Facts About Pyramids of Egypt - strangefacts

• The great pyramids of Egypt now stand a full 3 miles south of the spot where they were originally built

• Egypt has more than 100 pyramids that are spread all over the country 

• The three pyramids of Giza do in fact match the belt of Orion, but they did not when the pyramids were built. It seems that the Egyptians built the pyramids to resemble today's belt of Orion 

• This pyramid figure is one of the seven wonders of the worlds 

• All of the signifigant major pyramids were built over a time period of about 200 years. A new one was well underway before the previous one was completed. It amounted to keeping a more or less constant work force busy the year around for the 200 years

• Three big one’s are called the great pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) , the pyramid of Khafre (Khafra) and the pyramid of Menkaure 

• The Egyptian Pyramids were not made from cut stone. The blocks were poured in place using crushed, local limestone and a 'geopolymer' - a cement that is better than most known today. The largest was built in 20 years using an estimated 14,000 workers

• Out of all the three pyramids at Giza, only the pyramid of Khafre retains some parts of the originally polished limestone casing near its pinnacle

• The biggest Pyramid in the world is not in Egypt. It's actually about sixty miles southeast of Mexico City, Mexico. It covers more than forty acres and the largest Egyptian Pyramid, The Great Pyramid at Giza, covers about 13 acres

• To the naked eyes and laymen, the pyramid of Khafre would always look tall, but the fact is that the pyramid of Khufu is the tallest of all

• The Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt, constructed around 2500 B.C., was the tallest building in the world until the Eiffel Tower was erected in 1889

• The pyramid of Menkaure further has 3 smaller pyramids that are subsidiary to this main pyramid and are called the queens’ pyramids

• More than 14 million sandstone blocks make up the pyramids which were originally covered in limestone. Funilly enough this limestone wasn't stolen but used by the native egyptians as building material

• Some believe that his pyramid at Giza was built by slaves but this is not true. One hundred thousand people worked on it for three months of each year. This was the time of the Nile's annual flood which made it impossible to farm the land and most of the population was unemployed. He provided good food and clothing for his workers and was kindly remembered in folk tales for many centuries

Facts About Sphinx of Egypt - strangefacts

• Sphinxes are massive stone statues that depict the body of a reclining lion with the head and face of a human

• The Great Sphinx's paws and head are out of proportion, suggesting there may have been an even larger, earlier statue which was adapted

• Egyptologists have long argued the monument outside Cairo, which has the head of a pharaoh and the body of a lion, was built soon after the first pyramid - around 4,500 years ago

• Schoch claims the amount of water erosion the Sphinx has experienced indicates a construction date no later than the 6th millennium BC or 5th millennium BC, at least two thousand years before the widely accepted construction date and 1,500 years prior to the accepted date for the beginning of Egyptian civilisation

• The figures are found all over the world in different forms, but they are most commonly linked with Egypt, which features the most famous example in the form of the Great Sphinx of Giza

• Incredibly, the statue is carved out of one monolithic piece of rock, and at 240 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet tall, it is considered to be the biggest monument of its kind in the world

• Historians largely accept the function of the Sphinx to have been that of a symbolic guardian, since the statues were strategically placed around important structures like temples, tombs, and pyramids

• It stands adjacent to the pyramid of the pharaoh Khafra, and most archeologists believe that it is his face that is depicted on that of the statue

• Despite its reputation as one of the most famous monuments of antiquity, there is still very little known about the Great Sphinx of Giza

• Egyptologists might have a small understanding of why the statue was built, but when, how, and by who is still shrouded in mystery

• The pharaoh Khafra is the main suspect, which would date the structure back to around 2500 BC, but other scientists have argued that evidence of water erosion of the statue suggests that it is much older and perhaps even predated the dynastic era of the Egyptians

• This theory has few modern adherents, but if true it would mean the Great Sphinx of Giza is even more mysterious than previously believed

Facts About Egypt - strangefacts

• Cleopatra became queen of Egypt in 51 B.C.

• Model soldiers date back about 4,000 years in Ancient Egypt

• About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30

• Ancient Egyptian women used to wear perfume cones made of wax that would melt in the heat letting out a nice fragrance

• Ancient Egyptians believed that onions would keep evil spirits away 

• Ancient Egyptians kissed with their noses instead of with their lips

• Ancient Egyptians used the spice Thyme to help preserve mummies

• Ancient Egyptians used to think having facial hair was an indication of personal neglect

• In 1888, an Egyptian peasant discovered an estimated three hundred thousand mummified cats in Beni Hassan, Egypt

• In Ancient Egypt, cats were often buried with their masters, or in a special cemetery for cat

• In ancient Egypt, doctors used jolts from the electric catfish to reduce the pain of arthritis  

• In ancient Egypt, Priests plucked every hair from their bodies including their eyebrows and eyelashes

• In ancient Egypt, the only person who was allowed to wear cotton was the High Priest

• Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats

• Ramses II, a pharaoh of Egypt died in 1225 B.C. At the time of his death, he had fathered 96 sons and 60 daughters

• Egyptians generally live in nuclear family households, but close to extended family; in a city, related families may live in the same apartment building

• Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible

• Lady Peseshet of Ancient Egypt (2600-2100 BC) is the world’s first known female physician

• The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC

• The longest reigning monarch in history was Pepi II, who ruled Egypt for 90 years; 2566 to 2476 BC

• Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat

• The earliest type of robot was a water clock invented in Egypt in 250 BC

• Ancient Egyptians believed eating fried mice would cure a toothache

• The casting of love spells is an ancient art. Archaeological evidence suggests they originated in Egypt about 5,000 years ago

• In ancient Egypt when a woman's husband was convicted of a crime, she and her children would be punished as well