The ancient Egyptians have always been known to be ahead of their time, and one of the most advanced of the early modern civilisations. Scientists have now revealed that they think that the Egyptians used a type of hair gel because, well, appearance was also important back then.

The scientists think that the ancient Egyptians were just as vain as modern humans, and that they seem to have styled their hair with fat-based products to enhance their appearance and stress their individuality.

Researchers have examined hair from 18 mummies who lived around 300 BC, and published their findings in the latest Journal of Archaeological Science.

According to an extract from the journal:

Personal appearance was important to the ancient Egyptians so much so that in cases where the hair was styled, the embalming process was adapted to preserve the hairstyle.

Nicely. Of course, just like humans today, the mummies had all sorts of hairstyles depending on age, sex and presumed social status.

This further ensured that the deceased’s individuality was retained in death, as it had been in life, and emphasizes the importance of the hair in ancient Egyptian society.

The hair samples from the Dakhleh Oasis were not coated with resin/bitumen-based embalming materials, but were coated with a fat-based substance.

Other evidence has previously been found that linking ancient Egyptians to curling tongs, or eyelash enhancers.

[Source: LiveScience]