Where did the ancient Egyptians go? The most common answer to this question will be: “They dissolved first into the Greeks, and then into the Arabs.” But is this true?
The descendants of the biblical Ham inhabited northeast Africa, and on behalf of their ancestor they called the country Hami, or Hemi. The inhabitants of the country of Hemi deified the word, for it was believed that the world was created from the word of the creator god. The first capital of Hemi was born around the temple of the god Ptah. The city received the name Ha-Ka-Pta, which meant “fortress of the soul of Ptah.” The inhabitants of Hemi, subordinate to the capital, began to be called Ha-Ka-Pta. When the Greeks arrived in Khemi, they adopted exactly this name - Ha-Ka-Pta, somewhat altering it in their own way. This is how the word "Egypt" was born. The Hemi women were skilled in cosmetics, and the word "Hemi" passed into ancient Greek as a designation for this art. Later the word “chemistry” came from it. The Greeks began to call the city of Ha-Ka-Pta Memphis, after the white-stone fortress of Mennefer, located in the suburbs. Later, Alexander the Great founded on the shore Mediterranean Sea his Egyptian capital Alexandria. One of his military leaders, Ptolemy, became the founder of a new dynasty of Egyptian kings - the Ptolemies. The ancient Egyptians, descendants of Cheops, all the Thutmoses, Ramses and Amenhoteps, were part of a new civilization.
Later, the country became part of the Roman Empire.
Here, in the land of Egypt, the first infant years of Jesus Christ passed. And Egypt became the cradle of Christianity. It was the Egyptians who were lucky enough to see Him as a small child.
Joseph, Mary and the Infant of God had to wander a lot around Egypt because Herod’s bloodhounds were snooping everywhere.
People saw with their own eyes how the trees bowed their branches with fruits to the Virgin Mary, as if at one glance unusual boy pagan idols were destroyed, how springs came out of the ground in waterless places at the feet of the Holy Family, how animals came to the baby to worship Him and be close to Him.
All this filled future Coptic legends to the brim.
Thanks to these legends, the Egyptians quickly and willingly accepted faith in Christ. Former pagans who worshiped Osiris and Amon Ra, Isis and Ptah came to true monotheism.
The Egyptians, among whom there were many witnesses to the countries visited by the Holy Family themselves, were ready to accept the preaching of Mark the Evangelist.
Thanks to the activities of the preacher Mark, several churches were formed and improved in Alexandria and the surrounding area.
In Alexandria, the Apostle Mark received his crown of martyrdom. There was an era of persecution of Christians, the evil Nero ruled in Rome.
The captured Mark was dragged on a rope through the streets until he died with the words: “Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit!”
The first monastery on Earth was founded in Egypt, as well as many of the most ancient Christian Cathedrals and Temples.
In the middle of the 7th century, Egypt was captured by the Zoroastrians and Persians. They destroyed temples and monasteries. Later, in 640, a new conquest of Egypt took place, this time by the Arabs, who at first showed great tolerance towards Christians. From then on to this day, Egyptian Christians live inside the Muslim Arab state.
It was the Arabs who gave them the name by which the Christians of Egypt are now known throughout the world - Copts. This word is nothing more than the Arabic pronunciation of the word "Egypt".
However, the Arabs officially approved a different name - Misr, because it is believed that the Egyptians descend directly from the biblical Mizraim. For a long time, the Copts did not experience strong persecution from the Arabs, but under Caliph Al-Hakim, who ruled from 996 to 1020, they had a hard time. Gathering the Coptic bishops, the Caliph demanded that they accept Islam, and when they refused, he tortured them. Several more martyrs appeared in the pantheon of Egyptian saints. Unable to obtain obedience from the Copts, Al-Hakim issued a series of discriminatory laws.
Copts were expelled from all leadership positions. An exception was not made even for the vizier Fada Ibn Ibrahim. Copts were required to wear only black clothes and wear heavy wooden crosses on their chests. Muslims were henceforth prohibited from working in the service of the Copts and even transporting Copts on boats.
The Egyptian Pope Zechariah, on the orders of Al-Hakim, was captured and thrown to be torn to pieces by hungry lions. But the lions did not touch Zechariah, and he was released and subsequently canonized.
