.849 --> 00:35:59.710
negrophilia. We need to examine the profound

00:35:59.710 --> 00:36:02.010
psychological paradox this reveals about their

00:36:02.010 --> 00:36:05.070
society. Let's unpack that. On one hand, the

00:36:05.070 --> 00:36:07.170
embalmers are entrusted with the most sacred

00:36:07.170 --> 00:36:09.929
metaphysically vital task in the entire empire.

00:36:10.710 --> 00:36:13.429
Preserving the physical vessel so the soul can

00:36:13.429 --> 00:36:16.389
survive eternity. They possess elite chemical

00:36:16.389 --> 00:36:19.429
and surgical knowledge. But on the other hand,

00:36:19.710 --> 00:36:22.969
the society views these exact same men as so

00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:26.780
deeply untrustworthy, so vulnerable to the basest,

00:36:26.780 --> 00:36:29.619
most horrific human corruption that a grieving

00:36:29.619 --> 00:36:32.019
family must literally allow their loved one's

00:36:32.019 --> 00:36:34.579
body to begin rotting in the sweltering Egyptian

00:36:34.579 --> 00:36:36.679
heat for almost a week before handing her over.

00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:39.440
By forcing that three or four day delay, the

00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:41.860
family ensures the onset of active biological

00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:43.940
decomposition. Right. They're weaponizing the

00:36:43.940 --> 00:36:46.559
decay process, effectively protecting the woman's

00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.780
body from violation by rendering it physically

00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:51.380
and olfactorily unappealing to the craftsman.

00:36:51.500 --> 00:36:54.840
It is a devastatingly grim, practical solution

00:36:54.840 --> 00:36:58.300
to an unthinkable problem. It shows that no matter

00:36:58.300 --> 00:37:01.559
how intensely a society legislates its markets,

00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:05.280
categorizes its doctors, or regulates its priests'

00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:08.199
bathing habits, it still has to build harsh,

00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:10.719
ugly mechanisms to guard against the darkest

00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:13.400
impulses of human nature. It grounds the entire

00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:16.400
civilization for me. Beneath the gold masks and

00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:18.900
the incredible science of nature and these were

00:37:18.900 --> 00:37:22.619
real, deeply flawed human trying to manage their

00:37:22.619 --> 00:37:25.039
society. And speaking of managing society, we

00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:26.480
spend a lot of time talking about the elites,

00:37:27.059 --> 00:37:29.420
the wealthy who can afford the pure myrrh of

00:37:29.420 --> 00:37:31.639
tier one embalming, the priests who are handed

00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:33.800
state -funded beef and wine. The upper crust.

00:37:34.179 --> 00:37:36.440
But Egypt wasn't just temples and markets. What

00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:38.380
about the people living on the absolute margins?

00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:41.059
How did the poorest of the poor survive? To understand

00:37:41.059 --> 00:37:43.420
the full scope of Egypt. We really have to look

00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:45.559
at the fringes of their environment. The fertile

00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:48.340
floodplains were valuable real estate, but the

00:37:48.340 --> 00:37:50.719
margins of the river, the massive flooded swank

00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:53.599
lands, the fens, were inhabited by people whose

00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:56.159
daily lives were a master class in adapting to

00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:59.679
extreme hostile geography. And the fen dwellers

00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:02.360
had to engineer their survival using completely

00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:04.880
different rules. Let's look at how they acquired

00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:07.300
calories. Because they couldn't farm normally.

00:38:07.500 --> 00:38:10.789
Right. When the river floods the fens, they can't

00:38:10.789 --> 00:38:14.409
grow regular wheat or spelt. The ground is literally

00:38:14.409 --> 00:38:17.469
under water. So they turn the swamp itself into

00:38:17.469 --> 00:38:20.369
their granary. They harvest the aquatic flora,

00:38:20.630 --> 00:38:23.210
specifically the lotus lilies that grow in immense

00:38:23.210 --> 00:38:26.210
numbers in the water. Total environmental resource

00:38:26.210 --> 00:38:28.809
utilization. Herodotus describes the process.

00:38:29.230 --> 00:38:31.590
They cut the lilies, drag them out of the water,

00:38:31.829 --> 00:38:34.309
and dry them in the harsh sun. Then they take

00:38:34.309 --> 00:38:36.289
the center of the lotus flower, which he notes

00:38:36.289 --> 00:38:38.829
looks a lot like a boppy head, They pound it

00:38:38.829 --> 00:38:41.230
down into a flour and they bake it into loaves

00:38:41.230 --> 00:38:43.650
of bread. They are literally eating flour bread.

