X-Nico

25 unusual facts about Egypt


2008 Egyptian bus accident

The 14 December 2008 Egyptian bus accident happened when a bus plunged into an irrigation ditch while traveling from Cairo to Minya killing at least fifty-five and injuring ten.

Abydosaurus

The genus name is a reference to Egyptian mythology: Abydos is the Greek name for a city on the Nile where the head and neck of Osiris were buried, while the holotype of Abydosaurus consists of a head and neck found in rocks overlooking the Green River.

Akoris

Akoris, Egypt, an ancient Egyptian site 40km north of Hermopolis Magna

Amun-her-khepeshef

Statues and depictions of Amun-her-khepeshef appear in his father's famous temples in Abu Simbel, Luxor, in the Ramesseum, and in Seti's Abydos temple.

Ausar

Osiris, an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead.

Barbara G. Adams

Her final work was based upon vase fragments from a cemetery at Abydos.

Bishoy Kamel

He founded the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Sporting, Alexandria, Egypt.

Carl Benjamin Klunzinger

Beginning in February 1864 he worked as a physician at Kosseir, a seaport on the Red Sea.

Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, American University in Cairo

Today, attendance at the annual history seminar at AUC regularly includes graduate students from universities in Alexandria, Benha, Zagazig, Mansura, and Suhag.

The Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations (ARIC), at the American University in Cairo (AUC) located in Cairo, Egypt, specializes in the study of the rich tradition of Arabo-Islamic culture, thought, language, and history.

Diospolis

Thebes in Egypt, ancient Waset, in Greco-Roman times called Diospolis Magna (Great Zeus-City)

Hiw in Egypt, ancient Hut-Sekhem, in Greco-Roman times called Diospolis Parva (Little Zeus-City)

Eagle Point, Pennsylvania

It is located directly between the communities of Egypt and Cementon.

Faggala

It is also an important religious center for the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.

Gourna

Kurna, three village areas located near the Theban Hills in Egypt.

Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah

Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah delivered the prophet Muhammad's letter to the Ruler of Egypt, Maqauqos the Copt.

J. W. Marcel Gilbert

At the time, the German forces were at the gate of Alexandria, Egypt and as a pilot for 239 Wing, which had a base near Cairo, Egypt, he ferried war planes to Alexandria’s airport close to the front.

Kamilia Shehata

Kamilia Shehata Zakher (born 1985) is a schoolteacher in Deir Mawas, Egypt, and the wife of Tadros Samaan, the Coptic Priest of Saint Mark's Church in Mowas Cathedral in Minya.

Lehigh County Historical Society

4229 Reliance Street, off Route 329, Village of Egypt, Whitehall Township.

Lillian Trasher

Lillian Hunt Trasher (27 September 1887–17 December 1961) was a Christian missionary to Asyut, Egypt, as well as the founder of the first orphanage in Egypt.

Mohamed El-Asabgi

Mohamed Ali Ebrahim El Asabgi or Mohamed El-Asabgi (15 April 1892 - 1966) was an Egyptian composer that was known for his renewal of Arabic music and being inspired by the European Classic music in his works.

Moses Israel

The authority of the Chief Rabbinate of Cairo extended to the Jewish communities of Port Said, Mansoura, Banha and Mit Ghamr, whereas Tanta, Damanhur and Kafr El-Zayat were under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate of Alexandria.

The Festival

The story is set at Christmas time: "It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind."

Universitetskaya Embankment

A quay in front of the Academy of Arts building, adorned with two authentic sphinxes of Pharaoh Amenhotep III brought in 1832 from Thebes, Egypt, was designed by Konstantin Thon and built in 1832-1834.

World Wild

The tone and lyrical style of the songs continue Jakobsen's ethnic satire theme but, this time, each song is dedicated to a different nation and the typical subjects of their respective cultures, such as Skiing in Switzerland or Pharaohs in Egypt.


Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili

Humaithara is between Marsa Alam and Aswan in Egypt and his shrine there is highly venerated.

Adel Abdel Bari

He was sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt in 1995 for his part in the 1995 plot to blow up the Khan el-Khalili market, along with Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Naggar and Ahmad Salama Mabruk.

Ahram

Al-Ahram, the most widely circulating daily newspaper in Egypt

Al-Shafi‘i

He died at the age of 54 on the 30th of Rajab in 204 AH (20 January 820 AD) in al-Fustat, Egypt, and he was buried in the vault of the Banū ‘Abd al-Hakam, near Mount al-Muqattam.

