Egypt Guide

Explore Egypt Guide and know more about Egypt before and during your travel. Virtual travel that will inspire you with great ideas and things to do in Egypt.

Egypt is a wonderful place, considered to be one of the cradles of human civilization, this is for the fact that it is brimming with history and ancient sites. Ancient Egyptian people inspired humanity with advanced knowledge and technologies that proved to be surprising for nowadays historians and scientists. Admire Egyptian history, stories of Pharaohs and Gods, explore the giant temples that were dedicated to them. Traveling to Egypt is like traveling back in time to a completely different world, you feel peace inside your soul and get inspired by the greatness of the ancient Pharaohs. Egypt’s food and colorful markets is another highlight, walking through the old and narrow streets of Cairo feels like walking through different worlds, as you admire the Pyramids you will also be fascinated by Cairo’s early Coptic Churches and Medieval Islamic gates and Mosques. A journey through the Nile Valley on a Nile Cruise is all what you need to get away from the busy cities.

Egypt Guide – Things to do in Egypt:

Egypt has a lot to offer in terms of daily tours and excursions, such as Pyramids of Giza & Sphinx, Camel ride through the desert. Visit Cairo Egyptian Museum, the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Museum (NMEC).  Visit Coptic and visit some of the oldest churches and convections in the world. Islamic Cairo can dazzle you with amazing medieval architecture with its old mosques and Madrasas. Taking a Nile Cruise Luxor & Aswan is the best way to cruise the Nile and visit the highlights on the way, including but not limited to Karnak, Luxor ,Abu Simbel, Tombs of the Kings valley.

Egypt’s cuisine is very delicious and you will surely find a good variety of options that will suite your taste or diet. Don’t miss to try the traditional Foul Wi Ta’mea (Beans, Falafel). Kushary (Pasta, Rice, Lentils) Shawerma (meat or chicken) Kebab, Mix grill, Sheesh tawook. Dawood Basha with rice. Musaka’a (Eggplant hot pot)

Whether you are in a 5 star hotel or a local coffee shop, you can find some traditional drinks including hot herbal drinks, such as Pepper-mint tea, Hibiscus. If you are a coffee drinker, try the Egyptian Turkish coffee, it is treated with rosemarie and cardamon. Or if you are looking for cold drinks, try the Sugarcane juice, Dowm, Kharoob, cold hibiscus.

Best time to go:

Egypt enjoys a Semi Mediterranean weather in Cairo and Alexandria, while Middle and South Egypt have an almost African climate with dry summers and Moderate winters. The best time to visit Egypt is Autumn and Spring time, when Egypt’s weather is very nice and clear, while Luxor and Aswan could be the best winter resort for the winter Holidays. 

Summer time: 

You might not like Egypt’ weather in the Summer (June – July – August) due to the heat, even-though you can find very good deals to tour Egypt during Summer.

Ramadan:

Ramadan is the holly month of the Muslims during which they abstain from Sunrise till Sunset to evoke a very special spiritual time. Of course, alongside the religious stipulations, a rich fabric of traditions and social mores have arisen which bring color, culture and life. 

Egypt has a fantastically rich Ramadan heritage, ranging from lights to cannons to night callers. Ramadan may make your tour in Egypt slower than any time else as working hours would be shortened, however tourist places will stay functioning. 

Egypt Guide – Read More About Egypt:

Egypt’s Name:

Egypt is officially named The Arab Republic of Egypt, while its ancient name during the time of the Pharaohs used to be ” Kemet ” which means the color Black, referring to the rich and fertile Nile Valley, and the Egyptian desert was called “Deshrit” referring to the Red land of the deserts.

Meanwhile when King Menes founded his Capital Memphis some 20 KMs south of Cairo around 3200 BC to be the first capital of Unified Upper and Lower Egypt, the city was titled ” Hwt Ka Pitah” which means ” The House of the Spirit of God Pitah ” that title was eventually given to the Egyptians by the Greeks  who pronounced it as “Aegypteos”, this where the western name of Egypt was initially driven.

When the Arabs came to Egypt the name “Aegypteos” was changed again to be Copt which is still the title of the Egyptian Orthodox Christians, and the Arabs named Egypt Misr

Egypt in the Holly Books:

Egypt has always obtained a special religious position in all Heavenly Religions, due to either the visit or even the stay of Prophets to Egypt. Starting from the Time of Prophet Abraham who came to Egypt and married to his Egyptian wife Hagar and had his first son Ishmael, and then prophet Joseph son of Jacob was raised in Egypt, and the Israelites settled in Egypt since the time of Joseph till the time of Exodus with Prophet Moses.

Egypt was also the center of the Holly Journey for the Holly family, and Jesus spent his infancy in Egypt. When the Arabs entered Egypt, Prophet Mohammed recommended them to treat the Egyptians well for the fact that it has the best soldiers on earth and they are bonded forever.

