Understanding the past is very fickle. People often imagine they are thoroughly familiar with some historical facts, but everything is completely different. Sometimes, the information is heavily distorted and often completely unreliable. Historians are human, too — they can make mistakes, too. It even happens that the truth is far-fetched according to someone’s preferences. The list of similar historical events or facts is too long. The following is a review of the eight most common cases of historical lies that no one bothered to remove from textbooks.
8 Cases where scientists made a serious mistake, or exposing the most common historical lie
The Egyptian Pyramids were built by Jewish enslaved people
This is the oldest and most well-established myth. The idea of building pyramids by slaves of Jewish origin dates back to the 5th century BC. This theory was refuted only three decades ago. It so happened that the Book of the Bible Exodus says that the Jews were slaves in Egypt, and this book was written just in the 5th century BC. In addition, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that enslaved people built the pyramids. Historians have put both facts together and come to this conclusion. Hollywood films and books by many writers contain this historical lie. It is still written in school textbooks all over the world.
The exposure happened entirely by accident. In the early 1990s, a tourist stumbled upon the necropolis. After the excavations, it turned out that the builders of the pyramids were buried there. Archaeologists have proved that not only were all these people Egyptians by origin, but they were also not slaves. They were free people and professionals in their field. Construction workers were usually recruited from different communities throughout Egypt. Sometimes, they were poor. They usually worked in shifts — for three months. The work was hard, and often, the deceased turned out to be quite young people.
It was not customary for the ancient Greeks and Romans to decorate sculptures
Everyone has long been accustomed to the fact that the buildings of the cities of Ancient Greece and Rome are always depicted as full of snow-white marble, and sculptures look the same. All this is even though, for centuries, archaeologists have found buildings painted with multicolored colors and sculptures of the same kind. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M. For the full article. Historians found the white marble so beautiful that they disregarded the fact that it had all been painted a long time ago. During the Renaissance, white marble became not only a symbol of Rome but also a symbol of the most highly developed civilization. Art historians unanimously declared that the painted statues were ruined. Even the Parthenon lost its colors in the 18th century.
Meanwhile, historical texts tell us how colorful the ancient Roman buildings were. For example, when Pompeii was excavated, the Roman Empire appeared in all its bright glory. Many people continue to cling to the idea of white and pure marble with the greatest tenacity.
Columbus tried to prove that the Earth is round
There is an extremely common misconception in society that Christopher Columbus tried to prove that the Earth was round, and therefore set off on his journey. This is not entirely true. Before Columbus, for millennia, people suspected that the Earth was round. Ancient scientists — mathematicians, astronomers, and philosophers – made relevant observations and recorded their conclusions. In the time of Columbus, educated people already knew all this. He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
The great navigator knew that our planet was not flat at all, but he thought its circumference was much smaller. With his journey, he was only trying to prove that if he sailed to the West, not the East, he would reach China faster and open new trade routes. Columbus needed this to get funding for his risky venture.
The myth that he wanted to prove that the Earth is round originated in the early 19th century. The famous American writer Washington Irving published his book, “The Life and Travels of Christopher Columbus.” Irving was a great writer but a lousy historian. When writing his work, he tried to make it as fascinating and dramatic as possible, often without observing boring historical facts. Since that time, this point of view has been so firmly ingrained in people’s minds that it took decades to refute this historical lie.
Columbus Discovered America
This is another historical lie. That’s what many people still think. In the USA, a public holiday is dedicated to the day when Columbus supposedly discovered their country. Most people are used to disregarding that when the “discoverer” arrived on the continent, it was already inhabited by people. There were many of them, and the civilization was extremely highly developed. Science generally accepts that humans first appeared in America about 15 thousand years ago. The sea level was low then, and they crossed the Bering Strait, which connects Siberia and Alaska.