00:38:44.349 --> 00:38:46.610
Furthermore, they dive down and harvest the root

00:38:46.610 --> 00:38:48.510
of the lotus, which is round about the size of

00:38:48.510 --> 00:38:50.829
an apple and apparently tastes quite sweet, and

00:38:50.829 --> 00:38:53.170
they don't stop at Lily's. We always think of

00:38:53.170 --> 00:38:56.230
papyrus as the ancient equivalent of paper used

00:38:56.230 --> 00:38:58.949
for writing scrolls. Right, the classic papyrus

00:38:58.949 --> 00:39:01.489
scroll. But for the Fen dwellers, it was dinner.

00:39:01.769 --> 00:39:04.150
They take the lower cubit of the papyrus plant,

00:39:04.590 --> 00:39:06.949
rip it out of the marsh, roast it in a red -hot

00:39:06.949 --> 00:39:09.639
oven, and eat it. When traditional agriculture

00:39:09.639 --> 00:39:12.440
fails due to environmental constraints, human

00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:15.719
ingenuity pivots. The roots, the stalks, the

00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:18.480
seeds of these aquatic plants become the primary

00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:21.119
carbohydrate engines keeping these communities

00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.559
alive. They are extracting calories from weeds.

00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:26.099
They are extracting calories from weeds and swamp

00:39:26.099 --> 00:39:28.880
flowers, exactly. But survival isn't just about

00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:32.519
food. You also need light in the darkness, and

00:39:32.519 --> 00:39:34.179
you need a way to deal with the environment.

00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:37.739
And the source details an incredible, if slightly

00:39:37.739 --> 00:39:40.900
disgusting, solution for oil. They use Kiki oil.

00:39:41.199 --> 00:39:43.380
Ah, the oil extracted from the castor berry.

00:39:43.579 --> 00:39:46.159
Right. They sow these wild castor plants along

00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:48.599
the muddy banks of the pools. They gather the

00:39:48.599 --> 00:39:50.840
berries and either press them heavily or roast

00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:52.500
them and boil them down to separate the oil.

00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:54.940
A lot of effort for oil. Herodotus notes that

00:39:54.940 --> 00:39:57.380
this Kiki oil is incredibly fat and makes for

00:39:57.380 --> 00:39:59.460
an excellent bright burning fuel in their lamps.

00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:02.940
But... and there's a massive catch. It gives

00:40:02.940 --> 00:40:06.679
off an intensely disagreeable foul smell. Castor

00:40:06.679 --> 00:40:09.960
oil has a notoriously pungent, almost nauseating

00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:13.019
odor when burned. So their house is just reeked.

00:40:13.260 --> 00:40:15.980
But again, look at the hierarchy of needs. If

00:40:15.980 --> 00:40:18.460
you are living in a mud hut in a flooded swamp,

00:40:18.860 --> 00:40:22.159
utility completely overrules comfort. If you

00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:24.360
need to see in the dark, you learn to tolerate

00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:27.059
the stench of the kiki oil. It's all about trade

00:40:27.059 --> 00:40:29.619
-offs. And speaking of the miseries of the swamp.

00:40:29.739 --> 00:40:33.059
We absolutely must talk about the bugs. Oh, mosquitoes.

00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:36.079
Because if you live in a giant, stagnant, flooded

00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:38.760
marshland in a hot climate, you are going to

00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:41.900
be dealing with gnats and mosquitoes on a biblical,

00:40:42.300 --> 00:40:44.860
mind -losing scale. Swarms of them. And the ancient

00:40:44.860 --> 00:40:47.219
Egyptians had engineered specific life hacks

00:40:47.219 --> 00:40:49.260
for this. The environmental engineering they

00:40:49.260 --> 00:40:51.739
used to combat insects is genuinely brilliant.

00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:53.719
It's one of my favorite details in the entire

00:40:53.719 --> 00:40:56.420
text. Herodotus explains that the people who

00:40:56.420 --> 00:40:58.199
live slightly above the fens where the ground

00:40:58.199 --> 00:41:00.820
is a bit more solid have a structural strategy.

00:41:01.179 --> 00:41:03.320
They literally build high towers to sleep in.

