THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 278, 20 August 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

What Researches Into History

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Archaeology has shown that, many things which we are apt to consider as typical of our times were really familiar in the earliest civilisations. Advertising was known at least as early as 1000 B.C. The ancient counterpart of “Beer is Best” was employed by wine merchants and dealers in other kinds of liquors, in much the same way as the slogan is used to-day. Excavations show that several thousand years ago people were quite as interested in their personal appearance as they are now. Although bathrooms were a comparative innovation to our grandfathers, they Were a feature of many early Egyptian houses. Razors, though an expensive luxury, were used by the wealthy as early as 4500 B.C. But whereas the modern safety razor makes its appeal through cheapness and efficient simplicity, the razors of the Fifth Dynasty (4500-4300 8.C.), recently discovered at Sakkara, are beautifully worked, and bear traces of gold leaf. The most commonly used metal in modern dentistry is gold, but the early dentists appear to have preferred bronze. German scientists recently unearthed at Aschaffenburg seven artificial teeth made of that material. They were taken from a grave dug in 1200 B.C. The party also found a complete manicure set dating from the same period. Women have always been vain, and the counterpart of most of the aids to beauty in the vanity bag of the modern girl were in use before the Flood. The woman of Noah’s time carried her lipstick, eyebrow pencil, and scent in a vanity case. In one of these, found recently at Kish, in Iraq, there were several beauty preparations, including. a nail file and polisher, which were strung together by a cord at the top, the points fitting into a tiny holder resembling a modern scissors case.

Hairpins, rings, needles and buttons have been unearthed at the same place, and it is calculated that they must be at least 6000 years old. The modern child loves to play with his toy motor-car. Judging by these excavations, the chief delight of the child of 3400 B.C. was bls miniature chariot, since a perfect model, four inches long and drawn by two prancing horses, was dug up at the same time. It was made of clay, and was in excellent condition, except that the horses had lost part of their forelegs—possibly as the result of an accident in that Egyptian nursery 6000 years ago! The ancients, as well as possessing things similar to those that we regard as essentially modern, were more advanced in many fields of knowledge than we are to-day. The coating of resin and fat, for example, with which the Egyptian embalmed their mummies, is considered by scientists to be the perfect waterproofing substance. It is unfortunate that the formula has been lost, for it is considered that this would have been ideal for coating the insides of the tubes of underground railways, where water percolation has proved" a serious problem. Russian scientists engaged on the construction of the Moscow underground, have even gone so far as to make tests on a piece of the shroud of a four thousand-year-old mummy, in an attempt to learn the secret of its water-resisting properties.

Egyptian builders also used tools which we would regard as entirely modern. When they had to bore or tunnel through solid rock they used diamond-pointed drills and saws made from brouze.

Even more astonishing were the speedometers which the ancients used on their chariots. A small wheel with sharp cogs was fixed on the chariot’s axle, and as it went round it pricked holes in a roll of linen. The roll was then taken off, and the number of holes showed the distance travelled.