Ancient Egypt is known for its great pharaohs and even greater pyramids, but now researchers are beginning to say it should also be known for its venomous snakes. One of the oldest human documents ever discovered dates back more than 2,500 years, and experts believe it's actually a copy of a much older record and it’s all about venomous snake bites.
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00:00 Ancient Egypt is known for its great pharaohs and even greater pyramids.
00:08 But now researchers are beginning to say it should also be known for its venomous snakes.
00:13 One of the oldest human documents ever discovered dates back more than 2,500 years, and experts
00:18 believe it's actually a copy of a much older record.
00:21 So what does it say?
00:22 Well, it's now called the snakebite papyrus, and it lists not only the different types
00:26 of snakes from the period and the area, but also outlines what happens when one is bitten
00:30 and how to treat it.
00:31 It even outlines a rare type of snake, one with four fangs.
00:35 Experts say no such snake lives in or near Egypt today, with the one that fits the description
00:39 most closely calling sub-Saharan Africa savannas its home.
00:43 So where did all the Egyptian snakes go?
00:45 Well, experts say that changing climate no doubt drove them elsewhere.
00:48 Egypt used to be much more humid than it is today, meaning many more snake varieties likely
00:52 could have inhabited the area.
00:54 But the researchers finding that of the 10 snakes they chose from the snakebite papyrus,
00:58 including the venomous black mamba and the puff adder, nine of those would have been
01:01 able to live in ancient Egypt's more humid climate.
01:04 With experts saying that despite Egypt having begun its desertification some 4,200 years
01:09 ago, larger populations and agricultural irrigation may have kept the area more hospitable to
01:14 venomous snakes for longer.
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