Portal:Ancient Egypt/Did you know

Portal:Ancient Egypt/Did you know/1

• ... that the ancient Egyptian temples of Dakka (pictured), Maharraqa, Wadi es-Sebua, Amada, and Derr were all dismantled in the 1960s and rebuilt elsewhere, to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser created by the Aswan Dam?

• ...that the Two Ladies was a euphemism used for the Ancient Egyptian deities Wadjet and Nekhbet, represented on the royal crowns of the merged Upper and Lower Egypt as a cobra and a vulture, respectively?

• ... that in Ancient Egypt, servants of the pharaohs would agree to be sacrificed to provide their care in the afterlife?

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• ... that Fort Julien (pictured) near the mouth of the Nile in Egypt was the place where French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799?
• ... that Pepi II Neferkare has the title of being the longest reigning monarch of all time, ruling for ninety-four years and taking throne when he was just six?
• ... that the Coptic Cross has its origins tied into the ancient Egyptian Ankh, a symbol meaning eternal life?

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• ... that the mortuary temple of the pyramid of Sahure (pictured) was decorated with over 10,000 sq. metres (107,640 sq. ft) of fine relief carvings?

• ... that Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name?

• ... that Qakare Ibi was the last pharaoh to have a pyramid build for himself in Saqqara?

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• ... that Amenhotep III (pictured) had an artificial lake built for his royal wife Tiye?

• ... that Ramses IV reigned only 6 years in spite of his many prayers to Osiris for a long reign?

• ... that the pyramid complex of Userkaf is organized on a north-south axis and nobody knows why?

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• ... that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet (pictured) once stood in the funerary temple of Amenhotep III?

• ... that pharaoh Psamtik I freed Egypt from the Assyrian Empire?

• ... that the egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer was considered to be the foremost expert on pyramid construction techniques and methods at the time of his death?

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• ... that the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II (pictured) was the final destination of the barque of Amun during the Beautiful Festival of the Valley until Hatshepsut had her temple built nearby?

• ... that the 2nd dynasty pharaoh Seth-Peribsen chose Seth rather than Horus as patron god?

• ... that archeologist Karl Richard Lepsius is considered the father of the modern scientific discipline of Egyptology?

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• ... that pharaoh Amenemhat I (pictured) was assassinated by his own guards when his son, co-regent and heir to the throne was leading a campaign in Libya?

• ... that the goddess Nut was perceived by ancient Egyptians as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth?

• ... that pharaoh Psamtik III was forced to drink bull's blood to punish him for his involvement in a conspiracy against Cambyses I?

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• ... that in spite of the extensive work it required to be made, the Gebel el-Arak Knife (pictured) was never used?

• ... that the death of pharaoh Huni is reported in the instructions of Kagemni?

• ... that ancient Egyptians believed that an opening of the mouth ceremony was necessary for a person's soul to survive in the afterlife?

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• ... that the tomb of pharaoh Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep (pictured) was discovered in 2013?

• ... that Sihathor reigned as coregent with his brother Neferhotep I?

• ... that rulers of the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt were of Canaanite descent?

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• ... that Japanese samurai visited Egypt as part of the Ikeda Mission in 1864, and took this photograph in front of the Sphinx?

• ... that the Alexandrian calendar, based on the ancient Egyptian calendar, was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1875, and is still used today by the Coptic Orthodox Church and the fellahin (peasantry) of Egypt?

• ... that the Abu Haggag Mosque, formerly a church, is integrated into the Luxor Temple, making it the oldest building in the world continuously in use?

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• ... that the Fayum mummy portraits (pictured) are stunningly realistic portraits that were attached the upper class mummies in Roman Egypt?

• ... that in the 3rd century BC Eratosthenes used arc measurement between Alexandria and Syene (modern Aswan) to accurately calculate Earth's circumference?

• ... that arguably only two empires, the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire, separate Ancient Egypt from World War I?

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• ... that 995 graffiti from the Greco-Roman period (pictured) can be seen in the tomb of Ramesses VI, left by pilgrims. They include "I visited and I did not like anything except the sarcophagus!", "I admired!" and "I cannot read the hieroglyphs!"

• ... that Pharaoh Ramesses II had about 100 children, and that some of his children were also his grandchildren because he married his own daughters?

• ... that the Coptic language, the last stage of the Ancient Egyptian language, remains in daily use as the liturgical language of Coptic Christians?

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• ... that, according to Herodotus, Pharaoh Necho II (pictured) commissioned an expedition of Phoenicians, who in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa back to the Nile Delta?

• ... that the Diary of Merer is a group of papyrus logbooks written by Merer, who worked on the transport of white limestone blocks from the Tura quarries to Giza for the outer cladding of the Great Pyramid?

• ... that the Lost Army of Cambyses was a legendary army of 50,000 men who all disappeared in a sandstorm in Egypt’s Western Desert?

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• ... that the entrance of Djoser’s pyramid complex features columns fashioned to resemble bundled reeds and ceiling blocks carved into the shape of tree trunks (pictured)?

• ... that, according to Herodotus, Pharaoh Psamtik I conducted an experiment to discover the origin of language, and found that Phrygian was the oldest language?

• ... that Ancient Egyptians were shocked by the Greco-Roman practice of infanticide, and would rescue abandoned babies from manure heaps?