00:41:03.400 --> 00:41:06.389
High towers for sleeping. Yes. The gnats and

00:41:06.389 --> 00:41:09.389
mosquitoes are weak flyers. They cannot fight

00:41:09.389 --> 00:41:11.429
the wind currents higher up in the air. So you

00:41:11.429 --> 00:41:13.650
just build your bedroom high enough off the ground

00:41:13.650 --> 00:41:16.010
and you sleep out of their operational altitude.

00:41:16.070 --> 00:41:18.670
That is so smart. But the fen dwellers, the people

00:41:18.670 --> 00:41:21.309
living right down on the muck, can't build stone

00:41:21.309 --> 00:41:24.250
towers in a swamp. So they have a different hack.

00:41:24.530 --> 00:41:27.889
A hack that utilizes their primary tool of economic

00:41:27.889 --> 00:41:30.750
livelihood. They're fishing nets. Every single

00:41:30.750 --> 00:41:33.480
fen dweller owns a casting net. which they use

00:41:33.480 --> 00:41:36.139
to catch fish all day long in the marshes. But

00:41:36.139 --> 00:41:38.800
at night, they bring that exact same fishing

00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:41.679
net into their home. On multipurpose tools. They

00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:43.900
arrange it over their bed like a makeshift canopy,

00:41:44.320 --> 00:41:47.800
creep underneath it, and go to sleep. Now, Herodotus

00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:50.000
specifically points out that if you try to wrap

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:52.440
yourself in a heavy blanket or a dense linen

00:41:52.440 --> 00:41:54.860
sheet, the gnats are so vicious they will bite

00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:56.920
right through the fabric. They'll find a way.

00:41:57.230 --> 00:41:59.769
But for whatever incredible reason, they will

00:41:59.769 --> 00:42:01.849
not even attempt to fly through the holes of

00:42:01.849 --> 00:42:05.050
the fishing net. It is an ancient, dual -use

00:42:05.050 --> 00:42:08.070
mosquito net. It is a phenomenal example of adaptive

00:42:08.070 --> 00:42:10.769
technology. Let's think about the physics and

00:42:10.769 --> 00:42:12.769
biology of what is actually happening there.

00:42:13.050 --> 00:42:16.230
Let's unpack it. A solid linen sheet traps body

00:42:16.230 --> 00:42:19.610
heat and carbon dioxide, the exact two biological

00:42:19.610 --> 00:42:23.010
markers that attract mosquitoes. It also suffocates

00:42:23.010 --> 00:42:25.699
the sleeper in the humid fen environment. So

00:42:25.699 --> 00:42:28.719
you're hot and getting bitten. Exactly. A fishing

00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:31.400
net is open. It allows the crucial airflow needed

00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:34.179
to sleep in the heat. Why does it stop the bugs?

00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:37.400
Because there are literal holes in it. The physical

00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:40.260
barrier of the mesh creates a confusing spatial

00:42:40.260 --> 00:42:43.880
obstacle for the insect. Furthermore, a net used

00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:46.199
all day to catch fish in a swamp is going to

00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:49.300
be coated in fish oils, algae, and swamp debris.

00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:52.289
Oh, the smell. The intense olfactory deterrent

00:42:52.289 --> 00:42:54.670
of the smelly net likely mask the human scent

00:42:54.670 --> 00:42:57.250
markers. It is incredibly resourceful. The ultimate

00:42:57.250 --> 00:42:59.809
Fenn life hack? Yeah. Sleep under a smelly net

00:42:59.809 --> 00:43:01.849
and you won't get bitten. Pretty much. And they

00:43:01.849 --> 00:43:03.769
were just as clever when it came to manipulating

00:43:03.769 --> 00:43:05.730
the physics of their environments for transportation.

00:43:06.530 --> 00:43:08.250
We have to look at how they navigated their boats.

00:43:08.869 --> 00:43:10.530
Because sailing on the Nile isn't like sailing

00:43:10.530 --> 00:43:12.929
on a lake or the open ocean. Yeah. It's very

00:43:12.929 --> 00:43:15.510
specific. It presents a very specific set of

00:43:15.510 --> 00:43:18.570
physical constraints. The Nile is a massive liquid

00:43:18.570 --> 00:43:22.099
highway. but it has conflicting forces. The water

00:43:22.099 --> 00:43:25.119
current flows steadily northward, emptying into

00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:27.800
the Mediterranean Sea. OK, water flows north.