Brief History:

The annual flood of the Nile in a regular and rich basis, together with semi-isolation provided by the Eastern and Western deserts, allowed for the development of one of the world’s great civilizations.

A unified kingdom arose around 3200 B.C. and a series of Royal Dynasties ruled for the next three millennia. The last native Dynasty fell under the Persian invasion in 341 B.C., who were eventually replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines.

It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language to Egypt in the 7th century and ruled for the next 6 centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks (Mercenaries) took control in 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517.

After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became a very important hub for world’s transportation, but also fell heavily into foreign debt. Ostensibly Britain seized control of Egypt’s government in 1882 to protect their investments, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Egypt gained a Partial independence from the UK in 1922; Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II.

Egypt’s Geography & Climate:

Egypt lies at the northeast corner of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea that lies north of Egypt. Egypt is slightly more than three times the size of Mexico and is bordered by Libya on the west, Sudan on the south and on the east by the Red Sea and Israel.

Geographically speaking Egypt is divided into two separate unequal land areas: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt by the northward-flowing Nile River, which is the main identity of Egypt’s geography. Nile River originates from south of the Mediterranean Sea and flows northward and fans out into the seafront between the cities of Alexandria and Port Said.

Apart from the Nile River Valley most of Egypt’s landscape part is an arid and sandy desert. Egypt also includes part of Sahara and Libyan Deserts. Lower Egypt stretches from the south of present-day Cairo to the Nile Delta at Alexandria city. Whereas Upper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that stretches from the modern day Aswan to the south of present Cairo.

Nile-the world’s longest river is the dominant feature of Egypt geography. The highest lands in Egypt are located in the south and are in a slopping position directed towards the Mediterranean Sea. While some of the mountains, reaching over 8350 feet high, are situated in the south of Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt geography is the natural habitat of many resources like petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, limestone, lead, zinc and many more. Among the total land of Egypt, only 2.92% land is used as the arable land. Frequent droughts, earthquakes, floods during the summer season, landslides, and sandstorms are the other features of Egypt geography.

Religion in Egypt:

Religion in Egypt is a framework of many aspects of social life. In Egypt religion was based on the practice of polytheism i.e. worship of many deities. There were almost 2000 gods and goddesses in Egypt among which some were famous and worshiped throughout the country while some were the local deities.

Among the deities worshiped in Egypt, the majority of them were the glorified regional spirits and were not honored outside their regional cult. The national deities were mainly associated with the royal families only. But sometimes there was a blend of two deities in one and that created lots of confusion. Amon and Re were the perfect examples of such case. Amon was the god of wind and symbolized hidden forces of nature while Ra deity was the representation of the Sun and symbolized the ubiquitous power of creation. Both the deities were the symbols of creative powers of the universe.

However, the nucleus of Egyptian religion is Ma’at a symbol of peace, order, and justice on the cosmic scale. Beside of the gods and goddesses, a great king of Egypt named Osiris, his wife Isis and their great son Horus came to be worshiped as the holy trinity. It was only after the invasion of Roman that subsidized the native ancient Egyptian religion.

Christianity came in Egypt along with the Byzantine rule, which was later swept, to a limited area by the Islam. Islam made its visible prints on the land of Egypt with the invasion of Arabs. Arabs brought with them the Sunni form of Islam and from till then, Islam is the official religion of Egypt.
Present Egypt is predominantly a Muslim country with 90% of its total population is the adherent of Islam. The remaining 10% are the followers of Christianity, Judaism or are the non-followers. Worship of the ancient Egyptian gods has disappeared completely.

The Muslim population in Egypt is largely Sunni. Islam in Egypt is a complex and diverse religion. However, Christians are mainly Coptic Orthodox along with the fewer numbers of followers of Coptic Catholic Church. The Jewish community has just around 2000 persons residing in Egypt.

Egypt Economy & Politics:

Egypt Economy is the outcome of public services that contribute about 50% of the country’s GDP. This figure clearly reflects the changes in the socialist thinking and principles of Egypt economy and politics.

Egypt economy mainly depends on agriculture, tourism and petroleum exports. Beside of these contributory factors, Egypt’s second biggest income source is the traffic that goes through the Suez Canal. Presently speaking Egypt economy is the second largest sound economy in the Arab world. But like other countries, Egypt is also facing the problems of unemployment and poverty.

It is only because of the fewer employment opportunities that are somewhat responsible for high rate of migration of Egyptians to other countries. The United States has a large population of Egyptian immigrants. However Egyptian Government is trying to solve these problems by introducing many economic reforms and by investing in communications and physical infrastructure. Egypt has also been receiving foreign aid for making its economy better.

Egypt Politics comprises of a semi-presidential republic in which President of Egypt is both the head of state and government. The Prime Minister of the country is the leader of the Egyptian government. Executive power rests with the government while both the government and the parliament exercise the legislative power.

