Egypt has a glorious past, its people descended from a civilization that was once the most intellectually and technologically advanced in the world. Because we all sometimes need a reminder, here’s a quick round-up of successful inventions that were created by Egyptians before any other civilization. Eye makeup (eyeshadow and eyeliner) – 4000 BCE Egyptians were among the first to popularize the use of eye makeup. Some of the earliest makeup palettes date back to circa 5000 BCE, the most common colors being green (made out of malachite, a green carbonate of copper) and black (made out of galena, an ore of lead). System of writing (pictographs) – 3200 BCE Composed of around 500 symbols, Egyptian hieroglyphics date back to 3200 BCE and represented the first writing system based on illustrated representations of words or sounds. With the exception of Mesopotamian cuneiform, which emerged independently around 3200 BCE, the innovation of writing in Egypt predated other civilizatio...

Society in Egypt has changed quite a bit since its ancient predecessors thousands of years ago. From popular misconceptions to bizarre practices, you won’t believe these facts we found about ancient Egyptians: 1. Ancient Egyptian children often had shaved heads and were naked in public until puberty. The hot weather and lack of AC made clothes non-essential. 2. Both men and women wore makeup in ancient Egypt. Eye shadow was extremely popular, especially in green and black. Originally, make-up was thought of as sunscreen and it was believed to possess healing powers. Although many scientists today believe the lead-based paints fought off eye infections, they may have also resulted in lead poisoning . 3. Experts believe that Cleopatra wasn’t ethnically Egyptian – she was actually Macedonian Greek. Although she was born in Egypt, her lineage traces back to Ptolemy I, the Macedonian leader left in charge of Alexandria after Alexander the Great’s conquest. 4. Ramses the ...