00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:30.639
However, the prevailing winds in that region

00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:33.820
generally blow southward, upriver. So if you

00:43:33.820 --> 00:43:37.039
want to travel upstream southward, it's relatively

00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:40.179
easy. You just raise your sails, the strong prevailing

00:43:40.179 --> 00:43:42.579
wind catches them, and it pushes you against

00:43:42.579 --> 00:43:44.900
the river's current. It's a breeze, literally.

00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:47.119
But what happens when you want to go downstream?

00:43:47.780 --> 00:43:49.760
northward. You want to travel with the current,

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:52.119
but the wind is blowing directly in your face.

00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:53.820
They've got a headwind. You can't just float

00:43:53.820 --> 00:43:55.900
because the headwind will stall you out or put

00:43:55.900 --> 00:43:58.559
you backward. Their solution for steering and

00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:01.860
propulsion downstream is bizarre, but scientifically

00:44:01.860 --> 00:44:04.639
flawless. It involves two distinct pieces of

00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:07.840
equipment, the tamarisk crate and the hold stone.

00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:10.659
Exactly. They build these cargo boats out of

00:44:10.659 --> 00:44:13.659
heavy acacia wood, caulking the seams with papyrus.

00:44:14.170 --> 00:44:16.409
When they need to travel downstream against the

00:44:16.409 --> 00:44:19.429
wind, they take a door -shaped crate made of

00:44:19.429 --> 00:44:23.750
tamarisk wood interwoven with reed mats. They

00:44:23.750 --> 00:44:26.289
tie this crate to a rope and throw it into the

00:44:26.289 --> 00:44:28.349
water at the front of the boat, letting it float

00:44:28.349 --> 00:44:30.889
on the surface. Because it is floating on the

00:44:30.889 --> 00:44:33.920
very top of the water, The strong, fast -moving

00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:36.719
surface current of the river hits the broad side

00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:39.320
of this crate. Like an underwater sail. The crate

00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:41.940
catches the water current the exact same way

00:44:41.940 --> 00:44:44.880
a sail catches the wind, and it literally pulls

00:44:44.880 --> 00:44:47.219
the heavy boat forward down the river. They engineered

00:44:47.219 --> 00:44:49.380
a water sail. But if you just have a crate pulling

00:44:49.380 --> 00:44:51.320
the front of a boat, the boat is going to spin

00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:54.460
sideways and crash into the banks. To keep the

00:44:54.460 --> 00:44:56.300
boat tracking perfectly straight, they employ

00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:58.780
the second tool. The stone. They take a heavy

00:44:58.780 --> 00:45:01.480
stone weighing about two talents, which is roughly

00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:04.760
100 to 130 pounds board with a hole in the center.

00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:08.360
They tie this massive stone to a rope and drop

00:45:08.360 --> 00:45:10.599
it off the back of the boat, letting it sink

00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:13.199
deep down into the water. So it's dragging. So

00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:15.059
the floating crate pulls hard from the front.

00:45:15.260 --> 00:45:17.699
The heavy stone drags deep in the back, acting

00:45:17.699 --> 00:45:20.579
as an anchor or a rudder, and the boat stays

00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:22.840
perfectly aligned as it sails down the river.

00:45:23.059 --> 00:45:25.400
What you were describing is a profound empirical

00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:27.920
understanding of fluid dynamics. From everyday

00:45:27.920 --> 00:45:31.030
boatmen. Right. They realized. Without modern

00:45:31.030 --> 00:45:33.809
instruments, that water in a river moves at different

00:45:33.809 --> 00:45:37.130
velocities. The water at the surface moves fastest

00:45:37.130 --> 00:45:40.030
because there is less friction. The water deep

00:45:40.030 --> 00:45:42.429
down, near the riverbed, moves significantly

00:45:42.429 --> 00:45:44.949
slower due to the friction of the earth. So they're

00:45:44.949 --> 00:45:46.730
exploiting the speed difference. By putting the

00:45:46.730 --> 00:45:49.630
wide crate on the fast surface water, they maximize

00:45:49.630 --> 00:45:52.809
forward propulsion. By dropping the heavy stone

00:45:52.809 --> 00:45:55.230
down into the slower boundary layer of water,

00:45:55.690 --> 00:45:58.880
they create drag and tension. That tension between

00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:01.300
the fast surface pull and the slow deep drag

00:46:01.300 --> 00:46:03.579
keeps the rope taut and the vessel perfectly

00:46:03.579 --> 00:46:06.800
straight. It is masterful ancient physics. It

00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:08.760
really makes you realize how incredibly smart

00:46:08.760 --> 00:46:12.079
these everyday laborers were. But to keep this

00:46:12.079 --> 00:46:15.219
vast complex society functioning, to ensure the

00:46:15.219 --> 00:46:17.500
fen dwellers are catching fish, the embalmers

00:46:17.500 --> 00:46:19.900
are mixing natron, and the priests are staying

00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:23.199
pure, the Egyptians couldn't just rely on individual

00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:25.789
cleverness. No, they needed structure. They utilized

00:46:25.789 --> 00:46:29.110
a massive, rigid state apparatus. The government

00:46:29.110 --> 00:46:32.170
organized human capital with terrifying efficiency.