Egypt Parliament consists of two chambers; the People’s Assembly and the Advisory Council. People’s Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament and is the principal legislative body. The Advisory Council is the upper house of the Parliament and the legislative power of this house is limited. Out of the total 174 members, one half of the Advisory Council is renewed after every three years. Parliament meets only for one nine-month session in a year. President can call for an additional session in case of special circumstances.

The Egyptian People:

The Egyptian populous divided into four cultural groups consisting of Copts, Bedouins, Nubians and Egyptian peasants, or Fellahin. Upon closer examination, Fellahin are presented basically as farmers living in villages. Perhaps this is a correct and traditional definition of the word Fellahin, but it was immediately apparent that this division of cultural groups was out of touch with reality, and showed no feeling for Egypt’s true flavor. Egypt is actually a wonderful and delightful mixture of traditions with a socioeconomic structure which allows, more and more, a gradient of classes. But one must look, and feel with the heart in order to touch this essence of Egypt.

A considerable amount, if not a majority of Egypt’s population now live in larger cities, mostly Cairo and Alexandria. In fact, these two cities dominate the vision of most foreigners. They are vitally important to Egypt’s culture, but one should not neglect the many other moderately sized cities. And within these cities, there is a virtual kaleidoscope of social strata. There are doubtless the poor; the recent Fellahin come to the city and the lower echelons of what we will call the commercial or merchant class. They are evident and plentiful. But these businessmen merge into the middle class, and the upper middle class. More than a few become wealthy.

The travel books seem to neglect this broad range of Egyptian businessmen. Some come from families who probably have ancient ties with trading, but others are those Fellahin who have found what they came looking for in the city. Perhaps the poorest of these merchants, those who sell produce or bean meals in the streets might answer to the term Fellahin, but I doubt that most would fall within any of the traditional cultural groups. They have a million faces, and also as many professions and trades. They make gold jewelry and copper pots, rugs, they paint, build buildings and fine pottery. They sell groceries at the corner market. They trade in tractors and water pumps; they are butchers and bakers, taxi drivers, and secretaries.

And these days many of these people are simply Egyptian, not Coptic, not Nubian, not Bedouin and certainly not the traditional Fellahin. But what is equally missing from most travel guide descriptions of the Egyptian culture is a real feeling for the beauty of these marvelous cities. Here, one will find teenagers at McDonalds or Pizza Inn making the local drag in their small Fiats. There, one will see brightly lit streets with multicolored lights strung from the buildings so as to celebrate a birthday or a wedding. One will find a continuous stream of blaring horns, as a population perpetually late for some meeting scrambles about the city.

But one may admire this madness from an armchair next to his favorite coffee shop, where he may be overcome by a feeling of tranquility. It is often a culture of the back streets of small neighborhoods, particularly at night, where the television has not dispatched social accord. The residents of these small neighborhoods within these monstrous cities know each other well and look out for one another. It is also a moral culture, which these authors admire wholeheartedly.

In a city the size of Cairo, there is virtually no crime rate. Many westerners believe that this is due to stiff punishment, but the real reason is the population’s loyalty to their religious faith. The virtual absence of drinking and drugs among the local population, prohibited by their Islamic law and enforced by their own piety, surely has much to do with this. When one ceases judging cultures purely from the standpoint of material wealth and begins to see the humanistic success of the Egyptian culture, it is difficult for a person of any religious persuasion not to develop a deep respect for Islam

Egyptian Villages:

Most of the inhabitants live in mud-brick homes, their thick walls insulating against the afternoon heat. Flat roofs, exposed to the northern evening breezes, serve as cool sleeping quarters as well as storage areas. Villagers plaster the outer walls and often trim them in blue, a color they believe wards off the evil eye. As a man becomes richer, he can add a second story to his house perhaps for his married son.

Those villagers who have made the journey to Mecca paint the legend of their trip on the outer walls of their homes. Such hajj houses, along with the mosques, are the most distinguished buildings in a village. Some villagers build ornate pigeon coops close to their homes, using the birds as food and their droppings to fertilize crops. Many houses still have dirt floors and lack electricity or running water; women with jars balanced on their heads make the trek to the community well, and children with donkeys haul the precious liquid in jerry cans.

All this said, government-sponsored building programs have also brought newer style residences and utilities to some villages, particularly those outside the Nile Valley in the Oases and the Red Sea coastal areas.

Egyptian Family:

Family Life:

Egyptians dote on their children, who as they grow up quickly, take on adult duties. The younger ones start by herding sheep and goats. When the boys reach nine or 10, they begin learning how to farm the land that will eventually be theirs. Young girls feed chickens, milk goats and water buffalo, make the dung patties used for fuel, and fetch water.

