Sphinsxo
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 1524
Location: The World
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:36 am Post subject: Egypt Facts |
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Egypt Facts
Fossilised remains of a plant eating dinosaur have recently been found south-west of Cairo. The dinosaur was the second largest creature known to have lived. (The largest creature was another plant-eating dinosaur discovered in South America).
Egyptian civilization began along the banks of the River Nile.
The name Egypt comes from the Greek name for the country: Egyptos.
The boat found near the pyramid of Cheops is the oldest complete boat in the world - it is believed to be four and a half thousand years old and had been dismantled into over a thousand pieces before being buried.
The Egyptians were the first people known to have separated copper from its ore, about four thousand years ago.
The Egyptians used water clocks and sundials to tell the time.
Over three thousand years ago the Egyptians were skilled in the use of geometry to plan the layout of their buildings. It is believed that astronomy may have been significant in the alignment of their pyramids and temples.
Hypatia (born around 370 AD) was the first woman to make a recorded contribution to mathematics.
The Great Pyramid is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Pharos of Alexandria, a lighthouse 140 m high, was another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Egyptians needed engineering and mathematical skills to control the Nile flooding to ensure the best irrigation and fertilization of their land.
The ancient Egyptians had a 365 day solar calendar like our own.
Today the flow of the Nile, the world's longest river, is regulated by the Aswan High Dam.
Experiments with steam power were carried out by Hiero in Egypt at least eighteen hundred years ago.
The papyrus plant, a type of reed, was used to make paper.
Ptolemy I founded a library in Alexandra containing half a million volumes of the world's knowledge: it was later burnt by Christians.
The Rosetta Stone, discovered during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, carved in 196 BC, was the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics, because it repeated a royal decree in three different scripts, one of which was Greek. From the Greek the other two could be deciphered.
The process of mummification involved removing all moisture and internal organs, then drying the body and anointing it with various preserving chemicals.
The history of Egyptian medicine dates back four thousand years.
It is believed that there were female doctors in ancient Egypt.
An ancient Egyptian cure for baldness was treatment with a mixture of crocodile, hippopotamus, lion, snake, goose and ibex fat.
In the Middle Ages and for hundreds of years after, mummies were believed to be a powerful medicine and were ground up into powder and drunk in a potion.
The Eye of Horus was believed to protect against hazards and ensure happiness.
It is said that the shape of the Sphinx was started by winds shaping a natural mound.
The Egyptian desert has not always been desert: in some areas marine fossils can be found.
The tombs of the Pharaohs were stocked with food, equipment and servants (in model form) for the afterlife.
The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.
The final coffin within the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun is of solid gold, weighing 110 kg.
Tutankhamen may have been murdered on the orders of his Chief Minister who married his widow, Ankhesenamen, and became the ruler of Egypt.
As well as preserving the bodies of their rulers, the ancient Egyptians also mummified birds and animals linked to their gods: cats, bulls, crocodiles and ibises have been found in their thousands, carefully mummified and wrapped.
Cats were first domesticated in Egypt. The goddess, Bast, is the patroness of cats and the home.
The idea of linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean goes back to the age of the Pharaohs. The Suez Canal was opened in 1869.
In the Middle Ages, Cairo was a famous camel caravan meeting place where much trading took place.
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) who lived in Egypt for over twenty years was the greatest historian of the Middle Ages. He pioneered the critical study of history and is sometimes said to have founded sociology.
The Mamlukes, who ruled Egypt for nearly three hundred years, were military slaves, taken from Asia Minor and the Black Sea. Though freed when they reached fighting age, they were required to fight on behalf of their owner until his death.
The French sculptor, Bartholdi proposed a giant statue for the harbour entrance to Port Said. The plan failed because of lack of money but eventually he revived his idea as the Statue of Liberty, New York.
For over two thousand years, Egypt was controlled by foreigners. Nasser was the first native Egyptian leader.
Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, sharing it with Israel's leader Menachem Begin. |
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