However, the rest of the rulers of the Fatimid dynasty were tolerant of the Copts. Under them, Pope Abraham I was especially revered. And yet, the Copts continued to be subject to heavy taxes, and the Egyptian popes more than once found themselves in captivity for various reasons.
During the era of the Crusades, Copts, along with Muslims, were equally attacked by the crusaders, who did not understand, robbed and killed everyone. Therefore, the Copts revere Salah at Din as their savior from the crusaders, who are “young” Christians in comparison with the Copts.
Further, the Copts had to survive the rule of the Mamluks and the capture of Egypt by the Turks - Ottoman Empire and in those days they had a hard time. This led to the fact that in the middle of the twentieth century, Copts among Muslims again became outcasts. In Cairo, they were only allowed to work in waste processing, and even the part of Cairo where Copts mainly live was called "Garbage City." Under Anwar Sadat, Muslim extremists took up the physical extermination of Copts, detonating bombs in churches and living quarters. Sadat kept the Egyptian Pope Shenouda under house arrest, not allowing him to travel anywhere.
At the same time, the wave of emigration sharply increased - Copts fled from Egypt to the USA, Canada, Australia, and Europe. It was only after Sadat's death that the situation of the Copts began to improve again. Now, by all indicators, the Coptic community of Egypt is on the rise in all respects - demographically, economically, and in many others.
Why do Egyptians behave this way?
In the East, simply offering sex to a woman is akin to an insult. Therefore, literally on the very first day of meeting a set of stock phrases follows: “you are the most beautiful”, “I have never loved anyone before you”, “I know a lot of Russian women, but you are not like all of them, you are special”, “marry marry me."
Egyptian men have romance and lifelong love in their blood. Almost the entire population of resort towns has affairs with tourists. This happens, firstly, because the very atmosphere of any resort predisposes to romance. Secondly, it’s commonplace to want sex, since even married Egyptians’ other halves mostly live in Cairo, Luxor or another Egyptian city or village from where they came to work.
Start an easy romance with an Egyptian girl for the sake of sexual relations It is almost impossible, due to the religious views of both men and women of Egypt. But planes with tourists from all over the world fly in every day. northern countries, whose men are stingy with compliments. There, men express their passion with gifts and deeds, and in Egypt they give compliments and promises eternal love under the palm trees.
Dividends from love
The salary of a hotel worker is low. A waiter receives about 30 dollars a month, an accountant - no more than 250. Thus, Egyptians look at a foreign woman both as a sexual object and as a cute wallet. It’s so nice to receive as a gift not only a portion of feelings and positive emotions enthusiastic young lady, and mobile phone the latest model, for which the admirer himself would have saved for at least two years! To achieve such gifts, you just need to send SMS: “our names are written in the stars”, “my mother prays for us every day”, “come soon, my love”...
Richer girls can even buy an apartment. It is enough for the Egyptian to say that she will become a joint nest, where they will raise beautiful and smart children together, and offer to buy an apartment in half. After all, what a trifle for a beloved - these 10,000 dollars to create a hearth! It doesn’t matter that the apartment will be registered in the name of an Egyptian. After all, they will love each other all their lives and will never part...
A very wealthy lady can even open a business in the name of her macho man. How pleasant it will be for him later to drive a shiny new car with tinted windows to his native suburb of Cairo, where his Egyptian wife and children live, and show off photographs of his own restaurant!
Meet rare specimens who, indeed, have achieved a lot thanks to their character or wealthy relatives. However, in most cases, the source of wealth is a German Frau, having received money from whom, the macho will send part of the amount to his Russian lover so that she can buy a ticket. All the evidence of feelings is there, including a constant stream of passionate text messages. It's time to get married.
Orfi contract
Any marriage with an Egyptian begins with him. This paper is signed by a lawyer in the presence of two male witnesses. If the witnesses are women, then two women are equal to one man. The contract is given in two copies: one to the husband, the other to the wife. This paper is not registered anywhere, and, in fact, does not impose any obligations. U young man There can be a whole collection of such contracts. If the marriage is terminated for some reason, the wife, as well as the husband, can safely break off the orphy and again be a bird of free flight.
