Since the time of Herodotus, it is commonly believed that the Scythians and Sarmatians were unclean, walked in dirty clothes, wore rags and smelled disgusting. In fact, the hygiene of the nomads was much higher than that of many peoples of that time.
Beauty is a terrible force
In defense of Herodotus we can say that his words are true only partially. The father of history compares the Scythians with urban Greeks, and wealthy ones at that.
It is like comparing a glamorous diva from Astana with a milkmaid from a distant aul. Rural life does not imply manicures, masks and spa procedures.
Naturally, a pampered inhabitant of Halicarnassus, who never left the walls of his native house, laying in the bath all day and ointment with rose oil, looked and smelled better than a sweaty Scythian, who had not been out of the saddle for months. I would like to see what a Halicarnassian in a silk snow-white toga would turn into when he made his way from Greece to the Azov Sea.
Here the advantage is clearly in clothing made of leather, fur, coarse cloth and other materials that were preferred by nomads. Hence the Kazakhs’ love for chapanes made of velvet. This material looks good even after a long journey across the dusty steppe.
And a Greek would probably howl in the saddle after a few hours of travel. There was no underwear back then, and rubbing your bare ass against the horse’s croup was more like torture. Nomads wore pants and had no such problems.
Greeks liked to flaunt snow-white clothes and to keep them white, they washed them in a mixture of vinegar, ash and urine. Moreover, urine for this purpose was used from public toilets. The Greeks collected their own urine to clean their teeth. In defense of the Greeks it should be noted that the squeamish attitude to urine appeared only in the middle of the XIX century.
Nomadic tribes ate rough food, and teeth were cleaned naturally, and if there was a need to clean them, for example, after a meal staining enamel with fruits or berries with bones, the mouth was rinsed with milk whey, and teeth rubbed with charcoal.
Charcoal removed plaque, and whey stabilized the acid-alkaline balance and saturated the dentin with calcium. And this is all before the invention of all sorts of “blend-a-med”.
Brushing teeth and treatment of calluses in the Scythians
Scythians brushing teeth and treating blisters
Women washed their heads with whey, washed with clay instead of soap. Not without reason our ancestors were proud of thick braids and velvet skin. Milk whey extract is now included in expensive shampoos, and clay masks are offered in beauty salons.
Steppe “Tide”
Clothes were washed and stale grease washed from the cauldron with a decoction of tumbleweed roots.
The plant itself served as a sponge. Gypsophilus saponin, contained in tumbleweeds, dissolves grease as well as “Fairey”, and also disinfects well. Moreover, gypsophilum-saponin better than enzymes from modern powders, washes clothes made of wool. It does not spoil its structure, but on the contrary, makes it softer. Current housewives know what will happen to a cashmere scarf, silk jacket or mohair sweater if you try to wash it with “Tide” with “Ariel”. Steamed chemical enzymes will take the organic material for a big dirty stain and turn the thing into a rag.
Gypsophila saponin in high concentrations is quite toxic, but in microdoses it is even useful. Now it is added to halva, sodas and cake cream.
Nowadays, when tens of liters of water are spent at a time to rinse laundry after washing or washing dishes, it is impossible to completely remove the residues of powder or detergent. In the steppe, with a deficit of moisture, rinsing is even more difficult.
Now the question arises: if clothes are in long contact with the skin, dishes store detergent residues, or an infant pulls a diaper into his mouth — what would be better?
To get into the body synthetic chlorine, alkali, ammonia and acids, which are full of household chemicals from the supermarket, or a tiny dose of natural gypsophilus saponin, in small doses useful for digestion?
We put the microbe straight into the coffin
In the cold climate of Scandinavia, the waste products of the ancient Vikings were well preserved. Studies have shown that the bodies of fearless warriors were crawling with parasites. The liver fluke was a particular nuisance to them. This parasite torments the host with excruciating abdominal pain, and eventually turns the liver into a painful tumor. It was impossible to find a Viking who did not suffer from this affliction in those days. About the banal ascarids, bull chains and helminths and to speak of and do not have to talk about. This is despite the fact that in the cool climate of those lands products are better preserved. In addition, the Vikings had access to clean water and spent most of their time in the sea, where the salt spray served as a natural disinfectant.
Nomads cooked meat for a long time and did not suffer from parasites
Nomadic tribes suffered from parasites much less often. It’s all in the way of cooking. Vikings did not waste time on cooking. Meat and fish they quickly roasted on the fire. No marinades and spices capable of killing parasites were used. And they roasted the whole carcass of hunting trophy, so the meat did not have time to roast well.
Nomads were wiser. In our steppes it was customary to boil meat for 5-6 hours. Often there were wormwood, faggot, St. John’s wort in the cauldron. They did not give parasites and microbes the slightest chance.
If parasites still managed to get into the body, they were expelled very quickly. The disease itself was treated with decoctions of caustic herbs, and for prevention they used… chewing gum. Of course, it has little in common with Orbit. It was made from the juice of milkweed. To remove the bitterness, the juice was boiled over a fire. This destroyed much of the toxic substances. But the remainder was safe for humans, but deadly to parasites.
