Al-Azhar University, founded in the tenth century, also played an important role in spreading knowledge. Scholars at the Library of Alexandria, built during the Ptolemaic era around 300 BCE, contributed to mathematics, medicine, and astronomy.
It was considered a channel of knowledge between Europe and Africa, and thousands of Egyptian teachers travelled to neighbouring countries to teach students. I wanted to know how my ancestors mummified kings and queens, how they built the pyramids without modern equipment, and how they succeeded in designing the temple of King Ramses II so that its inner sanctum would be illuminated by a shaft of sunlight on the anniversary of his birthday every year.Įgypt's geographical position at the center of the Middle East has always given it an edge. When I was a child, I dreamed of travelling back in time to ask the pharaohs their scientific secrets. What made you want to become a scientist? We asked Nancy Elhalfawy, science faculty member at the University of Alexandria in Egypt and Newton-Mosharafa Fund PhD student at the University of Reading, about her country's scientific legacy and how it inspired her to become a scientist.
