The Ancient Egyptians were a powerful civilization that lasted almost 3,000 years and while you most likely heard about the pyramids, art, and mummies there is still a lot you probably don't know about the people before the bandages. Don't worry, I've already done the research! All you have to do is relax, sit back, grab a bag of marshmallows, and learn away!

1. It's was not easy being in the ruling class.

It's not uncommon that researchers find a mummy with diabetes, birth defects, and short statures. Pharaohs and Noble citizens were probably obese due to sugary foods, bread, wine, and honey. The famous Tutankhamun was a product of incest and had a clubbed foot. To be a pharaoh came with a high price.

2. What happens when your cat's nine lives were up.

If you were an Egyptian you most likely spent hours of your day with your cat. Egyptians would hunt side by side with their cats when they weren't enjoying their companionship. While cats were well loved across Egypt they weren't actually considered divine. But when your cat's life had run 'miut' ( The Egyptian word for cat is miut, hehe) your whole family would shave their eyebrows and mourn deeply for days.

The cats that died would be mummified and buried with mice, toys, milk, and rats. If a cat was killed by any of your peers intentionally or unintentionally you and your neighbors would have to kill the human responsible.

3. Working Hard and Playing Hard.

Most of the Egyptians who built the pyramids were not slaves. The people who built the pyramids were often compensated. One of the most popular incentives was beer. If an Egyptian worked hard for a day he would earn roughly 1 gallon of beer. Alcohol, however, was not the only incentive given to workers of the time.

4. Roasting Marshmallows? Thank an Egyptian.

Egyptians were the first to make a treat out of the Marshmallow plant. The sweet treat included sap, nuts, and honey.

5. You could always find a job that related to the afterlife.

It is estimated that one fifth of the population worked in Funeral services by the end on The New Kingdom. Mummification took seventy days on average. (Mummification was not developed until the age of the Old Kingdom.) Rituals and feasts followed soon after. Death was important to the Egyptians during most of their reign. Burials, Tombs, and Grave Goods varied between periods.

6. Women were economically and politically equal.

Egyptian women were some of the most liberated women of their time. An Egyptian women's priority was still as a wife and mother. However, women could own their own their own businesses, divorce their husbands, and serve as witnesses in court cases. Women were allowed to be in the company of men and even had a say in a third of their husband's property.

7. Hieroglyphs were only reserved for importance.

Scribes rarely wrote in Hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs were reserved for works of high importance. Scribes instead used hieratic a shorthand form of Hieroglyphs. At the end of the Dynastic period scribes began to use a more simplified version of hieratic called demotic. Like cursive writing for us today all three scripts of Egyptian writing were used to write the same language. Even though the Egyptians are well known for their writings turned art, it is estimated that only 10 percent of the population was literate.