1,900-year-old papyrus reveals ancient Egyptian cure for a hangover

[Surya Gayatri]

For when your head feels like someone's pulling your brain out of your nose...

* Hangover treatment found in documents uncovered at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt

* The texts included 24 new 'recipes' for preventing the spread of ulcers and treating hemorrhoids, toothache, gangrene and various eye conditions

* One text provides advice for treating a 'drunken headache' by stringing the leaves of the evergreen shrub Alexandrian chamaedaphne around the neck

Written in Greek, one of the medical recipes offers advice for how to tackle a 'drunken headache' - with the leaves of a shrub called Alexandrian chamaedaphne, or sometimes Alexandrian laurel.

The text recommends stringing the leaves of the evergreen plant, also called Ruscus racemosus, together and possibly wearing it around the neck.



THE IMPORTANCE OF OXYRHNCHUS

Oxyrhynchus lies south west of Cairo and is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt.

It has yielded a huge collection of papyrus texts from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history and among them are fragments of plays and the Gospel of Thomas.
The city was built around a system of canals and inhabitants dumped their rubbish at nearby sand hills, including lots of written material as Oxyrhynchus was governed bureaucratically by the Greeks and the Romans.

Archaeologists have discovered tax returns, census material, receipts, letters about religion, politics, military action and diaries, giving them a thorough picture of everyday life.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3050363/The-ancient-Egyptian-cure-HANGOVER-1-900-year-old-papyrus-suggests-wearing-garland-laurel-leaves-drunken-headache.html

[FSogol]

1. You know what never fails for a hangover?

Drinking a lot the night before....

[LibertyLover]

2. Just a quibble - 1900 years old

does not make it ancient Egyptian. Roman Egypt yes, but not pharaonic Egypt. At least the recipe doesn't call for crocodile fat or hippo dung like some of the scripts from the Ebers papyrus do.

[Surya Gayatri]

3. That's the Daily Mail extrapolating...directly from their site.

I wasn't aware that crocodile's had an ounce of fat on them!

[brooklynite]

4. I quibble with your quibble...

(Merriam-Webster) ANCIENT: of or relating to a remote period, to a time early in history, or to those living in such a period or time; especially : of or relating to the historical period beginning with the earliest known civilizations and extending to the fall of the western Roman Empire in a.d. 476

The article never claims this is Pharoic, and points out "It has yielded a huge collection of papyrus texts from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history

[pinboy3niner]

5. The most surprising papyrus was for a headache remedy that read:

"Hippo Dung On! Apply directly to the forehead!"

[Orrex]

6. Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. Ba da boom!

[NV Whino]

8. That could explain Caesar's laurel wreath.

[Surya Gayatri]

9. .../...