What is it for? Without this document, you cannot even hold hands on the street, let alone visit your loved one in his apartment... Some particularly desperate young people, without concluding such a contract, bring girls home - they probably have connections in the police. Since, if the documents are checked, if the contract is not confirmed, the case for the Egyptian may end in time in the police station. Many houses have male concierges, called "dormen" in Egypt. Without a contract, most often, the doormen simply do not allow couples into the building.
Legalization of orfi contract
If the intentions of the parties are more serious than a banal affair, then the contract must be legalized in court. This is done with the help of a lawyer, as, indeed, any other cases in Egypt related to government agencies. Having been to court several times in order to put signatures on many documents, the young people receive A3 paper in their hands on Arabic, which states that from now on they are officially husband and wife. The entire process takes 1-3 months depending on the workload of the court.
By presenting this paper, the wife receives a visa from the migration service. A residence visa is given initially for six months, then for a year and then for 5 years. Afterwards you can get an Egyptian passport. At the same time, the legalized contract makes it possible to buy tickets for transport and museums at prices for Egyptians, which are significantly lower than prices for foreigners.
And that's not all...
It must be remembered that even a legalized orfi contract is not accepted as evidence of marriage on the territory of other states. In order for a marriage to become legal, it must also be concluded either on the territory of the state of which the wife is a subject, or contact the embassy or consulate of your country in Egypt.
Marriage contract
Many couples enter into a prenuptial agreement when getting married. Unfortunately, not all lawyers warn a foreign wife that in the event of a divorce controversial issues(children, property) are decided solely on the basis of Egyptian law and no marriage contract will be valid if it conflicts with the law.
It makes sense to include in the contract compensation for the wife in the event of a divorce. And then a certain amount is deposited into the wife’s bank account, with which the husband is obliged to pay taxes (about 20%). Although it is called “compensation in case of divorce,” in fact, the money from this account can be used immediately: divorce is not prerequisite. Another option is to open a special account to which the amount prescribed in the marriage contract sum. Financial issues should be monitored very carefully, since an Egyptian can easily have more than one wife.
Divorce
It is also done through the court with the participation of a lawyer. It is better if the divorce is initiated by a man, then the divorce will take less time (about 1 month). If a woman wants to get a divorce, the process will last about six months. Under any conditions, all property acquired during marriage remains with the person in whose name it is registered. The court will not take into account whose money the property was purchased with.
IN judicial practice a transaction concluded in an incapacitated state may be declared invalid. However, dizziness from love, unfortunately, does not apply to mental disorders...
Revelations...
Anyone who has visited Egypt at least once has probably noticed huge amount Russian population - those who came to the country of the pyramids for a long time. The reasons are different for everyone, some can afford to live in Egypt for 2-3 months, sunbathing on the beach every day, others want to work in the tourism industry, others find their love here and get married (or are getting married).
Let's talk about the latter - how Russian girls get married in Egypt: how quickly they decided to move to another country and get married, and what exactly they value their beloved men for. Let's ask different girls their Love story, and then we’ll turn to their husbands with the same question (and try to find out what attracts them so much to our beauties).
NATASHA and MOHAMED
Natasha:"Our first meeting with Mohamed took place 2 years ago - I went on vacation with my mother on a sea excursion to the island of Utopia. When we got on the bus, I immediately saw HIS eyes and could not resist his charm. I looked at him for a long time, and he - at me. He seemed very handsome to me!!! We were together on the ship the whole day, we swam, and he showed me colorful corals and exotic fish. On the island we started talking, and he said that he wanted to marry me, and if so. If you become my wife, you will live like a QUEEN... (In the future, this is what happened). I agreed (and so did my mother). In the evening, we met with Mohamed together, talked about life, communication was easy and relaxed. He talked about his plans for the future, spoke very competently and interestingly, and said that if I was with him, then no one except me will exist in his life. And then the feeling came to me that we had love at first sight. Unfortunately, we didn’t spend much time in the cafe; he was leaving on an excursion to Cairo. We agreed that he would wait for my return from Russia... And he waited... As he said, so he did.
There are 4 months of separation and texting behind me, and now, long-awaited meeting happened again!!! He met me at the airport and asked if I agreed to become his wife. The answer is obvious, of course I agreed!!!
“It’s for you that I came here, I left everything, just to be with you!!!”
