Nancy L Haydon

Close your eyes and imagine Egypt… what wonderful images come to mind! Pyramids, pharaohs, camels, the River Nile, hieroglyphs…the list of colourful and interesting pictures seem endless. For someone who is interested in cross stitch, this country provides so many wonderful opportunities for imaginative stitching. The shapes, colours and sheer fascination of this country simply beg to be immortalised in cross stitch and given pride of place in your home.

The history Egypt is rich and complex. Many symbols of its culture add to the fascination of stitching any picture showing the life and times of Egyptians. Below, I have drawn together some of the most recognizable (and stitchable) motifs and their significance. This will help you to decide which symbols you would like to stitch.

Pyramids. Pyramids are huge stone structures that were created about 4500 years ago on a desert plateau close to the River Nile. There are many arguments about their symbolism, purpose and design, and it is thought that these mysteries will never be truly solved. Ancient Egyptians believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next world.  The embalmed bodies of kings were entombed underneath or within a pyramid to keep them safe and allow transformation and ascension to the afterlife, and a place among the gods. Pyramids became targets for tomb robbers many years ago and most famous Giza Pyramids were plundered long ago of the bodies and riches entombed with them.

Tutankhamun.

Egyptian Nefertiti

This is the name of the boy king who is the most well known Egyptian pharaoh today. He died in his late teens and his body was kept in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for 3,300 years. In 1922, his tomb was discovered by Egyptologist Howard Carter. He is the only pharaoh still residing in the Valley of the Kings.

Nefertiti. This is the name of the wife of the Egytian pharaoh Amenhotep IV. 'Nefertiti' means 'the beautiful (or perfect) woman has come' in Egyptian. She was also the mother in law of Tutankhamun.  It is believed that she may have ruled in her own right after her husband's death and before the accession of Tutankhamun. Well-known pictures of her show her wearing an elongated gold bead, called a 'nefer'.

Hieroglyphs. About 5000 years ago, the Egyptians used pictures to write their language and record their thoughts. Eventually, the symbols came to represent sounds too. These pictures were often written on the walls of temples and were called hieroglyphs or 'sacred inscriptions'. Egyptians continued to use hieroglyphic writing for more than 3500 years, until about 400 AD. Then, they used the Greek alphabet with some additional letters for sounds that did not occur in Greek. This was called Coptic. Eventually, Coptic was replaced by Arabic, the language spoken in Egypt today. To see some hieroglyphs, go to the website: http://greatscott.com/hiero/  For over 1000 years, visitors to Egypt made up fantastic translations of the mysterious symbols that they found. They thought that hieroglyphs recorded magic spells and secret religious practices.

Scarab. The scarab beetle represents the god of the morning sun, Kephri; life is born anew after the night. Ra, the sun god is denoted by gold lines radiating from the scarab. Ra's eyes are considered to be symbolic of making whole, or healing.

Falcons. These birds are depicted with wings outstretched in a protective stance. These represent the god, Horus, the god of the sky and protector of kings. Osirus, dressed in mummy wraps, is the lord of the underworld, god of death, resurrection and fertility. His wife and sister is called Isis. She was the goddess of healing, and also the mother of Horus.

The River Nile. The Nile is one of the two longest rivers on Earth (the other being the Amazon in South America). The northern part of the river flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt. Most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt, except for those near the coast, lie along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan, and most of the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along the river banks.

The motifs above should give you plenty of ideas for cross stitching an Eyptian themed picture. A sampler may contain these and more images of this beautiful country. You will feel transported to this wonderful place with a cross stitched design.