What you probably didn't know about Ancient Egypt, land of pharaohs, mummies, treasures and pyramids!

  • 2019

The land of the pharaohs is famous for its huge pyramids, its bandaged mummies and its golden and powerful treasures hard to find. But how much do you really know about ancient Egypt ?

According to the research of the Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, I want to share with you a series of realities that you probably did not know, know them in detail now!

What you probably didn't know about Ancient Egypt
"In ancient Egypt, men and women of social status, before the law were treated as equals"

Ancient Egypt is an incredible world, beyond its mythical, divine experiences and magical powers, historically it is a compendium of extraordinary experiences that have enriched the academy, culture and human work.

In the midst of mummies, pharaohs, pyramids and treasures, I invite you to know what you probably did not know about ancient Egypt .

The Camels were not mounted

The camel was not used regularly in ancient Egypt, it was only until the end of the dynastic era that it began to be used to mount it.

Instead, the Egyptians used donkeys as beasts of burden, which, along with ships, were the most famous and comfortable means of transportation.

The Nile River flowed through the center of its prosperous and fertile lands, thereby bringing about the creation of a natural road.

The current helped those who needed to row from south to north, while the wind made life easier for those who wanted to navigate in the opposite direction.

The river was linked to settlements, quarries and construction sites by canals.

Huge wooden barges were used to transport highly heavy grains and stone blocks; while the light papyrus boats transported people.

It was always said and believed that, at the top of the river, the sun god Ra was sailing across the sky in his solar boat.

Wonderful news! Do you know this fact about Ancient Egypt ?

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Not all people were mummified

The mummy, a gutted, dry and bandaged body, has become a defining Egyptian artifact.

However, mummification was a rather expensive process, reserved for the richest members of society. The great majority of the dead of ancient Egypt were buried in simple graves in the desert.

Then, why did the elite feel the need to mummify their dead? They believed it was possible to live again after death, but only if the body retained a recognizable human form.

Ironically, this could have been easily accomplished by burying the dead in direct contact with the hot and sterile desert sand; a natural desiccation would have occurred.

But the great powerful and pharaohs of the time, wanted to be buried in coffins inside tombs and pyramids, this meant that their corpses, which were no longer in direct contact with the sand, began to rot.

The procedures made by the burial team focused on developing a more recognizable body, a reality that caused the science of artificial mummification to be born.

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The living shared the food with the dead

The tomb was designed as an eternal home for the mummified body and the Ka spirit that lived next to it.

An accessible tomb chapel allowed families, supporters and priests to visit the deceased and leave the regular offerings that the Ka required, while a hidden burial chamber protected the mummy from danger .

Inside the tomb chapel, food and drink was offered regularly.

Having been consumed spiritually by the Ka, they were physically consumed by the living.

During the "festival of the valley", an annual festival of death and renewal, many families spent the night in the chapels of their ancestors' graves.

The hours of darkness were spent drinking and celebrating with torches while the living celebrated their meeting with the dead.

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Egyptian women had the same rights as men

In ancient Egypt, men and women of social status, before the law were treated as equals.

This meant that women could own, earn, buy, sell and inherit property.

They could live without the protection of male guardians and, if they are widowed or divorced, they could raise their own children.

They could present cases before the government, and be punished by the courts of justice. And they were expected to replace an absent husband in business matters.

Everyone in ancient Egypt was expected to get married.

The wife, the "owner of the house, " was responsible for all internal affairs. She raises the children and takes care of the house, while her husband, the dominant couple in the marriage, played the external role of wage earner.

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Scribes rarely wrote in hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphic writing, a script consisting of hundreds of intricate images, was beautiful to look at, but it took a long time to create it.

Therefore, it was reserved for the most important texts; the writings that decorate the walls of the tombs and temples, and the texts that record the real achievements.

As they engaged in their daily activities, the scribes of ancient Egypt routinely used hieratic, a simplified or shorthand form of hieroglyphic writing.

Towards the end of the dynastic period they used demotics, an even more simplified version of hieratic .

The three scripts were used to write the same ancient Egyptian language.

Few of the ancients could have read hieroglyphics or hieratic : it is estimated that no more than 10% of the population, perhaps less, could read and write.