He took a beautiful picture for us new apartment, drew up a marriage contract, since in Egypt it is impossible to live without a written agreement. I was very jealous. But day after day we got used to it, enjoying life in each other’s arms. Everything was fine, although there were sometimes quarrels, but these are trifles, the main thing is that we are together!!!
Evgenia Makram: Why did you choose an Egyptian man? What specific traits of his character do you like? What do you value in him?
Natasha: Why did I choose Egyptian? Because he - a real man, and for his wife he is ready to do whatever she wants!!! His wife is sacred, he will never let her be offended and will always protect her. Even though he was very jealous of me, at first he swore and thought that I was always with other men, since I saw every day how Russian tourists “walk” left and right... But I felt how he cared, worried, because I was in I’m still a stranger to the country and don’t know anyone here, what if I’m deceived? I felt how much he loved me, that I was only his woman!!! And at first I dressed openly, all the Egyptians on the street looked at me, and his friends, to be sure.
Evgenia Makram: I agree, Natasha, but what kind of man would be pleased that his beloved girl is openly looked at by other men? Probably only to those who do not appreciate and love their wife.
Natasha: Mohamed wanted only him to watch and no one else. Well, to be honest, Egyptian men are all like that, they believe that his woman should belong only to him, and no one should even look at her, let alone talk to her (I mean other men).
Evgenia Makram: And Russian men sometimes, on the contrary, think that it’s cool if everyone is staring at your woman, it means she’s beautiful. Notice how many girls sunbathe topless on the beach, and their husbands lie next to them and grin, saying, look how beautiful my woman is...
Natasha: Why do I value him? He always does everything the way I want. Well, in fact, he is KIND, CARING, when he is around, I feel like stone wall, he is FAITHFUL and DEVOTED. He is GENTLE and AFFORDING – and he knows how to say a pleasant word, he will reassure and support me if I have problems. He is GENEROUS, never spares money for me, buys clothes, regularly gives gifts.
Evgenia Makram: Natasha, what does your husband say about your Russian-Egyptian relations?
Mohamed: First of all, I found in Natasha what every man needs - kindness, affection, tenderness, loyalty and love. She is very submissive, she will always listen and try to do as I asked, so that I feel good. And secondly, she helps me in everything, says that if I have problems with money, she will work with me and support me. She manages to keep the house in order and take care of her appearance and beauty. Any man will be pleased with this. And most Egyptian girls are lazy, they are used to sitting at home and doing nothing, eating and sleeping for a long time. They only want money, gold, expensive gifts... And it doesn’t matter to them that you earn every penny with difficulty. They have little interest in anything, which makes it boring and uninteresting to be with them. (Not all, but most are like that). Russian girls are interesting, they are (mostly) active, have many hobbies, and there is always something to talk about with them. Natasha is always interested in my life, listens carefully, asks: “How is work? How are your friends? How are mom and dad?” She supports me in everything and always gives me the right advice.
Evgenia Makram: Natasha, is there any jealousy towards his work in tourism?
Natasha: I’m not jealous of him for working in tourism, no matter how strange it sounds. For some reason I am very calm, I know that as long as I do everything as he wants, he will not need another. After all, why does a man look to the side? When he lacks something in a relationship. Or the wife is not attentive to him, devotes little time. Or there is no love and mutual understanding. And if you give a man everything he asks, be submissive, listen to him, understand, respect him, then why does he need another? Yes, the Egyptians have a peculiarity - he is always the commander, he is the man and the head of the house. I always have to listen to him, for example, I went to the store, I had to call and tell him. And in general, in any question, ask him first, you always need his permission. Perhaps from the outside it will seem like an infringement of freedom, but if you love a person, he always comes first for you!!!
An Egyptian man wants his wife to be beautiful and beautiful, but only for him and not for others. (That’s why the Egyptians love it when a woman wears closed clothes so that no one sees her (the wife) in public places, and at home he alone enjoys her beauty). Mohamed is persistent in all matters and it is impossible to convince him, you shouldn’t even do it, it’s useless, it’s better and easier to agree. He, like most Egyptians, does not want his wife to work and get tired, he wants her to sit at home and relax, and always greet her husband from work in a good mood, always be like a queen.
Evgenia Makram: But now you are working, how did he agree?