00:46:32.730 --> 00:46:34.710
We are moving into the macroeconomic structure

00:46:34.710 --> 00:46:37.269
of the state now. How do you govern a population

00:46:37.269 --> 00:46:39.329
this diverse and specialized? You lock them into

00:46:39.329 --> 00:46:42.409
categories. Herodotus lists seven distinct classes

00:46:42.409 --> 00:46:45.840
in Egyptian society. priests, warriors, cowherds,

00:46:46.039 --> 00:46:48.559
swineherds, shopkeepers, interpreters, and boatmen.

00:46:48.679 --> 00:46:50.659
And we must emphasize to the listener that these

00:46:50.659 --> 00:46:53.000
are not career paths you choose at a high school

00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:55.059
job fair. You don't just apply to be a boatman.

00:46:55.139 --> 00:46:58.539
This is a rigid, unforgiving caste system. The

00:46:58.539 --> 00:47:00.940
occupations are strictly inherited. The text

00:47:00.940 --> 00:47:02.980
notes that they practice their specific craft,

00:47:03.420 --> 00:47:05.199
handing down the tradition directly from father

00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:07.980
to son. You are born into your role, you marry

00:47:07.980 --> 00:47:10.440
within your relative sphere, and you die in your

00:47:10.440 --> 00:47:15.010
role. There is zero upward mobility. Absolute

00:47:15.010 --> 00:47:18.369
societal lock -in. And no single class demonstrates

00:47:18.369 --> 00:47:21.230
the immense power, the economic burden, and the

00:47:21.230 --> 00:47:23.750
strict rules of this system better than the warrior

00:47:23.750 --> 00:47:26.070
caste. The warriors are fascinating. The warriors

00:47:26.070 --> 00:47:28.869
are divided into two massive groups, the Kalisirians

00:47:28.869 --> 00:47:31.630
and the Hermitibians. And the very first rule

00:47:31.630 --> 00:47:33.969
of being born into the warrior caste is that

00:47:33.969 --> 00:47:36.610
you are legally forbidden from learning or practicing

00:47:36.610 --> 00:47:39.610
any manual craft whatsoever. No side hustles

00:47:39.610 --> 00:47:42.320
allowed. None. You cannot weave cloth, you cannot

00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:44.579
farm wheat, you cannot build boats, you cannot

00:47:44.579 --> 00:47:48.179
sell goods. Your only legal occupation is the

00:47:48.179 --> 00:47:50.920
study and practice of war. Which is an astonishing

00:47:50.920 --> 00:47:53.340
commitment by the state. If you decree that hundreds

00:47:53.340 --> 00:47:55.460
of thousands of healthy adult men are legally

00:47:55.460 --> 00:47:57.860
forbidden from producing any economic goods or

00:47:57.860 --> 00:48:00.760
agricultural yield, the state assumes the absolute

00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:03.900
burden of keeping them alive. And the state absolutely

00:48:03.900 --> 00:48:05.920
showers them with wealth to keep them loyal.

00:48:06.519 --> 00:48:08.679
The societal privileges these warriors receive

00:48:08.679 --> 00:48:11.840
are immense. According to the text, every single

00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:14.440
warrior is granted 12 yokes of land. That's a

00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:17.300
lot of land. A yoke is defined as 100 Egyptian

00:48:17.300 --> 00:48:21.360
cubits every way. That is a massive plot of prime

00:48:21.360 --> 00:48:24.500
agricultural real estate. And this land is completely

00:48:24.500 --> 00:48:28.320
free from imposts, meaning it is 100 % tax -free

00:48:28.320 --> 00:48:30.730
land. granted to you simply for being born a

00:48:30.730 --> 00:48:32.690
warrior. But the state doesn't just hand them

00:48:32.690 --> 00:48:34.750
a real estate portfolio and leave them alone.

