Pharaoh’s Past and Present Life: Egypt

Every ancient civilization has food in its cultural heritage.

From the dinner table The long history reflects the cultural development history of the entire nation. The food on the emperor's table in each period and dynasty directly reflects the rise and fall and development of the empire, and is also the most intuitive embodiment of religion, culture, technology, etc. at that time.

Come on, before introducing Egypt, let’s take a look at this menu.

This seemingly ordinary menu contains dishes that can be eaten in almost any Egyptian restaurant.

But do you guys know?

In fact, every dish in it originated from ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. In other words, all the dishes on this menu once appeared on the tables of the Egyptian pharaohs thousands of years ago.

So let’s take a look at what the pharaohs ate, shall we?

Hummus & Sesame Dip Sesame Oil Hummus

Chickpeasare Egypt’s most popular ingredient.

In this dish, chickpeas are soaked and cooked. Add fennel, minced garlic, and salt and stir until pureed. Drizzle with a spoonful of sesame oil.

Fragrant and silky smooth hummus is ready to serve.

Falafel Fried Vegetable Meatballs

Traditional vegetable meatballs are vegan but have the texture of meat.

In addition to chickpeas, the ingredients include celery and carrots. Soak and cook the chickpeas, mix with chopped celery, carrots, and ginger and puree. Mix in an appropriate amount of flour, add cumin, curry powder, salt to taste, and mix well with water. Take a small portion and roll it into a ball shape, fry it in oil until the surface is golden brown, and remove from the pan.

The deep-fried vegetable meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Once you take a bite, the flavor of mixed beans, vegetables and spices lingers in your mouth.

Aish baladi Egyptian scones

The ancient Egyptians discovered and mastered the use of natural yeast to make bread thousands of years ago.

But due to the preciousness of natural yeast, bread was considered a luxury product even for the Pharaoh. Therefore, the more common method is to bake it into pancakes and pair it with hummus, which is moderately soft and hard, sweet and delicious.

Haman mahshi roasted pigeon

The ancient Egyptians were simply "foodies" when it came to food. There is nothing that flies in the sky, walks on the ground, or swims in the water that they do not eat. But the most popular one is undoubtedly the roasted pigeon.

The Egyptians mixed and cooked rice, onions, and broad beans, added spices, stuffed them into clean pigeons, and roasted the pigeons over charcoal fire.

The finished roasted pigeon is crispy, tender, juicy and fragrant.

Molokhia Soup Malva Chicken Soup

Molokhia is also known as the "Emperor's Dish", which comes from a legend.

When the ancient Egyptians were occupied by the Hyksos, the Hyksos believed that the mallow (Molokhia) was poisonous, so they forced the Egyptians to eat it, but they found that no one died from the poison. Only then did he suddenly realize that in order to prevent the public from eating this extremely nutritious food, his emperor declared that mallow was poisonous so that he could "eat alone".

The Egyptians then chopped the mallow, added garlic, coriander, and cooked it with chicken to make a thick soup. Gradually it became a well-known delicacy.

Koshari mixed beans and rice

Mixed beans and rice are still a very unique food in Egypt today. It's so widespread that it can be found in almost every restaurant on the streets.

In order to make the rice richer in taste, the ancient Egyptians mixed chopped noodles, lentils, macaroni, onions and other ingredients with tomato juice, scallion oil and garlic to create this staple food with rich taste and explosive texture.

Basbousa Coconut Honey Cake

Egyptians can be inhumane when it comes to eating sweets.

In fact, this is also because the ancient Egyptians discovered that coating ingredients with syrup or honey can preserve them for a long time.

This cake is made of semolina, and is covered with thick honey or syrup. Orange peel is added to remove the sweetness of the sugar, and shredded coconut is used to enhance the taste.

Even today, it is the most popular dessert in Egypt and even the entire Arab countries.

Umm Ali Baked Milk Pudding

Umm Ali's original meaning is "Ali's mother". This originated from a bloody history of palace struggle.

During the Egyptian coup in 1250 AD, the mother witnessed the tragic death of her son Ali. After killing her enemy, she ordered the palace chef to make this dessert, put a gold coin in it and distributed it to the people to celebrate the revenge of the great revenge. Therefore, this delicious dessert called "Ali's Mother" has been passed down.

The Egyptians mixed milk, raisins, nuts, etc. and roasted them until golden brown.

Bouza barley beer

Yes, you read that right, beer was invented by the ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago.