Natasha: Yes, I’m working now, he was not happy at first, but then he got used to it. Although jealousy is always with him.
What did you have to get used to? - Cook food in Egyptian style. But this is even good for me. Egyptian food is easy to prepare, all dishes are healthy and tasty!!! Now I always have something to surprise my parents and Russian friends when they come to visit!!!
What can I say about clothes? I wore long clothes a year ago, when it was the month of Ramadan. He asked, and I simply could not refuse, he promised that it would only be for a month, but everything turned out wrong. But this doesn’t bother me, on the contrary, it evokes respect from other Egyptians, no one can touch me or talk to me like a tourist, they even sit down on a minibus carefully. After Ramadan, Mohamed gave me a gold wedding ring and a chain. And I completely began to feel like a Russian Egyptian. Which pleases me. His family and friends respected me more.
During our family life We haven’t changed, we have remained the same as we were, we just got used to each other, our love became stronger!!! We care and worry about each other, we constantly miss him when he is on 2-day excursions from Cairo to Alexandria, without him the house is empty and lonely, and when I am at work, he misses me too. He'll be happy to cook it himself delicious dinner and will meet me from work...
NADIA AND AHMED
Nadya: The first meeting took place exactly a year ago, when I arrived in Hurghada to work in a travel agency. The first impression was that he (Ahmed) was somehow different from other Egyptians, both in appearance and in his reasoning during the conversation. But how he was different from the others was not clear. I was terribly interested in getting to know him better. He took my phone number and called a little later. I decided that if I had made an effort and hadn’t forgotten my number, then I could talk to this person, especially since I wanted to find out what was different about him from the others.
We talked for a long time... We met every day after work, walked, talked about everything in the world, and of course got to know each other, found a lot in common. The two of us always had fun and interesting!!! We became closer to each other, friendship grew into real feelings. We lived in Egypt (Hurghada), we just dated for a while, then we started living together. All year long, we were together every day; we separated only once during my vacation back home (two weeks). So a year has passed, and now we are submitting documents for official marriage.
Evgenia Makram: Congratulations, Nadya!!! Now tell us more about your relationship? What do you especially like about your husband?
Nadya: He is kind, affectionate, and most importantly, he takes care of me, protects me, I feel like I’m behind a stone wall!!! I feel his love for me!!! I believe in his loyalty to me, because I know my husband very well, because of one attraction, he will never want to lose what he has now - a calm and measured life and confidence in tomorrow. My husband loves children very much, we have a neighbor on the playground, she is very little, she comes to visit us often, her husband has already given her half of the toys from our house and constantly misses her. He really wants a family and children, his first daughter...
Evgenia Makram: In general, I noticed that Egyptian men love children very much, they take care of them with the same efforts as mothers. They rock their babies, feed them, play with them, and meanwhile their wives can rest. When I worked as a guide on a ship to Paradise Island, I watched a million times how dad rocks the baby, sings him songs, changes diapers, and mom bathes and rests. The husband takes on half the responsibilities, that's for sure!!! In Russia, I often heard from men that only after 40 years old do they truly understand what children are. And as a rule, men do not like to deal with infants. And in Egypt, husbands adore their future child, when he only managed to appear in his mother’s tummy!!! Yes, and they also love girls very much. (and many people think on the contrary, that Egyptians love only boys, but this is not so. They love equally!!!)
What can you say about Russian-Egyptian relations?
Nadya: The peculiarity of Russian-Egyptian relations is that one of the couple in any case will not live in their own country, unless, of course, another option is considered, the choice of a third country, so to speak, neutral territory.
Evgenia Makram: This means that the one from the couple who moved will have to get acquainted with new culture, traditions. And get used to them, accept them, change yourself. Especially if we consider Russia and Egypt. We are completely different, I mean the nation as a whole. Egyptian guys moving to Russia become Europeanized and become more modern. And girls moving to Egypt... in different ways. Some don't change, they just follow local rules. Others become calmer, “family-like” so to speak. Respected local traditions, change their clothing style a little (less open). And still others - I begin to adopt Egyptian customs, convert to Islam, change their clothing style, can wear a hijab (scarf), and can radically change their character. In general, all mixed couples get used to each other differently. Each family sets its own rules.
