How much of what we think we know about ancient Egypt is made up of "alternative facts"?
You might be surprised. The cover story in the current issue of Nile Magazine is "The Top 5 Myths about Ancient Egypt."
Where do we start? The curse of the pharaohs? Lost technology? Cat worship? Pyramids as grain stores? Ancient Aliens? And that's even before we get to Cleopatra!
In this issue, Lindsay Kriz sets the record straight on five myths and misconceptions about ancient Egypt. The first one: Ancient Egypt was fabulously glamorous!
Whenever the concept of ancient Egypt comes to mind, we often conjure up images of smouldering pharaohs and their smokey-eyed queens, golden pyramids, exotic harems, grumpy mummies and Books of the Dead that are actually books.
We like to imagine Queen Nefertari in her lovely diaphanous finery, sailing along the Nile, a cloud of fragrances surrounding her. The real ancient Egypt, however, was very likely a lot... grittier.
Learn more in the latest issue of Nile Magazine: www.nilemagazine.com.au/buy-subscribe
Here we see Ramesses II's first Great Royal Wife, Nefertari (played by Brazilian actress Elana Drago), worshipping at a golden shrine. This scene comes from the 2010 IMAX documentary, "Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs".
Photo: Seth Smoot. (c) Copyright 2007 GSF MUMMIES, LLC.