News — Egyptian History

Ancient Egyptians believed that there were eight spirit forms that comprised the 'soul' of the deceased, and moved on to the next life. The Ba, usually depicted as a human head with the body and outstretched wings of a falcon (often with human hands down the sides), was the embodiment of the unique characteristics (personality) of the deceased.  The Egyptians thought birds were able to fly between the world of the living and the world of the afterlife. The Ba would fly by day and unite with the other important spirit forms of the deceased in the afterlife, and then return...

At Discoveries Egyptian Imports we have created several coloring book pages, educational booklets and fun activity sheets. We have made it easy to discover new facts about ancient Egypt and to teach children Egyptology in an interesting way. The hieroglyphic language contains more than two thousand symbols, some representing words, others representing full ideas, and others representing sounds (phonetic). Depending on how the symbols are used, the same symbol might represent an idea in one hieroglyphic sentence or a sound in a different sentence! For the alphabet, there are multiple symbols that represent the same sounds. We have adopted a generally accepted alphabet/symbol translation...

Sekhmet (Sakhmet) is an Egyptian goddess depicted with the body of a woman with a lion head wearing a sun disk. She is one of the oldest known Egyptian deities. Her name means: “She who is powerful” and she was the goddess of the desert sun, plague, chaos, war, and healing. For her friends she could avert plague and cure disease. In order to stay on her good side they offered her food and drink and played music for her. As a result, this often ferocious deity was called the “lady of terror” and also the “lady of life”.  ...

Aswan stands out as a special part of Egypt. In particular, the Nile in Aswan is one of the most picturesque settings in all of Egypt. If there is wind, a sailboat ride is an absolute must.  Sailing south out of Aswan for an hour or so you reach rapids that are called cataracts. Experienced boat captains 'play' with the roiling waters and it is a wonderful, exotic experience. Aswan marks the beginning of Nubia, the area shared by Egypt and Sudan, and you can sense the cultural change as Africa approaches. Following the ride down the Nile, you can...

The Nile River is the central artery of Egypt. It is the sole source of drinking water and brings fertilization to the fields with the rich silt carried from deep inside Africa. The Nile is a major transportation corridor, ferrying people between the east bank and the west bank and facilitating commercial barge movement. But even with all that traffic, it is also the place where sailboats and motorboats cruise while filled with locals and tourists enjoying the sights.   In Cairo, the noise, traffic, sand, dirt, hustle-bustle and general commotion gets left behind the minute you depart from the...