When growing up, many of us have always dreamt of visiting this home to the majestic River Nile and one of the earliest civilizations of mankind. Egypt has always fascinated many people and this has seen the country’s growing numbers in international tourists. But before you visit this treasure, here are some of the facts that you probably never heard of!

Facts about Ancient Egypt

1) Most Ancient Egyptian pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs (rulers of Ancient Egypt) and their families. To date, over 130 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt.

2) The afterlife was incredibly important to the Egyptians. They believed that by preserving a dead person’s body – which they did through the process of mummification – their soul would live on in the after-life forever.

3) The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. This incredible structure weighs as much as 16 Empire State Buildings In New York

4) Both Egyptian men and women wore make-up. The eye-paint was usually green (made from copper) or black (made from lead). As well as offering protection from the sun, the Egyptians believed make-up had magical healing powers, too!

5) Unwrapped, the bandages of an Ancient Egyptian mummy could stretch for 1.6km. Yikes!

6) The Egyptian alphabet contained more than 700 hieroglyphs!

7) Ancient Egyptians believed in more than 2,000 deities! They had gods for everything, from dangers to chores! Each had different responsibilities and needed to be worshipped so that life could be kept in balance.

8) Cats were considered to be a sacred animal by the Ancient Egyptians. It’s thought that most families kept a cat as a pet, which they believed would bring the household good luck!

9)  The Ancient Egyptians loved playing board games! One popular game was Senet, which was played for over 2,000 years! The game involved throwing sticks (in the same way we throw dice) to see how many squares to move your piece forward on the board.

10) The Ancient Egyptians invented lots of things we still use today, such as paper, pens, locks and keys and – believe it or not – toothpaste!

11) The ancient Egyptians believed that the god.Thoth invented writing and passed its secret to humans. His symbols were a bird called an ibis and a baboon.

12) The oldest surviving work about mathematics was written by the ancient Egyptian scribe Ahmes around 1650 B.C. Found on the Rhine Mathematical Papyrus, it is titled “The Entrance into the Knowledge of All Existing Things and All Obscure Secrets.”

13) Early pharaohs were buried with their real servants. Later, model servants called shabti were used.

14) The giant sphinx guarding the three pyramids of Giza is thought to represent the pharaoh Khafre (Chephren), son of Khufu. Sphinxes are generally believed to have been built to guard tombs.

15) Egypt is home to seven UNESCO designated world heritage sites: Abu Mena; ancient Thebes with its Necropolis; Historic Cairo; Memphis and its Necropolis; Nubian monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae; the Saint Catherine area; and Wadi Al-Hitan, or Whale Valley, home to fossil remains of the earliest and now extinct form of whales