Things in History That Everyone Pictured Incorrectly
By May 27, 2016
We've already accepted these historical facts as, well, facts. But you'll probably be surprised to find that...
The pyramids of Giza were originally white and shiny.
The Perception
What we see now are the broken-down remnants of a sparkling and shiny engineering marvel. Fact is, the pyramids have withstood centuries of sun, sandstorms, wind and earthquakes. Artists in different times across history probably saw the pyramids in different degrees of wear and tear, thus their illustration reflected that.
The Reality
Pyramids have a structural base of yellow limestone bricks with an outer later of Tura limestone. The Tura limestones where polished until they shine like bright jewels that could be noticed from miles away!
Jesus looked nothing like the paintings
The Perception
The “fair” version of Jesus started popping up during the Renaissance era, during the time of Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and their ilks.
The Renaissance artists painted Jesus like a handsome Greek or Italian man, and the followers of Christianity in Europe were quick to accept him looking like that or, shall we say, looking like them.
The Reality
Yeshua of Nazareth or Jesus Christ was a Middle Eastern man, described in the Bible and scriptures as a "common" man. The image below is an artist rendering based on what the “common” man of the time and place Jesus lived looked like.
Velociraptors had feathers
The Perception
It wasn’t until the bones of some raptors were discovered in 1998 that the evidence of quills in raptors were established. That was nearly half a decade after Spielberg filled our childhood memories with featherless raptors.
The Reality
They had feathers, but not too much. Well, they couldn’t really fly. The feathers serves more like a furry coating probably used to scare off other predators or used in a mating ritual.
Greek statues were brightly painted
The Perception
As time passes, these coloured layers chipped away, exposing the white pale marbles that we see now. Later civilizations started to appreciate the beauty in minimalism an austerity of white as this matches their idea idea of strength and purity.
The Reality
Archaelogists found enough evidence in ancient scriptures to believe that colour were used in art during the ancient Greek era. Modern-laser technique also shows that the ornate marble structures were actually just the base… the statues are painted with bright primary colours after.
Ninjas are dressed as normal people
The Perception
Ninjas are clad in all-black uniforms.
The Reality
The art of being an assassin is in deception. So it is practical that ninjas do not dress in outrageous outfits that would make them stand out. Ninja assassins were specially trained to trail and kill so they needed to dress like the common folks — merchants, monks, farmers and shopkeepers.
The all-black outfit of ninjas was born out of theatres during the Edo era.