00:48:35.010 --> 00:48:38.289
They are an active, utilized asset, specifically

00:48:38.289 --> 00:48:40.909
designed to protect the absolute center of power.

00:48:41.090 --> 00:48:43.329
Right. They act as the king's personal bodyguard.

00:48:43.909 --> 00:48:45.969
Herodotus details an intense rotation system.

00:48:46.429 --> 00:48:49.090
1 ,000 men from the Caliserians and 1 ,000 men

00:48:49.090 --> 00:48:51.530
from the Hermitibians are selected to serve as

00:48:51.530 --> 00:48:54.250
the king's guard for exactly one year. A one

00:48:54.250 --> 00:48:56.309
-year tour of duty. And during that year of active

00:48:56.309 --> 00:48:58.809
service, on top of the income from their tax

00:48:58.809 --> 00:49:01.809
-free land, they receive staggering daily rations

00:49:01.809 --> 00:49:03.989
directly from the state granaries. The food intake

00:49:03.989 --> 00:49:06.329
is unbelievable. Listen to this intake. Every

00:49:06.329 --> 00:49:09.050
single man gets five pounds of bread, two pounds

00:49:09.050 --> 00:49:12.590
of beef, and four half pints of wine every single

00:49:12.590 --> 00:49:14.920
day. Let's do the caloric math on that five pounds

00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:17.519
of dense ancient grain bread and two pounds of

00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:20.159
beef is easily pushing five to six thousand calories

00:49:20.159 --> 00:49:22.940
a day supplemented by alcohol. It's like Michael

00:49:22.940 --> 00:49:25.960
Phelps training diet. This is an enormous highly

00:49:25.960 --> 00:49:29.159
specialized diet befitting men whose only societal

00:49:29.159 --> 00:49:32.039
function is intense physical training muscle

00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:34.920
building and combat readiness. They were likely

00:49:34.920 --> 00:49:37.360
massive physically intimidating individuals.

00:49:37.380 --> 00:49:39.380
But I have to ask you about the macro economic

00:49:39.380 --> 00:49:42.400
reality of this. Let's zoom out. Herodotus mentioned

00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:45.579
that at their peak, these two warrior groups

00:49:45.579 --> 00:49:50.719
numbered up to 410 ,000 men. Over 400 ,000. What

00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:53.699
does it actually do to a society to have 400

00:49:53.699 --> 00:49:57.639
,000 prime -age men explicitly banned from contributing

00:49:57.639 --> 00:50:01.559
to the economy via trade or craft, existing entirely

00:50:01.559 --> 00:50:04.079
on state -granted land and consuming thousands

00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:06.380
of pounds of state -funded beef and wine daily?

00:50:06.570 --> 00:50:09.130
It creates the ultimate double -edged sword of

00:50:09.130 --> 00:50:11.869
a state -funded standing army. On one hand, it

00:50:11.869 --> 00:50:14.289
guarantees absolute internal stability and formidable

00:50:14.289 --> 00:50:16.510
external defense. No one is invading them easily.

00:50:16.949 --> 00:50:20.030
Right. The King has a dedicated, highly fed,

00:50:20.469 --> 00:50:23.949
highly lethal force whose entire livelihood and

00:50:23.949 --> 00:50:26.710
elite status depends entirely on the survival

00:50:26.710 --> 00:50:30.500
of the state. Their loyalty is literally purchased

00:50:30.500 --> 00:50:34.340
through extreme, exclusive privilege. They will

00:50:34.340 --> 00:50:36.340
crush any rebellion because a rebellion threatens

00:50:36.340 --> 00:50:38.400
their beef and their tax -free land. Right, you

00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:40.019
aren't going to rock the boat if the boat is

00:50:40.019 --> 00:50:42.179
feeding you five pounds of bread a day. Exactly.

00:50:42.510 --> 00:50:44.829
But on the other hand, consider the crushing

00:50:44.829 --> 00:50:47.210
economic burden placed on the bottom tiers of

00:50:47.210 --> 00:50:49.210
the caste system. The people actually working.

