15 Interesting Facts about Ancient Egypt

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15 Interesting Facts about Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is one of the oldest and most fascinating civilizations in human history. It was a powerful kingdom that flourished in the Nile River Valley in northeastern Africa for over 3,000 years.

The ancient Egyptians used the natural resources of the Nile River to their advantage. They built an elaborate irrigation system to bring water to their farms, and built canals to transport goods. They also built impressive monuments and buildings, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx. Ancient Egypt was a highly civilized nation even at the time. Let’s have a look at the Top 15 Interesting Facts about Ancient Egypt.

1. People in ancient Egypt believed in the afterlife

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The afterlife was very important to Egyptians. They believed that by preserving a dead person’s body their soul would live on in the afterlife forever. Ancient Egyptians believed that they had to follow strict rules to have a good afterlife.

Therefore, great care was taken in the mummification process because the ancient Egyptians believed that the body needed to be preserved to be reborn and be ferried to the afterlife.

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2. Both men and women wore make up

Both Egyptian men and women wore make-up. The eye paint was usually green or black. As well as offering protection from the sun, the Egyptians believed make-up had magical healing powers.

They also used red paint and henna to color their lips, hands and fingernails. Both sexes wore perfumes made from various fragrances such as Susinum, the main ingredients of those perfumes are lily, myrrh and cinnamon or Syprinum, which was made of henna, cardamom, cinnamon, myrrh and southernwood.

3. Their alphabets had more than 700 hieroglyphics

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The Ancient Egyptians created hieroglyphs at the beginning of the 1st Dynasty 3000 BCE. It remained in use until late in the 4th century AD. There are more than 700 different hieroglyphs recorded. It is important to note that some hieroglyphics still not fully translated.

Hieroglyphs were often a variation of a picture, a sound representing a syllable, and a group of pictures used in sequence to tell a more complex story. Creating hieroglyphs was a difficult, time-consuming task used mainly by those in high office or priesthoods.

4. Cats were considered to be sacred animals

Cats were considered sacred animals by the Ancient Egyptians. Most families kept a cat as a pet which they believed would bring the household good luck. Cats were associated with the goddess Bastet.

In fact, severe penalties were served for mistreatment, killing, or eating cats. Unlike other animals they were often mummified and buried in tombs dedicated to the goddess Bastet. Cat figurines made from wood, stone and bronze can be found in museums and collections across the world.

5. Many inventions were done in ancient Egypt

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The Ancient Egyptians invented lots of things that we still use today. This include paper, pens, locks and keys. The first pregnancy tests were recorded in the Ancient era of Egypt.

Women used barley and wheat seeds to determine their pregnancy and also the gender of the baby. They would urinate on the seeds and if they sprouted, it would mean she is pregnant. If the seeds sprouted was barley, it would be a baby girl and if it sprouted wheat, it would be a baby boy.

6. The pyramids were tombs for pharaohs

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Pyramids are some of the most magnificent man-made structures in history. Their massive scale reflects the unique role that the pharaoh played in ancient Egyptian society. The pyramids were built as burial places and monuments to the Pharaohs.

As part of their religion, the Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh needed certain things to succeed in the afterlife. Deep inside the pyramid the Pharaoh would be buried with all sorts of items and treasure that he may need to survive in the afterlife.

7. They used moulded bread as medicine

Egyptians were great at coming up with things to heal the human body. They used mouldy bread to heal wounds quickly and to stop infection. These fungi produce certain chemicals which kill or inhibit the growth of the bacteria. Ancient Egyptians were familiar with these properties of the bread mould and used it to apply on infected cuts & wounds to heal them.

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8. Ancient Egypt had very many gods

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There were over 2,000 ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. A lot of them were shown to have a human body with an animals head. Some of the most famous ones were: Osiris – The King of the Living, Thoth: God of Knowledge and Wisdom and Ra: God of the Sun and Radiance.

9. Ancient Egyptians loved board games

After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. The most popular was a game of chance known as “Senet.” This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C.

The game was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks. Paintings depict Queen Nefertari playing Senet, and pharaohs like Tutankhamen even had game boards buried with them in their tombs.

10. Egyptian women had rights and freedoms

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Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts. Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men.

Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.

11. Egyptian workers took part in strikes

Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions. The most famous example came in the 12th century B.C. during the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses III.

During the time, laborers who engaged in building the royal necropolis did not receive their usual payment of grain, they organized one of the first recorded strikes in history. The protest took the form of a sit-in. The workers simply entered nearby mortuary temples and refused to leave until their grievances were heard. The gamble worked, and the laborers were eventually given their overdue rations.

12. Egyptian doctors were highly specialized

Evidence shows that Egyptian doctors sometimes focused on healing only one part of the human body. This early form of medical specialization was first noted in 450 B.C. by the traveler and historian Herodotus.

Discussing Egyptian medicine, he wrote, “Each physician is a healer of one disease and no more…some of the eye, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly.” Dentists were known as “doctors of the tooth.”

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13. Canopic jars were used to store internal organs

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Canopic jars were four types of vessels used to store and preserve the deceased’s internal organs, except for the heart, during the mummification process. These were later buried with them. Each jar contained different essential organs: lungs, stomach, liver and intestines. The heart was believed to be the home of one’s soul, so it remained in their chests.

14. Bread and beer was used as a currency

Ancient Egypt relied on agriculture. The Nile river provided the water for irrigation. Bread and beer were used to pay soldiers and the estimated 100,000 workers that built the pyramids.

It was the currency between businesses, and central to offerings made to the gods and dead ancestors. When the Nile flooded too much or too little crops would fail to flourish and there were little bread and beer. This meant the gods were unhappy and often caused turmoil in Egyptian society.

15. Ancient Egyptians made use of Sphinx

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A sphinx is a popular mythological creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. They were used by Ancient Egyptians as bodyguards for sacred sites. The most famous is the Great Sphinx of Giza.

It was built by pharaoh Khafre to protect the tomb inside his pyramid and that of his father Khufu. Another is the avenue of sphinxes which once ran for 3 kilometers. It  protected the road between the temples of Luxor and Karnak.

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