But make no mistake, the beer in ancient Egypt was still very different from what it is today. Around 1350 BC, the Egyptians mixed barley bread and dry grains into pieces, then added water to ferment them to make the earliest beer. Due to its low alcohol content and high content of grains, this nutrient-rich liquid became popular among the public.

Okay, the introduction to Pharaoh’s menu is complete.

If there are friends who are already eager to taste the delicacies that the Pharaohs once tasted, remember to follow our official account and bookmark this menu so as not to get lost.

Egypt welcomes you.

Why not mention the Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, you ask?

Ahem, because they are not as famous as the two below.

The history of every ancient civilization is actually a roster of emperors. Among the many pharaohs of ancient Egypt, two names have to be mentioned: Ramses II and Tutankhamun.

A person who is famous all over the world when he is alive,

After a person dies, he becomes famous all over the world.

Tutankhamun was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Born in 1341 BC and died in 1323 BC.

Yes, you read that right, Tutankhamun only lived to be 19 years old. Among the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, he was the one with a very weak sense of historyexistence.

Because of this, when Tutankhamun died unexpectedly and prematurely, his tomb was not even built. They had no choice but to use a small and crude tomb that was said to be prepared for a certain minister. Although more than 5,000 funerary objects were unearthed in the tomb, most of them were more like random finds and were completely inconsistent with the identity of the pharaoh.

The owner of this tomb had a small sense of historical presence, but was actually forgotten by later pharaohs. Pharaoh Ramses VI built his tomb on top of Tutankhamun's tomb.

This kind of small probability event, which is almost impossible to happen in the history of emperors, coincidentally concealed Tutankhamen's tomb. This pharaoh's tomb, which is more than 3,000 years old, miraculously escaped the looting of tomb robbers and was completely preserved.

An important historical mark left by Pharaoh Tutankhamun to future generations is that his life mirrored the evolution of religious worship in ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun was originally called Tutankhamun , which means "image of Aton" . Aton is a sun god in Egyptian mythology.

Then it was renamed Tutankhamun, which means "the image of Amun". This marks that during the Eighteenth Kingdom, ancient Egypt began to switch from worshiping the sun god Aton to worshiping the god Amun. The god Amun was originally the local god of Thebes. With the prosperity of Thebes, he was recognized as the patron saint of the Pharaoh, and his name spread throughout ancient Egypt as the "King of the Gods".

Tutankhamun's tomb in Luxor is now open to tourists. But here we recommend saving the ticket money. Not least because all the funerary objects have been moved to the museum in Cairo. Moreover, Tutankhamun did not have any impressive deeds during his lifetime, so even the murals in the tomb were terrifyingly simple .

To be honest, in Luxor, we recommend visiting some of the great works of Ramses II, who is known as the greatest pharaoh of ancient Egypt.

Ramesses II was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Born in 1303 BC, died in 1213 BC, and lived from 1279 to 1213 BC.

Among the short-lived ancient Egyptian pharaohs, Ramses II lived to be ninety years old, which can be called a miraculous existence.

The legendary life of Ramses II: He joined the army at the age of 10 to assist his father.

(Although it sounds more like experiencing life).

During his reign, he conducted a series of expeditions across the Sinai Peninsula and into the Levant. The most famous event left in history by this battle is thatEgypt and the Hittite Kingdom signed the first famous international agreement in history-the Egyptian Hittite Contract. The contract declared an armistice and a military alliance between the two countries, and left Egyptian and Hittite texts for future generations, which have been passed down through the ages.

Ramesses II was famous for his foreign military operations, and his enthusiasm for national construction also left his traces throughout Egypt.

As the capital, Luxor is naturally the top priority. Ramses II expanded the Karnak and Luxor temples in Luxor, and built the magnificent Abu Temple of Abu Simbel .

Never heard of Abu Simbel Temples?

Do you remember looking at the picture ?

This is the testimony of ancient Egypt’s biggest CP spreading dog food 3,000 years ago - Ramesses II built it for his most beloved wife Nefertari .

Due to its artistry and uniqueness, in order to protect it from being submerged by the rising Nile water, the United Nations launched a huge project to raise the temple located along the Nile River by 200 meters.

We only need to mention one detail here:

In the Abu Simbel Temple before it was moved, on February 21 (the legendary birthday of Ramses II) and October 21 (the legendary enthronement day of Ramses II) every year, the light of the sun god would shine through the entrance of the temple. Passing through the 60-meter corridor, the statue of Ramses II in the deepest part of the temple is illuminated.

Today's Abu Simbel Temple, due to the change in location, the sunlight can still shine into the deepest part of the temple, but the date is postponed by one day to February 22nd every year and October 22. Friends who are interested in visiting the temple, have you marked down the date?

