Language and Culture
For 13 centuries, Arabic has been the nationwide language used. Arabic is also the language people read and write. Islam is practiced by the majority of Egyptians, including their government. Muslim's are to pray five times a day, at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. It is so exact that the actual times are listed in newspapers every day. Men and women dress very differently. Men wear dark colored, light weighted business suits, while women must have their arms to knees covered by clothing. Some women prefer to cover their entire body except their eyes.
Ancient Culture
Egypt is extremely famous for its massive monuments. They attract millions of tourists a year. All of these monuments were build limestone brick by brick; all by slaves. Egyptian history scholar Salima Ikram writes: “Judging by the numbers of tombs and mummies that the ancient Egyptians left behind, one can be forgiven for thinking that they were obsessed by death. However, this is not so. The Egyptians were obsessed by life and its continuation rather than by a morbid fascination with death. The tombs, mortuary temples and mummies that they produced were a celebration of life and a means of continuing it for eternity…For the Egyptians, as for other cultures, death was part of the journey of life, with death marking a transition or transformation after which life continued in another form, the spiritual rather than the corporeal". Mummification was a huge part of ancient culture in Egypt. The earliest mummies were just preserved by sand and air, while the later mummies were carefully wrapped by religious priests. After death, the pharaohs of Egypt usually were mummified and buried in tombs. Members of the nobility and officials also were treated the same way. The process took seven days, and was taken seriously by the entire country.
For 13 centuries, Arabic has been the nationwide language used. Arabic is also the language people read and write. Islam is practiced by the majority of Egyptians, including their government. Muslim's are to pray five times a day, at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. It is so exact that the actual times are listed in newspapers every day. Men and women dress very differently. Men wear dark colored, light weighted business suits, while women must have their arms to knees covered by clothing. Some women prefer to cover their entire body except their eyes.
Ancient Culture
Egypt is extremely famous for its massive monuments. They attract millions of tourists a year. All of these monuments were build limestone brick by brick; all by slaves. Egyptian history scholar Salima Ikram writes: “Judging by the numbers of tombs and mummies that the ancient Egyptians left behind, one can be forgiven for thinking that they were obsessed by death. However, this is not so. The Egyptians were obsessed by life and its continuation rather than by a morbid fascination with death. The tombs, mortuary temples and mummies that they produced were a celebration of life and a means of continuing it for eternity…For the Egyptians, as for other cultures, death was part of the journey of life, with death marking a transition or transformation after which life continued in another form, the spiritual rather than the corporeal". Mummification was a huge part of ancient culture in Egypt. The earliest mummies were just preserved by sand and air, while the later mummies were carefully wrapped by religious priests. After death, the pharaohs of Egypt usually were mummified and buried in tombs. Members of the nobility and officials also were treated the same way. The process took seven days, and was taken seriously by the entire country.