Egypt Facts

53 Facts about Egypt

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

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

Toilets were found in many ancient Egyptian tombs.

The World's Oldest Dress was found in Egypt and it is 5,000 years old.
In the border between Egypt and Sudan, there are
795 sq miles (2,060 km2) of land unclaimed by neither.
Written language was invented independently by the Egyptians, Sumerians, Chinese, and Mayans.
Sudan has
more pyramids
than Egypt.

The Steppe eagle is the national animal of Egypt.
The Statue of Liberty was intended for Egypt.
The pyramids were built by paid laborers. Not slaves. That's a myth by Herodotus, the Greek historian.

The lost Egyptian city of Heracleion was found after 1200 years under the sea.
Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stones.
The world's largest pyramid is not in Egypt but in Mexico.

The first sailing boats were invented in Egypt.
The tradition of exchanging wedding rings goes back to ancient Egyptian times.

Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats.
There are still unexplored passageways in the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
Gypsy
is short for "Egyptian."
Egypt is the most populated country in Middle East and has the world's largest Arab population.

Ancient Egypt King Tutankhamun died at the age of 18.

In the Land of the Pharaohs of Egypt, beer was the national currency.
No Egyptian president has left office without being arrested or dying, so far until 2015.
In Ancient Egypt, killing a cat, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty.
A woman in Egypt disguised herself as a man for 43 years in order to make a living for her daughter.

86%
of people surveyed in Egypt are in favor of the death penalty as a punishment for abandoning Islam.
In Ancient Egypt, men could take time off of work to care for menstruating wives and daughters.
Cleopatra was the first, in the dynasty of Greek rulers of Egypt, who could speak Egyptian.

During a visit to Egypt in 2012, Hillary Clinton was pelted with tomatoes and shoes, while the protesters chanted "Monica, Monica".
Anwar Sadat made Egypt the first arab nation to achieve peace with Israel in 1979. For this, Sadat won the Nobel Peace prize, Egypt was suspended from the Arab League and Sadat was assassinated.
2200 years ago, Eratosthenes estimated the Earth's circumference using math, without ever leaving Egypt. He was remarkably accurate. Christopher Columbus later studied him.
The Egyptian Kahun Papyrus (1850 B.C.) suggests crocodile feces either for preventing conception or as an abortifacient.
The current library at Alexandria has a copy of all the web pages on every website on the Internet since it started in 1996.
Inscribed pottery from the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt list 3 human genders. The reason is uncertain.

The ancient pyramids of Giza are located right up against the modern city of Cairo.
Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, was actually Greek, not Egyptian.

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

Scatomancy is the act of telling the future through someone's poop. It was popular in ancient Egypt.
The Great Pyramid of Giza has 8 sides, not 4.

91%
of Egypt's women aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to genital mutilation, according to the World Health Organization.
The ancient Egyptians respected dwarfs, and did not see them as having a physical handicap.


An Ancient Egyptian cure for blindness was to pour mashed-up pig's eye into the patient's ear.

The Ancient Egyptians were the first to make a sweet treat from the marshmallow plant, when they combined its sap with nuts and honey.

Traces of nicotine and cocaine were found in Egyptian mummies.

Immediately opposite the main ticket gates to Giza's Great Pyramid enclosure, you can find both Pizza Hut and KFC.
The world's oldest prosthetic limb belongs to an Egyptian woman, that was outfitted with a wooden toe prosthesis in approximately 1000 B.C.
Granite blocks used for the King's chamber of the Great Pyramid, weighing as much as 60 to 80 tons each, were quarried nearly 500 miles away.

Many of the rulers of Ancient Egypt were overweight and suffered from diabetes.
Wealthy ancient Egyptians slept with neck supports rather than pillows to preserve their hairstyles.
The Persians, fully aware of the reverence that Egyptians paid to their felines, rounded up as many cats as they could find and set them loose on the battlefield.
Ancient Egyptians used 12 months of exactly 30 days, with 5 days of festivities at the end to add up to 365.

Ancient Egyptians used to wear hair extensions.
Ancient Egyptians had a 70% accurate method for detecting pregnancy: a woman would pee on some seeds. If they sprouted, she was pregnant.

Tutankhamun was the only ancient Egyptian who was mummified with an erect penis.