The oldest method for pregnancy detection dated back 3500 years ago. Woman peed on barley and wheat seeds. If the seeds grew, she was pregnant. If the barley seed grew first it was a boy, otherwise a girl. If nothing grew she wasn’t pregnant. The method turns out it’s accurate 70% of the time!

Egyptian Papyrus Reveals This Old Wives’ Tale Is Very Old Indeed

Throughout history, cultures around the world have come up with lots of folk prognostications for predicting the sex assigned at birth. If the mother craves sweets, it’s a girl; if she eats a lot of garlic, it’s also a girl. Have a healthy glow? It’s a boy. Pupils constantly dilated? Boy. Develop acne? Definitely a girl. As it turns out, this type of fortune-telling has been around for even longer than researchers thought; Bonnie Burton at CNET reports that a newly deciphered 3,500-year-old Egyptian papyrus details a relatively elaborate way to find out a baby’s sex.

The trick comes from the Papyrus Carlsberg Collection held at the University of Copenhagen. Though the trove of ancient documents were purchased and collected in the 1930s,… Continue Reading (4 minute read)