For me, a husband is my husband, and I love him for his relationship with me, and not for his nationality or religion. If I had met a person like him in my homeland, I would have lived with him in my own country, but it turned out that I met my soulmate in Egypt, which means God wants it that way. And I appreciate him for his gentle character, calmness and respect shown.
Ahmed: I appreciate Nadya for her kind, honest and open heart, for the fact that she always smiles and charges me good mood!!! And because she helps me in everything and supports me. We are both young and learn from each other how to build a family, form good relationship, mutual respect and understanding. We help each other become better...And I’m also very pleased that she accepts me for who I am and is proud of me.
Evgenia Makram: You both work in tourism. Is there jealousy towards each other's work?
Nadya: Work is work. I have a fairly calm attitude towards his activities; I believe that it doesn’t matter where a person works, the main thing is what he thinks. I'm not jealous at all.
Ahmed: I have a normal attitude towards Nadya’s work, but I don’t want her to work with such an inconsistent schedule (every morning, sometimes evening), I need something calmer.
Nadya: Living with my husband, I changed, became calmer and more reasonable and less hot-tempered and touchy. I became wiser.
Life in Hurghada is, of course, different from the one I lived before, but a person gets used to everything, the main thing is that life is decent. So that you are satisfied with your work, so that you find new true friends, and, most importantly, so that your relationship with your husband is sincere, love and mutual understanding reign in the family!!!
Many residents of Egyptian resorts have encountered a situation where an Egyptian friend asks them to find him a Russian wife. I'm not even talking about the thousands of Egyptians who already live with Russian wives. Moreover, sometimes, even if the marriage relationship did not work out and it came to divorce, the man again goes in search of a Russian life partner, without even considering the option of marrying an Egyptian woman. Why do Egyptians want to marry Russians? - Let's look at this question in more detail!
Beauty
Men are men even in Africa, and no matter what they say about the mentality, character and other “virtual” advantages of Russian women, the Egyptians always put our physical beauty first.
First of all, it is white skin. Well, dark-skinned Egyptians like the milky shade of our skin, and that’s all. And if a woman also has blond hair, then let her not even worry about extra pounds, birthmarks, crooked legs and snub nose, she is still already one step ahead of all Egyptian brides.
Besides the fact that we are fair, we also love to take care of ourselves. We do fashionable haircuts, manicures, and take care of the beauty of your skin. The option “you can’t see it under a scarf” is definitely not for us. And even if a Russian wife puts on a hijab after the wedding, she still will not allow herself to put a headscarf on her dirty head. We're just so used to it.
And of course, many Egyptian men cannot believe that Russian women who have given birth manage to maintain a girlish figure! And all because for us, childbirth is not a reason to quit sports or binge on cake. We still have to compete with the army of Egyptian brides.
Character
Many Egyptians admit that living with an Egyptian wife is...how to put it...not fun. To describe their women, they even use a special word: “nikadeya,” which means “a sad, always sick whiner.”
I don't want to denigrate Egyptian women, but to be honest, this the real truth. They constantly complain about their health, about life, about their children, about their neighbors.
After the wedding, Egyptian women, as a rule, quit work and sit at home, artificially narrowing their range of interests to cooking and cleaning. “Hanging out with your husband at the club” is somehow not about Egyptian wives at all.
And health problems happen to everyone first, especially if she needs something from her husband. All you hear from Egyptians is that his wife is “taabena” (“sick”). Either she has a headache, then she feels nauseous, then she has an allergy, or just general malaise.
Having become pregnant, some ladies immediately go to bed for 9 months. And after giving birth, it takes another 2 months to recover.
In general, it’s not fun to live with them. It’s just the same with Russian wives - you can chat about whatever you want, and laugh, and she doesn’t have a headache :)
Availability
Oh, Russian wives don’t like this topic, but what can you do - this is also the true truth. We are as accessible compared to Egyptian women as Egyptian women are sick compared to us.
We love sex before marriage and don’t see anything wrong with it (and after marriage we love it too, really). If a decent Egyptian bride is “no-no” before her wedding night, then we are completely at ease. Well, okay, someone else follows the 10-date rule (on the first 10 dates it’s “no-no”, and if a man doesn’t run away, then he’s worthy of our love), and even then not all of them.