At an early age, they learn to carry loads on their heads; starting with lightweight items such as bread loaves, they graduate to laundry, and then to large clay water jars. Their work gives them a grace of carriage that remains with them throughout their lives.

In Egyptian extended families, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all feel clan obligations, and these ties unite them in good times and bad. If an individual’s crops fail, all relatives contribute from their own supplies. If an animal is fatally injured, the fellahin will slaughter it and each family within the clan will buy a portion, thus sharing the meat and contributing to the cost of replacing the animal. The clan elders arbitrate disagreements, even those between husbands and wives, and give opinions that range from farming techniques to religious obligations.

Dress code:

Outside her home, a married woman traditionally wears a black outer dress over her brightly colored house-dress and covers her hair with a long veil, which often sweeps the ground behind her. She wears her dowry of gold necklaces and silver bracelets and anklets, insurance against poverty if her husband divorces her or she becomes widowed. Her husband dressed in a long robe (Galabiya), cotton in summer and wool in winter. He often covers his head with a scarf wound like a turban and in the winter adds a wool jacket.

The robes of both sexes cover the entire body, but their looseness allows a cooling circulation of air and serves as insulation. Although the black garments of the women heat up slightly quicker than the paler Galabiyas, both, contrary to popular belief, maintain about the same temperature.

Food and cuisine:

At the end of the working day, rural Egyptians return to their villages, the Fellahin leading his water buffalo or riding his donkey. A peaceful quiet settles over the mud-brick houses as families gather for their evening meal. Village women once spent much of their lives cooking, but today, they are equal partners in relationships and take a growing and active role in society.

They bake their bread in clay ovens of ancient pattern, making both an unleavened type and Aysh shams (sun bread), which they set in the sun to rise. The main meal consists of rice, beans, and vegetables, for special occasions (if the meat is available), they will fix Fattah, a dish with layers of bread, rice, and meat seasoned with vinegar and garlic and garnished with yogurt and nuts. The Fellahin eat with bread rather than knives and forks, tearing the round loaf into finger-sized portions and dipping them into the serving dishes

Egyptian Feasts:

On festival days, a village is anything but quiet. To celebrate the Mulid (saint’s day) of the village, the entire population turns out; the children sample the carnival rides and the adults visit, watch horse races, and take part in the rituals. During weddings, the village women decorate the bride with designs of henna, and after the wedding, whole villages accompany the bride and groom to their new home. The villages’ women work together to prepare the ornate meals that accompany these celebrations. Isolation is inconceivable in an Egyptian village.

Egypt the cradle of many tales is also famous for its festivals and religious events also known as “Mulids”. Festivals in Egypt have religious significance from the era of Pharaohs.
As Egypt is a secular country so the festivals and the events are also secular but fascinating and vibrant. Below are some of the major festivals of Egypt.

1- Prophet Mohammed’s Birth Anniversary:

The birthday of the founder of Islam is celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy in all Muslims country throughout the world. This event of Egypt is held in the month of May and is celebrated with parades. Offering sweets and clothes is the main ritual associated with this festival.

2- Christmas:

This Coptic Christmas is held on 7th January. Celebrated by the Coptics of Egypt this day is celebrated as the birthday of Christ as all other Orthodox churches except Armenian assumed. People enjoy a mass gathering at midnight and enjoy a traditional cuisine of a festival known as “Fattah”.

3- Sham Al-Nessim:

Another traditional festival, which marked the arrival of spring in Egypt and is celebrated throughout Egypt on the Monday in the month of April after Coptic Easter.

4- Eid al Fitr:

This religious event marks the end of the month-long fasting or Ramadan period for Muslims. Ramadan has a special flavor among the events of Egypt. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over Egypt as well as in other Muslim countries also. Many Muslim tourists visit Egypt during Ramadan.

5- Eid al Adhha:

This religious event begins about 70 days after the end of Ramadan and is dedicated to Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son. This event lasts for four days.

6- Wafaa Al Nil:

This festival is dedicated to the symbol of Egypt-the Nile River. It is among one of the ancient festivals of Egypt. In the present scenario painting competitions, sessions of poetry, seminars, and music concerts are the highlight of this September month festival.

7- Abu Simbel Sun Festival:

This Festival of Egypt is associated with the ancient temple of Egypt-Abu Simbel and highlights the ancient traditional rituals of Egypt. This festival is held on 22nd February.

8- Pharaonic Wedding:

This festival is the symbol of the ancient civilization of Egypt and is held celebrated in the month of November. This festival is considered as an auspicious day for marriages. Couples visit Karnak Temple and get married there.

9- The Art Festival:

A week-long festival held from 24th-31st August. This festival is said to be the greatest art festival of the Arab world. In spite of these festivals, one most major event of Egypt is Ramadan. Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam is also called as Ramadan. It is considered as the most blessed and spiritually beneficial month of the Islamic year.