The Egyptian Mommy’s Pregnancy Test

Humans today aren’t so different from humans thousands of years ago. For instance, both women today and Ancient Egyptian women from 1400 BC cared very much to know if they were pregnant. Modern expectant mothers need only purchase a pregnancy test from their nearest pharmacy. These small devices detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in a woman’s urine. This hormone is released in abundance after a fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus. Ancient Egyptian women didn’t have access to such conveniences, but they had their methods . . . and yes, such methods also used pee.

Nearly 3,500 years ago, women who suspected they might be pregnant were advised to urinate on wheat and barley seeds. Then, they waited to see which seeds sprouted first. If the wheat grew, the woman was pregnant with a boy. If the barley grew, the women was pregnant with a girl. If neither grew, the woman was not pregnant. Simple, right? Unlike a modern pregnancy test, this test was far from instantaneous, and required daily trips to the garden for fresh applications.

Descriptions of this ancient pregnancy test spread to Greece, then Rome and eventually the Middle East, where they endured into the Middle Ages. But here’s the crazy part, because while the test sounds like superstitious quackery it endured because it’s about 70% accurate!

Modern science put the Egyptian method to the test and found that urine from non-pregnant women and males could indeed inhibit the germination of wheat and barley seeds, while urine from pregnant women stimulated germination ~70% of the time. However, seed germination was not an accurate predictor of the child’s sex.

So, if you suspect you’re expecting . . . go buy a modern pregnancy test. They’re faster and more accurate. But . . . if you happen to have some wheat or barley seeds on hand and are a little curious, why not give it a try.

Brian Rutter, PhD, is the cofounder of Thing in a Pot Productions and a postdoctoral researcher in plant biology at Indiana University. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our “Things About Things – Odd Facts About Plants” and video production tips in your inbox every month!

Works Cited:
Ghalioungui, Paul, S. H. Khalil, and A. R. Ammar. "On an ancient Egyptian method of diagnosing pregnancy and determining foetal sex." Medical history 7.3 (1963): 241-246.

Hoffmann, Walther. "Versuche zur Schwangerschaftsdiagnose aus dem Harn." DMW-Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 60.22 (1934): 822-824.