Ever since my childhood I have been fascinated with all things relating to Ancient Egypt. I have tried for a long time to come up with a good idea for a list relating to it and this is the first (of what I hope will be many!) These facts should serve as a good introduction to Ancient Egyptian culture and society - and hopefully many will be things you did not know.
1. A Pharaoh never let his hair be seen - he would always wear a crown or a headdress called a nemes (the striped cloth headdress) made famous by Tutankhamen’s golden mask (pictured above).
2. In order to deter flies from landing on him, Pepi II of Egypt always kept several naked slaves nearby whose bodies were smeared with honey.
3. Both Egyptian men and women wore makeup - eyepaint was usually green (made from copper) or black (made from lead). The Egyptians believed that the makeup had healing power. Originally the makeup was used as a protection from the sun - rather than for adornment.
4. While the use of antibiotics did not begin in the 20th century, early folk medicine included the use of mouldy foods or soil for infections. In ancient Egypt, for example, infections were treated with mouldy bread.
5. Egyptian children wore no clothing at all until they were in their teens. The temperature in Egypt made it unnecessary. Adult men wore skirts while women wore dresses.
6. Rich Egyptians wore wigs while the other classes would wear their hair long or in pig tails. Until 12, Egyptian boys had their heads shaved except for one plaited lock - this was as a protection against lice and fleas.
7. It is not known who destroyed the nose of the Sphinx (pictured above). There are sketches of the Sphinx without a nose in 1737, over 60 years before Napoleon reached Egypt and hundreds of years before the British and German armies of the two World Wars. The only person known to have damaged it was an Islamic cleric, Sa’im al-dahr, who was lynched in 1378 for vandalism.
8. Egyptian’s believed that the earth was flat and round (like a pancake) and that the Nile flowed through the center of it.
9. Egyptian soldiers were used as an internal police force. Additionally, they collected taxes for the Pharaoh.
10. In every temple in ancient Egypt the pharaoh was supposed to carry out the duties of the high priests, but his place was usually taken by the chief priest.
11. The first pyramid (The Step Pyramid of Djoser built around 2600 BC - seen above) was originally surrounded by a 34 ft tall wall which had 15 doors in it. Only one of the doors opened.
12. The women in ancient Egypt enjoyed legal and economical equality with men. Nevertheless, they never enjoyed social equality with men.
13. Contrary to popular belief, excavated skeletons show that they were actually Egyptians who were most likely in the permanent employ of the pharaoh. Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams “Friends of Khufu,” “Drunkards of Menkaure,” and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs.
14. When a body was mummified, its brain was removed through one of its nostrils and its intestines were also removed and placed in jars called canopic jars. Each organ was placed in its own jar. The only internal organ that was not removed was the heart, because Egyptians considered it to be the seat of the soul.
15. Ramses the Great had 8 official wives and nearly 100 concubines. He was over 90 years old when he died in 1212 BC.
译文:
古埃及15大趣事
从儿时起，我便对一切关于古埃及的事感到着迷。 很长一段时间，我都在想一个好方法把与它有关的都列出来。而这就是第一个（我希望还有很多）。这些事很好地介绍了古埃及的文化与社会--还有许多你未曾知道的事。
一，
第1~5件
1，有一位法老从不让人看见自己的头发--总是戴着王冠或尼美斯（nemes）头饰（条纹头巾），因图腾哈门（Tutankhamen）的金面具而出名（上图）。
2， 为了不让苍蝇沾身，彼拜王二世（Pepi II ）身边总有几个一丝不挂的奴隶，他们身上涂满了蜂蜜。
3，在埃及，不管男女都化妆--眼影化成绿色（原料是铜）或者黑色（原料是铅）。埃及人认为化妆品具有治愈功能。一开始，化妆是用来防晒--而不是装饰。
4，在还没有使用抗生素的20世纪，早期用发霉的食物和泥土这些民间药品去治疗疾病感染。例如，在古埃及，人们就用发霉的面包去治病。
5，埃及儿童直到青年时期才穿衣服。在埃及的那种气温下，他们没有必要穿衣服。成年男子穿衬衫，女子则穿裙子。
二，
第2~6件
6，有钱的埃及人是戴假发的，其他阶级的则留着长发或者辫子。12岁时，埃及男孩除了扎成辫子的都会剃光头--这是为了防止虱子和跳蚤。
7，不知道是谁毁坏了狮身人面像Sphinx（上图）的鼻子部分。在1737年，即拿破仑到达埃及60多年前，英国和德国军队打两次世界大战100多年以前，有过很多关于失去鼻子的Sphinx的猜测，只据知是一个名叫萨恩.阿鞑尔的伊斯兰传教士，其于1378被私刑处死。
8，埃及人认为地球既平又圆（像薄饼），而尼罗河则向其中心流去。
9，埃及士兵通常用作国家警力，而且还为法老收税。
10，在埃及，法老应当担任每个教堂最高牧师职务，但其位置通常由主牧师接管。
三，
第11~15件
11，第一个金字塔（上图，左塞（Djoser）的阶梯金字塔，大约建于公元前2600年）原本由一堵34英尺高的墙围住，墙上有15道门，只有一道可以打开。
12，埃及妇女与男子法律和经济上平等，但是从没有过社会地位上的平等。
13，与流行的观念相反，所挖掘的头骨证明他们的确是法老终身雇佣的埃及人。 涂鸦壁画显示起码一部分人为自己的工作感到自豪，把他们的团队叫作“胡夫（Khufu）的朋友”， “门卡拉（Menkaure）的酒鬼”等等--这些名称显示了对法老的忠诚。
14，当尸体制成木乃伊，其脑部通过鼻孔移除，而脊椎也会移走，安放在盛放内脏的罐子。每个器官都有自己的罐子。唯一没有移走的内脏就是心脏，埃及人认为心脏就是灵魂之所在。
15，拉姆西斯大帝（Ramses the Great）有8个妻子以及近百个妾氏。公元前1212年逝去时已超过90岁。