Marrying us is much cheaper than marrying Egyptian women, and this is also our affordability.
According to Egyptian tradition, in order for the bride's family to agree to the marriage, the man must at least give a decent ransom for his wife and provide her with housing. We agree to heaven in a hut!
We don’t need to ask our parents’ permission for marriage, we haven’t heard anything about the ransom at all (well, only a fairy tale about 20 camels, but why do we need his camels), a rented apartment will suit us, plus we’re not going to quit our jobs - we need to help family budget.
Some Russian wives like to argue that living with us in the end is still more expensive, since we have to buy tickets to our homeland, and we choose only private schools for our children, etc., but frankly speaking, more expensive is a relative concept.
A family that demands an apartment, a car and a hefty ransom for the bride is also unlikely to agree to public school for a child. Egyptian women from decent society love to dress in expensive stores, drive cars, and relax in hotels (which is no cheaper than our flight to our mother’s homeland in a free apartment).
So it turns out that marrying us is actually cheaper. Although this does not mean that we are worse. We are just more beautiful, more fun, plus cheaper - three in one :)
Why don't Egyptians want to marry Russians?
To be fair, it should be said that some Egyptians are categorically against marrying Russian girls one at a time the only reason- faith. For many Egyptians it is very important that their children are raised in Islamic culture, and no beauty and accessibility of Slavic women can compete with Egyptian religiosity.
The only exception for them may be a Russian woman who converted to Islam. And not for show, but for real - she put on a hijab, memorized the Koran, learned to pray and intends to raise her children as true Muslims.
A man who was lucky enough to meet such a Russian woman on his way can be called a real lucky man, because he became the owner of a “super wife” :)
Why do Russian women marry Egyptians?
But in 99% of cases there is only one reason - love!
After all, we are women, for the most part we don’t care what’s in his pockets, who his relatives are, what color his skin is, and what faith he professes. If he is kind, gentle and caring, and if a spark runs between us, we will follow him to the ends of the earth :)
Why do you think many foreigners (not only Egyptians) are happy to marry Russian women? Write your opinion in the comments and feel free to ask any questions on the blog or social networks.
Towards the afterlife
Egypt is the Greek name for the country Kem, which means “Mystery, riddle.” Indeed, everything connected with this is shrouded in mystery. ancient country. Modern Egyptology has existed for almost two hundred years, and it would seem that it has made considerable progress, but most Egyptologists will agree with the statement of the English scientist Ernest Budge that Ancient Egypt revealed only a small fraction of his secrets to researchers.
We offer our readers two articles devoted to the mystery of ancient Egyptian embalming and its mystical aspect.
It is difficult for a modern person, brought up in the bosom of new religions, to understand what the religion of the ancient Egyptians was. Many Egyptologists of the last century considered the word "religion" too high to define belief in a huge, intricate pantheon of warring gods, spirits, and totems.
The mythology of the ancient Egyptians is contradictory, for whom the most primitive magical shamanism was closely and inextricably intertwined with the official cult. To understand how and on what basis this strange and mysterious system of beliefs was formed, one should turn to the characteristics of the climate and geographical location Egypt itself.
Nile Valley - a piece of paradise
The territory of the ancient Egyptian kingdom was a narrow river valley surrounded by waterless deserts. This geographically isolated Egypt from other civilizations and encouraged it to develop its own culture, which had rare contacts with outside world had almost no influence.
For the same reasons, enemy invasions occurred extremely rarely throughout the millennia-long history of Ancient Egypt. This is clearly evidenced by poor development Egyptian military culture. While the populations of Early Bronze Age civilizations in the Middle and Near East erected Cyclopean fortifications to protect their settlements from invaders, Egypt was virtually ignorant of fortification.
It is difficult to call the primitive fortifications that the pharaohs built on the border with Nubia as fortresses. These were rather border garrisons, designed to guard river trade on the Nile. The Egyptians did not create effective military weapons.
The military successes of the pharaohs mentioned in Egyptian sources are partly of a legendary nature, for clashes occurred with an enemy weakened by internal unrest and fragmentation. In the case of wars with a strong, united enemy, which happened infrequently in Egyptian history, the Egyptians were always defeated. We can safely say that in history there was no people less warlike and less passionate than the ancient Egyptians.
