Scientists from Oxford University and University College London have translated Ancient Egyptian papyrus that was first discovered 100 years ago, and they now know the sad truth: Humans have been searching for a workable hangover cure for millennia.

The text was discovered in 1915 by researchers Arthur Hunt and Bernard Grenfell as part of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri dig, which included some 500,000 scraps of medical information and miscellaneous writing from Greek authors, such as Sophocles. The new translation reveals a “drunken headache cure” of wearing a necklace made of laurel leaves around one’s head, in addition to remedies for several other maladies.

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This papyrus in the ancient Greek language contains a treatment for headache from drinking too much. Photo courtesy of The Egyptian Exploration Society

The findings represent the single largest collection of published medical papyri, according to Vivian Nutton, a professor at University College London, writing in the volume. They offer advice for treating hemorrhoids, ulcers, and tooth problems, and some parts even advise on how to perform eye surgery, according to Live Science. The texts are estimated to be roughly 1,900 years old.

Try as humans might, hangover cures are still very much elusive. Hangovers are a combination of dehydration and minor withdrawal from alcohol, which, we too often forget, is a drug and therefore addictive. The research into hangover cures tends to suggest the best strategies are avoiding them altogether, either through matching drinks with glasses of water or drinking less overall. However, that doesn’t stop people from getting creative the morning after.