44 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT EGYPT!

Egypt, a country linking northeast Africa with the Middle East, dates to the time of the pharaohs. Millennia-old monuments still sit along the fertile Nile River Valley, including the colossal Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza and the hieroglyph-lined Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings tombs in Luxor. The capital, Cairo, is home to Ottoman landmarks such as Muhammad Ali Mosque. 

In spite of political, financial and social turmoil, Egyptians remain proud and defiant and are as welcoming as ever to visitors to their land. Here is a list of 44 facts you probably didn't know about Egypt:

1. Christianity was the main religion in Egypt between the Fourth and Sixth Centuries.

 

2. Ancient Egyptians worshiped over 1,400 different gods and goddesses.

3. Toilets were found in many ancient Egyptian tombs. 

4. The World's Oldest Dress was found in Egypt and it is 5,000 years old. 

5. Egyptian Pyramid workers were paid with beer:1 gallon (4L) per day. 

6. Written language was invented independently by the Egyptians, Sumerians, Chinese, and Mayans.

7. Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. 

8. The Steppe eagle is the national animal of Egypt.

9. The Statue of Liberty was intended for Egypt. 

10. The pyramids were built by paid laborers. Not slaves. That's a myth by Herodotus, the Greek historian. 

11. The lost Egyptian city of Heracleion was found after 1200 years under the sea. 

12. Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stones. 

13. The world's largest pyramid is not in Egypt but in Mexico. 

14. The first sailing boats were invented in Egypt.

15. The tradition of exchanging wedding rings goes back to ancient Egyptian times.

16. Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats.

17. Gypsy is short for "Egyptian."

18. Egypt is the most populated country in Middle East and has the world's largest Arab population.

19. Ancient Egypt King Tutankhamun died at the age of 18. 

20. In the Land of the Pharaohs of Egypt,beer was the national currency. 

21. No Egyptian president has left office without being arrested or dying, so far until 2015.

22. In Ancient Egypt, killing a cat, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty. 

23. In Ancient Egypt, men could take time off of work to care for menstruating wives and daughters.

24. Cleopatra was the first, in the dynasty of Greek rulers of Egypt, who could speak Egyptian.

25. During a visit to Egypt in 2012, Hillary Clinton was pelted with tomatoes and shoes, while the protesters chanted "Monica, Monica". 

26. The Egyptian Kahun Papyrus (1850 B.C.) suggests crocodile feces either for preventing conception or as an abortifacient.

27. Inscribed pottery from the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt list 3 human genders. The reason is uncertain.

28. Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, was actually Greek, not Egyptian. 

 

29. Scatomancy is the act of telling the future through someone's poop. It was popular in ancient Egypt. 

30. Many ancient Egyptian Pharaohs were overweight and unhealthy, in contrast to their typical depiction, due to a sugary diet of alcohol, bread and honey. 

31. The Great Pyramid of Giza has 8 sides, not 4. 

32. 91% of Egypt's women aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to genital mutilation, according to the World Health Organization.  

33. A Pharaoh never let his hair be seen – he would always wear a crown or a headdress called a nemes.

34. In order to deter flies from landing on him, Pepi II of Egypt always kept several naked slaves nearby whose bodies were smeared with honey. 

35. Both Egyptian men and women wore makeup – eyepaint was usually green (made from copper) or black (made from lead). The Egyptians believed that the makeup had healing power. 

 

36. Egyptian children wore no clothing at all until they were in their teens. The temperature in Egypt made it unnecessary. Adult men wore skirts while women wore dresses. 

37. When a body was mummified, its brain was removed through one of its nostrils and its intestines were also removed and placed in jars called canopic jars. Each organ was placed in its own jar. The only internal organ that was not removed was the heart, because Egyptians considered it to be the seat of the soul.

38. Ancient Egyptians loved board games.

39. King Tut may have been killed by a hippopotamus.

40.The Egyptians saw animals as incarnations of the gods and were one of the first civilizations to keep household pets.

41. Ancient Egyptians invented toothpaste.

42. Pharaohs were buried with models of their servants.

43. Peasants in ancient Egypt used a bag of mouse bones, fastened around the neck to cure bed-wetting.

44. Ancient Egyptians hated hair. They hated hair so much that both men and women shaved off their hair and preferred to be bald.