THE INTERESTING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

NAME : NUR HAZWANI BINTI HASHIM
ID :PTM140716779

Egypt is the oldest tourist destination on earth. Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is among the oldest civilizations on earth. The name 'Egypt' comes from the Greek aegpytos which was the Greek pronunciation of the Egyptian name 'Hwt-Ka-Ptah' which means "House of the Spirit of Ptah", who was a very early God of the Ancient Egyptians. In the early Old Kingdom, Egypt was simply known as 'Kemet' which means 'Black Land' so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River where the first settlements began. Later, the country was known simply as Mirs which means country, a name still in use by Egyptians for their nation in the present day. Egypt thrived for thousands of years as an independent nation whose culture was famous for great cultural advances in every area of human knowledge, from the arts to science to technology and religion. The great monuments which Egypt is still celebrated for reflect the depth and grandeur of Egyptian culture which influenced so many ancient civilizations, among them Greece and Rome.

Evidence of overgrazing of cattle, on the land which is now the Sahara Desert, has been dated to about 8,000 bce. This evidence, along with artifacts discovered, points to a thriving agricultural cultivation in the region at that time.  As the land was mostly arid even then, hunter-gathering nomads sought the cool of the water source of the Nile River Valley and began to settle their sometime prior to 5500 bce. Organized farming began and communities known as the Badari Culture began to flourish alongside the river. The Badari were followed by the Amratian, the Gerzean, and the Naqada cultures, all of which contributed significantly to the development of what became Egyptian civilization.  The written history of the land begins at some point between long years when Hieroglyphic script is developed by the Naqada Culture who also established the industry sometimearound Abydos. Mummification of the dead was in practice at the city of Hierakonpolis. The city of Xois is recorded as being already ancient as inscribed on the famous Palermo Stone. As in other cultures world-wide, the small agrarian communities became centralized and grew into larger urban centers.

Ancient Greeks and Romans started the trend, coming to goggle at the cyclopean scale of the Pyramids and the Colossi of Thebes. During colonial times, Napoleon and the British looted Egypt’s treasures to fill their national museums, sparking off a trickle of Grand Tourists that eventually became a flood of travellers, taken on Nile cruises and Egyptological lectures by the enterprising Thomas Cook. Today, the most popular places to visit are not only the monuments of the Nile Valley and the souks, mosques and madrassas of Islamic Cairo, but also fantastic coral reefs and tropical fish, dunes, ancient fortresses, monasteries and prehistoric rock art.

The land itself is a freak of nature, its lifeblood the River Nile. From the Sudanese border to the shores of the Mediterranean, the Nile Valley and its Delta are flanked by arid wastes, the latter as empty as the former are teeming with people. This stark duality between fertility and desolation is fundamental to Egypt’s character and has shaped its development since prehistoric times, imparting continuity to diverse cultures and peoples over seven millennia. It is a sense of permanence and timelessness that is buttressed by relagion, which pervades every aspect of life. Although the pagan cults of ancient Egypt are as moribund as its legacy of mummies and temples, their ancient fertility rites and processions of boats still hold their place in the celebrations of Islam and Christianity.

The result is a multi-layered culture, which seems to accord equal respect to ancient and modern. The peasants of the Nile and the Bedouin tribes of the desert live much as their ancestors did a thousand years ago. Other communities include the Nubians of the far south, and the Coptic Christians, who trace their ancestry back to pharaonic times. What unites them is a love of their homeland, extended family ties, dignity, warmth and hospitality towards strangers. Though most visitors are drawn to Egypt by its monuments, the enduring memory is likely to be of its people and their way of life.