Ancient Egyptian's pyramids

There may be no greater tribute to the ingenuity of a whole society than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza. This 481-foot-tall colossus towers over modern day monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben. The Pharaoh was believed to be Horus, the falcon-god who served as protector of the sun-god Ra (the only entity more divine than the Pharaoh himself), chosen by the Heavens to serve as a mediator on Earth. As such, the ancient civilization saw that it was in their best interest to care for the king, even in the afterlife. Thus, beginning in 2630 B.C., King Djoser had workers build a 204-foot-high stone pyramid at Saqqara, which led to the birth of a tradition carrying on to King Khufu for whom the Pyramid of Giza was built some 60 years later. Unlike popular misconception, these pyramids were not built by slaves, but by paid workers and architectural geniuses when the Nile would flood and prevent them from tending to their land.

Although, the ancient Egyptian civilization’s achievements extend far beyond that of stone monuments. For starters, the Egyptians developed the 24-hour day and the 365-day year to carefully optimize their farming in sync with the merciless Nile floods. Additionally, Egyptian farmers are of the first in history to have invented the plow, which they used to efficiently and rapidly sow endless fields that bake under the scorching sun. These contributions have undoubtedly revolutionized the world as we know it, but even their less grandiose inventions continue to amaze researchers until this very day. Egyptians are credited with inventing eye-makeup, a sophisticated written language, papyrus paper (which was a closely guarded secret up until 1965), breath mints and toothpaste to cope with dental problems, the sport of bowling, the first ‘barbershop’, and even the first door-locks to name a few.

The endless fascination with ancient Egypt and its brilliant people becomes abundantly clear as one delves into history to capture a glimpse of their inconceivable achievements. Even after all of these years, this ancient race still has many more stories to tell.