Egypt has a lot of mystery.
When you hear about Ancient Egypt, what first comes to your mind? Maybe the pyramids? Or the pharaohs? But Ancient Egypt was much more than that. It was one of the most successful, progressive and enduring civilizations in history. In today’s article – the facts and myths about Ancient Egypt that you might not know.
The ancient Egyptians were very tolerant of genetic diseases and abnormalities. Dwarfism, for example, was very common at the time. However, the dwarves were highly respected people. Amenemopet, a Pharaoh of the 21st dynasty, wrote about the fact that taking care of old, sick and ugly is a moral duty of every Egyptian.
The pharaohs wore fake metallic beards to appearance to remind you of the God Osiris, whose duty it was to judge the deceased in the afterlife.
There is plenty of evidence that ancient Egyptians are very well versed in mathematics and astronomy. It was found, for example, that the location of the Giza pyramids line up exactly with Orion’s belt.
There is also a lot of strange facts about Ancient Egypt. For example, some pharaohs made his servants smeared in honey that clung to them and the flies didn’t bother the pharaohs.
The ancient Egyptians spent their free time interesting Board games, such as, for example, “Mehen” and “Mancala”. However, the most popular game was considered a “Senet” is one of the oldest Board games in the world, the origin of which relates to the year 3100 BC.
Hygiene and appearance were very important to ancient Egyptians. Men shaved their entire body and loved to use floral fragrances. It is not surprising that the pharaohs enjoyed the most fragrant and expensive perfume.
The river Nile was of great importance for Egyptians since it was the main source of water. They believed that the river originates from the primordial ocean of nun, through the land of the dead, heaven and finally gets to Egypt.
Cleopatra’s needle, an ancient obelisk, which was moved to new York from Alexandria in 1881. In that short time he suffered in America more than 3000 years in Egypt. Pollution and acid rain to blame.
Women of the Ancient Egypt was on a par with men in almost all areas, with the exception of professions. Women could marry and divorce at will, could engage in any business (with certain limitations), to dispose of his property, to travel freely and much more.
The famous Egyptian hieroglyphs, may look very cool but they took too much time for writing. Therefore, they were used only for the most important texts (for example, for decorative inscriptions on the tombs). Simple texts were written in hieratic letter is a simplified form of hieroglyphics.
One of the most famous manmade structures in the world – the Great pyramid of Giza was built in approximately two and a half million limestone blocks, each weighing on average 2.6 tons. The total mass of the pyramid, therefore, is more than 6.3 million tons.
Ramsesii Great– the most famous and prolific Pharaoh, who ruled Egypt for sixty years and had believed to be hundreds of children. He died when he was over ninety. Hardly anyone lived to that age at that time.
The word “Pharaoh” means “big house”. Originally it meant the Palace of the Pharaoh and his greatness, and not just the king.
One of the most common myths about Ancient Egypt is that when the Pharaoh died, his family, servants and advisers were buried alive with him. This kind of sacrifice happened a few times in the story, but it definitely was not a common practice.
In Ancient Egypt both men and women wore makeup, but probably not for beauty, and as protection from sun and sandy winds.
When the human body was mummified, the internal organs were hit, except the heart. The Egyptians believed that the heart was the source of wisdom, as well as emotions, memory, soul, and personality.
The ancient Egyptians were the first who began to use a 365-day calendar, which was almost equal to the solar year. All because they needed to know the time of the flooding of the Nile. The earliest version of the calendar dates back to around 3000 BC.
The Egyptian pyramids are not only the oldest of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, but they are also the only one who has survived to the present day. Arab proverb perfectly reflects the vitality of the pyramid: “Man fears time but time fears the pyramids.”
Cats were the sacred animals of the ancient Egyptians. When they died, the whole family mourned and sign shaved eyebrow. Often the dead cats were mummified and buried in special cat cemetery.
At the time, as wives of the pharaohs were endowed with great power and deeply revered, only a few women were the rightful rulers of Egypt. Among them Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, Nitokris, Sobekneferu and, perhaps, the most famous is Cleopatra.
Speaking about Cleopatra, this outstanding ancient Egyptian Queen was described as “a woman of extraordinary beauty”. However, recent studies based on her ancient busts and the images on the coins revealed that in fact her appearance was rather average. Maybe she was with the hump on the nose and even a little masculine.
The ancient Egyptian texts as well as modern study of mummies gave reason to believe that a horrible parasite known as Guinea-worm disease, was very common in Ancient Egypt. Once the parasite has reached maturity, he went out through the skin of his master. It could reach a length of one meter. Process vylezanija worm out was very painful for the infected person.
Most people believe that the tomb Tutanhamon was intact when she was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Although the tomb was filled with beautiful treasures, she was not fully intact: it had been robbed in antiquity.
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