Picture Page on Egypt

Outline

  1. Physical Environment
  2. Culture
  3. Wonders of Egypt

Physical Environment

The Nile River

 Beach on island in Nile River

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This picture is of the Nile River in Egypt. The Nile River is essential for the Egyptians way of life since most of Egypt is desert. Egyptians have relied on the river since ancient times. With the Nile being so fertile, the crops grown are used to provide a source of food for the general population. Most of Egypt’s population and its cities lie within a few miles of the river. Many of Egypt’s ancient historical sites are found around the Nile.

The Desert

Siwa Oasis Egypt

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Egypt is about 96% uninhibited desert. In this picture you can see the rolling sand dunes. Because most of Egypt is desert, around 80 million people live on the banks of the Nile River. The deserts of Egypt do have a few oases but not enough to sustain a stable population.

The Nile River Delta

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This picture is a satellite image of the Nile Delta that has been color enhanced to show the sediment that is being carried out of the Nile River and into the Mediterranean Sea as well as to show the differences of the land features. The Nile Delta is one of the world’s largest river deltas. The delta is a very rich agricultural region for Egypt.  The delta has been home to many people for thousands of years, and it has been farmed for at least 5,000 years.

Culture

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

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The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural center in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The library is meant to commemorate the Library of Alexandria which was lost in antiquity. The cost of building the library ended up being around $220 million before it was opened in October 2002. The library has space for over 8 million books and also specializes in libraries for the blind, young people, and children. The collections that the library offers were donated from all over the world.  

Cairo Opera House

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The Cairo Opera House was built in 1988 to replace Cairo’s first and World famous Opera House that burned down in 1971. The funds for the opera house were given to Egypt as a gift from Japan resulting from Egypt’s president visiting Japan in 1983. The opera house is part of Cairo’s National Culture Center. This makes it the main performing arts venue in Cairo and is home to many of Egypt’s best musical groups.  

 

Amr Diab

 

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Amr Diab is an Egyptian singer and composer of jeel music. He has become one of the highest selling Middle Eastern artists of all time. He has been awarded the World Music Award three times for being the best selling Middle Eastern singer. Diab is one of the first singers to popularize music videos in the Arab world. Amr has also tried his hand in a film career. His popularity in Egypt has also landed him endorsement deals with Pepsi.

Wonders of Egypt

Pyramids of Giza

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The Giza pyramid complex is located about 5 miles into the desert from the old city of Giza located on the Nile. The pyramids are about 15 miles southwest of Cairo. Egypt is famous for there pyramids and the most famous of them all is the pyramid in the center. This is known as the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are many theories as to how the pyramids were built, but it still remains a mystery. Many of the pyramids were built by pharaohs to be used as there tombs after they died.  

The Sphinx

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The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most famous wonders of Egypt. It is believed that sphinxes were used as temple guardians and were placed near royal tombs or temples. It is believed that the sphinx in originated in Egypt in the form of a sun god. As you can see in the picture, the sphinx has a human head on a lion’s body. The Great Sphinx of Giza’s face is believed to be that of the pharaoh Khafra.

Hieroglyphics

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Hieroglyphics are the ancient writings of the Egyptian people. They appeared on pyramids and tombs of the royalty. The hieroglyphics played an important role in telling the history of Egypt along with the accomplishments of the pharaohs. The writings date back as far 3000 B.C. It was a very difficult language to learn and used thousands of symbols. One symbol could have up to three meanings and could be phonetic or simply be representative of the picture it depicted. The discovery of the Rosetta stone by Napoleons armies after Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 was a huge discovery in the history of hieroglyphics. The black tablet had an inscription that was written in two forms of ancient Egyptian symbols, ancient hieroglyphics and demotic hieroglyphics. The hieroglyphics on the Rosetta stone also came with a Greek translation.

Submitted by Alex Warta on May 2, 2008