4 things you probably didn’t know about Egypt

When you think of Egypt, images of pyramids, mummies, heaps of gold and pharaohs comes to mind. These are images that have been popularized by books and movies, and they were definitely part of ancient Egypt. However, this was not the only face of the Egyptian civilization.

Egypt has always been a land shrouded with mystery and legends, and many times, it is difficult to differentiate between reality and myth. So it is highly likely that there are many facts about the land of the pharaohs that you didn’t know about. Test how much you really know about ancient Egypt by going through the four interesting facts below. How many of them surprise you?

4 things you probably didn’t know about Egypt

The oldest dress in the world was found in Egypt

In the year 1913, a garment was excavated from an old Egyptian tomb in Tarkhan. In 2015, radiocarbon dating conducted by University of Oxford showed that the garment was about 5,500 years old, dating back to 3482-3102 BCE. It was then realized that it was, in fact, the oldest dress in the world. The garment, popularly referred to as the Tarkhan dress, is now located at University College London’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

The Great Pyramid was built by salaried employees,

Contrary to popular belief, much of which was molded by the famous classical historian, Herodotus, it is now claimed by many archeologists that the Great Pyramid of Egypt was not built by tens of thousands of men, women and children, forced to work under the heat of the sun. The truth, as supported by archaeological evidence, is that this wonder of the world was built by employees who were paid a salary. About 5,000 permanent salaried workers and about 20,000 temporary salaried workers built the pyramid.

The world’s oldest board game was invented by Egyptians

The Egyptians played a game known as Senet or Senat, which is considered the world’s oldest board game. The oldest game set has been identified to date as far back as 3100 BC. Senet has a board where there are three rows of ten squares each, which are referred to as houses. Players throw a stick so they can move the pieces between the squares. Various historians believe that Senet did not have any proper game rules and no one knew clearly what the rules were.

4 things you probably didn’t know about Egypt

Not every Egyptians was mummified when they died

Mummies are an integral part of ancient Egypt. These bandaged corpses were greatly popularized by movies such as The Mummy franchise, various books, video games, and other elements of pop culture. However, the truth is that not every dead Egyptian was mummified, since mummification was a time-consuming and expensive process which only the super-rich could afford. When common people died in Egypt, they were buried in pits in the desert.

Egypt is a land with a rich history and culture, and one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It’s no surprise that there are so many interesting facts about the land and its people, and these are just a few of them! You can read up on your own to find out more.