The Nile Valley was paradise. Its inhabitants were virtually unaware of the terrible life of the desert. Day after day, the sun steadily crossed the cloudless sky, only to repeat its path the next day. Annual floods of the Nile, deposits of silt combined with heat and sunlight created rich, fertile soil here.
Many experts, not without reason, believe that during the period Ancient kingdom The Egyptians had no idea of history. This is explained by the invariability of the daily solar rhythm, the regularity of the Nile floods, and the absence of serious seasonal climate fluctuations. History implies change, and the life of the ancient Egyptians was orderly, constant and even monotonous. The duty of the pharaoh, as a god or messenger of the gods, was to maintain this order forever.
Ancient Egyptian goddess Maat
In the Egyptian pantheon there is the goddess Maat, depicted as a small figurine of a kneeling woman with a feather on her head. According to British researcher Nancy Jenkins, Maat was not just a deity, but a kind state symbol, meaning the immutability of the essence of things. A symbol of a universal order, ahistorical, having neither past nor future. The immutability of the world is the ideal of the ancient Egyptian!
And yet this ideal remained only an ideal. Changes powerfully invaded the life of the Egyptian, and the most irresistible among them was inexorable death. Concerned primarily with preserving the order that death had disrupted, the Egyptian sought to somehow include it in the eternal and unchanging order of the universe. This goal lies at the heart of the ancient Egyptian religion.
Many people believe that the ancient Egyptians had a terrible fear of death. This is not entirely true. Death as a tragedy of an individual did not bother them much. They were concerned with the problem of the eternal continuation of life, the continuity of the entire order of the observable world - the sun, stars, recessions and floods of the Nile, the change of seasons, etc.
The institution of royal power was closely connected with the preservation of world order. To this day, debate rages among Egyptologists: was the pharaoh considered a living god or only an intermediary between gods and people? Or maybe the pharaoh was deified after death? But all this is not very important. No matter who the pharaoh was considered, he was responsible for “maat”, for order and stability in the state. The concepts of "maat" and "royal power" were inseparable.
The crisis of this relationship came with the death of the pharaoh. Despite its inevitability, the death of the pharaoh was always seen as a threat to the entire order of the universe, comparable to a natural disaster.
The entire population of the state was subjected to severe psychological stress. Everyone mourned the king, and there was no hypocrisy in this: grief and fear were genuine, regardless of whether the deceased pharaoh was kind or cruel, fair or unjust.
According to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the body, even a dead one, was the receptacle of the immortal spirit of the deceased, which had two forms.
Spirit "Ba" in Egyptian mythology
The spirit "Ba", depicted as a small bird with a human bearded head, was perceived as the soul itself. After leaving the body after death, the bird-soul could fly between the body in the tomb and the outside world, and also rush to the world of stars. The Egyptians of the Old Kingdom often perceived the stars as myriads of "Ba" birds with lanterns in their paws.
Spirit "Ka" in Egyptian mythology
The second hypostasis - "Ka" - is more complex. “Ka” was a living, undying spirit that arises at the moment of human birth, a kind of grace-filled force that could be transmitted from one creature to another, from god to a mortal (pharaoh), from pharaoh to his subjects, from father to son. The latter is especially important. The son of the pharaoh, succeeding his father, inherited his "Ka", that is, divine royal power.
It was believed that during the period between the death of a person and his burial, the “Ka” of the deceased was in a state of sleep. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians had more than enough reasons for concern, because after the death of the pharaoh, his “Ka,” the force that maintained order and stability in the world (“maat”), temporarily seemed to disappear from the Universe. But after the completion of the funeral ceremonies, “Ka” returned to the body of the deceased.
Without a body, it could not accept sacrifices, did not hear prayers, did not see rituals intended for the deceased. That is why the ancient Egyptians tried in any way to preserve the body of the deceased. Without him, "Ka" was deprived of shelter. That's exactly what it was religious meaning mummification ritual.
Of course, the posthumous fate of the peasant’s “Ka” could not be the cause of tragic consequences for the world, like the pharaoh’s “Ka,” but its “unsettledness” was fraught with trouble, at least for his children and loved ones. Therefore, complex funeral rites, including embalming the body of the deceased, were performed on virtually all deceased Egyptians, regardless of their social status.