Arthur Wesley Wheen

Shortly after turning eighteen, he decided to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force and, soon thereafter, was posted to Egypt where he served as a signaller for the 54th Battalion at a military base near the Tel-el-Kebir.

Boscoe Holder

He formed a group by the name of Boscoe Holder and his Caribbean Dancers, who toured all over Europe and further afield (Finland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, former Czechoslovakia, Italy, Monte Carlo and Egypt).

Charaideo

The tombs (Maidams) of Ahom kings and queens at Charaideo hillocks are comparable to the Pyramids of Egypt and are objects of wonder revealing the excellent architecture and skill of the sculptors and masons of Assam of the medieval days.

Dakhamunzu

The episode in The Deeds of Suppiluliuma that features Dakhamunzu is often referred to as the Zannanza affair, after the name of a Hittite prince who was sent to Egypt to marry her.

Dark retreat

All spiritual traditions have used Darkness Techniques in the pursuit of enlightenment: in Europe, the dark room appeared as a network of tunnels, in Egypt as the Pyramides, in Rome as the catacombs, by the Essenes in Israel and Taoists in China as caves.

David Muir

In 2011, Muir reported from Tahrir Square during the political revolution in Egypt and from Fukushima, Japan following the deadly tsunami and nuclear power plant accident.

Delga

Dalga a town of about 120,000 people in Minya Governorate in Egypt

Egyptian cigarette industry

The founder of the industry was Nestor Gianaclis, a Greek who arrived in Egypt in 1864 and in 1871 established a factory in the Khairy Pasha palace in Cairo.

El Naddaha

It is quite popular in the Nile Delta, the northern agricultural-based area of Egypt, typically north to Cairo, where the Nile constitutes a main part of the environment.

Gudea

Materials for his buildings and statues were brought from all parts of western Asia: cedar wood from the Amanus mountains, quarried stones from Lebanon, copper from northern Arabia, gold and precious stones from the desert between Canaan and Egypt, diorite from Magan (Oman), and timber from Dilmun (Bahrain).

Guillemette Andreu

After studying history, Andreu specialized in Egyptology (hieroglyphs, hieratic, Coptic) and produced a thesis on the law and order in Ancient Egypt at Sorbonne in 1978 under the direction of Professor Jean Leclant.

Hemiunu

In his tomb he is described as a hereditary prince, count, sealer of the king of Lower Egypt (jrj-pat HAtj-a xtmw-bjtj) and on a statue found in his serdab (and now located in Hildesheim), Hemiunu is given the titles: king's son of his body, chief justice and vizier, greatest of the five of the House of Thoth (sA nswt n XT=f tAjtj sAb TAtj wr djw pr-DHwtj).

Henry Liddon

In 1882 he resigned his professorship and travelled in Palestine and Egypt; and showed his interest in the Old Catholic movement by visiting Döllinger at Munich.

History of Greek

As Greek culture under Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) and his successors spread from Asia Minor to Egypt and the border regions of India the Attic dialect became the basis of the Koiné (Κοινή; "common").

Jennens

Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar.

Kafur

Abu al-Misk Kafur, (905–968), vizier of Egypt, becoming its de facto ruler (from 946)

Legoland Billund

In addition there are famous landmarks from Sweden, Bergen in Norway, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands, Kennedy Space Center, Mount Rushmore, Abu Simbel in Egypt, Statue of Liberty, Acropolis of Athens, and Star Wars.

Lew Lehr

Between 1937 and 1948, he was caricatured in six Warner Bros. animated cartoons: "She Was An Acrobat's Daughter" (1937), "Porky in Egypt" (1938), "The Sour Puss" (1940), "Russian Rhapsody" (1944), "Herr Meets Hare" (1945) and "Scaredy Cat" (1948).

Lord Gascoyne-Cecil

Lord Edward Gascoyne-Cecil (1867–1918), British soldier and colonial administrator in Egypt

Mattityahu Peled

Peled had already studied Arabic literature during his military service, and soon after being discharged he completed and submitted to UCLA his Ph.D. thesis on the Egyptian Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

Mayte Carrasco

From 2009-2012, she worked as a professor on Journalism and a freelance journalist covering conflicts in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.

Mohammed Tayea

Mohammed Ali Tayea (1945-2000) was one of the political leaders in Egypt during the Sadat and Mubarak era.