All the troubles we will be tryn-grass
By the way, the milky juice of steppe grasses saved Kazakhs from the epidemic of domestic syphilis in the early XX century. Subjects of the Russian Empire brought the bad disease from the front during the First World War. Dishes in taverns were poorly washed then, and pale treponema is primarily transmitted through common cups, spoons and towels.
Here Kazakhs were saved by the very gum from molochai and yellow juice of celandine. When someone in the family suffered from skin sores, and it did not matter — from banal youthful pimples or from psoriasis with leprosy, all tribesmen thickly smeared hands with celandine juice. Just as we recently used antiseptic in a coronavirus pandemic.
The Justinian plague, which lasted two centuries, and other epidemics that mowed down a third of Europe, went practically unnoticed for the steppe peoples.
First, what we now call social distance helped. They tried not to visit those where the whole family was unwell, and there were at least a hundred kilometers between nomads.
Secondly, the smoke of adyraspan saved from infection. Almost all peoples of that time considered epidemics to be the work of evil forces: devils, demons, shaitans. For nomads the main remedy against evil forces was fumigation of premises, things and just a person who came from distant lands. And nowadays in many families it is customary to fumigate rooms with Adyraspan. Curiously enough, it really helps.
In the stems of garmala (so in scientific works is called adyrasan) contains alkaloids germin, germamine, peganin. Such a cocktail is destructive to most viruses and bacteria. Especially now we smoke in the apartment, rather, symbolically, a couple of minutes. Our ancestors used to spend at least an hour during the scourge, and burned adyraspan by kilograms. Not a single microbe could resist.
A bundle of adyraspan over the entrance door now serves more like an amulet, a protection from evil charms. About 150 years ago Adyrspan could not be bought at the bazaar, but it was often used. Therefore, when nomads found a glade with grass, they stocked it in bags and, of course, did not hide the bundles in any polyethylene. It is not surprising that germs could not penetrate into the yurt with a random guest.
Incense of goods at the market to make trade brisk has a practical basis, too. Bazaars, as places of mass gathering of people, served as the main centers of infection. Adyraspan helped Kazakhs to avoid the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918. In other countries, disinfection was not so important.
I want you to boil me a black bath
Describing the Scythians, Herodotus wrinkles his nose and says that they rarely wash and therefore stink. Indeed, compared to the Greeks, the Scythians washed much less often. One should take into account the climate and sedentarization. In Halicarnassus, Herodotus’ hometown, the temperature rarely dropped below plus 25, and when the heat was over 30, one could just rinse in the street. In the steppe climate, such luxury is available for a maximum of three or four months a year.
Greek baths made of marble and volcanic tuff were not only a place for washing, but also the main hangout of the city. People came here to learn the latest news, discuss important issues, make deals, and simply gossip. No wonder Greeks went there several times a day. There was hardly any other entertainment. They also bathed when they were tired of gossiping.
Nomadic baths are much harsher in this respect. It was necessary to kill a whole day for washing.
First they built a big fire and threw big stones into it. Then, when the stones were red-hot and the flames were only embers, they put long poles over the fire and covered them with skins and felt. Stones doused with water gave abundant steam.
There is one more piquant detail that Herodotus hastens to tell about. Scythians often threw tops of hemp on the coals, which made them drunk and became quite wild.
No matter how Herodotus tried to be objective, his writings always contain the main idea: only Greeks are developed civilization, other peoples are savages and barbarians. Say, instead of reveling in undiluted wine, as normal people do, the Scythians stoned themselves on some crap.
Scythian suits were practical and made you look good even after a long journey.
Don’t touch the louse!
It is curious that until the XX century lice and fleas in Europe were considered normal even among the nobility. The aristocracy ordered themselves gold and silver flea traps, which were worn as pendants, in the most prominent place, at one time to appear at court without a special comb from ivory was considered a mauveton. They say that only commoners scratch flea bites with their fingernails, and the aristocracy crushes nits fashionable accessory made of expensive material.
Washing was considered sinful because it was an indulgence of the sinful flesh. A righteous person must endure parasite bites and unbearable itching. Three hundred years ago, it was generally believed that lice and fleas were part of the human body, and if someone did not have these parasites, the attitude was more like an invalid.
Nomads were also overcome by fleas. When you spend a lot of time with animals, your clothes are made of fur and your dwelling is made of felt, it is hard not to get parasites.
But unlike “righteous” Europeans, nomads did not like fleas and lice, so they tried to get rid of them at the first opportunity.
Fumigation with acrid herbs helped, but not for long. As soon as they went to the herd, the parasites attacked again. That is why nomads invented to smear the body with a mixture of turkey fat and herbs. It is not difficult to guess that such a mixture smelled far from rose oil, which gave Herodotus’ admirers a reason to snicker.
Curd fat.
But the layer of fat prevented parasites from reaching the skin. It even kept mosquitoes, biting midges and ticks away. And now, in our enlightened age, we would not call a geologist, dipped in Taiga repellent, pleasant smelling. But between stench and encephalitis, the choice seems obvious. A thick layer of fat also saved from scabies. In this case, ash and sulfur were added to the fat.
Even if the scabies mite got under the skin, it did not stay there long. The fat did not let him breathe, and the parasite died. Official medicine treats scabies in the same way. Only the turkey fat is replaced by petroleum jelly.
So Herodotus should be ashamed for mocking “steppe barbarians”.