Studies have shown that 80% of the DNA of all indigenous peoples of the United States coincides with these settlers, whom scientists call the peoples of Clovis. Columbus was just the first European to set foot on the shores of the American continent. And even then, in the light of recent scientific discoveries, this is a very dubious statement. The Vikings, as historians say, entered there 5 centuries earlier.
In Ancient Greece and Rome, non-traditional orientation was the norm
This fact is generally very doubtful. There was indeed such a thing in society. Only there were so many subtle nuances in this! It was just that close relationships were seen there as dominant and passive. Simply put, it was customary to be with a man only if he was “in charge” and not “passive.” In addition, the class was strictly taken into account. It was more than outrageous if a man from the lower class turned out to be the dominant partner of a man from the upper class. In Ancient Rome, for this, they could deprive the title, inheritance, and even citizenship. Such relationships between women were also frowned upon. After all, one of them needed to take on the male role, which was taboo.
Therefore, all the ideas that in Ancient Rome, there were various unbridled orgies in the order of things, where it doesn’t matter who and with whom, to put it mildly, are greatly exaggerated. Of course, Emperor Caligula was a hedonist, but Roman society generally did not approve of this. Ancient Rome did not have the liberality that people like to talk about today. It was costly to pay for violating generally accepted principles. It wasn’t worth it.
Jesus Christ was born on December 25
Christmas is one of the most important holidays for many people worldwide. People gather as a family, exchange gifts, and praise God for the Birth of the Savior. But they’re doing it all on the wrong day. There is often debate about which is more correct: December 25 or January 7. People are ready to clash in hand-to-hand combat just because of this. And the truth? And the truth is not even in the middle; it’s not there at all. The Bible texts do not explicitly mention the timing of this event, but upon careful reading, it is not so difficult to figure it out. The day, of course, is impossible to calculate, but the month is quite enough.
In the Gospel of Luke, for example, it says that shepherds were tending their flocks at night when Jesus was born. In winter, their herds would be in pens. There are also clues in the other Gospels that lead either to September or March.
Why did you choose December 25? The fact is that this day comes exactly 9 months after March 25, when it is traditionally believed that Jesus was crucified. Early Christians believed that the Messiah was conceived and crucified on the same day. Some say that he was born and crucified on the same day. Then Christmas should still be celebrated in March. In addition, December 25 corresponds to the winter solstice. Pagans always celebrated it, and then Emperor Constantine tied the Christmas Christian holiday to this day when he legalized Christianity. The same thing was done with the Easter holiday.
300 Spartans held off the Persians at Thermopylae
Everyone loves this story, especially Hollywood producers. A handful of heroes are holding back a powerful Persian army of thousands. Only scientists have long refuted the number of Spartans resisting the Persians and their military achievements in general. For centuries, people have believed in super soldiers from Sparta.
Cleopatra was a dazzling beauty
They lied about Cleopatra twice. First, she wasn’t a real beauty at all, and second, she wasn’t even Egyptian. Historians just somehow wanted to explain for themselves that a woman literally brought all men to their knees in a row. Only, as historical texts attest, she was not just a seductress but a woman of extremely high intelligence. Besides, she had no equal in the art of manipulation at all.
Cleopatra’s unsightly appearance is explained by her ancestors’ fascination with incestuous marriages. Yes, she wasn’t exactly ugly, but she wasn’t exactly beautiful. She also represented the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Greeks who came to power in Egypt after Alexander the Great’s conquests. Of all her family, Cleopatra was the only one who knew the language of the country she ruled.
As you can see, historians and schoolteachers have been lying for centuries. Many “historical facts” that people consider immutable are often incorrect. With the advent of the Internet, it has become so easy to spread lies at the speed of a forest fire that sometimes the scale of the disaster is simply amazing. Historical lies are often the result of mistakes or misunderstandings, but there are deliberate lies. Of course, the goal is always the same: to make a person believe that black is white. People call it propaganda. It wasn’t invented yesterday, but it always works correctly.