00:50:49.349 --> 00:50:51.809
The cow herds, the shopkeepers, the boatmen,

00:50:51.969 --> 00:50:54.349
the fen dwellers eating lotus roots. These are

00:50:54.349 --> 00:50:56.190
the people actually generating the wealth. They

00:50:56.190 --> 00:50:58.750
are growing the grain, raising the cattle, and

00:50:58.750 --> 00:51:01.369
paying the heavy taxes required to subsidize

00:51:01.369 --> 00:51:04.269
this massive non -producing warrior caste. So

00:51:04.269 --> 00:51:06.889
the poor are just squeezed dry. It creates an

00:51:06.889 --> 00:51:09.829
incredible strain on the agricultural base. Furthermore,

00:51:10.050 --> 00:51:13.070
it creates a society that is deeply structurally

00:51:13.070 --> 00:51:15.909
resistant to change. When roles are inherited

00:51:15.909 --> 00:51:18.550
by law and hundreds of thousands of enforcers

00:51:18.550 --> 00:51:20.849
are heavily subsidized to maintain the status

00:51:20.849 --> 00:51:24.909
quo, innovation is completely stifled. The society

00:51:24.909 --> 00:51:28.170
functions exactly like a giant unchanging biological

00:51:28.170 --> 00:51:31.309
machine. A machine where every single human gear

00:51:31.309 --> 00:51:34.639
has exactly one job forever. Yep. And when you

00:51:34.639 --> 00:51:37.039
step back and look at the entirety of this machine,

00:51:37.159 --> 00:51:39.119
the tapestry of Egyptian life we've unpacked

00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:42.460
today, it is truly mind -bending. It is a civilization

00:51:42.460 --> 00:51:45.599
defined by profound structure, intense categorization,

00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:48.260
and deliberate contrast to the rest of humanity.

00:51:48.480 --> 00:51:50.159
We've walked through a world where the gender

00:51:50.159 --> 00:51:51.960
roles in the marketplace are completely flipped,

00:51:52.159 --> 00:51:54.519
where the weaving woof is pushed down with gravity

00:51:54.519 --> 00:51:56.960
instead of up. The physical inversions. We've

00:51:56.960 --> 00:51:59.539
seen a society where dense bread dough is kneaded

00:51:59.539 --> 00:52:02.039
with the heavy force of the feet, but animal

00:52:02.039 --> 00:52:05.199
dung is delicately shaped. with the hands. We've

00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:07.800
watched ingenious fen dwellers thwart massive

00:52:07.800 --> 00:52:10.739
mosquito swarms by sleeping under smelly fishing

00:52:10.739 --> 00:52:13.539
nets, using the very tools of their trade to

00:52:13.539 --> 00:52:17.380
alter their environment. And we've attended dinner

00:52:17.380 --> 00:52:20.239
parties where a carved wooden corpse is paraded

00:52:20.239 --> 00:52:22.559
around the table to remind everyone to drink

00:52:22.559 --> 00:52:25.199
their barley wine. And we've seen how deeply

00:52:25.199 --> 00:52:28.659
a society can compartmentalize its deepest anxieties,

00:52:29.019 --> 00:52:31.099
from the hyper -specialized doctors who refuse

00:52:31.099 --> 00:52:33.360
to treat anything outside their single bodily

00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:36.980
jurisdiction, to the absolute freezing cold purity

00:52:36.980 --> 00:52:39.440
of the hairless priests, taking four baths a

00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:41.840
day, sharply contrasted against the marginalized

00:52:41.840 --> 00:52:44.280
swineherds who are forced into endogamy just

00:52:44.280 --> 00:52:46.940
to bear the burden of the society's necessary

00:52:46.940 --> 00:52:50.559
lunar sins. It is so crucial to remember that

00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:52.760
stepping into historical sources like this isn't

00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:55.420
just about memorizing facts or dates for a trivia

00:52:55.420 --> 00:52:57.719
night. No, it's so much bigger than that. It's

00:52:57.719 --> 00:53:00.380
about radically expanding our understanding of

00:53:00.380 --> 00:53:03.559
what human normalcy can actually look like. The

00:53:03.559 --> 00:53:05.820
ancient Egyptians engineered their daily lives

00:53:05.820 --> 00:53:08.980
to solve the exact same fundamental human problems

00:53:08.980 --> 00:53:12.139
we have today. How to get food. How to handle

00:53:12.139 --> 00:53:14.500
disease. What to do with the dead. How to care

00:53:14.500 --> 00:53:16.969
for the elderly. but they solve them using an

00:53:16.969 --> 00:53:19.349
entirely different set of logical rules, physics,

00:53:19.690 --> 00:53:22.869
and chemistry. And there is one final lingering

00:53:22.869 --> 00:53:24.869
idea drawn directly from the text that might

00:53:24.869 --> 00:53:27.710
just be the skeleton key. Oh, the unifying theory.

