Fun facts about ancient Egyptians

CAIRO – 6 March 2022: One of the fascinating symbols of the ancient Egyptian civilization is the Great Pyramids of Giza. 

Ancient Egyptians built pyramids mainly as tombs for the royal pharaohs. Over 130 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt to date.

Ancient Egyptians sanctified life, however, the afterlife was extremely important to them as well. Ancient Egyptians believed that by preserving a dead person’s body, they would live forever in the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians exceled at preserving the dead bodies of their deities and rules through the means of mummification.

When unwrapped, the bandages of an Ancient Egyptian mummy could stretch for 1.6km.

Moreover, the Pyramid of Khufu[Cheops] at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. This jaw-dropping structure weighs as much as 16 Empire State buildings combined together!

Both men and women of ancient Egypt wore make-up. The eye paint was usually black [made of lead] or green [made of copper]. In addition to offering protection from the sun, the Egyptians believed make-up had magical healing powers as well.

Alphabet of today is nothing compared to the ancient Egyptian alphabet which contained over 700 hieroglyphs.

Religion-wise, ancient Egyptians believed in approximately 2000 deities, all of which had a certain role in life. All of them needed to be worshipped as to allow balance in everyday life.

Furthermore, ancient Egyptians loved their pets. Sometimes sanctifying them! They were so infatuated with cats as they believed that cats would bring any household good luck and good fortune. It is believed that most ancient Egyptian houses had at least one cat pet.

Did you know that the board games of today is actually as ancient as the ancient Egyptian civilization? Yes, indeed, ancient Egyptians loved their board games especially the game Senet which was played for almost 2000 years. The game involved throwing sticks, similar to the way we throw dice today.

A lot of the things people enjoy in their lives today was actually invented by ancient Egyptians, including paper and pens, keys and locks, and even toothpaste.