If passports had a mouth and could talk, they would have a lot of interesting stories to tell. However, the passport is a relatively modern "invention" as it was only in the early days of the 20th century that passports as we know them today began to be used.
In antiquity and Middle Ages for example, our common ancestors didn't need any official documents to travel, and they would usually visit another country massively in order to invade, loot, rape, kill and conquer, among other "nice" little things. If you don't believe me, just watch an episode of Vikings to get a better idea of what I am talking about.
The Menu of the Day
As you understand by now, your favorite historical figures (the ones that lived before the 20th century) weren't as privileged as we are today and didn't own a passport....Mr. Bean - Socrates = 1-0
Or to be more precise, almost all your favorite historical figures. See, King Ramesses II of Egypt, also known as Ramesses the Great, is the only ancient historical figure that owns a passport; a passport that was issued 3,197 years after his death.
For those who don't know who "Ramy" was, keep in mind that he's considered the most powerful, decorated and dominant pharaoh in Egypt's history, staying in power for not one, not two, but 66 whole years — more than any other pharaoh.
Why Did He Need a Passport Anyway?
Most of you probably wonder now why he needed a passport, right? Especially 3,197 years after his death! Doesn't make sense, does it? Well, it does really! See, after his death Ramesses II was mummified according to ancient Egyptian tradition.
Throughout the centuries, however, the mummy of the great king started to deteriorate really bad and in 1974, the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt started to worry that the legendary king may end up looking like this...
So, in order to avoid having Thundercats going after Egypt's legendary hero, they decided to take him to France for repair and preservation. According to French Law though, any citizen who enters the country, DEAD OR ALIVE, must own a passport.
The Aftermath
Having no other choice, Egyptian authorities decided to issue a valid passport for Ramesses II 3,197 years after his death, in order for his mummy to have access to the highly advanced French laboratories for treatment. Interestingly, the occupation section of the passport stated “King (Deceased).”
Soon after the plane landed in Paris, the king's dead body was honored by a military parade and received full military honors, as if he was an alive king visiting France. Therefore, Ramesses the Great became the first ancient person in history to hold a modern official passport!
References:
In 1974, the legendary pharaoh Ramesses II was issued a valid Egyptian passport
lol
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Huh! Well my grandma got a christening certificate BEFORE she was even born :P
Greeks are still ahead of their time, ahahahaha!
seriously, she was born in 1943 and the certificate says 1942
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Hahahaha, I was born in 1981 and my ID wrote 1979 until 2016. It's a veryyyyyyy long story, really. But I beat your grandma by one year :P
PS. How can I find you on FB? I want to ask you out, but I don't want Trumpman to see LOL. Seriously, I want to ask you something about steemstem.
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Aah! You do beat her :P
Are you on discord or steemit chat? Otherwise you can find me on the greek-trail's fb group ;)
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Κοιταξα στο fb group και δεν βρηκα πουθενα Ρουθ. Κατσε θα ρωτησω τον Αγγελο να μου πει :)
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Σε βρηκα εγω! Στειλε μου μηνυμα οταν το δεις ;)
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Has any of your research indicated to you what caused governments to start requiring passports in the first place?
I haven't done any research, but my hypothesis to be tested would be that the introduction of passport requirements was entwined with the loss of a (phsyical) gold standard and introduction of social welfare programs. In the good old days you could travel where and when you liked if you carried gold with you, because gold was "money" everywhere.
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I am not trying to flatter you at all here, but it's amazing how your thinking was so MUCH on point in this case. Actually, you pretty much guessed it right. The "progenitor" of what we define today as a passport was introduced by King Henry V of England, in order to aid his subjects prove who they were in foreign lands. In other words, when Henry V was sending his diplomats to other filthy rich European kings where gold wouldn't impress anyone at all, he decided to invent an official document with his unique stamp (that couldn't be duplicated) to prove that those were truly his diplomats. Keep in mind, however, that when he sent his "people" to other missions outside England where they would come in contact with not so rich or noble citizens, "passport" wasn't needed; just gold! Btw, according to History.com the earliest reference to these primitive passports can be found in a 1414 Act of Parliament.
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Well you know what I think?
Your articles are always a source of knowledge for really important or just cool subjects!
Well done 😀!!!!
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Thanks sis ;)
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Nice post haha! Also it mentions the Thundercats so double cool!
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