world perfumery
Any visitor to modern Egypt, or the viewer of a travelogue on this amazing country is impressed by the antiques visible everywhere. The Sphinx hundreds of pyramids and tombs, temples and statues testify to the brilliance of this 4000 years old culture. These remains have survived the ravages of time, weather, wars and invasions.
Almost entirely forgotten, however, is the fetish for ancient Egypt personal health and cleanliness. We know from written documents and paintings that they were very keen to promote the health, welfare and hygiene in ways that were amazingly advanced for its time, and would be considered modern today. Unfortunately, after the glory of Pharaoh lost, these habits have been forgotten for centuries, especially in Western Europe, people living in the filth of centuries.
An example of ancient Egyptian interest in cleanliness is their scheme oral hygiene. Egypt is an arid, windy, sandy country. Dust is everywhere, and has often been blown into the food. The grains are ground to flour between the millstones and pieces of stone would become mixed in the final product. We know from examining mummies that their teeth were ground down almost to the line gum from a lifetime of chewing scheme gritty. The pain must be unbearable.
Halitosis is most often when the tooth and gum disease is present. The Egyptians perfected the art of perfumery. For the treatment of halitosis they chew fragrant herbs and rinse with a mixture of hot water, a drop of perfume and an herb cocktail. They also practiced a form of dentistry, using needles to pierce abscesses and bleeding. The priests have acted as doctors and dentists.
More than half of all babies ancient Egypt died before the age of five. The women were very protective of their bodies, once they become aware of their impending pregnancy. We know they used a pregnancy test very clever, thousands of years before the / red urine test blue modern women buy in pharmacies. Grains of wheat or oats were collected, and the ancient Egyptian woman urinated on the seeds. If the seeds sprouted, the woman knew she was pregnant and it adjust its personnel system to prepare the precious time of delivery.
There are many more examples of practice but to improve hygiene procedures that were used 4000 years ago to pamper and protect the human body. Yet, a millennium later, virtually none has been widely used in most parts of the world. What happened?
Climate, demography, social mores and superstitions are a few reasons why historians and anthropologists to offer as evidence of loss of health old techniques. Today, we believe that life in advanced modern societies, we will improve and perfect the new techniques of care and each subsequent generation will live better and healthier than previous generations. Unless we learn the lessons of history there is no guarantee that we could not return to a lifestyle of Dark Ages.
Currently, there is a global economic crisis. If we had studied and learned economic calamities of the past much of the pain suffered by the economy worlds could be mitigated. The fact is that we do not know often or to forget the lessons of the past. The bubonic plague of the middle ages would certainly have been mitigated if the company had used hygiene procedures developed by the ancient Egyptians and Romans. Tulip mania as 17th century Holland-mania, the South African regime Culture milk, Ponzi schemes, and countless modern recessions and the Great Depression germinating seeds all the same: greed, fear and lack of historical perspective.
Companies not forget. Governments do not forget. Groups and individuals not forget. The ancient Egyptians gifted the world with many advances in engineering, construction, science, health and art. These lessons have been largely lost in the centuries following. Some, like the mystery of the construction of the pyramids were never found. It is for us all today to revive interest in history and creativity of the ancients.
Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.
After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion fragrance.
Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (http://www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.