Gift-giving: The Ancient Egyptian practice that spread to the world and became a love language in its own right
by Shahinda Abdalla
Though gift-giving has existed among our prehistoric ancestors, the ancient Egyptians were one of first civilizations to give gifts as a cultural and religious practice in its own right. A unique feature of the ancient Egyptian gift-giving practice in particular is that they were known to give gifts to the gods in order to secure a favorable outcome in the life or in the death of the donor. Much of what archeologists discover buried alongside pharaohs in tombs can in fact be considered gifts to the gods. The ancient Egyptians believed that whatever they were buried with would travel with them to the afterlife. And therefore to ensure their safe passage to the afterlife, they took gifts with them as offerings to the gods, who were believed to be alive but just existing on another plane. From jewels to food, tomb wall paintings and bronze statues, the ancient Egyptians did not skimp when it came to the gifts they gave. Though most of the gifts were direct offerings to the divine, mediators of the divine were also recipients of the public’s generosity. When pharaohs were crowned kings and their status elevated to an earthly representative of the divine, they were showered with gifts on the day of their coronation and this day became known as their “birth”day, and every year on this day, they would continue to receive gifts from the public as a means for them to gain advantage with the gods. Some say that this might be how our annual gift-giving on birthdays started. Others cite the ancient Greeks for more clearly cementing the notion of the birthday gift in our lives. The ancient Greeks believed that evil spirits haunted a person on their birthday and so to ward off these evil spirits, it was customary to give gifts and offer good wishes to the person whose birthday it was in order to protect them and even benefit them with some good luck.
Though the intentions for gift-giving might vary slightly today and extend beyond protection, an essential component of gift-giving across all these millennia has been that it’s an expression of good will, whether to a god or another person. It is an act that is imbued with a great deal of symbolic good faith between the givers and receivers of gifts. Even animals seem to give gifts to one another to show they care. Spiders give silk-wrapped packages to their partners, while gentoo penguins search for the perfect pebble to give to their partners, not dissimilar at all to how human partners gift each other diamond rings to symbolize their love.
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According to the American Psychological Association, gift-giving activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust. Over the last decade there have been many studies showing that spending money on someone other than yourself promotes happiness. It seems that part of the uniqueness of the reward- activation from gift-giving (compared to receiving a reward for instance) is its social component which activates pathways in the brain that release oxytocin (a neuropeptide that signals trust, safety, connection), also known as the ‘cuddle hormone’. So the ancient Egyptians were definitely onto something with this practice of gift-giving, whether because a god showered you with blessings in return, or you were experiencing the warm glow of oxytocin, either way it seems that giving gifts is good for the soul. And gifts can be as simple and as precious as a jar of sacred water. A jar of sacred water was one of the most popular annual gifts that our ancient Egyptian ancestors gifted each other. They would fill vases or small pots and flasks with holy water from the Nile and gift them to each other as a sort of divine blessing and wish of prosperity on the New Year. So the next time you gift someone, don’t worry about how much you spend, just remember it’s all about your intention. Even a jar of water imbued with your positive regard is more than enough!