Five thousand years ago, on the banks of River Nile, a wonderful civilization was born. It flourished and evolved for three thousand years, longer than any civilization in the world’s history. Egypt’s history begins three thousand years ago, when Egyptian writing evolved enough to be able to record it. In the same period, King Menes the pharaoh united Lower and Upper Egypt into a single kingdom. He built two capital cities, one in the north and one in the south - Memphis and Abydos. Egyptians believed that pharaohs were gods. The most revered and adored god being Ra, the Sun God, the pharaoh was the only one that helped the Sun rise every day, and the Nile flood every summer. He would make offerings of food and water, and in exchange the souls of the Egyptians were fed by the gods after death.
Benefiting of consecutive strong and able rulers and depending on the Nile for transportation and irrigation that needed to be maintained, Egypt evolved into the first country in the world with a national and well organized government. As time passed, authority began to weaken in Egypt, foreign rulers took over the country repeatedly for short periods of time over 400 years, then the priest got the power and the Empire declined.
Persians invaded Egypt for a few years, and Alexander the Great came to fight them. A great diplomat, he showed respect and veneration to the gods of Egypt. When he entered the ancient capital of Memphis in 333 BC, he was hailed as King of Egypt. Deciding to visit the oracle of Amon to consult the seer about his destiny, he stopped in his journey to rest in an old Egyptian village, located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lake of Mariott. He then decided to build a town here, and it is what we now know as Alexandria. He then left to Asia to fight the Persians, and died in Babylon in 323 BC, without ever seeing the city that bears his name.
Filled with remnants of those ancient times, Egypt is one of the world’s main tourist attractions. People come from all over to see the only “wonder of the world” that is still standing – the Great Pyramid at Giza, but also the imposing Sphinx, the numerous Temples located all over Egypt, the Museums, and the ancient cities of Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and the legendary Alexandria. If you have never visited Egypt, try to! You don’t know what you are missing, as it is a place that everyone must see at least once in their lives. I have covered all of these locations in detail, with info’s and pictures on my blog at http://tourist-egypt.blogspot.com/2009/05/tourist-egypt-general-info-and-history.html , and I sincerely hope that it will be one more reason to actually set you on your journey to see the wonders and mystery of one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Have a very nice day.
Neo, editor Tourist Egypt - http://tourist-egypt.blogspot.com/
Neo, editor Tourist Egypt.
