10 Amazing, Fun & Interesting Facts About Egypt
Egypt, officially known as Arab Republic of Egypt is a country located at north African. It is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea, Gaza Strip, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, Sudan and Libya. It is one the most populous countries in Africa and 15th most populous country in the world. Let us know some more interesting facts about Egypt
Interesting Facts About Egypt
#1: The Flag
- The Egyptian flag is similar to the flags of Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
- The black band represents oppression, the white symbolises a bright future and the red represents the bloody struggle against the oppressors.
- It is a criminal offense in Egypt to abuse the Egyptian flag.
#2: Ancient Fashion Sense
- Egypt in ancient times had fly swatters made from Giraffe tails. The pharaohs were a little cruel in the sense that, they smeared naked slaves with honey, so that the flies would be attracted away from them.
- Wigs were very fashionable and were also status symbols. To avoid lice and stay cool, the Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs. The rich wore wigs made out of human hair, while the not so rich wore synthetic ones made from wool or vegetable fiber.
#3: Mummy Cure & Supernatural Pyramids
- Americans and Europeans believed that powdered mummies could cure many diseases. They believed that these mummies had healing powers.
- The pyramids are believed to have supernatural powers. This is called Pyramidology or Pyramid power. There is an idea patented that pyramids could sharpen blunt razor blades by a Czech radio engineer Karel Drbal. It is one the most interesting facts about Egypt
#4: Crime & Punishment
- An Egyptian named Mery was sentenced to 100 blow for evading tax payments.
- A teenaged male has been sentenced to death in 1500 BC. He was to kill himself either by stabbing himself or by poisoning himself. His was the oldest recorded death sentence ever. He had practised magic
#5: The 2011 Revolution
- Facebook, the world famous social networking site had played an important role in the recent revolution that occurred in 2011. As a commemoration, a girl was named Facebook Jamal Ibrahim.
- It is a heart wrenching fact that many Egyptian women were asked to take up virginity tests and were threatened with prostitution charges.
- The Egyptians felt the need for a calendar as they had to predict when the Nile would flood. They used not one but three types of calendars.
- The astronomical calendar is based on the observations of the star ‘Sirius’. This star appeared every time after the flood from Nile ended.
- The priest had a lunar calendar which helped them keep track of all the rituals that they had to perform for Khonsu, their moon God.
- The 365 days calendar was the one that divided the year into 12 months and grouped the months into 4 seasons.
#7: Bread & Beer
- Ancient Egyptians considered bread to be the most important food.
- The favourite drink was beer. The Egyptians liked Beer so much that they left models of brewers in the tombs so that the dead person would not have any difficulty looking for beer in their after – life.
#8: The Nile
- The Nile is the only river that flows from south to north instead of vice versa. This still remains a mystery to the Egyptians.
- The Nile is said to flood from the tears of the Goddess Isis. This is celebrated with the festival, ‘The night of tear drop’.
The priests who performed mummifying wore Jackal headed mask like that of their God Anubis. It was to show the similarity with jackals which ate the bodies that they dug up from the cremation grounds.
The ripper was the embalmer who made the first cut. It was considered an offense to cut the body and the other priests would chase this priest off with curses.
#10: Made of Clay
Another interesting fact about Egypt is that the Egyptians believed that they were made from clay from a potter’s wheel by Khnum, their river God.