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The king of Egypt could be a woman

Ideally, the king of ancient Egypt would be the son of the previous king. But this was not always possible, and the coronation ceremony had the power to turn the most unlikely candidate into an unquestionable king.

On at least three occasions the women took the throne, ruling in their own right as female kings and using the title of full king.

The most successful of these women rulers, Hatshepsut, ruled Egypt for more than 20 prosperous years.

In the English language, where 'king' is gender specific, we could classify Sobekneferu, Hatshepsut and Tausert as ruling queens.

However, in Egyptian, the phrase we traditionally translate as 'queen' literally means 'king's wife', and is totally inappropriate for these women.

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Few Egyptian men married their sisters

Some of the kings of ancient Egypt married their sisters or half-sisters.

These incestuous marriages ensured that the queen was trained in her duties from birth and that she remained completely loyal to her husband and children.

They provided appropriate husbands for princesses who might otherwise remain single, while restricting the number of possible claimants for the throne.

They even provided a link with the gods, several of whom (like Isis and Osiris) enjoyed incestuous unions.

However, marriages between brothers and sisters were never mandatory, and some of the most prominent queens in Egypt, including Nefertiti, were not real births.

Incestuous marriages were not common outside the royal family until the end of the dynastic era.

The restricted terminology of Egyptian royalty ("father", "mother", "brother", "sister", "son" and "daughter" are the only terms used), and the tendency to apply these words in a general way so that "Sister" is with the same validity that a real sister, a wife or a lover, has generated much confusion on this issue.

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Not all the pharaohs built pyramids

Almost all the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 2125 BC) and the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055 1650 BC) built pyramid tombs in the deserts of northern ancient Egypt .

These highly conspicuous monuments linked the kings with the sun god Ra while reproducing the mound of creation that emerged from the waters of chaos at the beginning of time.

But by the beginning of the construction of the pyramid of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 BC) it was outdated.

The kings will now build two completely separate funerary monuments .

Their mummies would be buried in hidden tombs carved into the rock in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile in the southern city of Thebes, while a very visible memorial temple, located on the border between the cultivated land (home of living), and the sterile desert (home of the dead), would serve as the focus of royal mortuary worship .

After the collapse of the New Kingdom, later kings were buried in tombs in northern ancient Egypt : some of their burials were never discovered.

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The Great Pyramid was not built by slaves

The classical historian Herodoto believed that the Great Pyramid had been built by 100, 000 slaves.

His image of men, women and children who work desperately in the harshest conditions has proved remarkably popular among modern film producers, however, it seems to be incorrect.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Great Pyramid was, in fact, built by a workforce of 5, 000 permanent salaried employees and up to 20, 000 temporary workers .

These workers were free men, summoned under the Corvée national service system to perform a three or four month shift at the site before returning home.

They were housed in a temporary camp near the pyramid, where they received payments in the form of food, drink, medical attention and, for those who died on duty, burial in the nearby cemetery.

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Cleopatra may not have been beautiful

Cleopatra VII, the last queen of ancient Egypt, won the hearts of Julius Caesar and Mark Antonio, two of the most important men in Rome . Surely, it must have been an exceptional beauty?

Their currencies suggest that this was probably not the case.

All show their profile with a prominent nose, pronounced chin and sunken eyes.

Of course, Cleopatra's coins reflect the abilities of their creators, and it is quite possible that the queen did not want to appear too feminine on the chips that represented her sovereignty inside and outside ancient Egypt .

Unfortunately we do not have a description of the queen by an eyewitness.

However, the classic historian Plutarch, who never really met Cleopatra, tells us that his charm lies in his behavior and his beautiful voice.

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If you wish to carry out a deeper investigation, I invite you to do personal research in the works of Joyce Tyldesley, principal professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, author of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt (Allen Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt) and by Tutankhamen Curse: the "developing story of an Egyptian king" (Profile 2012).

How did you find our text today about the 10 things you probably didn't know about ancient Egypt? We invite you to participate in the option of comments, A Hug of Light!

"... Ancient Egypt is an incredible world, beyond its mythical, divine experiences and magical powers ..."

Author : William Hernán Estrada Pérez, Editor in the Great Family of

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