00:53:27.789 --> 00:53:29.789
It might explain the underlying logic of all

00:53:29.789 --> 00:53:32.449
those bizarre rules. Herodotus mentions, almost

00:53:32.449 --> 00:53:35.090
in passing, a theological concept. He writes

00:53:35.090 --> 00:53:37.230
that the Egyptians were the very first people

00:53:37.230 --> 00:53:40.110
to report the doctrine that the human soul is

00:53:40.110 --> 00:53:42.809
immortal. Yes, the immortality of the soul. But

00:53:42.809 --> 00:53:45.050
it's the mechanics of that immortality that are

00:53:45.050 --> 00:53:46.849
staggering. He writes that they believed when

00:53:46.849 --> 00:53:49.349
the physical body finally dies, the soul doesn't

00:53:49.349 --> 00:53:52.340
just float to static heaven, it transmigrates.

00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:55.139
It moves on. It enters into another creature

00:53:55.139 --> 00:53:58.079
and it goes on a massive forced evolutionary

00:53:58.079 --> 00:54:00.579
cycle through every single creature of the land,

00:54:00.739 --> 00:54:04.079
the sea, and the air. And this exhausting cosmic

00:54:04.079 --> 00:54:07.260
journey of the soul takes exactly 3 ,000 years

00:54:07.260 --> 00:54:09.980
before it finally completes the circuit and returns

00:54:09.980 --> 00:54:12.940
to inhabit a human body once again. A 3 ,000

00:54:12.940 --> 00:54:15.719
year cosmic loop. So I ask you to ponder this

00:54:15.719 --> 00:54:20.179
as we close. How might a society's deep fundamental

00:54:20.179 --> 00:54:23.400
belief in a mandatory 3 ,000 -year cycle of the

00:54:23.400 --> 00:54:26.099
soul be the exact hidden reason behind everything

00:54:26.099 --> 00:54:27.980
we've discussed today? Wait, think about that.

00:54:28.139 --> 00:54:30.059
Think about their obsessive physical cleanliness

00:54:30.059 --> 00:54:32.739
in those violent three -day purges. Think about

00:54:32.739 --> 00:54:35.260
the desperate, highly chemical preservation of

00:54:35.260 --> 00:54:37.800
the physical body through the 70 days of natron

00:54:37.800 --> 00:54:39.980
embalming. So keep the body ready. Think about

00:54:39.980 --> 00:54:43.559
the rigid, unchanging, inherited caste systems

00:54:43.559 --> 00:54:47.320
from the priests to the warriors. If you genuinely,

00:54:47.320 --> 00:54:50.480
truly believed that you were just one tiny point

00:54:50.480 --> 00:54:53.800
on a 3000 year cosmic loop and that your soul

00:54:53.800 --> 00:54:55.579
would eventually need to find its way back to

00:54:55.579 --> 00:54:58.119
where it started, wouldn't you build your daily

00:54:58.119 --> 00:55:01.480
life, your physical body and your entire societal

00:55:01.480 --> 00:55:05.079
structure to be as permanent, as rigidly categorized

00:55:05.079 --> 00:55:08.079
and as incorruptible as possible? Well, if you're

00:55:08.079 --> 00:55:09.780
going to be gone on a chaotic journey through

00:55:09.780 --> 00:55:12.659
the bodies of birds and fish for 3000 years,

00:55:13.179 --> 00:55:15.260
you want to make absolutely sure the house looks

00:55:15.309 --> 00:55:17.329
exactly the same when you get back. Exactly.

00:55:17.389 --> 00:55:19.289
You need a map that never changes. It makes all

00:55:19.289 --> 00:55:21.269
the bizarre, muddy realities of their social

00:55:21.269 --> 00:55:23.829
landscape suddenly look as clean and binary as

00:55:23.829 --> 00:55:26.110
an x -ray. You break your arm. This is a specific

00:55:26.110 --> 00:55:28.949
doctor for the arm. You die. There's the natron

00:55:28.949 --> 00:55:30.869
salt, the cedar oil, and the 3 ,000 -year wait.

00:55:31.050 --> 00:55:33.610
It all ties together perfectly. Incredible. Thank

00:55:33.610 --> 00:55:35.530
you so much for taking this deep dive with us

00:55:35.530 --> 00:55:37.409
today. Keep questioning what is normal. Keep

00:55:37.409 --> 00:55:39.130
looking for the mechanics behind the history,

00:55:39.409 --> 00:55:40.630
and we will see you next time.