New Cairo Travel interduces 50 interesting facts about Egypt, Explore the land of pharaohs and pyramids with these 50 interesting facts about Egypt. Discover its rich history, culture, and traditions. Read more now.

1 The unification of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms by King Menes (also known as Narmer) in 3200 B.C. is usually regarded as marking the beginning of Egyptian history. Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines took the place of the last indigenous monarchy, which was overthrown by the Persians in 341 B.C. In the seventh century, Arabs brought Islam and the Arabic language to Egypt. 

2 King Khufu (2589–2566 B.C.) was buried in the famed Great Pyramid at Giza, which was constructed over the course of more than 20 years. More than two million limestone blocks, each weighing as much as two and a half elephants, were used to construct it. It is taller than the Statue of Liberty at 460 feet (149 meters), or approximately. The Great Pyramid’s base is around the size of five football fields.

3 According to ancient Egyptians, mummification guaranteed the deceased a secure path to the afterlife. The body was first embalmed, followed by wrapping and burial as steps of the mummification process. Organs were kept in canopic jars, each of which represented a different god. 

4 Animals and humans alike were both mummified by the ancient Egyptians. A mummified crocodile about 15 feet (4.5 metres) long was found by archaeologists. The crocodile is referred to be the “devourer of human hearts” in the ancient Book of the Dead. 

5 Ramses II, the “great house” king of the Egyptian empire, reigned from 1279 to 1212 B.C. He was the only pharaoh to have “the Great” following his name and governed Egypt for 60 years. Over 90 children—roughly 56 males and 44 girls—were born to him. He had about 100 concubines in addition to his eight legal spouses. Additionally, he had red hair, which was related to the god Seth. 

6 Compared to most other women in the ancient world, ancient Egyptian women had more rights and benefits. They might, for instance, own real estate, conduct business, or file for divorce. Priestesses or doctors could be women from privileged families.

7 Ancient Egyptians valued bread above all other foods, and beer was their preferred beverage. To ensure that the deceased had sufficient of beer in the hereafter, replicas of brewers were even placed in tombs.

8 Three calendars were used by the ancient Egyptians: a lunar calendar, an astronomical calendar, and a calendar used for daily farming. Three seasons of four months made up the 365-day farming calendar. The star Sirius, which reemerged each year at the commencement of the flood season, served as the basis for the astrological calendar. Finally, priests maintained a lunar calendar that provided them with guidance on when to conduct rituals for the moon god Khonsu.

9 Around 3,000 B.C., hieroglyphs began to emerge and may have originated as early wall paintings. Egyptian hieroglyphs come in more than 700 different variations, compared to the 26 letters of English. 

10 Imhotep, a renowned Egyptian builder, constructed Egypt’s first pyramid, a step pyramid, for the pharaoh Djoser in 2600 B.C.

11 More than a thousand deities were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. The sun deity Ra was the most significant of all the gods. 

12 Egypt has had a lengthy history and has been called many things. For instance, Kemet, or Black Land, was the name given to Egypt under the Old Kingdom (2650–2134 B.C. ), which was a reference to the dark, fertile soil of the Nile Valley. It was also known as Deshret, or Red Land, which was a reference to the large deserts of Egypt. It then acquired the name Hwt-ka-Ptah, which means “House of the Ka of Ptah.” One of ancient Egypt’s gods was Ptah. Hwt-ka-ptah was altered to Aegyptus by the Greeks.

13 Tourism comprises 12% of the work force in Egypt.

14 At one time, the Sahara Desert was a verdant grassland and savannah. In 8000 B.C., overgrazing and/or climatic change started to transform the region from pastoral land to desert. With almost 3,630,000 square miles, or roughly the size of the United States, it is now the largest hot desert on earth. The world’s largest desert (of any kind) is thought to be found in Antarctica.

15 Eye makeup known as kohl, which was manufactured in Egypt from ground-up raw materials combined with oil, was worn by both men and women. They thought it had mystical healing abilities that could improve vision and treat eye ailments.

16 The Upper and Lower Kingdoms were united by King Menes in 3150 B.C., and he is regarded as the first pharaoh of Egypt. He gave the nation’s capital the name Memphis, which translates to “Balance of Two Lands.” According to legend, he ruled for 60 years before being murdered by a hippopotamus.

17 Egypt has the 66th-highest fertility rate in the world with 2.97 children born to every woman. In first place with 7.60 children per woman is Niger. With 2.06 children per woman, the United States is in 124th place.

18 Egyptians typically live 72.66 years, which places them 124th in the world for life expectancy. Males typically live to be about 70.07 years old, while females typically live to be about 75.38 years old. Monaco has the longest life expectancy in the world, at 89.73 years. The United States ranks 50th with a 78.37-year life expectancy.

19 Egypt is the 30th-largest nation in the world in terms of land mass. Egypt’s area is 386,560 square miles (1,001,450 square kilometres), roughly three times greater than New Mexico.

20 The first people to use a calendar with 365 days divided into 12 months was the ancient Egyptians. They created clocks as well.

21 Both men and women in ancient Egypt shaved their heads and frequently wore wigs to stay cool and keep lice at bay. In reality, wigs rose to prominence as one of the most significant fashion accessories in ancient Egypt because they served as a social status indicator. Human hair wigs were worn by the wealthy, while wool or vegetable fibres were preferred by the less wealthy.

22 Imhotep (“the one who comes in peace”), an Egyptian polymath, is credited with being the first engineer, architect, and medic.

