Ancient Egyptian Pregnancy Test: Women Used Grain Sacks Long Before Modern Kits
A viral Instagram post has revived an ancient Egyptian method from 1350 BC, where women urinated on barley and wheat sacks to test for pregnancy and predict the baby's gender
In today's age, confirming a pregnancy is as simple as using a small test kit, a few drops of urine, and waiting just a few minutes. However, long before modern technology, women had their own ingenious ways of detecting pregnancy, including a method involving grain sacks.
A recently viral post on Instagram has revived interest in a fascinating technique from ancient Egypt, dating back to around 1350 BC. Historians report that women of that era would urinate on sacks of barley and wheat to check for pregnancy.
These sacks were then observed over several days. If either of them sprouted, the woman was believed to be pregnant. The method went further: if the barley sack germinated, it was thought she was carrying a boy, while germination in the wheat sack indicated a girl. If neither sprouted, the result was considered negative.
Reliable Pregnancy Tests?
This technique was regarded as one of the most reliable pregnancy tests of its time. The recent Instagram post claimed that not only could it detect pregnancy, but it could also predict the baby's sex, something many modern tests legally avoid disclosing early on.
The viral post also mentioned that modern scientists have studied this method and found it surprisingly effective, at least for detecting pregnancy. This has amazed many people at the resourcefulness of ancient civilisations.
Modern-day researchers have tested this method. In 1963, a study found that hormonal changes in a pregnant woman's urine could indeed influence seed germination. However, the accuracy of gender prediction remains questionable. There's no firm scientific evidence supporting the idea that barley responds differently to male fetuses than wheat does to female ones.
It is still astonishing how a civilisation without today's medical tools could develop such a method, which continues to spark curiosity. References to this practice have been found in ancient Egyptian medical texts, particularly the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest known records of medicine. It contains detailed information on health, remedies, and even pregnancy diagnoses.
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