culture shock in Egypt

Culture shock in Egypt

                                                                                    by Ms. NutchanunChanprasert

          Egypt, Egypt is the land of Pyramid. Egypt is a recognized cultural trend-setter of the Arabic-speaking world. Contemporary Arabic and Middle-Eastern culture is heavily influenced by Egyptian literature, music, film and television. Egypt gained a regional leadership role during the 1950s and 1960s, giving a further enduring boost to the standing of Egyptian culture in the Arabic-speaking world. Egypt is situated in the northeast corner of the Africa. A large river called the River Nile flows through the country into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile enters Egypt from the Sudan and flows north for about 1545 km (about 960 m) to the sea.    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt#Names)Egyptian identity evolved in the span of a long period of occupation to accommodate Islam, Christianity and Judaism; and a new language, Arabic, and its spoken descendant, Egyptian Arabic which is also based on many Ancient Egyptian words. Egyptian believe superstition and myth. Egyptian respect Pharaoh God and mummies. In this article, there are 3 culture shock in Egypt : Superstition and myth , Prostitution ,and food and dessert.

          First of all, superstition and myth as Pharaoh God simply means "the one who lives in the palace". Egyptians addressed their Pharaoh as though he were a god with several forms. They thought he was more than human and addressed him with the names of several gods. The Pharaoh's most godlike names were "son of Re" and "giver of life like Re". The Egyptians believed that no single name could express the greatness of their ruler. They also believed by serving the gods,(https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations)the king helped the sun to rise every morning and helped the Nile to flood at the end of each summer. They believed that in return for the offerings of food and water that only the Pharaoh could make, the gods would feed the souls of the Egyptians after death. The Pharaoh's power was almighty and unquestioned. Moreover, Book of the dead was known to the Egyptians as Reu nu pert emhru translated that means. The Chapters of coming forth by day. It is a collection of chapters made up of magic spells and formulas. It was illustrated and written on papyrus. These papyrus were commissioned by the deceased before their death. Furthermore Belief the mummies, the earliest Ancient Egyptian mummies were created naturally due to the environment in which they were buried. In the era prior to 3500 BCE,Egyptians buried the dead in pit graves, without regard to social status. Pit graves were often shallow. This characteristic allowed for the hot, dry sand of the desert to dehydrate the bodies, leading to natural mummification. The natural preservation of the dead had a profound effect on Ancient Egyptian religion. Egyptians saw the preservation of the body after death as an important step to living well in the afterlife. The burial practices became a status symbol for the wealthy as well. This cultural hierarchy lead to the creation of elaborate tombs, and more sophisticated methods of embalming.

          For another thing, prostitution,prostitution in Egypt is illegal. Police department officially combats prostitution but, like almost all other countries, prostitution exists in Egypt. The prostitutes in Egypt are Egyptian, Eastern European, and of many other nationalities. Prostitution was legalized in Egypt in 1882 by the British occupying administration. It was relatively more widely seen between approximately 1929 to 1958, a time of British occupation. The prostitution system in Egypt often depends on pimping, although women also work alone. Pimps in Egypt organize the work of a group of prostitutes and receive a percentage of their profits. This is called the network in Egypt. This system is mainly used in Cairo and Alexandria and other big cities but the most prostitution live in the rural or small village and their clothing are impolite you can see them at every night.

         For the last thing, Food and dessert, Halawa is a middle-eastern food common across all countries in the Mediterranean. Halawa is made from sesame paste and is available in all shapes and forms: blocks, hair Halawa, energy bars and spreads.There are lots of rich ingredients: pistachios, pine, and almonds. It is a common staple food among Egyptians.Also it is eaten as a snack or for breakfast and dinner. Halawa can be used as a main ingredient in many other dishes, among those is the Sakalans, which is mixture of Halawa, honey and whipped cream. Interestingly, Halawa is one of the few foods that can tolerate the hot Egyptian weather without going bad, and it doesn’t need any special storage conditions. Besides,Shawermais one of popular Egyptian dishes, Itcomes from the Ottoman Empire. The best shawerma in Egypt will traditionally be available at Syrian owned sandwich parlours. Roz bi Laban (Egyptian Rice Pudding) is a traditional Egyptian recipe for a classic milk-based rice pudding thickened with corn flour (cornstarch) and flavored with raisins and cinnamon.

At the result, There are 3 culture shocks in Egypt : Superstition and myth, Prostitution ,and Food and dessert. Visit here because you want to see Pyramid and Mummies . You will know many myth of Egyptian. But avoid western women about clothes and travel in Egypt tonight. Moreover, food and dessert of Egypt are interesting and lot of rich ingredients because Egypt food have vegetable main of meal.

  The carved hieroglyphs at the ‘White Chapel’ of Senusret I at Karnak (c1950 BC). Did hieroglyphs evolve from early tax records? © AKG Images

References

Egypt Travel. n.dRecommended Attractions.[online]. Available: http://thetravelinsider.info/destinations/middleeast/introtoegypt.htm (Access date 21 November 2015.

  Ancient Egypt. n.dDefinition.[online]. Available: http://global.britannica.com/place/ancient-Egypt (Access date 21 November 2015)

          History world. n.dHistory of Egypt.[online]. Available: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa28 (Access date 21 November 2015)

          Cultural Property Training Resource. n.dTimeline of Egyptain History and Cultuer.[online]. Available: http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/egypt02-01enl.html

          Food in every country. n.d Egypt .[online]. Available: http://www.foodbycountry.com/Algeria-to-France/Egypt.html