23 The longest river in the world, the Nile runs 4,135 miles (6,670 km) through Egypt. The Nile’s depth was measured by ancient Egyptians using a “nilometer.” The Semitic word nahal, which means “river,” is the source of the English term “Nile.” The river was known as iteru, which is Egyptian for “great river.”

24 Aswan High Dam, one of the biggest dams in the world, was constructed in Egypt in 1971 in an effort to reduce the annual flooding of the Nile. Unfortunately, after the construction of the dam, the rich silt that usually fertilised the barren Egyptian land collected in Lake Nasser, forcing farmers to employ a million tonnes of synthetic fertiliser annually.

25 The ancient Egyptians thought the goddess Isis’ tears caused the Nile to overflow every year. They held an event known as “Night of the Tear Drop” to commemorate the disaster.

26 When turning a body into a mummy, a priest frequently wore the jackal-headed mask of the god Anubis. Because jackals would unearth remains from Egyptian cemeteries and consume them, ancient Egyptians connected Anubis (the deity of death) with jackals.

27 The ancient Egyptians thought the goddess Isis’ tears caused the Nile to overflow every year. They held an eve

nt known as “Night of the Tear Drop” to commemorate the disaster.

28 When creating a mummy out of a corpse, a priest would frequently don the jackal-headed mask of the god Anubis. Due of jackals’ propensity to unearth and consume human remains from Egyptian cemeteries, ancient Egyptians connected Anubis (the deity of death) with jackals.

29 The goddess Isis was said to have caused the Nile to flood every year in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians. The “Night of the Tear Drop” festival was held to commemorate the disaster.

30 The majority of Christians in Egypt and the Middle East are Copts. The name “Copt” originally referred to all Egyptians because Christianity was the dominant religion in Egypt throughout the fourth and sixth century.

31 When turning a body into a mummy, a priest frequently wore the jackal-headed mask of the god Anubis. Because jackals would unearth remains from Egyptian cemeteries and consume them, ancient Egyptians connected Anubis (the deity of death) with jackals.

32 The first calendar was created by the ancient Egyptians in order to forecast when the Nile would flood.

33 In the same way that people today support their favorite football clubs, in ancient Egypt, every major city had a Favorite god.

34 They were created from clay on a potter’s wheel, according to ancient Egyptian belief, by the river god Khnum. 

35 Not only are the Egyptian pyramids the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but they are also the only ones that are still standing. “Man fears Time, yet Time fears the pyramids,” says an Arab saying, aptly describing the pyramids’ tenacity. The other six marvels include the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

36 The ancient Egyptian scribe Ahmes penned the earliest known treatise on mathematics around 1650 B.C. It can be found on the Rhine Mathematical Papyrus and is titled “The Entrance into the Knowledge of All Existing Things and All Obscure Secrets.”

37 Only rituals and formal inscriptions were written in hieroglyphs. The Egyptians employed a “hieratic” script for daily writing. A derivation of the “demotic” script, which was in use about 700 B.C., is still used by Coptic Christians today.

38 Children, including girls, were revered in ancient Egypt. The Greeks, who occasionally abandoned unwanted infants (most frequently girls) to perish in the open air, were horrified to learn that the Egyptians did not.

39 The instructions for the earliest known pregnancy test can be found in the Berlin Papyrus (c. 1800 B.C.). Urine was used to wet cereals for the test. If the barley sprouted, it indicated that the woman was expecting a boy, whereas if the wheat grew, it indicated that she was expecting a girl. If neither developed, the lady would not become pregnant.

40 Ramses II’s nostrils were filled with peppercorns by embalmers to prevent his nose’s hook form from collapsing.
41 Contrary to popular perception, Cleopatra was not Egyptian or African, but rather Greek. Many falsely claimed that Cleopatra should have been an African American when Angelina Jolie was cast in the 2011 film. Others said that a Greek-American actress, like Jennifer Aniston, should have played the part.

42 It is believed that the enormous sphinx defending the three pyramids at Giza is a representation of the pharaoh Khafre (Chephren), the son of Khufu. Sphinxes are typically thought to have been created to protect tombs.

43 All of the known Egyptian rulers’ tombs were ransacked by thieves, with the exception of Tutankhamen’s (reigned 1334–1324 B.C.). It was filled with rare materials and exquisite craftsmanship when it was found in 1922.

44 On January 25, 2011, the Egyptian Revolution got under way. The main issues brought up by Egyptian protesters included the absence of free speech and elections, police violence, government corruption, high unemployment, inflation, and the ongoing use of emergency law. Over 6,000 individuals were injured as well as an estimated 800 fatalities. Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, resigned on February 11. Other revolutions were spurred by the Egyptian uprising, including those in Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Libya, and Bahrain.

45 Because they discovered Egyptian symbols etched into the walls of temples and other holy sites, the Greeks gave them the name hieroglyphs (hieros + glyphe = “sacred” + “carving”).

46 Hieroglyphs were given the name MDW NTR by the ancient Egyptians, which is Arabic for “speech of the god.”

47 The beqa, an ancient Egyptian measure that is equivalent to 6.66 to 7.45 ounces, is the oldest known unit of weight. It is still in use today.

48 Mery, the first individual in Egypt to get a name-based sentencing for tax evasion, received a 100-blow punishment.

49 Egypt has more Facebook users than any other country in the Middle East with five million. Egypt had 20.136 million Internet users as of 2009, placing it 21st in the world.

50 The world’s largest Arabic population resides in Egypt.  the land of pharaohs and pyramids with these 50 interesting facts about Egypt. Discover its rich history, culture, and traditions. Read more now.

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