Mohsen al-Sukkari

Mohsen al-Sukkari, is an Egyptian former police officer who, on 28 July 2008 murdered the well-known Lebanese artist Suzanne Tamim in Dubai, UAE on orders of Egyptian business tycoon and member of the Egyptian Parliament Hisham Talaat Moustafa in return for $2 million paid by Moustafa, according to statements made by the murderer to the investigators in Cairo.

No. 214 Squadron RAF

Post war the squadron was moved to Egypt but it was disbanded on 1 February 1920 with its crew and aircraft merged into No. 216 Squadron RAF.

Pace Egg play

The line up in 2010 included Billy Painter (Who is also chief Editor of The Painter's Chronicle) as The Fool, Dario Coates as St George, Sam Harris as Bold Slasher, Jack Deighton as The Doctor, Rowan Carter as The black prince of Paradine, Jacob Jones as The king Of Egypt, Joe Cotton as Hector, Desmond as Toss Pott.

Penthelia

The eighteenth-century English writer Bryant claimed the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey poems were written by Penthelia, and stolen from the archives of the temple by Homer in travels through Egypt.

Portals in fiction

Authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince also write of The Stargate Conspiracy: The Truth About Extraterrestrial Life and the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt.

Princess Fawzia-Latifa of Egypt

Princess Fawzia-Latifa of Egypt was born in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 12 February 1982, and she is the daughter of Fuad II (last King of Egypt) by his wife, Fadila (born Dominique-France Picard).

Qualifying Industrial Zone

USTR has designated three QIZs in Egypt – the Greater Cairo Zone, the Alexandria Zone, and the Suez Canal Zone (69 CFR 78094).

Road of the Revolution Front

Amongst its 152 founding members were many well-known personalities such as political activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, novelist Ahdaf Soueif, April 6 Youth Movement co-founder Ahmed Maher, labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain of the Revolutionary Socialists, economist Wael Gamal, leftist activist Wael Khalil and Human Rights lawyer Gamal Eid.

Salah Taher

Overall, he painted 15000 paintings and held more than 80 art fairs for his work in Egypt, Venice, New York, San Francisco, Geneva, Beirut, Kuwait and Jeddah.

Salih Pasha

Kayserili Hacı Salih Pasha (died 1801 or 1802), Ottoman governor of Bosnia, Egypt, Diyarbekir, and Trabzon

Sameh El-Saharty

He graduated from Cairo University School of Medicine in 1982 and received a Master of Sciences in Public Health from the Military Medical Academy in Egypt in 1988, a Certificate in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo in 1988, and Master of Public Health in International Health Policy and Management from Harvard University in 1991.

Sukhoi Su-7

The Su-7 saw combat with Egypt in the 1967 Six Day War, the subsequent War of Attrition, and saw use in the Yom Kippur War by the Egyptians to attack Israeli ground forces.

Taghribat Bani Hilal

The Egyptian poet and writer Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi has made an exhaustive collection of the Sira, travelling from Egypt to Libya to Tunisia to document the variants of the epic.

The Rhodes Colossus

Rhodes measures with the telegraphic line the distance from Cape Town (at his right foot) in South Africa to Cairo (at his left foot) in Egypt, illustrating his broader "Cape to Cairo" concept for British domination of Africa.

Three-state solution

Daniel Pipes describes the “Jordan-Egypt option” as “a uniquely sober way” to bring peace.

Trabluslu Ali Pasha

After hearing about the overthrow of the governor Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha in 1803, Ali Pasha asked to be made the governor of Egypt, even though it appeared as though the Albanian troops had taken control of the province from the Ottomans.

UCOII

In her defence UCOII claims that such ties are limited to the personal militancy of part of her leadership and management and that UCOII related more actually to the European Council for Fatwa and Research, to scholars like the Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa, to European Islam, to Tariq Ramadan, to the scholarship of Islamic feminists and to the writings of Italian converts and Muslim youngs and students in Italy.

Ultras

In 2013, the Associated Press stated that the Egyptian Ultras network was one of the most organized movements in Egypt after the Muslim Brotherhood.

United States Post Office-Visalia Town Center Station

Following with Art Deco tradition, the architect drew heavy inspiration from a multitude of sources, including Mesoamerica, Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs

The Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs is responsible for United States relations with the countries of the Middle East and all of the countries of North Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Morocco.

Uthman bin Ali Zayla'i

He eventually settled in Cairo, Egypt, where he joined other Somali students at the Riwaq al Zayla'i of the Al Azhar University.