I would have preferred to live in an ancient Egyptian society. There are many reasons as to why I would be in favor of living in an ancient Egyptian community instead of a Roman one. For example –Life in ancient Egypt is often viewed as a “death- obsessed” culture, where dominant individuals forced subservient people to construct pyramids and temples for religious rituals after death. In reality, ancient Egyptians adored life regardless of their social class. They believed that they were living the finest life, in the greatest of all worlds and that afterlife was an eternal continuation of life on earth. Sports, games, reading, festivals and time with one’s family and friends was a significant part of all ancient Egyptian’s lives.
Homes of both – the rich and the poor – were build of brick because there are not plenty of forests in Egypt and as a result, wood is always scarce. Their homes were well built, hygienic and quite stable. Brick homes also have numerous advantages, namely-
Brick is fire resistant, Brick homes can last nearly a century, Brick helps block out noise and pollution, etc.
The Roman homes however, had a dissimilar condition. In ancient Rome, the lives of the wealthy and the poor were highly contrasting to each other. The poor lived in damp, filthy and unclean areas. Their houses were shabbily built and the walls frequently cracked, roofs collapsed and sometimes the houses easily caught fire. Due to the unhygienic environment, many children died of disease. The wealthy, on the other hand, were clean and well covered. They lived in big houses, away from all noise and pollution and had servants to fulfill all their desires. However, only a few Romans could afford all those luxuries at that time.
Ancient Egypt witnessed a magnificent harvest of cereal (barley and emmer wheat, used to make bread, cakes and beer) vegetables, (beans, onions, garlic, lettuces and cucumbers) and fruits (grapes, figs and dates).Their diet also included meat (beef and goat), fish from the Nile (perch, catfish and mullet) and poultry (goose, duck and crane).
Food for the wealthy in ancient Egypt was ample in variety but that did not mean starvation for the poor. The rich Egyptians mainly consumed meat, fish and poultry and drank wine. The poor ate meat occasionally and ate fish and poultry regularly. They also consumed bread and vegetables and drank beer.
The Roman civilization had a slightly different scene. The Romans largely had the same selection of food as the Egyptians although, most of the poor Romans normally ate porridge (made by mixing ground wheat and water) and sometimes had the chance to eat vegetables and bread. The poor barely ate any animal meat and as an outcome, they repeatedly felt weak and easily got exhausted. Too bad if I had to live like that, as I love to eat chicken nuggets. The wealthy largely ate meat, accompanied by expensive beverages, such as Mulsum (a combination of wine and honey).
All ancient Egyptians had a balanced diet, containing all the necessary edibles required to have enough energy for the day. Ancient Egyptians gave a high priority to personal hygiene because of various reasons, for example – the weather (summer in Egypt can be scorching hot), their religious beliefs (they believed that bathing was important to satisfy the gods when they died), etc. Ancient Egyptians bathed almost 4 times a day and when compared to ancient Romans, who bathed once every 9 days, ancient Egyptians maintained a much better personal hygiene than the Romans.
Ancient Egyptians also used several beneficial skin care habits. They took great care of their skin and hair, using natural oils and creams made from herbs.
Private baths were extremely rare since hardly anyone had them, but public bathhouses were relatively common. People who were did not have access to one still bathed in the Nile. The ancient Egyptians used Hieroglyphic symbols to record their stories and history but also to account their everyday life. They would often express their prophecies and predictions through writing.
The Egyptians carved hieroglyphics onto to stone and painted them on the walls of tombs. They also wrote on Papyrus (fine paper) and used thin, sharp reeds dipped in ink as writing instruments.
The Romans got their messages across differently. The Romans originally used bonfires and smoke signals to send messages. This took a long while and sometimes the message was not properly understood.
Ancient Egyptians also utilized a numeral system for counting and solving equations, involving multiplication and division. Medicine in ancient Egypt was highly advanced for its time. Many ancient Egyptian physicians are known to have performed minor surgical operations and there are over 800 natural remedies discovered, involving the use of herbs. Not to mention, ancient Egyptian mummies are astonishingly well preserved. Even after thousands of years, doctors can perform autopsies on Egyptian mummies to reveal the cause of death.
Medicine in ancient Rome also included remedies and the use of herbs, however, medical practices were considered unnecessary because it was believed that healing could be gained by praying to god.To conclude, living in an ancient Egyptian society than a Roman one appears more advantageous and valuable to me with all the listed factors in mind. Moreover, the quality of life is comparatively better (for example – well built houses for all social classes, a balanced diet easily available to everyone, fine medical knowledge, etc.) That is all from me on deciding which ancient civilization to live in.
