Egipt

Because of its location at the crossroads of the African and Asian continents, Egypt has been an important geographical and political power since the earliest times.Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions: Upper and Lower Egypt. However, throughout their history, Egyptians shared a common language, world view, and institutional structure, as well as a common territory. Ancient Egyptians had a keen sense of the distinctiveness and superiority of their culture, and they struggled to maintain it. Many of the rituals they performed encouraged continuity with earlier periods of their history that they visualized as ideal.

Egypt is a interesting place with a mixture of the old and the new world. It has one of the most misterious and captivant cultures on the globe. Some customs are the same today as in Ancient Egypt and some are different.

The Ancient Egyptian people lived more than 5000 years ago. They are one of the oldest civilizations in the world. They were good at trading goods and were famous for their pyramids, sculptures, temples and paintings. The pyramids are the oldest and only surviving monuments of the seven ancient wonders of the world. They were built some time between 2700 B.C. 2500 B.C.

A lot is known about the ancient Egypt because their hot and dry weather preserved a lot of things they made, they also decorated the walls of their tombs with pictures of their everyday life which helpt historians discover many interesting things.

FAMILY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

In Ancient Egypt the man was head of the household, and the family was very organized. The man could have all the wives he wanted. However, he was responsible for supporting all of them.Women could get divorced easily if their husbands were cruel. The women would keep the children and shared the property with the father.

The nuclear family was the fundamental social unit of ancient Egypt. The father was responsible for the economic well-being of the family, and the mother supervised the household and cared for the upbringing of the children. Although Egyptian children had toys and are occasionally depicted at play, much of their time was spent preparing for adulthood. For example, peasant children accompanied their parents into the fields; the male offspring of craftsmen often served as apprentices to their fathers. Privileged children sometimes received formal education to become scribes or army officers.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE

Anciently Egypt was a kingdom , but in 1952 it became a republic. Today the official name for Egypt is Arab Republic of Egypt. Their president is Mohamed Hosny Mubarak. He is their fourth president and was elected in 1981. Since then he was elected twice for office with most of the votes. Their first lady is Suzanne Mubarak.

Currently the Egyptian economy is undergoing a economic reform program. The major sources of income are the Suez Canal, tourism, gas and oil. Spinning, weaving, metal engineering & food are the major manufacturing. The main crops in Egypt are cotton, wheat, corn and rice.

The arts in Egypt today are just as important as ancient times. Egypt has produced many great writers, Naguib Mahfouz being one of the most famous.

Music has a long tradition in Egypt. Popular Egyptian music includes folk music for the country, at this time traditional Arabic mucic, & western-style music. The country's most famous singer for this time is Omm Kuthem.

The film making industry also is important in modern Egypt, dating back to the period before World War I. Today modern Egyptian films are shown all over the Arab world, which make the Egyptian dialect the most popular among the Arabic speaking countries.

Many holidays are celebrated:

Eid El Fetr is also a special holiday in Egypt which comes after Ramadan.

Sham El Nessim comes after Easter so it is always on a Monday.

ASE, Geografie Economica