(Remember the day Quetzalcoatl came to the Pyramid of Kukulkan as mentioned in our Mexico article?)

Coco: Mexico

By the way, Ramses II also made a name for himself after his death:

Was the first mummy to have a passport.

His occupation is - King.

Awesome~

The various auras above Egypt attract a large number of tourists from all over the world. It is the lifelong dream of countless people to set foot on this land of ancient civilization and find out.

But this is a country that attracts tourists, and it has also become a place where tourists can complain about three days and three nights. Compared with the "little fight" in Barcelona, ​​Spain, Egypt has a real reputation for cheating and killing customers.

(Remember our “You don’t know until you see”—Spain?)

An “unbelievable” encounter: Spain

I have never suffered a loss or been deceived in Egypt.

You wonder if you have gone to a fake Egypt.

But since it is a scam, there must be various tricks.

Understanding and being familiar with these routines will eliminate the need for deception.

The so-called "hitting a snake seven inches", sometimes understanding the deceptions and routines in advance will help you better avoid being shocked in your little heart, thus affecting your Egypt travel experience.

In fact, to be honest, the Egyptian people's methods of robbing customers are quite "simple" and sometimes so "simple and crude" that it makes people laugh or cry.

If you don’t believe it, look at it.

Go back on your word and ask for a lot of money

First of all: real Arabic numerals, and the so-called "Arabic numerals" we use every day, are completely different.

If you don't know the real Arabic numerals in Arab countries, you won't even be able to understand the prices.

Some Egyptians, relying on this aspect, confidently "rip off customers".

Needless to say, various tourist markets, even street shops and merchants, can tell lies in front of the price list and bully foreigners who cannot understand Arabic numerals.

At this time, as long as you can take out the comparison table above and argue with reason.

Of course, if you really can’t reach an agreement, then find another company.

Let them know that "it is the master who spends money."

When traveling in Egypt, what annoys tourists the most is the "black" car driver who goes back on his word.

Don't believe any quotation from the driver's mouth, it's basically all nonsense. All verbal agreements can be broken. Even if you negotiate a good price, you may regret it along the way and be asked to increase the price.

Suggestion: Uber is available in Cairo and Alexandria. The airport also has regular taxis and shuttle buses. These can all be booked and paid through official channels. The most important thing is to get all your luggage before paying. To prevent your luggage from being "kidnapped" in the trunk and having to pay more to "redeem" it.

In addition, the most important thing is to read the license plate clearly before making a decision. The Egyptian government recognizes taxi license plates as "orange", and this is the only color.

Except for UBER and regular taxis, the rest are illegal taxis, so be careful.

Buying and selling by force, greedy

As a major tourist country, Egypt’s scenic spot construction is really disappointing.

And the most incredible thing is that even the ticket office has a fake .

Moreover, the fake ticket offices in some scenic spots look more real than the regular ones. , making it hard to guard against.

Even in world-class scenic spots such as Valley of the Kings or Pyramid, there are "black tour guides" and "fake" staff wearing uniforms and wearing "work certificates" on their chests. Five steps and one whistle.

Egypt is a country where tipping matters.

If Egyptians use their brains on tips instead to develop the country, it will be enough to make Egypt a developed country.

Egyptians can use various clever names to ask for tips for any service.

Therefore, once you are entangled by a "black" tour guide in a scenic spot, you can confirm that it is basically impossible to escape without tipping.

So remember to move forward with your head down and solemnly declare No Guide, No Tips.

Once you let down your guard, another routine will happen again - forced buying and selling.

It can be said that Egyptians are crazy about taking photos of tourists.

Local people all over the scenic area will take the initiative to help you find the angle the moment you raise your camera, guide you posing , and even enthusiastically help you take photos , or simply join in and take a photo with you. And after taking the photos, you know, all kinds of people are asking for money.

As for the products you pick up, you have to buy them , riding a camel and being charged both ways , I believe you will also encounter them in some other scenic spots, so I won’t describe them specifically. .

Suggestion: Carefully check the entrances to major scenic spots and purchase tickets in advance to avoid encountering such fake ticket offices and fake entrances. For all kinds of clever requests for tips, if you don’t need the service, just say NO. If you encounter a forced buying or selling scheme by chance, carefully put the goods in their original place, turn around and walk away.

By the way, special reminder, tickets for some scenic spots need to be reused.

Therefore, no matter what the situation, you must never let go of your tickets, certificates (it is best to carry copies with you) and personal belongings.

You ask about taking pictures?

Buy a selfie stick, you know?